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You Can't Afford Me
Making the leap from employment to entrepreneurship can be a scary time. The biggest fear people have is the unknown. Here on the “You Can’t Afford Me Podast” we speak with hustlers and innovators on how to make the most of your journey. If you have questions we have answers.
You Can't Afford Me
How A Nonprofit Turned A City Into A Movement
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What if a city could turn movement into its superpower? We sat down with Will, executive director of Sports Backers, to unpack how Richmond’s biggest runs, boldest trails, and friendliest training teams all connect to one mission: make active living easy, joyful, and safe for everyone. You know the finish lines—the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K, the Richmond Marathon, Riverrock—but the real magic is what happens before and after: beginner-friendly coaching, injury-prevention and nutrition clinics, and a culture that helps first-timers turn a 10-minute walk into a lifelong habit.
We dive into Bike Walk RVA’s push for protected lanes, safer crossings, and traffic-calming that saves lives and invites more people outside. Will shares the vision for the 43-mile Fall Line Trail linking Ashland to Petersburg—connecting neighborhoods, two HBCUs, schools, and parks with equitable access to recreation and transportation. We talk practical safety, why bikes belong on the road, and how design reduces human error. The throughline is simple: better streets build healthier people and stronger communities.
Behind the scenes, Sports Backers runs a lean, mission-driven team that still shows up at 4 a.m. to set barricades and welcome thousands to shared rituals that define Richmond. Will’s path—from unloading trucks to the ED seat—highlights a culture of gratitude, collaboration, and growth. We get honest about nonprofit careers, fulfillment and pay, and why investing in people builds decade-long tenures. Plus, clear on-ramps to get involved: volunteer on a course, coach a youth run club, advocate for safer design, or join a training team and find your pace.
Ready to move with us? Listen now, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review with the one change your street needs most. Subscribe so you never miss the next step.
www.themrpreneur.com
Welcome And Who Sports Backers Is
SPEAKER_03Welcome to the You Can't Afford Me podcast. Let's get the fluff and that's 30 filters. Real filter. Real drop. And the unfiltered journey is let's get it. Hey guys, thanks for joining us on another episode of the You Can't Afford Me Podcast. Now, this guest we have on. If you live in the Richmond, Virginia area and you have not heard of this organization, I don't know where you've where you've been hiding. I don't even know if I've signed up for newsletters or anything, but it seems like every newsletter I get in the Richmond area, it's got this organization's logo on it. So today we have Will from Sportable here on the show. Will, how are you doing today, buddy?
SPEAKER_00Sports backers.
SPEAKER_03Sports backers. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I had an episode for Sportable. Yeah, yeah.
Will’s Path Into Active Living Work
SPEAKER_00I actually watched that episode. It's a good good friend organization of ours. Um yeah, so I'm Will with Sports Backers. I'm the executive director. Uh we're an active living nonprofit based here in Richmond, uh, been around since 1991. So a long haul, I'm relatively new to the executive director role, been around for about eight months, um, but succeeding John Ludville, who had been the ED for 32 years. Oh wow. Um, so yeah, people might know us from events like the UCrops Monument Avenue 10K and Marathon, yeah, and coming up. Um so we do a lot of big kind of active living events, but we have a lot of community-based programs that actually a lot of people are not as familiar with. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So how did you get into this space?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's uh dumb luck might be might be an answer. Um I went to James Madison, studied sport and rec management, grew up playing sports as an athlete, uh kind of active living and physical activity was always kind of part of my DNA. Nice.
SPEAKER_03Also, a side note, good time to be a JMU fan.
SPEAKER_00It is a good time to be a JMU fan. You know, got to watch uh JMU Midwest win the national championship a couple weeks ago. So um I think 13 players from JMU had followed Signetti up to Indiana. Oh wow at part of the national championship. So that was kind of cool to see. Yeah. Um I'd like to see JMU not be a stepping stone program at some point. I love the success. I love I love the growth, love the enthusiasm kind of built up from the alumni. But you know, I think there's something special there. We just gotta capture it. Yeah, it's coming. So yeah, I studied sport and rec management there. Um born and raised in Richmond, so I moved back here after college and didn't really have a plan for a career.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um I helped my dad, he owned an appliance shop at the time, so I just kind of helped out the summer after I graduated, delivering and installing appliances, and then just put feelers out in the community. I had interned with the Richmond Kickers um the summer prior. Nice to knew some folks in the sports world. Um but Richmond sports community is different, right? I mean, it it's it's uh it's well supported, and this is shoot almost 20 years ago. So the kickers have done some phenomenal things since then. You know, this this was pre-squirrels, right? So like the the Braves were around, but not really doing the thing that they could be doing to make I miss the Braves though, man. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03And don't get me wrong, I love my flying squirrels, but the Braves that was an awesome era.
