ISSUE 012: Christina Unkel has done it all

IN THIS ISSUE

• 🤝 Introduction: Inside or outside of sports?

• 👨‍🎓 Soccer Thought Leaders: Christina Unkel has done it all

• ⚽️ Soccer Jobs: New + interesting jobs

• ⭐️ Featured Job: Anchors up in Rhode Island

• 🫵 Do This Now: Post to LinkedIn. Now.

INTRODUCTION

Hello, Pathwayers! 👋

More than 30% of you told us in a recent poll that you’re hoping to make a career pivot into the sport. We’ve talked to individuals working in finance, health care, hospitality, the military, education, and many other industries who want to find their place in soccer.

Today’s conversation is with Tampa Bay Sun FC President & General Counsel Christina Unkel who suggests working outside of the sport early in your career may be a valuable endeavor. And, in many cases, she’s very likely right.

But, of course, trying to figure out when to make the transition from being outside the sport to finding your place inside it is the challenge. There’s no perfect answer but we believe with the right commitment, ambition, and hard work, it can be done.

And we hope we can help you get there.

-Kyle Sheldon, Co-Founder & CEO

SOCCER THOUGHT LEADERS: CHRISTINA UNKEL OF TAMPA BAY SUN FC (& A WHOLE LOT MORE)

“Growing in your career isn't a ladder, it's a lattice. It goes left, right, up, down.”

As you’ll see below, Tampa Bay Sun FC President and General Counsel Christina Unkel is a big fan of ‘GSD’ people - people who get *ahem* stuff done. People who are not concerned about titles or status, but show commitment and passion for helping wherever needed.

To really understand Christina’s career journey, you simply have to spend a few minutes examining the experience section on her LinkedIn profile - she’s done a bit of everything both inside and outside the sport. She’s a lawyer, a FIFA referee, a TV analyst, a business owner, a consultant - and, now, she’s building a club from the ground up in Tampa Bay.

Christina has a really unique perspective given her varied experiences and we hope you’ll find a few helpful nuggets from our recent conversation.

Questions and answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity (and any emphasis below is ours).

PATHWAY: How did you first get involved in soccer and when did you know you wanted to work in soccer?

CHRISTINA: My background is Guatemalan and Honduran. My family loves soccer, so I started playing when I was really, really young, chasing after my brother, and then I just continued playing. It's part of the heritage, part of the culture. I played in high school, club, and then in college. At that point, I thought I was just going to go to law school and probably not work in the sports industry at all. And, if anything, I thought I might be in-house counsel for a sports team. Everyone always told me there was no money in sports, so I thought I'd stay away from it, but every time I tried to get further and further away from sports, even after being a FIFA referee, everything started aligning even more. I think my heart has always been in the sport, but I got a lot of my industry experience outside of sports and then I was able to bring that experience in on the business side of sport.

PATHWAY: As you mention, you've had a lot of varied experiences and roles throughout your career, some in the sport and some outside of the sport. How have these experiences impacted each other, and how have they ultimately led you to where you are today? 

CHRISTINA: It gives you that ability to have empathy. It gives you the ability to have perspective. I've been part of women's professional soccer for 17 years. I've been there since the beginning of WPS [Women’s Professional Soccer]. I've been there through NWSL, I've been part of FIFA, I've seen World Cups, I've seen our domestic leagues. So for women's soccer specifically, and even being affiliated and working with MLS as a referee then now as a commentator for it, it's given me a lot of different perspectives.

But being able to see everyone's different perspective being on the pitch, appreciating what the coaches do, appreciating what game day operations does, appreciating the fact that it's entertainment, it's allowed me to see all the different facets of being part of the game within the game. And now even working on the TV side, just truly appreciating the entertainment value and what the audience is receiving as a consumer. And then my business and my legal experience away from the sports industry, it all kind of aligned together and I think it's critical to have a variety in your career.

I did commercial business litigation for 12 years, and I was always told, ‘you're never going to be an expert. You're just going to be a jack of all trades.’ And the difference is you're an expert in the rules of civil procedure. So, then you can apply industry knowledge in that respect and you can see things. So, I could tell you how a house is defective, but I can't build it myself. You kind of get a little bit of everything so that when you're doing management, when you're doing business review, you may not know how exactly to build a ticket manifesto, but I have enough working knowledge to do some damage and ask the right questions.

