Back-to-school time for AMOS INTERNATIONAL

We met this week with our AMOS alumni Corentin Divais, who is currently studying Global Sport Business Master, in London. Recently employed as Inside Sales and Customer Service Representative at Callaway Golf Europe. This interview is about Corentin’s insights regarding the importance of learning English for work at a sports high level, how his journey started, advice to our future AMOS professionals, the next generation of industry leaders.  

1-  It is a pleasure to connect with you today, Corentin. Can you share with us a bit about your academic background? 

Hi, it is also a pleasure for me to be here with you today, to share my experience! First of all, to introduce myself and my background, I had my baccalaureate in 2016, when I went to the University in Nantes (in France), where I did a bachelor’s degree in Sports Sciences. In 2019, I joined AMOS Sport Business School in Nantes for my first year of the master’s degree in sport management. I was at school 3 days a week and for the rest of the week, I was working for the Nantes Hockey Club as an Event and Communications Assistant. Prior to this experience, I had experiences in the sports industry with football, but Hockey was very new to me – it was a very good experience. In March 2020, during the pandemic, I thought about doing my final year abroad, and I applied to join the London Campus for my Master 2. I did an interview with Joanne, and she said to me “yes you can come, you’re welcome here”. I was very happy to be able to go to London, and my first thought was that it would help me to improve my English. Now, a year after, my English has improved a lot. Since February of this year, I was looking for an internship to validate my degree, and in the end, I found a permanent job in the UK, so I decided to make the jump and I came back in May to start my new life! I came back a month ago to start my job at Canary Wharf.  

2- While studying for your master’s degree at AMOS, what were the fundamental values you learned when applying your skills to the sports industry?

For me, there are 3 fundamental values to apply skills to the sports industry: The first one is to open your mind to everything; I know some of my classmates or other students at AMOS just wanted to work for the marketing or event position in the sport business industry, but I think that sales positions are very important because that is what brings in the revenue. Without any money, clubs cannot do events, marketing campaigns etc… One thing I would like to insist on saying is: do not close the door when they are fully open ...! During my last year of my Masters, I had some Sales classes with one of Amos London lecturers, Ken Sharp, who is working for the football industry. He taught us a lot about the football industry but also in Sales in general such as managing customer relationships, ... I think that AMOS should push more and more into that direction, because Sales are very important and as a Business School, we need to have Sales – not just Marketing and Events, in London. The second one is to be curious. If you love sport, I think it is important to have some curiosity. For example, I love football but in my first year of master I was working in a Hockey club, I am now working in a Golf company even though I did not know anything about Golf two months ago. When I had my interview with the managers, I was motivated to learn about Golf and I think that is also why they picked me because I showed my motivation by being curious, by being keen in learning new things. Finally, the last value I want to share is to have ambition! If you do not have ambition, you will not go anywhere. Look at me, one year ago my English was basic, I learned a lot about the sports industry in the UK whilst studying at AMOS London, but I also improved my English. I really loved the city and the atmosphere around sports in London, so I worked hard to find a job or an internship, and I found one! Conclusion, if you work hard, if you are ambitious and you have strong will, you will succeed in your objective! But you need to work hard and keep working at it!  

3- Can you tell us a bit more about your experience at Callaway Golf Europe in Chessington? (How did you find this opportunity? How long have you worked here? What are your missions?)

