Friday, October 26, 2018

17A- Elevator Speech 2



 https://youtu.be/eZK_6LRxMF4

In the original elevator speech, I feel that I did not have enough quick stats on hand to use. I think that I was a little stiff and it showed through my body language. It is important to show confidence and passion through the voice and body language. I was more prepared for this one as I researched more items to use off of the top of my head. I am very passionate about this topic as it directly impacts me and close friends. In the previous comments, my peers said that they could see my passion, which is important. They also stated that I needed to loosen up a little bit with my hands and arms. I tried to make that happen in this video. I think that I changed a little with my projection of the speech even if the words did not come out quick enough on a couple of occasions. Overall, I feel this elevator speech was more effective

18A Create a customer Avatar

Image result for student athlete
Image result for student athlete












These my prototypical customer with my opportunity. This is a student athlete who is faced with the problem of not being compensated for what they bring to their Universities. These student athletes has hobbies that include Video Games, hanging out with friends and resting up. They spend a lot of time training and getting stuff done for school with games and other practices so enjoys just hanging out on the off days. There are many different athletes who all look different. There are men and women of all different races and different backgrounds that come together to represent their schools in their respective sport.  These athlete generally drive around scooters at the campus in Gainesville and may drive a car that they had from high school they were luck enough to bring to school with them. They come form all different backgrounds, some of them are adopted, some are with their birth parents. They all come from different backgrounds but are a big family at UF. Some of them do have kids which would make them even more inclined to want to get paid for their services. Most of them range from ages 18 to 23 but will have some outliers as their are grad students and younger students who enroll into school early.  They all feel old however, dealing with injuries, stress, soreness, always being tired. These all make them feel older than they actually are.The unique thing about the student athletes are that some come from families that have been die heart Gator fans for years, and others just became Gators when they signed and enrolled to be a student athlete here. 


I do feel that I am alike to this customer avatar. I am a student athlete so I understand how there are many people with different backgrounds and coming from different situations. This university and especially its athletic association is a big melting pot that brings people together from all over. I know that off days are spent resting and recovering and there is a big sacrifice of social life in season when times are busy. There is a coincidence as I am around these people all of the time and feel with them on a lot of things.

Friday, October 19, 2018

16A- Secret Sauce


These are five reasons why I have Human Capital that is different than others and stick out.

1) I believe that I have a work ethic that is above a lot of people. Ever since I was young, I was always wanting to put in extra work whether it was sports, activities or school. I think playing college sports has made me work even harder as the talent level is even and hard work separates players.
2) I believe that I am a great leader. I think that sports have helped me develop leadership skills that have allowed me to take them into different aspects of life.
3) I think that I am someone who works really well in teams. I strive when working with groups and feel that it is the best way to complete a goal. Working in group projects and together to get a common goal is something I take pride in.
4) I think that I am generally positive. I like to think about things in a positive manner and express positivity to everyone when things may be negative in that situation.
5) I believe that I am one who has my priorities in check. I know what are the important things in life to me and that sometimes things have to be sacrificed for other things.

I interviewed my parents and my three siblings on what they think makes me different than others.


1)I interviewed my dad and one thing that he said about me was that I am always in the moment. He said it was unique how I was always fully engaged in the moment whatever I was doing and whoever was around me.

2) My sister, Sarakate noted how I was passionate about things. She said it was unique about how obsessive I can get over things like baseball and other activities I am involved in.

3) My sister Jessie said she thought it was awesome how I was able to forget things in a way that was sometimes with forgetting to do things but also having a short-term memory and being able to move on from troubles.

4) Everyone's mother is forced to say something good about their kid so I had to ask my mother what was something unique about me. She said she loved how loyal I am to the people that are close to me. She said that she sees how I have done whatever is needed from family or close friends that need me.

5) My brother Ryan said he liked how focused I am. He said that ever since he can remember, I have always been able to lock in on what I am doing and continue to do that until I am finished. He has been my teammate along with brother and sees how I am in sports and in life. They both require focus and he said that was something I bring to the table.

