As a young athlete you’ve probably seen the superstar athletes of the world build a following on social media and attract some of the biggest sponsors in the world.
You’ve seen LeBron James and his deal with Nike. Usain Bolt has a deal with Puma. Lionel Messi is with Adidas. The list goes on and on.
Then you think to yourself, I can never get to that level. You tell yourself “no one will want to sponsor me unless i’m a superstar”.
Well you’re wrong.
This is where your brand comes in. You’re probably thinking “brand”. Yes your brand. The superstar athletes you see would not have been able to achieve what they’ve achieved without first building a brand.
And its because of the brands they’ve built that they can attract the sponsors they have.
This is where my guest on the podcast today comes in.
Vickie Saunders is an athlete branding expert and she is one of the most recognized and respected figures in the field. She is the Co-Founder of The Brand Builders.
Her clients include USA Olympics, Institutes of Sports in Australia, England, Singapore, Canada and Wales). She is an author of two books, The Ultimate Guide To Sponsoring Athletes and Sponsorship for Athletes.
Long story short Vickie is a legend.
This episode will teach you that you don’t need a large following to build your brand as an athlete and your performances have little to do with whether you get sponsors or not.
All athletes should be building their brands irrespective of the sports they play. Its not when you become a superstar that you start building your brand, it starts from now.
If you loved this episode shoot me an email tola@athletemaestro.com and let me know what you learnt so I can forward your message to Vickie.
If you have any questions about something we didn’t talk about, you can ask as well.
Don’t forget to share this episode with your fellow athletes (share it on your Instagram and Facebook stories) and don’t forget to follow Vickie on social media, she’s @wearethebrandbuilders on Instagram and Vickie Saunders on LinkedIn.
Remember, knowing is not enough you must apply, willing is not enough you must do.
Athlete Maestro is a podcast for you to help you break your mental and physical limitations so you can achieve high performance in your sports.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE
- How to start thinking differently about your brand.
- How to start changing what you do to build your brand.
- What sponsors consider when they want to sponsor athletes.
- Biggest struggle athletes have with brand awareness.
- How to approach social media
- How to develop your social media strategy
- and much much more
Have you signed up MENTAL MASTERY, where you’ll learn the mental game in sports and eliminate the mental blocks holding you back from performing your best.
TOLA OGUNLEWE
Tola Ogunlewe is a Sports Performance Coach, Sports Lawyer, Father and the creator of Athlete Maestro.
He is a real world mentor to young athletes.
If you’re ready to learn how to make the most of your talent, become the athlete you were meant to be, achieve self mastery, deliberate practice and create you own path to success in sports, join us and he’ll show you how.
Become a maestro.