PATHWAY: How do you nwo think about building a culture at Tampa Bay Sun FC and how important is that first round of hires?

CHRISTINA: A lot of what I look for in individuals is what I call GSD people or “get stuff done” people - but, the S stands for something else in my real world [laughs]. And those are just the mindsets you need. It's not even a grind mindset; it's a belief mindset. Building that culture of individuals who are saying, ‘Hey, this may not be necessarily under my title.’ I joke when you do a startup, when you're scaling a business, I always want to delete titles when people are like, oh, I'm a manager title. And I'm like, who are you managing? You're the one doing the work.

So, the types of individuals who really believe in the product of what we're delivering, who believe in the community impact of what we're building, who believe in providing 22 professional contracts to women for the first time ever in the Tampa Bay area. When you have that belief and that passion and that purpose, those are the individuals I'm looking for when we're scaling this business because we're going to be doing a lot of things that many of us are just not comfortable with.

But it's really that GSD person. So when you say, ‘Hey, we need to get something done,’ they're like, ‘I've never done that before.’ I'm like, ‘cool, figure it out and I'll be here with you. I'll be campaigning with you. I'll be selling tickets with you.’ So, building that culture, you find these types of individuals. I know that's one of the things that makes me really passionate about sports - is that people are already stepping into something they love.

PATHWAY: What comes to mind for you when you think of someone that is early in their career and needs to establish that ‘get stuff done’ mindset?

CHRISTINA: One thing I've noticed is that people have this fear to fail sometimes. We watch players, they have a fear to be creative on the ball, so they'll make the safe pass, right? Well, no one wants to come watch someone make a safe pass. People want to see others be creative and have flair for the game. It is hard when you start out because you have to have people above you who believe that it's okay to fail. In my previous career, if I made a mistake that's called malpractice, and that's a lawsuit. And as a soccer referee, where we have key match incidents, those decisions can affect the outcome of the game. Those decisions are made by me. They're not made by those who are starting at the entry level. So when people just erase this fear of failing when they say, ‘I'm going to be creative, I'm going to take a risk,’ but stick to our core values - and ours are respect and access - stick within the core values and become creative in what they do, they start creating things and they start popping. And those are the individuals that catch your attention and then end up moving up and that really thrive in that business.

PATHWAY: So, if you're early in your career, it seems finding leaders that will allow you that freedom to fail and the freedom to be creative, whether on the field or off the field, can be really powerful, can’t it?

CHRISTINA: You have to have somebody above you that is going to allow you to do that. Everything's a season in life, and I think we all forget it, especially when we're young. So, if you find yourself in a position where you don't have someone allowing you to be creative and thrive and build something that's incredibly cool, no problem. Take those lessons from whatever position you are in, know it's a season of your life before you move on to the next season. Growing in your career isn't a ladder, it's a lattice. It goes left, right, up, down. I always think of the game chutes and ladders. That's what careers are. You'll take a slide and you'll fly down three levels, but then you might climb up 10 levels.

PATHWAY: Is there anything else you would say for someone who is starting their career, any specific piece of advice you would provide?

CHRISTINA: It sounds a bit interesting maybe, but I would suggest - don't start your career in sports. If you want to be in-house counsel for a pro team, it's better to work first at a law firm. Because sports and entertainment, people are like, ‘oh, I want to be around the athletes. I want to be at these parties.’ But, that’s not it. You can see the entry level individual come in like that, and you're like, ‘this person doesn't get it.’

The people who immediately add value for me are people who have experience outside the sports industry because, yes, the subject matter is sports, and that's fun and that's exciting, but the outside business knowledge and experience is so valuable.

So, if you've been a soccer player and you don't want to go into the real world, you want to stay in the soccer industry, maybe consider doing a solid year working for a financial company or a year working for a law firm as a paralegal or a year working at a small business. I highly advocate working in a small business because even some of the bigger sports franchises, they still operate lean. And, if you work in a small business, you'll understand the reality of wearing multiple hats. You're talking about the longevity of being successful in the sports business industry. I think having that outside knowledge at a small business would catch my attention.