I had a first interview with the agency, and they told me on the following Friday that I was going through to the next round. I had only 2 days to prepare for an interview with my 2 managers and I was supposed to be able to speak about golf… that was the biggest challenge as I hardly knew anything about this sport. After researching on golf for the following 48 hours, I was ready, I had learnt a lot about the sport but also about the company itself: its’ history, their products, etc. 2 weeks down the line, they told me to come to London to work with them! And today, I am working at Callaway Golf Europe. I am working within an international team: Swedish, German, English but also French people. I am working for the French customers, so I had to learn to switch languages between English and French. My role is “Inside Sales and Customer Service Representative” for the French market. My missions are separated in two parts: the first part is focusing on Sales but at the moment we are in a very busy time of the year and customers come to us on their own. We do not have to go to them to sell our product. The other part is focused on customer service which is mainly dealing with issues and resolving them while creating great relationships with the customers. It is great to be able to speak with the customers and create relationships with them and hopefully, in a year or so, I will be able to speak with the English customers for the English market of the company!  To be honest, it is a good first position in the sports industry in the UK and I am working for the best brand in the golf industry, so it is even better! What I notice from this experience is the difference between the work culture in the UK and in France. In the UK, they are working hard but the atmosphere is more relaxed than in France. Also, the sport industry is amazing in the UK. In France, the sport industry is not doing a lot of work with the government.  

4- What does the organisation of Callaway Golf Europe represent, and what does the future ambition hold for the company? (what are the company's values? ; What does the golf industry represent?...)

As I just said before, Callaway Golf represents the first brand in the golf industry; to be honest, we are the best golf clubs’ dealer, but regarding soft goods such as shoes or even golf balls we are 2nd or 3rd (which is not too bad!). The company wants to stay in the lead, which is obviously evident, but they also want to improve constantly the technology around golf clubs, well I think this is a correct guess! Honestly, I cannot say a lot of things about the company’s ambition, I have only been around for 1 month, but time flies!  

5-  I appreciate there is no such thing as a regular day working in the sports industry. However, could we hear about what your role looks like on a day-to-day basis as well as telling us about some of the impacts you have made?

Basically, there is no regular day when working in the sports industry, but when you are working in the office, you have some similarities with your 5-days work week, as you have the same schedule, the same workplace… But I also have different missions and issues to fix every day, it is never monotonous, and I learn new things every day about golf! For example, at 8.30am I will order clubs for a customer but at 8.45am I will manage an issue with him and at 9.00am I will be ordering balls and headcovers for his event in July. I have many different missions and I have a lot of interactions with customers! And when you like creating relationships, you discover a lot by meeting new people, especially when you are curious, this is the perfect job for me!  

6-  Every aspect of the sport has been affected these last few months by the global health crisis. How has the pandemic impacted your business, and is there anything positive that have you taken away from this situation?

 With the COVID crisis and all the restrictions around social distancing, a lot of people started playing golf because it was on the list of the sports allowed to be played during the crisis. So, it is a growing market, and this year Callaway is beating all their records, it has shown the increasing popularity of this sport. So, for Callaway, although last year was a difficult year for the business, this year has been amazing, and we are only in June! I think I arrived in the company not at the best moment because we have some issues to manage, but for the business in general, I think it is the best moment, as golf is becoming more famous in France, and more accessible too, so all this promises to be very encouraging for the next few years.  

7-  What does the future hold for you? 

To be honest, I do not know! For the moment I am in London, it was one of my biggest wishes to come back here, and I would like to stay here for a few more years or more. I like the company where I work, and I really enjoy living in London, I keep improving my English every day, I meet new people every week, so everything is perfect for the moment! But in 10 years, for example, I do not know where I will be, or even if I will still be working abroad and/or in the sports industry! I would like to work in different careers, and in different industries, I don’t know yet when and where, but I would really like to work with 2 industries simultaneously, such as sport and culture for instance?  

8-   Reflecting on this interview and on your sports career, what advice would you give our AMOS students looking to break into the sports industry?

First, I will say that English is very important. If you want to work in the sport industry and in an international environment, you have to speak English. Even if you are not good at English, you have to try. When you are coming to London, my advice will be to mix with English people – do not stay with just French people – so you can progress in English. The second one will be: do not be afraid to fail because failure makes you, it helps you grow and become mature. It will drive your career where you want it to go. Third, is to have a competitive spirit because it’s one of the biggest values in sports because you want to win!  

