Brittany Zukowski

I'm very determined when I have something that my mind is set on. I'm really willing to put in the work. When I first started out my career, my goal was to be in New York City my whole life, and I made it happen. I was selective in what opportunities I looked at, but at the end of the day, I'm always assessing what my goal is, what I can get to, and what I need to do. I'm always willing to put in the work and the time to do it. I always go above and beyond, and I've been lucky to be surrounded by some really great leaders who also go above and beyond. I was previously in an executive assistant role, and I was empowered to really take on a lot more. I went in and did the very best I could at what my job was, but I also found things that really excited me and really took them on, to the point where they then became my full-time job. I've been really lucky to be surrounded by people who are interested in my growth and care about my professional growth, and give me those opportunities. I'm really proud of myself for how hard I push myself, and just to be able to do parts of my job that excite me, and how I kind of grew it into something that didn't exist before.

I got advice from a mentor a couple of years ago that really resonated with me. It was to remember how valuable my own time was, as well. I always strive to be responsive and easy to work with, and I think sometimes I was almost doing that to my own detriment, where I was so responsive that it seemed like I wasn't working on other things. I had a mentor who told me that my time and what I'm working on is important too, not just the needs of others. Obviously I get to everything that has come in, and I answer questions, and I still strive to be easy to work with and responsive, but it was a good reminder to also value my time, and what I was working on was still important, even if I was getting asked for other things.

I talk to a lot of students, given my role, both within my program and outside of it, and I always tell them that finding a good mentor and someone who really is going to be able to help you is very, very valuable. It's hard to find sometimes, but it's worth it. I think going into things with that positivity and giving it your all is important. I try and remind them that you can kind of come from anywhere to get into sports. Sports is a very desirable area, and a lot of people are like, how do I get into it? There's not one formula. There's space for all different types of experience, and even if your very first job out of college, or your internship, or whatever it might be, wasn't exactly what you were hoping for, doesn't mean you can't get to where you want to be. You have to keep at it, making those connections, and doing what you can to be happy. I think if you work really hard, you can get there and just keep pushing.

The challenge that I face is always what's next. I'm always assessing whether I'm still excited, still inspired, still curious. I'm not a person who is always looking for my next job, or always looking to see what else could be out there. I don't necessarily think the grass is always greener somewhere else, but I am always assessing whether I'm still excited, inspired, and curious. If all of those things are true, then I know that I'm still in a really good spot, and I can continue to challenge myself and grow where I am. I have not yet hit a point of feeling bored. I don't know if it would ever come, because the role that I work in is so unique, and I get to be very much in charge of my own destiny. I'm always assessing where do I go next. The challenge is how do I keep myself engaged and also look at the growth of my career without looking for greener grass, and stay inspired, and stay excited, and stay curious. The opportunity and the challenge are a bit in the same place.

A lot of my professional and personal values really are kind of one and the same. I value trust. I'm lucky in both worlds that I've had a lot of trust put in me, and I've also proven myself to be very trustworthy and dependable. Something that really matters to me, and I tell this to my mentees, is how people treat me and how I treat them is going to be more memorable. Going into both my professional and my personal life, I'm treating people with kindness, respect, going above and beyond what I can, and just being open and giving people that positivity that I go out into the world with. But I also will note it when it's returned back to me. People that treat me with kindness and show me respect, and come in to work with a good attitude and positivity and that feeling of there's no task that's too small, but there's also nothing too big. I'm lucky to be around people who are very much movers and shakers but extremely hardworking, as well.