SPEAKER_00It it was, but we were kind of past, you know, we were past the Clesco, Chipper Jones days, like it it they were just kind of around. Yep. And so when the squirrels came in, I do think that was a breath of fresh air. Um point being that like the opportunities are somewhat limited here if you're really trying to build a career around sports. And I just kind of blindly shot an email off to John Ludbill.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It was like, hey, I got I got this degree, I'm from Richmond, I'm willing to work hard. And they weren't hired at the time, sports backers wasn't hired. So but he was like, We have some events that we could use some help with on the weekends. So I was like, all right, so I came out loading and unloading trucks, set up and break down. I mean, just pure manual labor.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, just grunt work.
SPEAKER_00Just grunt work. And uh so I did that for the fall of what 2007, was hired full-time, January 08, really again with that kind of operations background and you know, worn a lot of hats between then and now.
Signature Events That Unite Richmond
SPEAKER_03So I like one thing I like about that is like I've a lot of my staff here, they are here and have a full-time position because of proximity. Where they were just like, this is an industry I want to be in, and I think this is a good spot. What do you need? Like, I'll volunteer, I'll I'll intern here, like whatever side jobs you have, just and then opportunities opened up, and I'm like, well, you're already here, so let's let's roll forward with this. Um let's I want to make sure people have a clear understanding of sports backers and everything you guys do. So go in a little bit more on that. What are the array of services that you guys provide?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it it's it's a complicated puzzle. Yeah. I describe it as a puzzle because it's there's a lot of different pieces to it, but it's all part of this ecosystem of a healthy, vibrant, active community.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, and I won't I won't bore you with the history of it, but our current existence is really around bringing the community together around physical activity. So that takes shape in a lot of different ways. Um, again, I mentioned the events, they're kind of the thing that most people know about. You're getting emails about. Yeah. Um so the Eucrops Monument Avenue 10K is the fifth largest 10K in the country.
SPEAKER_03Um Wow, didn't I know that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's kind of a kind of a rite of passage a little bit in Richmond um to take part in it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, even people that aren't into running, like at some point I feel like they all end up doing the 10K.
SPEAKER_00You gotta do the 10K. Yeah, like and you don't have to run it. You don't have to be a racer. You can go out there and walk it, you can walk it backwards for all we care. But like you will get out there and and I I don't want to be sacrilegious here in any form or fashion, but it's almost a religious type of experience. I think you were going there and you just you feel the energy of the people around you.
SPEAKER_03It's electric. Like I remember the last it's been a while. It's been a while since I ran the last 10K, but I remember there are guys out there in dinosaur uniform like costumes on the street. Like I remember running by a frat house and they had a booth out there and they were giving out shots, which was a dumb move to take a shot during during a 10K.
SPEAKER_00That's not a sanctioned activity.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. No.
SPEAKER_00Um so we do big events and we own and operate about you know 10 to 12 events on an annual basis, um, and then various kind of partnership in the event space um in a variety of ways.
SPEAKER_03What are some of the other ones that everybody may not know as well as like the monuments and kitchen?
SPEAKER_00So the the corporate run, the Markel Corporate Run out in Endsborough. We have over 200 companies, about 5,000 people come out um early June.
SPEAKER_03Um my first corporate job in Richmond. I remember our company that participated in that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um the Carmax Tacky Light run down to Midlothian. Um it's kind of this awesome Christmas holiday season of kind of parade through some pretty spectacular tachy lights um in the Walton Park neighborhood in Midlothian. And I mean it's a 5,000-person event. It's not it's not small. Um I'm trying to think of some other ones. We do a dragon boat festival, we do a half marathon and 5k up in Ashland, uh, we do a half marathon and 5k that starts and stops at University of Richmond, the River City half and 5K, um, the Richmond Marathon in November that also has a half marathon and 8K associated with it. So kind of things sprinkle throughout the year, largely in the in the running space. And then Dominion Energy River Rock is a huge outdoor sports music festival on the riverfront that we partner with Venture Richmond on. Um so that's that's all us.
