Nicole talks being a Full time Lawyer and the only female sports agent with PlayersRep Sports Management.
Not only is Nicole Lynn making a name for herself as the ONLY female sports agent with PlayersRep Sports Management but she is also a FULL time lawyer! {such a BOSS} Nicole is one of only 42 certified NFLPA agents and I must add she is ONLY 28 years old! As you know Millennials speak Monday's is all about spotlighting millennials breaking barriers in the industry and Nicole is definitely the definition of a millennial making a name for herself. I had the opportunity to chat with Nicole about her career and success. Check it out below!
AM: Hi, [hello] how are you?
NL: I'm doing well - how are you doing?
AM: I’m doing good. Thank you so much for making time in your schedule after I had to reschedule for me to have the opportunity to interview you.
NL: Absolutely happy to, very happy to.
AM: Thank you. Okay well I guess we can get started. So my first question is what are some of the difficulties you have faced being not only a woman sports agent but also a women of color?
NL: A lot (jokingly) ...So just to give you context. I think that there are from my understanding 900 NFL sports agent, and 42 are women. Out of that 42 there are very few black agents and even fewer with active clients.…. I can’t tell you the exact number - but I know maybe one or two others in the business. So every time I approach a college player I have to explain to them you know I know this is rare but I am qualified.It’s definitely difficult being a woman in the business; coaches and general managers seem to take it very serious. You are always having to prove to players,coaches or a team that you know the game. Yeah they kind of think that you don't..and so you gotta explain "oh I do know football". Obviously I know football because I am working in the business. (jokingly) So that’s difficult you know! It’s also difficult dealing with wives, mothers and girlfriends, kinda always looking at you with the side eye. This is something that happens In the beginning but once you have created that trust it’s not a big deal. But you know kinda going in and being like hey I’m open for business and that’s it!
AM: Since you did touch on men & sports...Some would say Sports is a male dominate field. As we know men tend to think they know everything when it comes to sports! However, How are you making your mark with being a sports agent and changing up that stereotype?
NL: The biggest thing for me is to basically make sure that I’m doing the best job that I can. That way if I'm compared to a man I'm equivalent. I can do the exact same contracts that they can do, I can service my clients the same way if not better. And so I think it's just really providing the same level of service that a man would provide to their clients, if not more and always giving 110%. So you know I am not stereotyped.
AM: That is a great way to think when it comes to that. You are also a full-time lawyer as well; how do you like juggle the two? Is it hard sometimes or do you have like an easy system with the way you balance being a sports agent as well as a full-time lawyer.
NL: It’s very difficult honestly. I work at a very large international law firm so I put in lots of hours during the week. So my schedule is kinda crazy. I’m working every day at my law firm, Monday to Friday and sometimes on the weekends. Then when it comes to the sports I am traveling all the time!
n Saturdays I'm going to college football games all across the country, NFL games on Sundays, and then once Monday rolls around, Im back at the law office from like 8:00 to 7:00. Then at night I am working on sport stuff, sending emails for Endorsements, and talking to players. It is really like having two full time jobs, very, very difficult!!
AM: Sounds so hectic! But, I have to commend you for getting the job done. You went to school to be a lawyer; what made you decide to take the route to become a sports agent; is this something you've always been really passionate about and wanted to pursuit or did it kind of like just happened?
NL: In undergrad I was a business major and I moved to New York City after I graduated from college to work on Wall Street. I thought I wanted to be a financial advisor for athletes. You know I really wanted to help! I saw a lot of kids go from rags to riches back to rags. There’s this big statistic of NFL players that file bankruptcy after they make all this money. So I really want to find a way to fix that and I thought that it was through the financial advisor route. So I went down that road to pursue Finance. Once I learned that it was really the agent who was like the day-to-day life coach and mentor for the player; I applied to law school for the sole purpose of becoming an agent. And so in order to sit for the bar exam you've got to have a postgraduate degree. So I did that, graduated law school in two and a half years instead of three and took the exam early. So pretty much every move I've made since I was 18 years old has been for the same goal!
