Agent for Professional Athletes
She was a skilled athlete but realized she couldn’t play forever. So, she needed to think about her future. She self-assessed her interests and made a plan, which helped her to focus on her goal.
Much of this story will be told within quotes to present ER as she told her story to an interviewer.
CHILDHOOD
Erika Ruiz (ER) was a talented athlete who could have played many sports at a high level of competition during and beyond her high school years but chose instead to focus on basketball.
EARLY FOCUS ON ATHLETICS WAS AS A PLAYER
Success on the basketball court did not come easily to ER but like everything else in her life, she was dedicated to improving every day, practicing her sport as much as possible, while still devoting attention to earning grades sufficient to qualify for college admission.
ER was not a “High School All-American” basketball player but no one outworked her during practice or games. She started her college career at St. Mary’s, later transferring to a more competitive program at Cal State’s L.A. campus.
EDUCATION
Following college graduation, ER kept her focus on working within the world of sports. Eventually, ER would earn a Master’s degree in sports administration.
PONDERING A CAREER PATH BY ASSESSING YOUR INTERESTS
Looking back at her decision process to choose a career, ER said, “For most of us that are basketball players, that’s our identity. I see that a lot while representing athletes today. For myself, when I was transferring from one college to another, I knew, ‘OK, this is the last stop for me (as a player.) I’m doing this because I love the game. I’m gonna give everything I have. But what’s next for me?’
ER considered her love of sports, her increasing knowledge about the jobs within sports but away from the hardwood courts or grass fields and her inclination to want to help people make good business decisions, all of which led her to conclude that she wanted to be an ‘Agent’ – though admittedly, she did not then fully understand what would be involved.
EARLY ADULT JOBS ARE NEVER A BINDING CAREER COMMITMENT
During the interview process for a video coordinator position for USC’s women’s basketball team, ER made one thing clear: The role was going to be temporary. The moment she could leave and work for an agency, she’d be gone.
Since she was still pursuing her Master’s degree and knew she couldn’t immediately work as a player’s agent, ER wanted to keep a connection to basketball and develop a new skill set. So, while starting as a video coordinator for the team, she then moved into coaching.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT AS A PLAYER’S AGENT
“Basketball is a really small community. When I was a freshman, an eventually famous male basketball player was at the same school. There was a lot of hype around him. So, I became exposed through friends to the business scene of sports, seeing people who were chasing their dream and what their needs were, I felt like, look, if I can play, if I can eventually coach and I can go to a prestigious school like USC, I feel like that would get me in the door somewhere. What door, I wasn’t sure. I never thought that what I was observing and learning about the business side of sports would make me an agent. But I thought that if I worked hard to learn the game and about all the types of jobs associated with sports, that somehow a door would open for me.”
“Looking back, I can’t say that when I was nearing the end of my college playing career, that I knew what an agent was. I don’t think you ever really know until you do it because it’s different for everyone. But there’s this level of desire to protect people who are going through a situation, to give knowledge that maybe I didn’t have – whether that’s as a player, and now even as an agent – and to really be in their corner through the good and the bad. I feel like we’ve experienced that throughout our lives. It especially teaches you that in sports. To know you have someone in it with you, I always want to be that for my guys.”
FRIENDS MAY ALSO BE A HELPFUL BUSINESS NETWORK TO OPEN DOORS TO CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
“As I did my Master’s, it allowed me to do a deep dive into the sport of basketball, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the television negotiation contracts. I got wind of who was doing these deals. I saw that deals were being done but I wondered by whom? I thought that if I had a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree, and I had played and coached, in my head, I was, like, ‘this is gonna get me in the door of a sports business, somewhere.’
But all my applications and inquiries led to nothing, at first. Meanwhile, a friend who is the daughter of an NBA Coach, asked me, ‘How’s it going?’ I’m like, ‘No one’s responded to me. I’m doing little side hustles here and there.’ So, she said, ‘Why didn’t you ask me for my help?’ I told her, ‘Because everyone asks you for that. She then said, kiddingly but with a serous voice ‘You’re an idiot!’ I thought that was rude to say, but she always keeps it real, which I appreciate about her.
So, my friend asked me for my resume, which she submitted to her friend in a sports agency. A week later, I got an interview at an agency for a job in their mailroom.
I tell my friend all the time that she changed the trajectory of my life, because we must have someone open that door for us. No one does it alone. We can act like we’re ‘solo dolo’ but it doesn’t happen that way in real life. We definitely need help throughout the process.
A lot of people want to be an agent. There are 450 players in the NBA plus you have short contract players and the G League. Although that seems like a lot of players with a lot of corresponding opportunities for people to serve as players’ agents, a big bulk of the most well-known agents represent most of the players. Agencies don’t necessarily hire lots of assistants so when you have an opportunity, you had better make the best of it.
