Breanne Geary

I’ve always had a passion for sports. When I got to high school, I realized I wasn’t going to play professionally but decided I still wanted to work in the industry. For the rest of high school and through my first year of college, I pursued sports nutrition. But my sophomore year of college, my interest switched to the business side of sports. That’s when I declared my sports management major and business administration minor.

The sports management program really opened my eyes to the hundreds of different jobs in the sports sector — I had no idea there were so many opportunities! After completing a variety of internships and job shadows, I found myself exactly where I was meant to be: sports tourism. My first day working in sports tourism was interning with Visit Lincoln (Nebraska). I spent the day courtside at University of Nebraska’s Volleyball Day, where the World Record attendance for a volleyball game was set. It was incredibly memorable!

Today, I’m the manager of sports and events for the Olathe Chamber of Commerce. I’m on the Convention and Visitors Bureau team, and my role involves bringing sports-related events to Olathe. Our organization also hosts the Garmin Olathe Marathon, and I’m the race director for the event.

It sounds so cheesy, but I say it because it’s true: My favorite part of my job is giving back to a community that’s given so much to me. I grew up in Olathe and attribute a lot of my success to this community and school district. My goal is to make a meaningful impact on my industry and contribute to my community’s growth.

If you’re in high school and interested in preparing yourself for this kind of job, definitely take English and writing classes seriously. They help you get comfortable organizing your thoughts on paper or presenting in front of people. Plus, having good grammar is an essential skill. If they’re available, business and entrepreneurship classes are helpful to get a broad understanding of finances, marketing, sales, etc., which is also valuable.

My final pieces of advice are to keep your options open, market yourself whenever possible and take advantage of internships. The sports industry is huge! There are lots of fun, well-paying jobs outside of working for a professional sports team. If you can keep an open mind, forge connections and get experience to help guide your choices, it’ll lead to endless opportunities.

Breanne recently moved back to Kansas as part of the Love, Kansas program. Learn more about efforts to get Kansans back to their home state.