Switch to Channel 2 audio podcast: Mark Koesterer on NIL, Career Paths, and Modern Influencers

Welcome back to a brand-new episode of “Switch to Channel 2,” the companion show on the GoForDonny podcast network! This week, Donny McGuire sits down with special guest Mark Koesterer for an inside look at the ever-evolving world of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness)—and how it’s shaking up the landscape for high school and college athletes.

In this episode, Donny and Mark dive deep into the dynamic debate of NIL vs NCAA: 

• What does the NIL era really mean for student athletes? 
• How are high schoolers, colleges, and their families navigating these uncharted waters? 
• Is the focus on money overshadowing long-term success and personal branding? 
• And how does NIL impact not only sports, but artists and creatives, too?

Mark shares his journey from Hollywood and sports marketing to founding his own NIL-focused company, dedicated to educating and empowering the next generation. Get practical tips on personal branding, leveraging social media, and building a sustainable career—whether on the field, in front of the camera, or behind the scenes.

00:00 Exploring Athletes' True Passions

05:15 Athlete Success Beyond Sports Skills

09:05 "Supporting Athletes' Lifelong Journey"

11:51 Future of Entertainment: Streaming & Influencers

14:19 Industry's Decline Amid Tax Cuts

Ready to learn what’s behind the headlines of NIL and how it stacks up against NCAA tradition?
We get into it all on Switch to Channel 2!

Don’t miss Mark’s full episode of Go for Donny! — both available now on YouTube at @gofordonny.
Plus, catch the full video podcast, grab exclusive merch, and find every episode on all major streaming platforms.

Keywords:
NIL, NCAA, Name Image Likeness, student athletes, college sports, high school athletes, personal branding, sports marketing, influencer, Go for Donny, Switch to Channel 2, Mark Koesterer, Donny McGuire, YouTube

Don't forget to check out my website www.gofordonny.com for some cool GFD Swag and some fun videos and photos.
And Remember...#HTFU