SPEAKER_03Are you are you a runner as well? You know, you're you're built like a runner, that's why I thought it.
SPEAKER_00Labels, labels are interesting. Um can I run? Yes. Do I enjoy running? Yes. Uh am I gonna win any races anytime soon? Yeah, I gotcha. And we can dive into my my kind of passion for physical activity, but I'm not I I just have to stay active. Yeah, and that and I'll I will go through phase like right now. I'm in like a calisthenics phase where I'm really kind of working on body weight stuff and a little strength and flexibility. Six months from now I might be back in the pool swimming. Yeah. Five months after that, I might be on my bike out on the Capitol Trail.
SPEAKER_03So mixing it up, just kind of keep it fresh. Yeah, doing some different things. Do you guys like uh with the events and things like that that you put on, is there any education behind what you guys are doing? Because obviously, I heard uh I think it was on the diary of a CEO, um, one of my favorite podcasts. Uh I can't remember who the guest was, but they had a health expert on there, and he basically said if you could put in a bottle the benefits that you get from physical activity and you put it on the shelf at Walmart or Target, it would sell for thousands of dollars. Um, I think a lot of people just don't understand. And I saw somebody the other day, they were just like, I think it was a lady, she was like 80 years old. You would have sworn she was 45, 50 years old. And they were like, What's the secret? Like, how are you this old? She's like, hold up, baby, I'm not old. Like, old is just a number. She's like, if you stay moving, I saw Oprah Winfrey was doing dips the other day, had some weights. I was like, Oprah looking good. So it's just like if you just keep your body moving, you know, you're not gonna end up being that 75-year-old man hunched over and using the cane. So, what do you guys provide to community education-wise to keep them motivated?
Training Teams And Everyday Fitness
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'd say the the thing that first comes to mind is we have training teams associated with a lot of our events. Um, we have a 10K training team that meets for 10 weeks leading up to the Monument Avenue 10K at any YMCA location throughout the region, a couple other community-based locations as well. And so that's a a guided program. And if if you can start walking a half a mile, you can finish it, you'll be able to do the 10K 10 weeks later. And so that's led by volunteer coaches that are you know helping all the participants understand the importance of stretching and the kind of mindset that it takes to achieve the goal. And then we have some resources along the way, nutrition clinics, injury prevention clinics, things like that. So the people you know they're doing it intentionally, but they're doing they're kind of they're kind of being guided through the process. Um and uh we do the same thing for the 8K and then our half marathon and marathon training teams, we think are some of the largest in-person training teams in the country. Nice. Um so they each boast over a thousand people that meet for week in, week out, and then have a training guide for every every day from day one till race day. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So and during the summer, you always see when I'm going through Scott's edition, I always see those groups of people like Saturday, Sunday morning, yeah.
SPEAKER_00You can't miss them. Um and I mean honestly, going back to your point on kind of the benefits of physical activity, I it's one thing that we really stress. I mean, whether it's running or cycling or paddling, whatever it may be, um there's there's some value to be extracted from it. Yeah. And whether that's an a mental health thing for you personally, you're to write your mind if it's for longevity, and so you know, you're able to be 80 years old and and working out it socially, making friends, creating bonds, like there's so much value to be extracted from moving. You can find your people that way, you can find yourself that way. Um and I think that historically, if you look back a few decades, you know, exercise was all about strength, you know, muscle mass and weight loss. It's like, okay, like if those are your goals, cool, like physical activity can do that, but it is just so much deeper and broader than that.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, absolutely. Like I'm the type where I get up at 4 30 every morning. Um, me and my wife have two young kids, a five and a four-year-old. So like for me, the morning time is the only time I can get the workout. Yeah. And I I like it because number one, I mean, once the day gets started, my phone doesn't stop ringing, social media notifications, emails, texts, phone calls, you're you're have so many distractions throughout the day. But having that one hour every single morning that's just for me, where I know nobody's calling me at 5 a.m. Like I know I can stay completely focused, and the days where you know I have a busy morning and I end up having to skip the gym or something, I notice me just being off a little bit. Like my mind isn't as clear. I'm working in creative space, so like my mind always has to be sharp. And I just always notice that something's a little off with that when I don't get those workouts in. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And it's amazing how quick that can happen too. And if you're if you're paying attention to it, you'll notice it. And I think that's it's one of kind of the the paradoxes of physical activity is that you don't, even if you don't see the results you're looking for, if you stop doing it and you're actually looking for it, you'll realize like, oh, this actually was doing a ton for me.