9-  Thanks, Corentin, for taking the time to talk to us today. Do you have the last word you would like to share to conclude this interview? 

It was a pleasure to share my experience with you! I just want to say DARE, if you don't have the courage to do things you will never get anything, not just during your studies but also when you are working, and in your life in a general way! Enjoy every day of your life, enjoy what you are doing, do what you love, SPORT is fantastic, and we are lucky to work in this industry!  

Written by Katharina Tchernega, Communication and Events Officer AMOS London.

 

Currently Commercial Coordinator and TV Broadcast at the International Tennis Federation, Arnaud is also a lecturer in sports broadcasting for the Global Sport Business second-year master students at AMOS London. From his student journey to the ITF tennis courts, Arnaud talks to us about his early career, and what it takes to be effective in sponsorship sales, here is an insight into his role and more!    

It is a pleasure to connect with you today, Arnaud. Can you share with us a bit of your academic background?

Likewise, it’s always a pleasure to connect with AMOS! Sure! After high school, I did a bachelor’s degree in business development at ESCEM in Orleans, France. During this programme, I had the option to get some experience abroad which I did. First, I went to Barcelona, Spain, for an internship of 4 months to increase my Spanish level.  Then, I decided to do an Erasmus exchange between my second and third year which took me to Budapest, Hungary, for a year.  These two experiences have proven to be great on many angles; it helped me obtain great language skills in English and Spanish, but it also helped me to become more autonomous and mature, living on my own in different countries and cultures.  After graduating from my bachelor’s degree, I decided to join AMOS to specialise in the Sports industry. I did my 1^st year of Masters in Bordeaux and decided to move to London for the 2^nd year. It was an obvious decision to me given the fact that London is the capital of sports in Europe with so many events taking place there and institutions having their headquarters based there. It was also the opportunity to keep pushing on the international angle, improve my English and create a good network for myself.  

 While studying for your master’s degree at AMOS, what were the fundamental values you learned when applying your skillset into the sports industry?

The Sports industry is unique! First, it is an attracting industry to work especially when you are so passionate about sports. However, it is quite a small industry, and the competition is huge. You must fight hard to get where you want to get because there will always be more applicants than opportunities. Sport is all about competition and that is what it takes to achieve goals, you must do the extra mile, prove that you are worth it, and above all that you have that added value the others do not have.   Following your end-of-studies internship at the International Tennis Federation in London, you landed with your first job there. You have been working there for three years now; can you tell us a bit more about it? I went through different stages within my time at the ITF. Like you are saying, I started as an intern thanks to the ITF great networking job. The ITF was looking for an intern in their Commercial department who could speak English, French and Spanish. They offered me an internship, two temporary contracts back-to-back, and finally a full-time contract.  It has been a very rewarding three years’ experience. My title today is Commercial Coordinator and I oversee the Sponsorship Sales around different properties across the business, but mainly the Billie Jean King Cup (formerly called Fed Cup), which represents the World Cup of Women’s tennis.  I have the chance to work in a great team which has given me a lot of responsibilities quickly and this has given me the opportunity to work across various markets around the world, increasing my skills in sponsorship and partnership sales.  I have also been given some responsibilities within the TV team which lead me to go on a few trips around the world, meeting a lot of people from the tennis industry and learning some new skills in a field in which I did not have much knowledge. This also opened another opportunity: teaching. I have been lecturing Sport Broadcasting for the last 2 years now.  

 What does the organisation of the ITF represent, and what does the future ambition hold for the company?