AM: Oh that’s so cool and how old are you 26 right? [I’m 28, I started when I was 26] 28 okay and started at 26! You have accomplished so much and you not even 30 yet. What else are you hoping to accomplish in your career? Any other goals you have for yourself?
NL:So you know when you’re recruiting players - players can be drafted or not drafted. So I had my first drafted player this year. Last year I had a guy who didn't get drafted and then I had several veteran guys that I’ve acquired over time. So really my goal is to get higher drafted players so that one day I have a first round draft pick which would be great...negotiate that deal. I think that’s kind of the long term goal, hoping to be able to do that. There’s only one other women thats had a first round draft pick EVER.
AM: That’s amazing, and how does it feel to know that you're the first female agent to represent the top NFL agency players?
NL: I mean it’s great, I love that they entrusted so much with me you know there’s no other women at the agency and there is also no other African Americans. So it’s kinda like the double whammy...but you know they treat me like one of the guys and it’s an honor really.
AM: Ahhh congratulations, that's so amazing, So amazing and a Blessing! .Y\ou seem to be a woman that definitely works hard for what she wants no matter what. What is your - let's see why do you think is important for people to work hard for what they want no matter what it is; to go after it no matter if you're a woman NFL agent which I'm not really into sports like that. But honestly when I read the story I've never even heard of a woman being a sports agent. So I just think that that's amazing. So why do you think it's important for when it's something you want that you go after it?
NL: I mean the biggest thing is like walking in your passion right. They say like if you love what you do you never worked a day in your life. And so that’s really important to me. It’s always important that whatever I did with majority of my time, which is usually your job, is purposeful. So I feel like God definitely called me in this role for a greater purpose. Its important to me to be aligned with my calling in life. When you're trying to walk in your purpose and you have this dream that’s so hard to reach; you know be prepared to do what others wont to get what others don't have! I have what others don’t have but I’ll do what they wont you know I'll go the extra mile, I’ll stay up the extra amount of time. For example before I was an agent I would try to get coffee with every possible agent there,emailing them and trying to set up meetings. I tried to learn everything about the game, everything about the collective bargaining agreement. Even when I was in law school staying up late you know people are hanging out with friends and I'm studying for the agent exam and the bar exam. So putting in that extra work. Trust me you do it and it pays off..its so worth it.
AM: Great piece of advice and then my last question is what advice do you have for any Millennials currently following their dreams or for any young women out there that's trying to follow in your footsteps to become a sports agent?
NL: First just follow your dreams generally. The first step is to find someone that’s in the business or a mentor wether your dream is to be like a famous hairstylist or a doctor or a whatever. I mean there’s some type of like entrepreneurial thing that you are wanting to do; find a mentor...someone to mentor you and guide you. Second, be willing to work for free. Some people got all the time in the world.If you want to be a rapper, I should not see you out here selling mixtapes, hand them out, they should be for free. Your goal should be getting your music out there. In the beginning of chasing a dream it is not about making money and so it took me a long time to realize that I was gonna make money as an agent. I actually forgot that I would get paid because I'm so passionate about doing it. When it came time to get paid I’m like oh my God I forgot that this makes money. That’s how I knew I was like really being purposeful. As far as sports-specific and wanting to be an agent, the biggest piece of advice is making sure that that's what you want to do. There are other ways to help athletes than being an agent. You can work at the Union which is the NFLPA like Players Association, you could work for yourself ,work for a team or a team sponsor. A lot of people say they want to be an agent. But, they just want to work in sports and that's totally fine. But there are other jobs in sports that aren’t as difficult and don’t cost as much money. So make sure that you understand what an agent does and that’s - what you want to do and then if it is, get some type of experience in sports no matter what it is. So that’s kind of what I did, I worked at the NFL Players Association in Washington DC before I became an agent. That way I had something sports related when I go in front of a player. Not just like yeah I’m an agent, before this I did x y and z. So get the experience and be prepared to work hard.
AM: That’s so amazing. Well thank you for all your knowledge and taking the time out interview with me. You are definitely a Millennial breaking barriers down and I know this only the beginning for you!
Be sure to keep up with Nicole's amazing Journey as I can ensure you this is just the beginning!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agentnicolelynn/
Website:https://www.agentnicolelynn.com