SPEAKER_031000%. And I'll I'll go back and look, like, me and my wife got from the time we dated to you know being married and having kids, like my wife was never really a gym rat. Um neither am I, by the way.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the gym's not my spot.
Bike Walk RVA And The Fall Line
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you're the outdoor dude. Yeah. Um, but during COVID, like, first off, we were I'll say we, she was pregnant basically all through COVID. Um, wasn't anything else to do. Um it's time to make babies. That's right. And I nobody told me when you become a new dad and your wife's pregnant that you're also gonna put on the extra pounds. Like when she's like, hey, be real nice if I had a Dairy Queen blizzard right now, you can't just come back with one. You gotta have one as well, too. So we were both packing on the pounds during her pregnancy. Um, and we just woke up one morning and I was like, man, I gotta make this change. And I just took the lead on that, and she saw me start going to the gym. She's like, you know, maybe I should do that. Now it's like medicine to her. Like, she's a stay-at-home mom, so like when I get home and it's been a stressful day with the kids, she's like, I gotta go to the gym. Like, I gotta get out of here, I gotta burn some steam. So if people really truly understand, and it's not like what you said, the the media is always portrayed just like with the weight loss and the muscle mass and things like that. But people don't understand just how beneficial walking is. Like, take a, I've read this in an article probably years ago. After a meal, it's like ice all over the place, so I'm not doing it now, but like normally after I have my lunch here, I'll go for a 10-minute walk around the block. I'll book a phone call with the client and I'll just take a walk. And just what that helps with your digestion, taking a 10-minute walk and burning those cows, like you're not out there sweating and doing smooth.
SPEAKER_00Yep, that's absolutely right. And so I'm gonna piggyback on piggyback on that to kind of talk a little bit about other things that sports backers that we're involved in because you got the Capitol Trail right outside your own. Oh, it's gorgeous over here. So I'm sure you I imagine when the weather's a little nicer and it's not covered in ice, you're out there all the time.
SPEAKER_01Every day.
SPEAKER_00And so we there's another kind of program of ours called Bike Walk RVA that is fully focused on bike and pedestrian safety. But then kind of the subset of that is street design and um infrastructure. So we have a signature project called the Fall Line Trail that's gonna start in Ashland, end in Petersburg. So a 43-mile-long trail. Nice um connects two HBCUs, connects 350,000 people within, I think it's a mile on either side of the fall line corridor, almost a hundred public uh institutions, so you know, elementary to middle high schools. Um it's a phenomenal project that I think will be transformative in how people are able to recreate. But then also and you know, equitable transportation, economic development opportunities, and like again, it it's all just piggyback, and it's one other piece of that puzzle of how can we encourage people to use more active transportation and take advantage of what they have around them and create kind of shape a community around the opportunity to move freely, move safely, absolutely and and kind of get the health benefits along with it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's one thing I've noticed over the last few years. I'm not originally from Richmond, I've been here now close to 20 years. Um but all the bike paths, the trails, even the bike lanes now on like major roads and things like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it it takes good design. I mean, you we're I'm not trying to put my head in the sand on this. We've had eight pedestrian deaths in the last month here in the Richmond region. And wow, you know, it's it's a problem. Yeah. And and I think that they're what we're working towards is a shared understanding that these these crashes, these fatalities are preventable. Yeah. And but it you know, we are all human. Whether you're walking, you're cycling, you're driving a car, we are all human. We all make mistakes. Yep. But good design of the streets and giving people safe places to walk and to cycle and to drive prevents a lot of that. Like it's preventable. Yeah. And so um we have a kind of whole advocacy effort around you know, both policy and community organizing and and and education around that to help move the region forward on that front.
SPEAKER_03What what is the rule? This is a good time that I've always wanted this. I don't know why I haven't just chat GPT'd it or Google it. When I was growing up, when you were riding a bike, you were supposed to be on the sidewalk.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Now it seems like things, what is the rule with that?