The International Tennis Federation represents the international governing body for tennis and work with 210 National Associations worldwide. It includes Pro circuits, Juniors, Seniors, Wheelchair and Beach Tennis. The ambition of the ITF is to deliver tennis for future generations and to keep increasing the tennis participation around the world.  The ITF is also responsible for the Women’s World Cup of Tennis (Billie Jean King Cup) and the Men’s World Cup of Tennis (Davis Cup). Both events have recently been through some changes and, especially for the Billie Jean King Cup, which we very much look forward to seeing the results of our efforts over the last couple of years.  There are different pillars that represent strong areas of focus for the years to come such as Gender Equality. The Women’s World Cup of Tennis has recently been through a couple of big changes (its format and its branding) to make it the biggest and wealthiest women’s team competition in the world. It is a great competition to work on as we are promoting women’s sports and gender equality, which is a very important topic and a story I am proud to be part of. Then, the ITF is in the middle of its digital migration and is working a lot in that direction. The digital area has been taking more and more importance throughout the years and the pandemic has accelerated that migration.    You started as an intern and now you are a Commercial Coordinator and TV Broadcast, hence can you explain what were the fundamental values that influenced your sports career development? I think it is essential to keep our eyes wide open and to be curious. In all transparency, I never thought I would work in tennis because it was never my favourite sport but look at me now… Furthermore, when you get an internship or when you are hired in a company, you have to be ready to show your hunger, your motivation to learn and you must get involved in as many projects as possible to expand your skills and knowledge. I never thought I would be involved in TV broadcasting and I found myself working with some of the best tennis players in the world such as Simona Halep and Serena Williams, working on the organisation of press conferences and player interviews.  Luck has a role to play but you must spark it.  Other important values and ideas to help you develop your career are: availability, accountability, creativity, ambition…   I appreciate there is no such thing as a regular day working in sport. However, could we hear about what your role looks like on a day-to-day basis as well as telling us about some of the impacts you have made? Nowadays, my role is very much sales related. I have the responsibility to look for new partners around our competitions, and I like I said above, mainly with the Billie Jean King Cup which is our biggest competition.  I take care of the sales process from A to Z: strategy, market research, company and contact sourcing, sales presentation meetings, negotiations, and contracts.  I have an annual target to achieve, and this is my role to organise my day-to-day activities as I like to achieve those targets. We work very much as a team at the ITF but having the lead on the sales side is a huge responsibility that I am proud to have.  I am also managing one of our global partners daily, being their main point of contact, making sure that the rights they are entitled to are respected. I am trying to maintain a great relationship with them and to be available and accountable for them. Account management is a very good experience in parallel of the sales angle. 

 Every aspect of sport has been affected these last months with the global health crisis. How has the pandemic impacted your business, and what positives have you taken away from this experience?

The pandemic obviously has had an enormous impact on the tennis industry and events. Most of our events were cancelled in 2020. Tennis players travel a lot from a tournament to another and it is an individual sport.  I think the positives we can take from that experience is that we had to step back and adapt in order to find ways to achieve our objectives differently, and digital had a big role to play. We have always put a lot of focus on event partnerships, but this time and we had to look at wider opportunities. This is where digital started to be a strong area of focus for us in terms of partnership sales.    What does the future hold for you? We never know what the future holds, and this is what keeps us on our toes!  I am ambitious and I want to keep getting more and more experience and responsibilities. I am focused on my role at the ITF and will keep doing my best to help the team reach its objectives.  One day it will be time to move to a new challenge, maybe in a new sport, maybe in a new industry, maybe in a new country as well. I am not closing any doors and it has always proven to be the right thing to do for me. I think we should always bear in mind that it is essential to get out of our comfort zone in order to progress.    Reflecting on this interview and your sports career, what advice would you give our AMOS students looking to break into the sports industry? The first advice I would like to give to the students, and they might have heard it many times already, is to work on their network. Nowadays, having a strong network around yourself is key and AMOS is giving you that opportunity. Show the best of yourself to the different professionals of the industry you meet and keep in touch with them! LinkedIn is a great example and an amazing resource to network: make the most of it.  I would also like to tell the students to keep their eyes wide open on opportunities. You may not start with the job of your dreams straight away and you might change your mind. I never thought I would work in tennis and now I am grateful for that experience and I have been enjoying it a lot so far.  As explained above, there is a lot of competition in this industry and therefore students must do the extra mile to get where they want to get to, they must show that they are eager, they need to be curious and creative. As already mentioned, international experiences are key in my opinion. Reaching a good level of English and other languages is always going to be a plus and it will make a difference on their profile. They will be useful professionally but also for your professional development.    Thanks Arnaud, for taking the time to discuss with us today. Do you have a last word to share to conclude this interview? I would like to wish good luck to all the students in these difficult times. I know that this is a hard period to find internships and to have openings in the industry but keep pushing, do not give up and opportunities will arise.    