Transcript

0:10

Have you heard of the new addition to the Go for Donny! podcast? I haven't either, but it's called Switch to Channel 2. That is where Donny will get to ask his guest some questions. So you, the listener, get to know them better. And Remember, # HTFU. Hey guys, welcome back to Switch to Channel 2. Mark, thanks for staying with us and giving us some fun stories on Go for Donny! Switch to Channel 2 is a little fun show that I came up with because as you know, on set, when you have to talk to someone, you reach back, you spin that dial channel two, you have your chatter and everyone else listens into your chat and then you switch it back to your respective channel. So that's what this is all about, Switching to Channel 2. And we were talking about Nil. Put. Please explain what you're doing with NIL and your new company as well. Yeah. So after all those years in Hollywood and working with athletes, which I said really is the foundation for name, image and likeness, Right. It was sports marketing, sponsorship, content creation, storytelling, I saw what was happening in the early days of the nil era after July 1, 2021, and I said the one thing that was missing was education. And given my background, my parents were teachers and I have an education degree, actually, I thought that I could change lives if I empower them with foundational pillars of education to help create opportunities for the long haul. Now, are you reaching out to the athlete or are you working directly with athletic departments, with schools? Oh, so we have two focuses. One at the high school level. Oh, yeah, we sell directly to high school, sell education and programming directly to high school athletes and their families, typically. And at the college level, we sell through athletic departments in a group licensing and consulting way. And we're about building life skills and, you know, real understanding of the opportunities that the NIL era has awakened the giant. And that giant is athletes as influencers. And that's what we teach. So walk me through. I'm a high school student. How do you go about approaching me? I'm a football player, going to go to go to go to college. Do you approach in the clearly their parents in their athletic department and then do you work out a deal with them and do you work with them? Is this like a continued thing where you're not just setting them up, you're not just teeing them up for college, but you want to work with these kids, you know, all the way through? Right, sure. Yeah. We would like a long term engagement, but, you know, we simply start with two, two really simple questions. Donnie. And it goes to the parents first. What does success look like to you for your son or daughter? Where do you want them to be in life? You know, let's look out post college as far as you can. Then what are the necessary steps to get there? You know, probably the first step is they want to get to a good school, right? And maybe they use athletics to get to an academic institution that they might not be able to get into without sports. So that's the first step. Then the second question that I ask about athletes is, you know, what is your passion? You know, what are you really passionate about? And they're gonna all say baseball and soccer and all those things, because that's what they're told that they are, because they've been playing that sport and, you know, sports specialization since they were 6, 7, 8 years old. And then when they look in the mirror, they just see athlete. So we try to frame it as to, you know, who are you as a person? Because there's a mental health aspect to this, because someday the ball's gonna stop bouncing, and then who are you when you look in the mirror? So we challenge the parents to think about what success looks like, and we challenge the kids to think about who they really are and what their dreams are, and how do we put those together to achieve the things that they want to. In high school, a lot of it's focused on recruiting. Donnie. There are so many athletes trying to go to college and play sports because of the myth of the full athletic scholarship, which we know is not true in most sports. And the college coach, and I know because I have a son that is one is inundated. He told me last week he's getting a minimum of 100 emails per day this summer. 100 per day. Okay. So if anyone's ever sorted through job applications or relationship, whatever it may be, you know, you get to about 15 or 20 and you're toast. You have no idea. You know, you're just swiping, I suppose, right? No, you swipe. You start swiping. Yeah, Right. And so as an athlete, how do you differentiate yourself? Right. And how do you distinguish yourself as a good athlete? Of course. A good teammate, a good person, successful, mature. You're not going to be a problem in the locker room. You're going to get good grades. You're not going to drag down the program or put the program in jeopardy. And that's through storytelling. It goes back to Hollywood. Donnie, you know, who are you as a person? What are your goals? What are you willing to do, to get there and, and then networking, sharing that with the college coaches. So it's in the NIL framework, Donnie. We're using nil principles of personal brand storytelling and networking. But we're doing it to achieve the first step of what does long term success look like? Does that make sense? Yeah, it does. And it sounds like the success doesn't always mean they're the best athlete. Right, because it's image, likeness. So it could be, know the kid could not be that great of an athlete, but you know, they could blow up with their image or their engagement. Right. So you're teeing them up at a young age to try to set them up for that and then work with them through college to keep that going. Now what about after college? If they're not, do you, I mean, do you keep working with them? Is it, what if they don't play professionally, you know, after college? I mean, they still have their name and image likeness to work with and to make money. Yeah, that's a great question. Let's take the next step in the journey. So for the high school kid, you know, long term success probably relies on the first bit of success and that's getting to a college. Okay, so now we, let's move along. We're in college. Okay, we've achieved that goal, but we still have that vision down the road as far in the future as we can look. And that involves probably an internship and definitely getting a job. Okay. So now we use platforms like LinkedIn, professional networking platform, you know, and engaging with alums, donors, collective members, prospective companies. You know, let's say you want to be a CPA. You might be a Division 3 softball player or Division 2 soccer player. Whatever sport you're doing, male or female, doesn't make any difference. You want to be a cpa, Donnie? What we teach you is how to tell your story about your interest in accounting and draw a list of 25 accounting firms that you'd love to work for. Go, go on LinkedIn. Connect with the leaders, the managers, the hiring manager. Share your story about what you're interested in. Tell them about how you came from high school to college and you're playing sports. Don't let them swipe past you. Capture their attention with communication and storytelling. Because that next level of success, Donnie, is your first job out of college. They did a study from 2012 to 2021, and 55% of college students, not just athletes, 55% of college students were underemployed when they graduated, meaning they did not use Their degree that they just paid for to get that job. Nor did they need that degree to take that job. So they're underemployed. We don't want that to happen. We want to. We want to, you know, fight that statistic. So you're. So it sounds like you're teeing them up for success, period. Regardless if they're going to move on through their professional sports careers or if it's just their professional career. You're trying to. How many kids play sports? Pro sports, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you're going to focus on that group, good luck. You know, and by the way, in neither of these two stories referring to the high school story or the college story, what's the one thing I did not talk about? Money. Money. Yeah. It shouldn't be the focus. Yeah. And it, sadly it is. I mean, how do you get around