SPEAKER_00Cyclists are actually encouraged to ride in the road. Um, that's where they're safest because the sidewalk is narrow, you have more blind kind of intersection crossings.
SPEAKER_03Um businesses, somebody may come out of a building or something.
Street Design, Safety, And Culture
SPEAKER_00That's exactly right. And you might be there's more conflict with pedestrians as well on the sidewalk. So bikes belong in the road. The roads are for all of us. Um at the end of the day, you know, the the logical side of me is like if I'm pushing a drive an F-150, if I'm pushing a 2,000-pound steel machine, like the onus is on me to make sure that I'm keeping everybody else safe.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Does that mean that pedestrians are perfect? No. Does it mean that cyclists are perfect? No.
SPEAKER_02But like if they hit me, I might die.
SPEAKER_00I'm I'm okay. If I hit them, yeah, as a driver, like, you know, so I actually talk about with my kids all the time while I'm driving around, and we might see poor pedestrian behavior or poor driver behavior, and I'll be like, you know, just kind of call out the situation for what it is and be like, yeah, is it gonna slow me down 30 seconds if I get behind a cyclist and have to wait to be able to pass them safely? Maybe.
SPEAKER_03But that's my biggest pet thief with Richman drivers, like people flying around, like bro, and then you end up at the same spot. We're all gonna end up at the same stoplight in two seconds. Relax.
SPEAKER_00A little a breath and a little bit of patience goes a long way and honestly could save a life.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. Let's talk about your journey to executive directors. Uh I've served on the board for probably three or four nonprofits at this point. Um, so I know what the role of an executive director is, and the fact that you guys are so event heavy, like, first off, people need to understand putting on events is not an easy task whatsoever. So the fact that you guys have so many a year actually blows my mind. Like the Monument 10K on its own is its own beast, but like there are clients that we work with uh them on their marketing production and things for for their events each year. And like the second they're done with one, like I'm talking to the guys who uh run the Corn Ferry tour for the PGA, the second it's over, they're planning next year, and that's all they focus on the entire year. So like I'm interested, how are you guys, what's the size of the staff? How are you guys managing all this?
Running An Event-Heavy Nonprofit
SPEAKER_00So we have a staff of about 25. Oh now, I haven't even touched on three or four of the other programs we have. So dedicated really to the events is probably a staff of six. Um, and then we all pitch in, right? I mean, yeah. Any nonprofit you've been involved with nonprofits, you wear a lot of different hats if you have to. Um you know, I I I I often joke in this institute my iron horn, but at 4 a.m. on 10K day, I'll be on a forklift driving around, you know, getting stuff set up. Like, you know, you wear hats.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_00So um but yeah, it's a you know, multitasking, I think, is a is a bit of a fallacy, but you have to be able to manage multiple projects that are in different kinds of stages of the life cycle at the same time. Yeah. So we just have a phenomenal team that's able to do that at a really high level. And we're fortunate to have a community around us that actually like they want to be involved. So, you know, if you're looking for a new sponsor, it's a lot easier when they're calling you saying, hey, we're looking to get involved with something in the community. You know, what how can we work together, right? That's that's a lot easier than cold calling 100 people and hoping that you land a couple of them.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00So I think that we're incredibly blessed to be in Richmond and have a community of doers that want to be involved. I think that um again, going back to the the benefits of physical activity and how it can benefit everybody, it's a really good platform to various messages across and engage in different ways. Um but yeah, I mean it it it's you know registration for the for next year's marathon and the 10K actually will open the day after this year's race. Oh wow. So I mean it is it is constantly you know cycling through based on you know the date and where you are in the year. So it just it takes dedication and you have to enjoy the work. Oh yeah. And I think that's true for any nonprofit professional. Uh oh, for sure. You know, because it can be a grind.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, oh no doubt. I want I want to get back to your climb to the executive director level, but another thought just came to mind. I'm really interested in how you guys crafted the brand. So, like to me, sports backers is one of those names that's synonymous with you know your staples of Richmond, like your mama J's and your flying squirrel. Like, people, yeah, people look at sports backers like I've almost seen it as a national brand every time I've it's come across. It's just like that's a logo that everybody recognizes. And I know how long you say you've been in the executive director role?
SPEAKER_00Eight months.