PATHWAY: Last question - what is your favorite thing about working in soccer?

CHRISTINA: For me it's a bit unique because I wore that referee hat for so long. As a FIFA referee for seven years for the U.S., I had the best seat in the house. In the middle of the field with pro athletes, with the energy of the crowd, leading them out through the tunnel, the adrenaline, the rush, all of that stuff.

And now that I've made that jump out of the referee world, especially on the TV side of it, it's the relationships with people. My favorite part now working in soccer is that there are so many good people, even at the highest level, who share the same passion for the game. There are really good conversations that can occur, especially when we talk about building the game. We're building the game here in the United States and everyone knows and feels and sees where it can go and that’s really exciting.

Ed. note: You can follow and connect with Christina on X [Twitter!] and LinkedIn.

Go work with Christina! Tampa Bay Sun FC have a handful of cool gigs open right now:

• Director, Marketing & Communications

• Ticket Operations & CRM Specialist

• Assistant Coach

SOCCER JOBS: THE MOST INTERESTING NEW JOBS IN SOCCER

Here are a few of the newest jobs in soccer that caught our eye this week:

• Head of School - San Diego FC

• Head Athletic Trainer - Oakland Roots

• Head Women’s Coach - Drew University

• Director, Broadcast Operations - NWSL

• Sr. Coordinator, Media Partnerships - MLS

• Game Presentation Lead - Minnesota United FC

• Chief Business Officer, Women’s Soccer - Vancouver Whitecaps

Want more? Sign up for our weekly “Pathway Jobs Newsletter” where we aggregate and share 100+ soccer jobs all in one place - and drop it into your inbox every Friday. Hooray!

DO THIS NOW: POST TO LINKEDIN

This week’s advice is simple but not necessarily easy.

We’re challenging you to post to LinkedIn. This week.

It can be difficult to put yourself out into the world on social media. Many feel like they don’t have something interesting to say. Some are afraid of being judged for what they do share.

If that’s you, let this be an encouragement to START.

Like most anything in life, we get better by doing. And if you’re able to get into the habit of regularly (even semi-regularly!) posting to LinkedIn you’ll absolutely make new connections, reach potential employers, meet like-minded individuals, or simply connect with someone who might share your interests. It’s worth giving it a go.

Here are a few writing prompts to get you started. Pick one or two that suits you and go post to LinkedIn - this week.

• Share work you admire

  • Post a visual (screenshot or photo) or link to an article

  • Tag the club or company that produced the work

  • Share a few sentences about why you love it and why it stands out

• Shout out a co-worker or industry colleague

  • Identify someone in your circle that has been crushing it

  • Write a few sentences about what makes them great and what they’ve been doing to stand out (Tag ‘em, too!)

  • Express gratitude for their partnership and/or friendship

• Share the best advice you’ve received

  • When has a manager or mentor given you advice that stuck with you?

  • Share that advice with a few notes about why it impacted you

  • Steal one of these openers:

    • "The most impactful career advice I've ever been given…" or

    • “I’ll never forget when a manager told me…”

Good luck and go get ‘em.

-Kyle Sheldon, Co-founder & CEO

WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE ARE A FEW WAYS WE CAN HELP:

1. If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up here to ensure you get every issue (sent on Wednesdays!) directly in your inbox.

2. You can subscribe to our Pathway Jobs Newsletter, which hits inboxes every Friday and lists as many new soccer jobs in North America as we can find (usually 80+ per issue!).

3. And, if you’re a club or brand looking to hire the most ambitious talent in soccer, drop us a line and we can tell you about our process, our growing talent pool, and the services we offer.

TELL A FRIEND?

⏩ Finally, if you’re willing to help spread the word, please forward this issue along to a friend or two who love the beautiful game. It’s the top way people find us and we’re grateful for the assist.

And if you really want to plug in to all things Pathway, you can also follow us on social media:

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See you next week, soccer friends. 👋

• John Bello

• Kyle Sheldon

• Nolan Sheldon