Hearing what my family said made me unique was interesting. A lot of what they said are things that I think I bring to the table. With working hard and being loyal, I think those are things that are extremely important. I know that a lot of people have sacrificed things for me throughout the past and giving back to them and working hard for things is something that is needed. I think it was cool how they all talked about how these traits carried over from my sport and life and school and were things that are all unique in my sense. I think that although I would like to not forget things, my sister was right and saying I am forgetful with some day to day things. It was interesting to see that other people see some of the same qualities that I see in myself

15A Figuring out Buyer Behavior PT. 2

1)I decided to interview people that would be affected by this opportunity but were not athletes. I interviewed a coach, someone from the compliance office at UF and a local business manager. These people would face issues that would occur with the paying of athletes.

2) While interviewing these people, they have very different perspectives on it. The compliance worker and coach would have to work with facilitating the athletes and working with them to make sure they are properly working this rule and not making things sketchy. With the local business, they want to be allowed to use the athletes to market deals or use them as spokespeople for the company. The coach and compliance worker believed that it would be very difficult to manage the money and the athlete payment. They did, however, both agree that it would be better to work with the athletes and teach them how to be able to market themselves under rules rather than just giving an hourly rate or a salary of sorts. They think that if the athletes were working with the schools and the athletic associations, they could make it work and allow the athletes to be compensated.

3) This opportunity would be one that would be through stores and online. The businesses and companies could use the top athletes to promote things locally, but they could also use this opportunity to be in video games and promotion videos online. It is something that would be able to be through the school that it would facilitate and they would work with the athletes. The school would want to monitor and control this and not allow the athletes to handle all of these things by themselves.

4) I think the businesses would look at if the ads with the athletes made more money than if the athletes were not part of it. The school and coaches would look to see if the athletes were more focused on the business side of it rather than actually performing. There would be a time and place to where these deals could be made and all sides need to make sure that the sport and performance are what matters the most. Something that would make this a bad idea would be if there were athletes endorsing companies that should not be endorsed in college sports like beer companies, bars, and clubs. Also would be a bad idea if the companies did not make money off of them. They would not benefit from paying them if they are not making money.

5) These interviews were very beneficial. In my last assignment, I interviewed athletes that would be the ones getting the money. I wanted to get information from a different perspective on whether this opportunity would work and the difficulties with it. They gave me a perspective that was very informational and good to hear. There are a lot of difficulties that this would bring forth and the coaches and the workers for the compliance offices throughout the country would have to control and monitor. Issues as big as this one are rarely solved at one time. It would be something that would take time and failures before there is a real solution for it. Listening to the business owner gave me a source that would want the athletes to be allowed for this as they would be the ones paying for the service and it would benefit them.

7)  I think that although there would be a lot of problems and difficulties with this. The alternative of allowing athletes to benefit and profit off of their own likeness would be the best solution to this. They all thought that allowing the school to control the deals between the two sides and giving this opportunity to the athletes would be better than the idea of just compensating the athletes with a salary or hourly rate. The school officials thought that scholarships were a great alternative but also realized that there are sports that do not get the same scholarships to give to their athletes.

Friday, October 12, 2018

14A Halfway Reflection



Image result for rocky balboa life ain't all sunshine and rainbows



1) In order to keep up with this class, I have learned to manage my time well and be responsible. With the assignments due on Friday's and Monday's, it is easy to forget about them and wait for the last minute to do them. I learned the hard way that it is smart to start the assignments early as some of them require hours to complete. I have learned to manage my time better in order to start my assignments earlier.

2) This past weekend was a big weekend in Gainesville. With LSU coming to town for the football game, campus was rocking. Getting done with practice late in the afternoon, we had recruits coming for official visits which requires us to go to events with them. I had yet to complete my blogs for the week and did not want to do them at all. I knew that I had to complete them and could not miss the assignments. I had to put the distractions of everyone hanging out aside and go complete my work. I felt like stopping multiple times but knew it was better to complete them. What pulled me through was getting the grade for my work. The grade is important so I knew I had to complete it. I feel that this class has helped me advance my tenacious attitude. The assignments take time and with so many things going on it is easy to push them aside. I feel that working hard on these assignments early can help get them done and not worry about the deadline. IT helps you work harder to manage time and fight through distractions.