SPEAKER_03Eight months. So obviously, this that role is something fairly new for you. Um, but it sounds like you've been along for a good part of this journey from your experience coming in and just being a kid that's trying to get around it and lifting heavy boxes and trying to get involved. What's what's your opinion or thought on how this brand has been able to sustain and more importantly, how has it continued to grow the way it has?
Brand, Collaboration, And Growth
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's interesting. Um I think we are able to sustain because it's very the work's very intentional. You know, it we we we lay out a plan. I mean it it's well governed by a really strong and involved board. You know, we have strategic plans that and roadmaps to get us to you know to where we want to go. Um again, I'll I'll give credit to the community that you know it takes donors, it takes sponsors, it takes participants, it takes people that want to engage with us to actually be able to grow. Um and I think that we we try not we we don't feel the need to take credit for everything that we do. I mean it's it's almost like an open source sort of environment where you know if if we if there's opportunity for collaboration, you know, we we love to collaborate. And it's okay if we don't get the credit for it. So I think that you know it's it it's almost like a a bit of a flywheel of you know, if you do good for others, uh good good will come back to you. Yeah. And so, you know, that's definitely a mindset that we have.
SPEAKER_03There's definitely a level of of humbleness that you see with the brand.
SPEAKER_00I I hope so. I mean honestly, like I hope that's the thing.
SPEAKER_03That's the way it's come across to me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and and at the end of the day, like I I've learned over the last handful of months that sitting in the executive director role, you have to take credit for some things that you don't deserve credit for. Like you know, that people around you are doing. And so, you know, I think leading with gratitude and understanding that you know none none of this happens alone is a is just kind of a good mindset to have.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. All right, let's talk about this climb to executive director. So from being some broke college kid, just wanting to be around, to so that was in 2007. That's right. So then you took on the role of executive director in 2025. That's right. Talk to us about that journey. Like, how did you climb the ladder and uh decide that this was the place you wanted to remain long term?
Climbing To Executive Director
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it that was never the goal, right? Like the goal was never to climb the ladder. Um, the goal was to be exposed to new opportunities and to continue to just develop as a person and as an individual. And I'll give a ton of credit to John, my predecessor, and other you know, managers and co-workers I've had over the years that within a relatively small organization. I mean, I was the 11th or 12th employee, I think, when I was hired. Um a lot of opportunities were presented to me, and all I had to do was step through the door. Right. All I had to do was say, yep, this is something that I want to learn more about or I want to get more involved in. So but they had to present the opportunities to me to some extent. So um, you know, every every opportunity that was given to me, whether it was all right, you want to start answering all the emails that come to the office when people have an issue with their 10K registration or answering the phone or um you know, getting more involved in event development, I was like, yep, yep, yep. I mean, I didn't have experience in customer service, I didn't have experience in event operations, but I just kept on stepping through that door. And that eventually made its way over to the kind of corporate partnership world. So sponsorship, not sales, but really fulfillment. Yeah. And I think, you know, to John's credit and others, it was it was recognized that you could dovetail the two, right? Knowing how the events operate is actually really important for knowing how a sponsor could best show up at the event.
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_00And so I got into the sponsorship side, and then um you mentioned the Corn Ferry Tour and the guys at the PGA here. So Jeff Fitch is with the PGA tour. Um, he uh he was my director. He was the director of sponsorship and development at Sportsbackers. He was there for 10 years. So the opportunity to work under Jeff. It's Jeff's a heck of a salesperson, yeah. He's a passionate individual.
SPEAKER_03Um your episode's probably dropping. I have him coming on in a couple weeks. So your episode probably dropped right before his.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Jeff's a Jeff's a good one. Um he uh, you know, so I learned a lot from him. And so having been surrounded by really talented, passionate people that kind of brought me along, and all I had to be was a bit of a fly on the wall and just absorb stuff.
SPEAKER_03Um but you were open and willing for all these opportunities, yeah, and interested, right?
SPEAKER_00Like, and and I think that you know, one of the things I've learned as I look back on my career is that no matter how big or small of an organization you are, you ought to be fulfilled, yeah. Like fulfillment is key. I don't care if you're making 20 grand a year or 200 grand a year, like you need to be fulfilled in what you're doing and believe in what in the work that you're doing. So I've been fortunate to kind of have both, right? And um and so I got into the sponsorship side, then got into the fundraising, which was really more focused on some of the other programs that we do outside of the events. Um, and you know, at the end of the day, John who had been the organization for 32 years, was ready to hang up the run and shoes. Um, though I know he's still paddling and running and mountain biking and doing all the things that John's passionate about. Um, you know, that opportunity to throw my name in the hat uh to interview for the role came about, and I was like, yeah, this is another door I'm gonna step through.
