Janelle Signature

I attribute my success to staying curious and always having that learning mindset. If you lack curiosity, that's when you fail, so as long as you stay curious, you'll be fine. I'm always trying to find new things to learn, whether it's educating myself about NIL deals, finding memberships I can be a part of, or attending conferences like Black Sports Moms in Houston. I also think a major part of my success came from a period of isolation in my life. It's amazing what you can do when you're isolated - you grow the most when you're isolated. I moved to Massachusetts following a boyfriend, and when we broke up, I was there by myself with no family and no friends. During that time, I worked like crazy - I did promo work, had a day job and a night job, because I'd never paid a bill in my life and I wanted to see what it was like. My mom let me fall but was there if I needed something, and she let me figure it out. When you're isolated and you don't have anyone else to worry about or focus on, you grow so much more. I'd say find that time in your life when you can just focus on yourself and use that for yourself to grow, whether it's before you have kids or when your kids are older. Whenever you find that time in your life, don't let that moment pass you by.

The best advice I've received is that it's amazing what you can do when you're isolated. Don't be afraid of isolation - you grow the most when you're isolated. When you have boyfriends, husbands, kids, and everybody around you giving you input of what you should do and how you should do it, you tend to make decisions that are better for the next person than yourself. But when you find that time in your life where you're by yourself, that's when real growth happens. I experienced this when I moved to Massachusetts and found myself alone after a breakup. I had no family, no friends, and during that time I grew tremendously. My mom let me fall but was there if I needed something - she let me figure it out. So my advice is to find that time in your life when you can just focus on yourself, whether it's before you have kids or when your kids are older. Whenever that moment comes, don't let it pass you by.

I would definitely tell them not to give up. If it's something you want to get into, reach out to people and ask for mentors. Don't be scared, because I've always said that if you're the smartest person in the room, then you need to find someone else to be around. Always look for ways that you can grow, whether it's asking someone 'Can I work with you? Can I mentor beside you? Can you help me with this?' Educate yourself too, because there's so many things out there now between all the LLMs from ChatGPT to Perplexity to Claude that you can ask questions. You can literally ask 'How do I go about becoming a sports agent?' and they will tell you step-by-step directions on how to go about doing it. Follow those steps, look at it, ask questions, call people. Don't be afraid of being curious. I think that if you lack curiosity, then that's when you fail. So as long as you stay curious, you'll be fine.

The sports industry is mostly dominated by men, but women are really rising now. More moms are taking control of their sons' or daughters' careers and learning what they need to learn - one, to not have them get ripped off, and two, to be a part of that journey. A lot of sports parents are single moms doing this on their own, and when their sons get drafted in track or basketball, they're like 'I don't know what to do.' But we're getting better at educating ourselves and learning how to navigate the landscape. There are now organizations like Black Sports Moms - a conference in Houston put together by a PR agent whose son plays in the MLB and an NIL sports attorney out of Atlanta. It's a two-day conference that teaches you how to navigate managing your athlete, working through NIL deals, and how to find red flags. I'm always trying to find new things, any type of memberships I could be a part of, just to learn and grow. So while it's definitely more male-dominant, there's a lot of women that are now taking charge because they want to protect their children and be part of their success.