A MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDER

Here’s the thing about athletes — we like to be coached. Tell us where to be, what to do, and what it’ll take to win, and we’re all in. Give us a plan, and we’ll attack it with more discipline than a monk in marathon training. And when that plan is the right one? Game over. Success is inevitable.

After years of coaching athletes through the transition from elite competitor to executive leader, I’ve seen one truth play out over and over: you can’t skip the essentials. Every job — every single one — requires three career assets:

1. A resume that survives the 7-second skim. (Yes, seven seconds. Less time than it takes to scroll past a bad TikTok.)

2. An online presence that doesn’t make people question if you still live in your college glory days.

3. A network that opens doors, because even the best resume in the world can’t knock on them for you.

And here’s the kicker — people will Google you. Just like you do with everyone you’ve ever considered dating. Don’t lie. We all do it. If your resume made the cut, your digital footprint better match the story you’re trying to tell.

I know this because I’ve spent over 25 years in athlete development, from building programs at San Jose State and the University of Arizona, to partnering with Fortune 500 companies like Adobe to create pipelines for student-athletes into full-time careers. I’ve coached first-generation college grads into jobs they didn’t even think were possible. And I’ve watched athletes who once felt lost in the “real world” step into boardrooms with the same confidence they had under the stadium lights.

The Athlete Career Lab exists because I know exactly where you are and exactly what it takes to get you where you want to go. My job? To hand you the playbook that will get you there. Your job? Show up, run the plays, and win.

— TB
Founder, The Athlete Career Lab