When I was interviewed at the first agency which employed me, they said, ‘Everyone wants to be a sports agent. Why should we hire you?’ In that moment, I was like, ‘I made a plan several years ago to learn the business of basketball after I had played the game. And my nature is to look out for all aspects of whoever I am responsible for – whether as a player teammate or someone I’m coaching or someone I will be representing. Starting in the mailroom and succeeding there will help me remove doubt and question marks because I always feel I have the capability to learn a new job and do it well.’
They hired me.”
DOING YOU BEST AT SMALL JOBS GETS POSITIVE ATTENTION
“A mailroom is what it sounds like: You’re delivering mail. You’re driving clients around. You are creating flowers in conference rooms. You’re entrusted to make sure desks are in perfect order. And I’m like, if it’s effort, game on. I know exactly what I want to do. This is all that I’m about. So, I tried to put my best foot forward in everything that I did in the mailroom to have a chance.
I was older – at 26 – than most of the others in the mailroom, who were in their early 20s. After a year, I was able to work for the co-head of the agency, so I guess my dedication to learning and trying to do my best every day, got management’s attention.”
AGENT’S DAILY ACTIVITIES
“Every day, I’m strategizing. I’m always planting seeds, meaning I’m going to reach out and tell a brand or a team about you – even if I know the actual thing we’re trying to accomplish is a year from now. You must be proactive in this business, though quite often, it can be easy to be reactive because we’re so busy. The main thing that I do every day that’s consistent is: I’m gonna go out swinging, and I better have some losses and misses on the board. Because if I’m doing that, I’m creating momentum. If I’m doing that, I’ve challenged myself that day. Those are the key things that are always consistent, that I have on my vision board’s daily actions.”
CHALLENGE – REPLACE NEGATIVES WITH POSITIVES IN YOUR THINKING
“A big challenge is avoiding the distraction of thinking about what you don’t have or who you are not. Because you are an ‘only’, you are a rarity. What I have really tried to shift my focus to, and what life has taught me is, I am a woman, I’m in a male-dominated business and I have a lot of skill sets that are very beneficial. I’m creative. I think outside the box, and I love to work in tandem and as part of a team. The biggest thing that I’ve seen is those are the qualities that have gotten me this far. And while I should always be trying to add, I shouldn’t try to be something I’m not. When I leaned more into that, that’s when I’ve seen my most success.”
ADVICE FOR SOMEONE TRYING TO FOLLOW MY FOOTSTEPS
“Dig deep into to your “why” do I want to do this? If your thoughts align with what an agent does, you’ll be able to overcome a lot. In all our jobs, there are so many challenges. It doesn’t even have to be sports. There’s so many roadblocks and if you can know what your ‘why’ is, that’s going to help you get through.
The biggest thing that I had to learn was, when I had, at times, been boxed into roles and situations where I felt at the time were holding me back, I switched my mind to a perspective of, ‘How can I get the most out of this? And how can I add this into my wheelhouse?’ I can be a skilled agent; I can do marketing; I can work in tandem with others. I can create a story.”
SOMETIMES A JOB CHANGE WITHIN A CAREER MAKES GOOD SENSE
“I was at a very critical point in my career. We’re constantly evolving, constantly growing. We should be constantly getting better. So, am I in a place where I can continue to learn and get better? I need to understand that because I need to plant my roots and really establish myself to grow during my next phase of learning to be a good agent.
When I thought about what matters most to me, it’s how I view representation, being an agent. I felt I couldn’t continue growing within the agency where I had started. I had some interaction with another agency and came to realize that we shared common values: the focus is representing people, a human first. Not just thinking of people as athletes. If we represent you, we understand there will be highs and lows. If we represent you, we also represent your family. And we want to put everyone in a position of power to succeed.”
CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND SATISFACTION
“Still in the early stages of my career as an agent, I have played every role, so I know what it’s like to play every role: I was a star player. I was a bench player. I was a video coordinator. I was a coach. I worked in the mailroom. I’ve been an assistant to an agent. So, with all that background, I’m able to be innovative and sometimes even disruptive for my clients while I continue to help them grow on the court and grow as young men. I only do things if I believe in them.
In thinking about what makes a successful agent, I break it down to more of who I want to be as a person, rather than accolades because it really can be unfulfilling if it’s strictly just a checkmark and just an accomplishment. But developing more of who I want to be is not being afraid of rejection, because you’ll be very surprised where you land and how many more yes’s you will get than no’s.”
(Editor’s note: see also Law- Attorney to Variety of Clients)
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This career story is based on several sources, principally an article written by Jovan Buha, published within The Athletic on 4/3/23 plus online research. The Editor of this collection of career stories hopes to add additional information regarding Erika Ruiz’ background and any other matters relevant to her career path, as it becomes available.