Pierre-Antoine shares with us his passion for sports business which has led him today to work as Head of Business Development & Communication, in Guinea for the “Stade Général Lansana Conté”. This interview is about Pierre-Antoine’s insights regarding the importance of building a sports industry network, how his journey started, his experience of the African sports industry alongside his personal and “must-be-adopted” advice to our future AMOS professionals, the next generation of industry leaders.

It is a pleasure to connect with you again, Pierre-Antoine. You have a very interesting story which tells us about your moving from Maghreb to France, then your experience in the United States, England, and Spain as well as how you decided to continue your studies in sports management. To know you better, can you tell our audience a little about your academic background and especially what motivated you to travel to all these different countries during your studies?

After completing my A-levels (“French Baccalauréat”) in Morocco, I decided to go back to France to start my higher education. I did not really know what I wanted to do at the time, but I wanted to do something I was passionate about. Therefore, I joined AMOS Sport Business School in Paris (at the time Paris and Lille were the only campuses) where I did my bachelor’s degree. After 3 years in France, I realised that I did not see myself staying, and I wanted to travel and work abroad. At the time, my English was relatively poor, and I knew that I could not reach my goal without having a professional English level. I decided to go to the USA to improve it, and after 6 months of pure English classes I joined UCLA (University of California Los Angeles), where I did a certificate in Marketing. After almost a year and a half in California, it was time to go back to Europe to do a master’s degree. AMOS had just opened a campus in London, so it was the perfect match to keep improving my English and finish my studies.

As a sports student from AMOS Sport Business School, what were your key learning points?

The real advantage of a campus in London is the fact that not only all the classes are in English, and delivered by professionals of the sports industry, it also is the capital of sports in Europe. It also gives us the possibility to network, to understand better the professional world and to discover the different career possibilities in the industry. Learning about different aspects of the business (marketing, events, digital, sponsorship…) is also something that opened several possibilities for my future and has given me the possibility to specialise in a chosen “field” that fits my profile.

After starting your career in London, you have, once again, embarked on the expatriation adventure. Can you tell us about the thinking process behind and how you prepared your departure for Guinea?

After almost 3 years working for AMOS London, I decided to take a break to travel around the world. Unfortunately, I left my job at an unfortunate time and my plans got cancelled due to the pandemic. Almost at the same time, I got a call from one of my personal contacts who had been working in Guinea for the last 2 years. He told me that he was the new Director of the General Lansana Conte Stadium and that he was building his team. He offered me to join him there to help him on the development of the stadium. I accepted the proposition as I did not have any plans anymore and because the challenge seemed really exciting.

Did you encounter any problems when arriving in Africa? Tell us how you adapted and how did your integration go?

It was complicated to get my visa due to the COVID restrictions, and it took me almost 3 months to sort it out and to arrive in Guinea. After that it was easy since it was not my first time in Guinea as my parents are already based there.

How is the professional and the daily life in Guinea, and how is it different from Europe?

Both are completely different to Europe. Professionally, most of the people do not have the chance to study in higher education, as the education system is weak, hence, the skills are very different to those you acquire in Europe. People in Africa often live on a day-to-day routine, and they do not investigate long-term projects. However, Guineans are young, and this generation is trying to move things forward, technology and internet being a huge help in the development of the country. Regarding social life, Guinea is one of the poorest countries in the world, so the activities are limited and completely different from activities in Europe. For example, when you are in your twenties, and you have always been used and able to travel and to move around easily, it is a bit complicated to leave the city because of the lack of infrastructure, and not having many social activities. On the other end, sitting at the pool and going to an island on weekends is not something that I could have done in London or in Paris.

