If you follow Laura Okmin on Twitter, it’s pretty easy to see how passionate she is about her job and about mentoring young women who hope to follow a similar career path.
If you meet her in person, you’ll see that she has the biggest heart and cares for her girls from the second she meets them. Seriously. I wish everyone had a Laura in his or her life. I felt an instant connection with her from the first e-mail we exchanged and I feel so lucky that I had the chance to spend two days with her at a GALvanize bootcamp in Jacksonville in May. She’s someone I hope to have as a mentor for years to come.
If you’re unfamiliar, GALvanize is a company Laura founded to help mentor and guide young women who dream of a career in the sports industry. As part of that, Laura works with various sports organizations (primarily the NFL) to arrange bootcamps where a group of young women is paired with a group of rookie athletes and they all work together to tell help tell the story of the athletes who are working to live their dreams.
I heard of these bootcamps from a friend and former co-worker, and actually reached out to Laura on Twitter for some advice. I knew she was a busy and well-respected sports reporter and figured there was only a slight chance I would get a response. But I did get a response; a really long and heartfelt one. I was questioning my decision to pursue a career in sports broadcasting and with just a few paragraphs in a Twitter message, Laura helped me re-affirm I was doing the right thing by following my dream.
From then on, I waited not-so-patiently for news about the next round of bootcamps. I even turned on Twitter notifications for GALvanize so I wouldn’t miss it. When I finally heard the bootcamp announcement, I think I dashed an e-mail off to Laura within five minutes.
I’ve had some experience in the fields of sports, television production and journalism, but I was still so nervous for the bootcamp. I wanted to take it all in and make the most of those two days and use the experience to help push my career to the next level.
I was accepted into the Jacksonville Jaguars bootcamp, where I was paired with Leon Jacobs, a rookie out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which was perfect because I’m a Wisconsin alum with a deep passion for Badger football.
Day one of the bootcamp is generally spent in a hotel conference room where Laura shares her experiences and knowledge about creating meaningful relationships with athletes, coaches and people who work for sports teams. It’s also a time to learn how to ask meaningful, below-the-surface questions and to prepare the questions you’ll ask your rookie the next day. You have to get vulnerable right off the bat, but it’s so worth it in the end. The day is long and takes a lot of work, but it’s all worth it the next day.
Everyone was up bright and early on day two to head to the Jaguars’ facility. Right away we were introduced to our rookies and had some time to chat with them. It was a little funny to finally talk with someone you’ve been researching for hours and hours. I was able to bond with Leon right away due to our shared school, and found out we even have friends in common. I could tell he’s a quiet guy, so it took some work to get him to open up.
Next up we went with our rookies to the team room where each girl was given two-and-a-half minutes to interview the player. Laura had worked so hard to prepare us and we were all worried we would let her down! It was such a cool experience. She will push you hard, but it’s so worth it because you learn about yourself and how to be a better interviewer.
I wished the interview could have been longer because it was so fun. After everyone did their interview, we had some time to speak with and listen to members of the Jaguars organization, including the PR team and their digital reporter. Everyone was so open and willing to answer questions, and even after the bootcamp have said they would be happy to help us if there’s anything they can do.
We also had the chance to meet Marcus Pollard, the director of player development for the Jaguars. We were able to ask him two questions on camera, and I wish everyone could meet him as well. He has such insight as a former player and now someone who helps develop young NFL players and prepare them for a life after football.
The final part of the day was for stand-ups. We were each given time to stand in front of the camera with a Jags mic and introduce the interview we had done. Laura was such a great coach and gave really helpful advice. I can’t wait to see how my clips turn out!
Even after a long and busy day, no part of me wanted to leave. I created so many special relationships, particularly with the girls I had met, and was so motivated I could have come back the next day to do it all over again.
I left Jacksonville with nineteen new, good friends, although the word “friends” doesn’t really cover it. It’s a sisterhood that was effortless to create. I also left with many new contacts in the sports industry and a meaningful, but professional, relationship with an NFL player who I’m excited to cheer on this fall.
If you’re not following Laura on Twitter yet, just do it. And if you want to take the next leap in your career (which doesn’t have to be on-camera sports reporting!), I can’t recommend a GALvanize bootcamp enough.