3) Three Tips:

  • It is important to figure out your schedule and complete these assignments early. This will help develop time management skills which would lessen stress at the deadline and allow people to focus more on other exams or events. Being great with time management helps out with all facets of life and will be important going into the workforce.
  • Being tenacious in life is something that is a necessity. When someone knocks you down or fires you, or does not invest in the company, it is not a time to quit. Being tenacious is about getting up when someone or something knocks you down. Coming back stronger is what will be the outcome from the failures.
  • Having the skills to be tenacious is something that can be developed. People are born with the ability to bounce back quick, while others take more time to develop it. It will come over time. I would advise to continue to try your best to bounce back as quickly as possible and diving into something that is enjoyable so even if it is tough, you are willing to put the time in and work hard for whatever you are doing.

13A Reading Reflection No.1

Shoe Dog: Phil Knight and Nike

1) Read About the Entrepreneur

  • What surprised me about Phil Knight is that he took a trip to Japan after his graduation from grad school, and on this trip he met a guy who ran a shoe company called Tiger running shoes. He secured the distribution rights for the western USA in this meeting. This was surprising because he got a foot in the door on this business on a trip on the other side of the world.
  • One thing that I admired about Knight was that he started selling these shoes out of a van. He started from scratch and then ultimately ran Nike into being one of the biggest brands and companies in the world.
  • One thing that I least admired about Knight was That he used his power to get people hired at University of Oregon. He knew they relied on his money and donations to the athletic department so he got who he wanted for AD hired.
  • Yes he did encounter many adversities early on. It is hard to build an apparel brand with so much competition and a lot of brands having a hold on the market. He had to wait over a year to get the first samples of the Tiger shoes and had to get another job as well as being turned down for sales in Nike. There were times when things got tough for him, but Knight fought through them and saw his business becoming one of the top in the shoe and apparel business. Starting out with shoes he took over that market and then continued into other clothes.
2) Phil Knight took a risk when he quit his job as a CPA to run Blue Ribbon Sports which ultimately became Nike. He was tenacious in getting that interview meeting with the Tiger Running Shoes owner and became diligent in working to sell those and continuing to improve the Nike business. HE showed knowledge in getting top quality shoes made for not very much as he would have them be made in other countries even though that subject is controversial. H made this company worth billions after starting in a van.

3) What was confusing to me was did he work for Tiger Running shoes to ultimately leave that to start his own shoe company or was his original intent to continue to work for them and be a higher up with their company.

4) I would ask Knight what makes an athlete the most desirable to use as an endorser. Nike has a lot of the top athletes ever endorsing their equipment and did he originally go all in the top names or try to get lower level guys first. Another question I would ask him is " When you enlisted in the Army right out of college, Did you ever see yourself becoming the CEO of the top sports brand in the world?" Knight enlisted right out of the University of Oregon and I wonder if he always thought of running a company or going in a total different direction.

5) I think Phil Knight;s opinion of hard work was that it is needed in order to have greatness. HE is involved with sports and sees the work his athletes put in to become the best in the world. He started up from nothing and worked his way to making billions of dollars for him and his company. Hard work is vital to the success of businesses. Yes I agree with this. You need to work hard to be successful in anything. Talent can only get people so far, hard work takes that talented person to the next level.

Friday, October 5, 2018

11A- Idea Napkin No.1

1) I am a Sports Management major and a student athlete here at the University of Florida, but I am also very interested in the business world. I am interested in the business aspect of sports and enjoy looking into what goes on behind the scenes of the teams along with the playing side of the sport. I feel that I am good at connecting with people and finding solutions to problems especially associated with athletes. Being an athlete here I take it personal when issues with Student Athletes become apparent. Being a member of two SEC Championship teams and one National Championship team, I gave experiences in pressure situations and work well with teams which is very important in business. You need to be able to lead a group and make tough decisions and I feel that I bring that to the table. This business concept would go hand in hand with my career path as after I am done with sports, I want to go into the business side of it.This business opportunity would continue to be a prominent item on the agenda at that time.

2) The service I am offering is a plan with local businesses and the NCAA and universities to find a way to allow students to market themselves and make money off of their likeness. This service would provide compensation for athletes but not make it an hourly rate or make it hard to figure out how much each athlete and each sport should be compensated. allowing athletes to make money off of appearances, College video games or local businesses would be a win win situation for all involved.

