SDH 457: Making the Leap From Subcontracting To Playing A Game of Her Own with Jahaan Blake

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Hello friends! This week I’m sitting down with the amazing Jahaan Blake. Jahaan is a sports expert turned career coach who helps high-achieving women in the sports and entertainment industries lose the feeling of being stuck, frustrated and defeated and finally find their voice so they can tackle whatever is keeping them from getting exactly what they want in their career.

During Jahaan’s 18-year career working in sports, including working with 3 major league teams (Red Sox, Dodgers, & Cubs), her favorite part of her job was always helping others see their full potential. She loved it so much that she finally made the leap and made a business out of it. Whether her clients want to break into the sports industry, take their performance to the next level, or own a place at the executive table, Jahaan provides incredible coaching programs to help them accelerate their career.

Jahaan also is the host of her own podcast, but this time she is sitting on the other side of the mic getting to answer the questions herself, which is always so fun to do!

Throughout her years in the industry Jahaan has learned that when working within your industry you can actually gain a very unique perspective, knowledge and experience - much different than what you would learn in a college classroom setting. She learned valuable life skills and lessons that she still uses to this day like how to navigate the internal politics of an organization, how to advocate for yourself, and how to lead a meeting. These are the things that no one likes to talk about, but things you need to know.

“You can either learn just by trial by fire, and some people just want to accelerate their career and get support on those core things and help them to have that dream career and get exactly what they want.”

When Jahaan started down her career path working for the Boston Red Sox, she was making $6 an hour (what?!) as an ambassador at Fenway Park. At that time she was also working on getting her masters degree so she was focused on working part time, getting her feet wet in the industry. She quickly decided that she wanted to transition into a full-time role with the organization and advocated for herself to do exactly that. She took her part-time position and created a new role for the organization as a coordinator, a much needed position that they were lacking. She learned how to manage a team of her peers, where she led them to consistently deliver positive fan experiences at the park.

Eventually, it was time for her to move on, and Jahaan’s boss moved to LA to work for the Dodgers. After convincing him it was a good move for him, she decided it could also be an excellent move for her. She took her own advice, moved to LA and began working for the Dodgers as well. She also made her biggest salary jump and took a huge promotion in her new role.

When a divorce struck the owners of the team, things quickly turned ugly. This allowed Jahaan to pivot once again, setting her sights on Chicago to work for the Cubs. This position didn’t come quite as easily as the others, but she was so passionate about what she had to offer that she reached out directly to the new team owners to apply for their open position as a Chief Hospitality Officer. This was her job, and she was doing what it took to get it. In fact, she was so passionate about it that she not only emailed the Cubs to get it, but she also FedEX’ed them a letter. This struck a chord and a week later she had an interview scheduled and two weeks later an official job offer was made.

In the back of her mind, Jahaan had always thought about starting her own business. After all, it ran in her blood with her father also being an entrepreneur, but she was always just afraid to make that big leap. Every time she had thoughts about it she talked herself out of it saying ‘I need more experience’. After someone reminded her how great she was at consulting, and she saw all of the invoices teams were paying people for services like what she could offer, she decided it was time to start working on her own, gaining experience by building her business while still working her full-time job.

Unfortunately, the company she was working with on the side just wasn’t a good fit and when she jokingly asked a friend/ colleague if they wanted to hire someone as a consultant she received a shocking response - YES. Her friend talked her up to her boss about the position and within hours Jahaan had only 30 seconds to accept an offer that could change the trajectory of her entire future. She said yes.

With no safety net, LLC, or real plan formulated, Jahaan had made her leap. After spending so many years in corporate, feeling like something was missing, she decided that she was just going to figure things out, do what makes her happy and feel fulfilled, while putting money into her pocket.

Jahaan began to pivot into coaching because so many friends and colleagues came to her for advice (they still do!). She realized how much she enjoyed helping women deal with things she too had gone through, and teaching them how to advocate for themselves. She started by interviewing a handful of women, and the trade off was her giving them the opportunity to ask her any questions they had and offer up advice.

Friends, the very first person she talked to asked about her coaching packages.

She quickly put together a proposal and consulting contract, offering three levels of services. Now Jahaan offers paid services, alongside her podcast, a tremendous value (for free!). Jahaan is super passionate about her clients and the services she offers and while she doesn’t love the feeling of selling herself, she has adopted the mindset of:

“I’m helping you. If you need help, I’m here”.

This helps to keep her mindset balanced when selling her services.

When organizations approach her, she reminds herself (and them) how she can help their staff perform better and gain better results for the company by consistently offering up value.

You can connect with Jahaan on Instagram and LinkedIn, get more information on her services on her website, and gain tremendous value through her podcast.

Until next time, keep doing it your way!

Insights:

“You can either learn just by trial by fire, and some people just want to accelerate their career and get support on those core things and help them to have that dream career and get exactly what they want.”
“This was her job, and she was doing what it took to get it.“
“Every time she had thoughts about it she talked herself out of it saying ‘I need more experience’.”
“After spending so many years in corporate, feeling like something was missing, she decided that she was just going to figure things out, do what makes her happy and feel fulfilled, while putting money into her pocket.”