Excerpt

INTRODUCTION

My Story and Why You Should Read This Book

January 31, 1989: at Madison Square Garden (six minutes before

tip-off for Knicks vs. Pacers):

A ball bounced over to us, so I grabbed it and looked up. My father

and I were standing right next to the scorer’s table at MSG. There

were no security concerns at that time about fans being next to the

court.

Chuck Person, a player on the Pacers, ran over to me and put

his hands up. He looked like he was 12 feet tall.

I gave him the best chest-pass of my life. He caught the ball

and said, “Hey, little man, thanks for grabbing that. What’s your

name?”

I smiled, and in my high-pitched, meek, seven-year-old voice

said, “My name’s Pete.”

Chuck smiled back and said, “Well, Pete, this one’s for you.”

Then he turned around and launched a shot from where he was

standing, 25 feet from the basket. It zipped through the net.

Swoosh!

He turned his head back to me, smiled, winked, and ran over to

his team’s bench.

That was the first time I said to myself that I was going to make

it to the NBA when I grew up.

April 8, 2003: at Johns Hopkins University (in my dorm room):

I was freaking out. How had I gotten into this position?

I had done everything that you are supposed to do as a student

to prepare for your career, but it had gotten me nowhere. In one

month, I was going to be graduating from college, and I had no idea

where I was going to live or work. Not exactly the reward I expected

after busting my butt for four years.

Ever since I had been a little kid, basketball had been my obses-

sion.

When I got to college at Johns Hopkins University and

learned that I could combine my love of basketball with my passion

for business, I knew exactly what my dream job would be: a

marketing and sales position with an NBA franchise.

Unfortunately, it looked like that dream would never become a

reality.

I had spent four years maintaining a high GPA, paying my dues

in internships, and scraping by with part-time jobs that barely paid

minimum wage. I also spent my entire senior year applying to

advertised jobs, participating in on-campus recruiting, and attending

career fairs all over Baltimore and Washington, D.C. However,

I still had no leads on a job with an NBA team or with any organiza-

tion connected to sports.

I had come close the summer before my senior year, when I

landed an interview for an internship position with the NBA’s

Washington Wizards. However, the Wizards had rejected me and

selected another candidate, one who I assumed was more qualified

and credentialed.

Now the pressure was starting to mount, and I was really getting

tired of friends and family asking what I was going to do after

college. I didn’t know the answer.

As I checked my email that afternoon, I noticed that the Baltimore

chapter of the American Marketing Association was going to

have a career workshop for local students in four days, on Satur-

day, April 12, 2003. I also noticed that one of the featured speak-

ers was going to be a man named Howe Burch. At the time, Howe

was a senior executive for Fila, the sports marketing company.

A light bulb went off in my head as I thought to myself: “Well, he

works in sports. Nothing else has worked for me, so why don’t I go

to the event and ask him for some advice. What do I have to

lose?”

Little did I know that simple decision would change my life

forever.

Six weeks later, I found myself in a private interview with Susan

O’Malley, the team president for the Washington Wizards at the

time. (In Chapter 6, I’ll fill in the blanks on how I got the interview.)

The following week, the Wizards offered me a full-time position

in their front office, even though I was only 21 years old and

had no industry experience. I didn’t want to appear too eager when

they made their offer, so I waited three seconds before accepting

the job.

Over the next five years, the Washington Wizards actually paid

me (very well, in fact) to brainstorm and execute strategies that

would increase attendance at their home games. I also got to:

* Watch games from courtside (a slight upgrade from my usual

seat locations as a fan in college).

* Fly on an NBA team plane (a slight upgrade from my usual

modes of transportation as a student in college).

* Mingle with political leaders, TV personalities, and multimillion-

aire CEOs. (It is absurd how much money these people

spend.)

* Dunk on an NBA court before a game. (Some white guys can

jump, thank you very much.)

* Shake hands with an ex-NBA player who was 7'7" tall. (His

fingers were like bananas.)

* Scrimmage against WNBA All-Stars, including Chamique

Holdsclaw and Alana Beard. (I’m still trying to catch my breath

six years later.)

* Attend an NBA All-Star Game after-party with the players. (I

have never felt so short in my life.)

* Have my own private office inside the Verizon Center in Washing-

ton, D.C. (Well, I started in a cubicle the size of a closet, but

I got my own office eventually!)

While the perks were great, they were not the best part of my

position. More important, my job gave me a platform to create pro-

grams that made dreams come true for other sports fans, and my

job enabled me to fulfill my lifelong dream to make it to the NBA

(even though I didn’t make it as a player).

I got my dream job and so can you!

• • •

This book will teach you everything you need to know to get your

dream job and create your ideal career as a young professional.

While this book features a number of sports analogies and stories

from my life, this book is the blueprint for getting any job you

want in any industry.