that? Right now there's no way to get around that. Right. I mean, it's. Unfortunately, there's a big dollar sign on all of this. Nil. With any. But it's. Again, it's the 2%. Yeah, I know. And perception. I guess it's perception, but that's what I'm fighting. Right? That's. That's my challenge. Every day I'm standing on the tree stump in the town square waving my book Nil for all. You know, people think I'm the crazy witch doctor, you know, selling voodoo juice, but that's what I do. So and so. So it's amazing what you're doing. So you can take this. And this isn't just for school kids. This can be for that, that high school advanced soccer player that's playing on that really good club team that is going to get drafted to go play in. In professional soccer league. Do you work with those athletes as well and keep working with them through their professional career then as well? Yeah. Yes. I mean, I think our mission is to work with them through the whole life cycle, including post career. And look, if you played professional, I always tell people, if you play college sports, when you walk in a room, people know who you are. I don't care. You know, you've achieved something that very few people have done. If you play professional sports and you walk in a room, you've achieved something that even less people have done. So you're a celebrity. You're already elevated. It's the same thing. How do you tell that story? Right? How do you create a brand and how do you network to leverage that? You know, if I showed you, if I walked someone into the room. You and I were having a coffee, and he wore a Super bowl ring or a World Series ring. What would you think? You'd be like, damn, damn, look at that bling. Yeah. What's going on there? Yeah. So. So how do we. How do we leverage that? So, yes, is the answer to your question. Got it. No, that makes sense. I mean, it's. It's just not about money. It's about our brand. It's like teaching these kids, I guess, getting them at a young age, like you're saying in high school, so that way you can mold them and they're not. It's not too late. They haven't messed up their. Their name or image or likeness or tried to. So I guess it behooves you to get in with these kids at a younger age. So that way you're molding them, shaping them younger, earlier, so setting them up for, I guess, later success, Right? Hopefully, yeah. And not. Not trying to get them at a younger or. Sorry. At a later date in their. Their career. Wow. Well, that's what I'm. I'm hoping. You know, like this. This is, like, for any. Any sport. Any, you know, amateur, professional, Olympic. Right. I mean, well, think. Think about it. It's not just for athletes. It's for artists and creatives, too. See? Yeah, I mean, I'm. Thank you for saying that, because up until now, I don't think I've posted anything or said anything other than athletes. So. Yeah, you're right. I just wrote my second book. It's called Unlocking Influence. It's a guide for athletes, artists, and creatives. And it's about building a personal brand. It's about the history of influencers all the way back to Michelangelo. You know, what influencers are doing today, including the Kardashians. Right. And going forward, you know, how is influence going to become important? And if, you know, let's say you own a yoga studio, right? You're in business. What do you need? You need customers. So how do you tell your story about why your yoga studio is different? You know, your background, your story, your philosophy, pictures of the studio, how you care for people, and you post it on social. Right. 85% of nil deals are based on social media. So social becomes a really critical tool. But as the yoga studio owner, instructor, whatever it may be, you need to be able to tell that story, create an engagement and build followers. Yeah, I mean, that's what it boils down to is the brand and having followers and the engagement and then, you know, Boosting that said engagement. And you said that before about the boosters and the collectives and that's what they were trying to do from the inception with their tents and their, you know, at halftime or their pre game fiestas, you know, that's what it's all about. So. Wow, that's awesome. Hey, so you were in this industry. Did, do you see, you know, we talked about how it's, it's kind of shifted and, and I don't know, it's non existent. Do you see our industry, the, when I say our industry, the entertainment industry, do you, do you see it coming back at all or do you think it's gone to the wayside and it's going to be streaming influencers and I'm for the latter because I think it's going to be streaming and influencers and I think, you know, broadcast is just taking a dump and the only thing you're going to see until all the streamers take all the sporting events or sporting events. Do you think we're gonna bounce back at all? Well, at the end of my tenure at Sports Studio, one of the reasons we got out of the business, quite frankly, was less and less full blown, you know, movie production because the risk was so high and people, you know, like Netflix were building content on a far less smaller budget than traditional tent pole theater productions. Right. And so, you know, and why is Netflix going to, you know, all of these live documentaries like the F1 or there's a great one in golf, there's a great one around Tour de France. I love, you know, I love all of these things, but they're relatively low cost production versus a full blown feature film with mega talent. You know, I did see recently that California has just removed some of the or increase some of the tax incentives to keep production in Los Angeles 40%. But I lived through the growth in Atlanta and New Mexico and you know, a lot of production moving out of LA because of lots of reasons, you know, mostly cost. I think again, it's a pendulum, Donnie. It's a cyclical thing. I mean we love movies, right, As a society. You know, it's. There's nothing like a bag of popcorn watching a movie. And so are we going to less quality perhaps? Are we going to smaller budgets? Perhaps. Will the big stuff come back? I think so. Will it be in la? I don't know that. Will it even be in the us? I don't know that. Yeah, it's hard. We talk about this with a lot of my friends. We all work in the Industry. And we talk about it coming back and it just doesn't seem like is going to come back to. To. To what it once was, unfortunately. You know, even with a 40% tax cut for California, that's great and all, but to pay our rates, I'll just say you can go to UK, get your 40% tax rate, tax cut, and then you're paying those crew, their rates, which are a fraction of what we make here in the states. And they work longer hours, so it's like, why would they want to get that 40% tax cut? Yeah, hire us here in California. But they're gonna be having to pay my rate, my day rate, which is like probably double of what they make in the uk. So I don't know. Hopefully it'll come back. I. I'm hopeful. In what capacity? I don't know. That's why I have my podcast. That's why I have my YouTube channel. And hopefully I can crank up more content and work in some capacity in and around nil and try to shape the future of that and storytelling for these colleges, these universities, teams, leagues and student athletes. So it's very exciting. But thanks for coming on the show, Mark. I can't thank you enough. It's been really good to connect with you and hopefully we will stay connected and maybe have you on again so we can talk about anything that's changed in the future. So we can let everyone know what's happening with Nils. I would love that. Thank you very much for the opportunity. Thanks, man. Well, I have to remind everyone this is a video podcast. You can catch me on my YouTube channel@gofordon,. Where Go for Donny! and Switch to Channel 2 live. I also have a website, gofordonny.com where you can pick up any swag if you want. You can watch all my shows and all that fun stuff and you can catch me on any of the podcast platforms that you have either. Amazon Music, Apple, Spotify, you have it. I am there. So thanks again for chatting with me, Mark. I really appreciate your time. And Switch to Channel 2 guys. Cheers, Mark. All right, man... Production for Donny. Go for Donny!.Locations for Donny Go for Donny! Tabitha for Donny. Go for Donny!. Hey, Donny, What the hell are they doing?