3) I am offering this service to the Student Athletes across America. With this problem being so prominent nation wide, all of the student athletes will need this service. This issue has been going on for a while and I believe that this service will help these athletes who really cannot help themselves in regards to this. Also to the local businesses who would be able to use the athletes for marketing purposes.

4) The businesses would work with me and my business as it would make them money. By creating a business that will help control the athletes and help them market themselves through the different businesses, this service will be in high demand. Local Gainesville businesses would love to be able to use the Gator Athletes to sell products. The athletes would love it as well as they would finally be able to make money off of themselves instead of the NCAA exploiting them.

5) If I were to create this service and work with all parties involved, it would be a major breakthrough for the NCAA and the athletes. Right now, the NCAA markets all of the athletes in their promotions, commercials, apparel and more. The Athletes do not get the chance to use their fame or status to make money. Some athletes would be able to pay for the rest of their schooling with the money they could make from marketing deals. No one has been able to find a way to make this work and If this service would be able to come about, it would would be groundbreaking.

This service would be extremely difficult to put in place as there would be a lot of legal things that may come into play and hold it back. I think that with the right partners that this business plan could work and that the athletes will finally get treated fairly. I think these elements fit together and that working with the businesses, NCAA, universities and the athletes is the right way to go about it. Getting everyone involved and hearing all sides of it would be the best thing. This service is about allowing the athletes to make money and allow the businesses to use the local players to boost their own products.

12A-Figuring out Buyer Behavior

1) The segment which I am using for this assignment is finding Student Athletes and seeing how they go about their days to show how they deal with the time they work.

2) I chose to interview different athletes from different sports here at UF. Getting people from different people from different sports is important because each sport has their own scholarship limitations and have different schedules throughout the days and weeks. I interviewed my roommate  who is on the baseball team, one of my friends on the Lacrosse team, and someone on the football team. These three sports will give me different views on what the daily and weekly timelines are for them as they go through handling the life as a student-athlete.

3) What I learned from these three interviews is that each sport is very similar, yet have a lot of different things that go on in their days that make each situation unique. Each of the athletes had to be up early in the morning ranging from 6-7 o'clock in the morning in order to go get their first workout of the day in. All of the athletes then had to go to class from 9:30 until around 1:30- 2:00. Straight from class, they all had to go to to their second workout of the day with team practices. The football and baseball practices went longer as the athletes did not get out of practice until around 6:30 if not later due to extra work or treatment with the trainers. With mandatory study hall, the athletes are required to also attend other team events and if they have a game, they will not get out until around 10:00 at night. With homework to do and other things to handle, the days of the athletes are normally not complete until around 12:00 at night and then they have to wake up the next day and do it all over again. A common misconception is that these athletes are on full scholarships and get everything paid for. The only athlete which was on a full scholarship, was the football player. Baseball and lacrosse are two of the many sports that are under scholarship restrictions and this limits the total amount of aid that each athlete can get.

4)The first solution to this problem for the athletes is that they receive some sort of compensation or ability to make money off of their sport. Olympic athletes , college or pro, can keep the money they get from winning their events, yet a true college athlete who makes millions for their school and have the same time spent working cannot market themselves or get a little more compensation. These athletes talk to other non athlete students and they have the ability to go to social events, or do homework and be done in a timely manner, or have the ability to get a job to earn money. The athletes do not have that opportunity.

5) What I got out of these interviews is exactly what I expected. I knew that these schedules for the athletes were extremely rigorous and very time consuming. These athletes go through tough day to day schedules in season and off season and they feel as though they should be getting some sort of compensation for their work. I learned a little bit more of the different teams schedules in depth and saw how they deal with what their sport requires.

6) These more in depth interviews made me even more convinced that action needs to be taken by the NCAA and the universities. These athletes have to be able to either get compensation which would be regulated, or allow them to market themselves with businesses. There is no way that an athlete has time to get a job to help with money or help pay for school if their scholarship does not cover it. These athletes are being used to make money for the NCAA and the different Universities and there needs to be a fix.