SPEAKER_03Yep. That's awesome. That's awesome. I love that. Um on that topic, I want to kind of debunk this. Now, I'm not asking you to divulge your full-time salary or anything like that. But I think people just in general, because when you're talking about passion and fulfillment, I think there are a lot of people that would love to work in the nonprofit space, but a lot of them have this preconceived notion that if you work in a nonprofit, you're not gonna make any money. Um so if you can kind of speak to like the opportunities, not necessarily just at uh sports backers, but for nonprofits in general, I want people to understand that you can do something that you're passionate about, you can give back to the community, and you can and earn a livable wage.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I mean I'm gonna get some numbers wrong here, but there's all sorts of studies around, you know, where money becomes goes from essential to providing a level of psychological comfort to really excess.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And that number is not as high as some people might think. I think the last I saw might have been like 70 grand a year or something.
SPEAKER_03That's where my head went. I think it was like 70 to 90k or something like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and so like anything beyond that is not gonna it's not gonna bring you happiness, it's not gonna bring you fulfillment. So just starting there, I mean, I'll I'll say the nonprofit sector is has to be more diligent and more kind of frugal with their with their funds.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
Careers, Pay, And Fulfillment
SPEAKER_00Because they're limited. And I mean everybody's limited to some extent, but um but I will say, and one of the things I really value about about sports backers is that you know, if you want to keep good people around, you need to invest in them. Absolutely. That can take a lot of forms. It can take a lot, it doesn't have to all be monetary compensation, right? It can be personal growth and professional growth. Absolutely. Um we take a lot of pride in actually having a lot of our staff serve on other nonprofit boards. So which again, that that brings fulfillment and professional development and personal development in a way that's outside of of the kind of the monetary game.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, you know, we we like to have a a really flexible workforce where you know you you got a kid sick at home, like stay home with your family. You know, so you might not get that in corporate America everywhere. You might you might in some places, but and I'm not knocking corporate America, but you know, so you kind of have to find ways to to check other boxes um for your employees, but also be willing to invest in them to keep them around. I think our average tenure on our staff is it's probably come down a little bit because we've just hired some new people, but it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 or 11 years, uh, which in the nonprofit communities, you know, I mean, across the board and for-profit or nonprofit, to keep team members for 10 plus years, that's amazing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that says a lot about the culture you guys have developed.
SPEAKER_00I I hope so. I mean honestly, that's one of the things that I'm hoping to maintain and and kind of grow on as as I step into this role. Um, you know, it's again, I'm gonna go back to sports and the power of physical activity, but like you have those shared experiences when you're out there on Broad Street at 4 a.m. Oh yeah, you know, setting up barricade and getting ready for the marathon. It doesn't matter what the weather is, you're out there. Yeah and you're going through this grind together, you're going through this struggle together, like you build bonds that way. And I think that that's the power of sport and kind of team mentality in a lot of ways that like you know, these people are my friends, and you know, it's they were all at my wedding a few months ago. Nice. Um, you know, it's it's um it there's there's a sense of like we got this that I actually think goes a long way.
SPEAKER_03100%. I hearing you talk and the way you you run the organization, like um, effective leaders to me are ones that lead by showing, not by you know speaking or sitting behind a big desk. So like I mean that says wonders. Like I always wanted that when I remember my organization is everybody here on this staff has seen me do whatever job they have, they know I've done it, and I've done it way longer than they have, and there's nothing here I'm not willing to do. If the trash is full, yeah, we got a cleaning service, but if the trash is full, sometimes the president has to take out the trash. The trash has got to be taken out. Yeah, so it's those basic things, but um your leadership style sounds like that's a big part of like what's going on there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's interesting as we've gotten bigger and in our we've developed new programs. Um, you know, I'm I'm not the expert in these other in these other programs. Yeah. Um again, men talking about the bike and pedestrian infrastructure, like I'm not the expert on it. No. Do I believe in it? 100%. Do I understand how it fits into a healthy, vibrant, active community? 100%. But Brantley Tyndall, our director of Bike Walk RBA, was national bike advocate of the year a few years ago. He's one of the best in the country at it. Yeah. I I'm learning more from Brantley than he's learned from me on the subject matter, right?
