March Madness

Hey honeys and hustlers,

All eyes are on women’s sports. College women’s basketball is dominating March Madness, and not just on the court. Through their NIL deals, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are two of the highest-paid college athletes. Not the highest-paid women college athletes. The highest-paid among all college athletes. Period. Along with those deals are some of the greatest creative campaigns we’ve seen from Nike, Gatorade, and Reebok in a long time.

These athletes aren’t necessarily creators in the way that we might consider someone to be. They don’t have YouTube channels, podcasts, or blogs, but they do have massive followings. Followings that have been growing since they were high school athletes. As NIL deals became legal, it likely wasn’t hard for many college athletes to transition to contributing to brand creative campaigns, as sports creative teams are some of the most versatile in terms of skillset, and likely readily available. From UGC (user-generated content) creation and brand ambassadorships, college athletes have been able to secure the bag and NCAA titles.

Brand integrations look different for college athletes, as they’re more of an influencer rather than a creator. But since creators who want to secure brand deals have to follow a similar path of building an audience, I thought it would be timely to talk about how athlete creators are setting the tone for what’s possible going forward for brand partnerships.

I’m posting a YouTube video about 3 things creators can learn from college athletes tomorrow but until then, here are some readworthy women’s sports news articles.

• Here’s an article from Kirby Porter on NIL Storytelling Startups. I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of these.

• UNC’s Deja Kelly inks an NIL deal with Tommy Hilfiger.

• Caitlin Clark (Iowa WBB), Kamilla Cardoso (USC WBB), and Kiki Rice (UCLA WBB) will be featured in an ESPN+ docuseries.

• MiLaysia Fulwiley is scoring buckets and brand deals at USC. She’s inked a deal with Curry Brand (Steph Curry’s brand announcement video is 🔥) and Red Bull’s first-ever NIL partnership.

• Angel Reese has expanded beyond athleisure to add beauty and financial equity campaigns to her portfolio. She has a partnership with Cruz Textures Bundles and Goldman Sachs (having her mom in the video was a nice touch).

• The Las Vegas Aces sold out of the 2024 season tickets. They’re the first WNBA team to ever do so. The Las Vegas Aces are the reigning WNBA Champs and are home to one-half of the Syd + TP show (now available on YouTube thank goodness).

• Tickets to this year’s WNBA draft sold out in 15 minutes.

Onto this week’s podcast guest

In this episode of Honey and Hustle, we dive into the vibrant world of personal branding with the dynamic Chisa Pennix-Brown, founder of Lady Business and co-founder of Give It To The People. Chisa shares her journey as an entrepreneur and how she has crafted a personal brand that resonates with her colorful personality and professional ethos. You can watch or listen to our conversation below.

You can also check it out on Apple Podcasts.

Early in our conversation, Chisa revealed the quirky origin of her company's name and how it has evolved to win awards and open doors for her professionally. We learn about Chisa's transition from Lady Business to her own personal brand, marked by a shift towards more color and a reflection of her true self (I can’t even imagine Chisa wearing black and white). There are multiple ways to show your personality; whether its through your hair and clothes like Chisa or your thoughtfulness, warmth, and attention to detail, people will remember the little things that make you you. 

Give It to the People is a company she co-founded with her husband during the pandemic, a company that curates conferences and events for organizations. While discussing networking she shared that instead of going out to meet people, she now organizes events that will attract potential clients and collaborators to her. Can somebody say inbound leads?! Didn’t mean to yell, I just wanted to make sure Tammy (her tambourine) could hear me.

It’s an honor to share Chisa’s colorful story and effortless positivity with you — may it help you along your creative and entrepreneurship journey (or as you plan your next event!).

P.S. If you’d like to be featured in this newsletter:

1. Rate the podcast on Spotify, review it on Apple Podcasts, or leave a video testimonial here.

2. Email me a screenshot.

3. Tell me what you’d like me to share!

P.P.S. I have a new video course I’m working on (it’ll be my first)! It’s called, MFA - Mastering Freelance Accelerator. It’s a 30-day course for creators to accelerate their entrepreneurship journey. If you’d like to be the first to know when it’s live, reply to this and I’ll add you to the waitlist.

Please Hustle Responsibly,

🤙🏾✨

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