In terms of Sport Business, where is Africa today compared to Europe?

Currently, West Africa is still investing and developing, and it continues to work towards improving its infrastructures. There has been some clear progress, and more and more companies are investing into sponsorship, NGOs are funding sports programmes, academies are being created, and facilities are being built. Football is the main sport, and it is played everywhere in the streets due to the lack of pitches in Guinea, other sports, such as basketball and tennis are more and more popular, and this is also the case in other West-African countries. The Basketball Africa League launched by the NBA has its offices in Dakar, Abidjan also hosts an ITF tournament, and the CAF is establishing offices in the area, and we can also see that new stadiums are being built in the sub-region. Sport is continuously growing.

Can you tell us about the “Général Lansana Conté Stadium” and your role there?

The stadium was built between 2007 and 2011 by the Chinese through the Chinese-Guinean cooperation. In 2017, a 30-year Public-Private Partnership was established with a local company. It is the biggest stadium in Guinea with 50 000 seats. Unfortunately to date, we have not been able to host more than 5 000 people due to the pandemic. My 2 principal missions in the stadium are: to help in the homologation procedure, which means, being able to host official international FIFA and CAF games; and to launch the stadium operations. I oversee the development and the communications. In short, my missions are mainly to prepare and sell the commercial offerings, help in the organisation of the games and events, and manage the communications.

What is the difference in the environment at Stade Général Lansana Conté like on match-days compared to non-match days?

3 days before a game it is usually intense, we must ensure everything is ready to host the game, the teams, the CAF officers, etc. We are most of the time in an operational role, managing every single aspect of the event to make it perfect: from the changing rooms to the VIP lounge or inside the Media area, we are everywhere. The stadium is where everything happens, thus the image of the stadium, which represents Guinea, is what matters: every detail counts. On non-match days, since we are just starting to operate the stadium, it is generally quieter, but we always have guests coming in, we are also planning our next events, selling our offers, maintaining the stadium, as well as working on every aspect of the stadium’s development.

What ambitions do you see for the African sports industry and what has been your biggest learning experience for the industry in Africa?

Africa has a lot to offer when speaking about sport. This is only the beginning for the continent. Having lived on the African continent for many years, it is a pleasure for me to be able to work in my industry here and to help develop the business of sport. The best part is, even with my small experience, I can share my knowledge in regard to what is done in Europe or in the USA with locals. I can say that my biggest take away from this experience in Guinea is that with nothing or nearly nothing, you can still do great things. I have also been able to meet amazing people from the industry who have taught me and given me different perspectives and points of view of the industry.

What is your “game”-plan for the future? Are you planning to stay in Africa or are you thinking of going back to Europe … or elsewhere?

I will soon leave Guinea to go back to Europe where I am currently looking for my future challenge. However, I would still love to work within the sport industry in Africa, and why not go back to live on the continent in a few years’ time?

Pierre-Antoine, reflecting on this discussion and your sports career, what is your advice for our AMOS students, the aspiring sports business professionals, looking to break into the industry?

I have 2 pieces of advice for them. The first one is: hard work. It is important to understand that the sport industry is like being on the pitch, it is a competition, and to win, you must work smarter than others, you must not be afraid to give your time.  The second piece of advice is: to network. Until today I have never really applied for a job. I have had opportunities thanks to the network I have built over the past years. It is also important, if not essential, to network.

Thank you, Pierre-Antoine, for taking the time to discuss with us today. Do you have a last word to share and to conclude this interview?

I wish good luck to all the future AMOS students during their studies and all the best for their career. And who knows, my path may cross yours one day!