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00Um, so my job is somehow, you know, in to some level is to give him what he needs to be successful. Get out the way. And then get out the way. Yep. And so, you know, it's it's that balance of, you know, kind of leadership by example, but also knowing what I don't know. Yeah, absolutely. And kind of helping others around me be as successful as they can be.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. As we wrap up, I want to see what what are the opportunities that you guys have for people. If someone wants to volunteer, they want to sponsor, like what are some of the options how people can get involved with you guys?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'll uh make sure you throw my my email address in the show notes or something, because um there is an exhaustive list. I mean, it is everything from passing out water on the on a race course to throwing a metal around people's neck as they cross a finish line, which is just a ton of fun.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
Culture, Tenure, And Team Bonds
SPEAKER_00Um, to leading free group fitness classes and and more vulnerable communities throughout the region, or stepping up as a as a community leader to advocate for enhanced safety. We have 75 run clubs and fitness clubs in elementary schools throughout the region that um include about 3,000 kids that come out in you know in the spring and the fall and they're learning all about physical activity and getting active on a weekly basis, all led by volunteer coaches. It's the again when I go back to the support of the community, it is individual people that are like, yep, this is this is how I want to get involved, and how you know all they need to do is bring their passion and we'll provide the rest.
SPEAKER_03Love it, love it. Um man, this this has been I've I've learned way more about sports backers than I even realize. And that's the crazy thing is like you see a brand all the time. That's why I love having these discussions. Like, a lot of times people just don't know what they don't know. Like they're they're brand names around the area, like even if you look at like legend like the YMCA or something like that, everybody just thinks like, oh, they just have gems. Like, no, the YMCA does a lot more than that piece. So I think it's good for people to to get this understanding.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna be Joe real quick. Have you talked to Jody Alexander? Do you know her at the Y? No. So she's been in the CEO role for the Greater Richmond YMCA for uh I don't know, a handful of months, maybe a couple of years now. Um, she's phenomenal. Uh she's doing some awesome things with the Y. So maybe somebody to consider talking to.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, for sure, for sure. Um I normally end this podcast with a question. I want to ask a different question of you. Um being in this role now for eight months, um, over the course, you know, let's say, let's fast forward to the end of 2026. What do you want in terms of your role, your leadership style, the things that you're doing for uh sports backers? What's your main goal this year for sports backers? Oh, I stumped them.
SPEAKER_00It didn't stump me, but it it's um you know I have conversations like this a fair amount, not necessarily in the podcast format. And I'm your your response of like, oh, I've learned so much. I didn't know sports backers did free fitness classes and youth running clubs and advocacy around bike pedestrian infrastructure, I knew the 10K is an incredibly common refrain. I I hear that all the time. And I think that's okay to some extent. Yeah, but uh I think that if people knew that there were a lot of different ways that they themselves could contribute to the health of our community, I think that you know, we'd we'd bring more people into our into our circle. Absolutely. And at the end of the day, I'm I think that going back to kind of what made Sports Bear successful to an extent is this mindset of growing the pie and not just getting our slice of it. So, you know, I want to find new collaboration opportunities. I actually think that the messaging of what we do kind of more holistically as opposed to we do run clubs and we do fitness clubs and we do events and kind of have these things in silos. I really want to define what that impact is across the board for us to be able to kind of scream that from the rooftops.
SPEAKER_03Love that, love that. As soon as we cut the mic off, I think I got a couple connections for you. Uh well, this has been awesome, man. If people want to learn more about sports backers, they want to get in contact with you or your team, how can they reach out to you?
Leading Experts And Getting Out The Way
SPEAKER_00Sportsbackers.org. Um, we're on all the all the socials, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. Uh we actually have a weekly podcast ourselves, on the move, um, hosted by our uh two just phenomenally dynamic women on our staff, Nan and Cameron. Um so I mean, we're out there, right? Sign up for our newsletters, we'll send them to you.
SPEAKER_03Good stuff. Love it, man. Appreciate you being here today. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. We'll see you guys on the next episode. Boom. That was awesome, dude.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that was great. Uh have you talked.