Future Leaders panel shows HBCU athletes path to sports biz

As the oft-repeated saying goes, baseball is a game of failure. The same can be true in the professional world.

That's why Brody Cook, co-chair of the MLB Black Employee Resource Group and a player marketing coordinator, thinks former baseball players may be uniquely situated to navigate the ups and downs of entering the workforce.

"That skill … of being able to work through that adversity and that failure and that rejection, to turn that around into a positive and to keep going, that persistence has been massive," Cook said. "Everybody has been told 'no,' and everybody has failed at something that they had been striving for -- and has found a way, ultimately, to make it into this room."

That was one key message of the panel at the Future Leaders Program on Monday, which featured current league employees who had played baseball or softball in college. With student-athletes from HBCU programs in attendance, the panelists discussed their transition from their playing career to corporate life.

Rajai Davis, who played in the Majors for 14 seasons before joining the league as a senior director of on-field operations, gave opening remarks and encouraged the student-athletes to look to their teammates as a jumping-off point in creating their professional networks.

"Sometimes you never know who is who, what influence they have and how they can affect you," Davis said. "Value the people around you. … Treat them like gold; treat them right. Because your character, your personality -- that will precede you."

Though building that network is key, the panelists also underscored the importance of taking the same skills that help student-athletes excel on the field and applying them to the workplace.

"It's the same as when you're playing and you're wanting to go the extra mile: Put in the extra hour of batting practice or an extra five sprints," said Diana King, a campaign manager on MLB's performance media team. "Do the same thing when you're trying to get a job, because … people trying to hire you will see that you're proactive, that you're very motivated."

For some Black employees, there may be an added challenge of not seeing themselves reflected in the industry -- but with that challenge comes the opportunity to create change. Many of the panelists experienced that in their careers and had this advice for the student-athletes: Start with yourself, and use your platform for good.

"Accomplish on the field, and accomplish off the field," said Del Matthews, MLB's vice president of baseball development. "If you can do that, and lean into your culture, lean into HBCU culture, I think that has the power to impact your community in a lot of ways because you're a shining light."

Added MLB Network segment producer Dominique Patrick: "Just know that when you're being yourself, you're putting on for people of color, because you are unapologetically you."

For many student-athletes, the end goal is to play professionally. But only a small fraction of college athletes end up going pro, so the others must pursue other goals, leaving them to redefine what success means to them.

It's important, the panelists said, to remember that success has many layers and does not look the same for everyone. Student-athletes may measure their success from season to season or over the course of a career, whereas working professionals might find it in a new job or a raise. There is no true one-size-fits-all.

So when the panelists were asked about the key to their success, many of them settled on the same answer: Be open-minded, because there are many ways to accomplish your overarching goals.

That's how all of them ended up working in baseball following their playing careers.

"There's another way that you can go pro," said Kaelan Ashford-Jones, a youth content coordinator at MLB. "I feel as if I'm a professional employee when I walk in these spaces. I feel comfortable to be the best version of … my authentic self in all of these spaces. And to me, that's my version of being a big leaguer. I still feel like I've made it."