Luke Schuellin (B.A. 2011) Manager, Business Development. VIWA
What’s your current position? How long have you been in this position? Can you give me a brief overview of what it is you do in your work? My current role at Viwa is Manager, Business Development. I have been in this position for just under two years now. Viwa is a ticket management solution company and deals with the secondary market of the sports and entertainment industry. There are two sides to our business: the consigned side and our wholly owned inventory. The consigned side consists of brokers, smaller teams, and venues who send us their inventory to sell and use our software to push their tickets out to hundreds of different ticket exchanges. This increases visibility, which leads to more sales. The wholly owned side consists of us going out to the different teams, venues, and events and purchasing the tickets ourselves and then using our software to sell them for a profit (ideally).
My role is unique in that I have management duties, sales duties, and acquisition duties (think of it as three main buckets). I manage the Business Development department and I am responsible for the recruiting, hiring, and training of each Business Development Representative. In addition, I have sales goals in which I am responsible for bringing on board so many clients (consigned side of the business). Essentially, we are a SaaS platform. I reach out to different ticket brokers, minor league teams, and venues with the intention of signing them up to use our software. Once they are on our system, we take a small percentage out of the total proceeds. Some of my clients have sales in excess of one million dollars, others are smaller and only do a couple hundred dollars in sales over the course of a year.
The other main facet includes acquiring new inventory for our wholly owned side. This involves networking and developing relationships with the various professional sports and collegiate teams, and venues in order to acquire season tickets, groups, and mini plans for us to resell. The whole goal is to sell the tickets for a profit. Some teams I’ve purchased in excess of 200 season tickets for a football season. The investments I make range anywhere from a million dollars to as small as five hundred dollars. It all depends on the analysis that is completed and the projections of the investment. This requires running different numbers, using past data, demographics, buying patterns, price points, etc. to make an informed decision. Investments are not made just because we have a favorite team. Being impartial and focusing on the data is key. I like to describe this part of my job to people like it is the stock market. We analyze a “stock” (team/event) and determine whether or not we see it being profitable in the future and invest in that “stock” accordingly.
What would you say most motivates you to do what you do? What are you most excited or passionate about? What are the goals you most want to accomplish in your work? Not so much the goals that are in your job description, but the goals you hold personally?
There are a couple of main things that motivate me in my job. First off, my intrinsic motivation keeps me going day in and day out. I expect myself to be the best, and lead my department to success. Failure to do so is unacceptable. In addition, I would be lying if I said money does not help motivate me. While money is not my main focus, it does help fund my other passions, which includes traveling and photography. My job includes a base salary, a commission component, and bonuses based on how well my team performs, how many clients I bring on board, and the volume of sales those clients do. I would advise all students that money should not be your main motivation though. At the end of the day, it’s important to have a life outside of work and be able to enjoy your time outside of the office. Too many times I’ve seen people get burnt out chasing dollars and missing out on the things around them. I’ve never seen anyone become truly satisfied with the amount of commissions they make and they are in an endless cycle of wanting more.
I love exceeding expectations and going above and beyond what is expected. I like the challenge and I enjoy being pushed to become better. In addition, I thoroughly enjoy teaching and developing my reps to become better and go on to lead successful careers within the sports industry. While seeing them succeed in the industry is satisfying, I also strive to develop people of good character and proud when I see them make an impact in their communities and families. Helping others succeed is a great passion of mine.
Ultimately, I’d love to continue to move up and become the CEO. While that may not happen anytime soon, it is an aspiration of mine to run a business.
What led you to this job? What were you doing before you came here?
I have worked in sports most of my career. I had a handful of internships in college with the Wichita State Rowing team, Johnson County 3&2 Sports Complex, and the New York Mets. With those internships, I saw how enjoyable it was to work in the sports industry. My competitive nature led me to my first sales job in sports with the San Diego Padres, before I returned back to Wichita to become the Director of Ticket Sales for the Wichita Thunder. After a two year stop at the Thunder, I was looking to expand my skills and took on the challenge of managing a larger team of sales rep (12) at The Aspire Group at Arizona State University. Here I was able to tackle the college landscape and learn how to sell multiple sports, while managing and developing a much larger team. Unfortunately, the Aspire Group’s contract was not renewed and the department structure changed. Arizona State cleaned house when new management came in and the sales staff was let go. Due to this sudden change, I had a year stop at Vanguard, where I worked with clients that had a million dollars or more in investments. Working with high net worth clients was a great experience and helped further develop my skills and allowed me to expand my network. Ultimately, I yearned to be back in the sports industry and found the opportunity to achieve that and work with Viwa.
Did you have any key mentors or people who influenced you?
Having a mentor is essential. Ideally, it is someone who you can talk to, bounce ideas off, and someone who is open to helping. I was fortunate enough to network and develop connections with people at the New York Mets. My mentor was Chris Leuth, Premium Sales Manager for the New York Mets. He was a top producer for the Mets and was highly regarded within the organization. Even after I left, I stayed in touch via email or phone calls. I referred to him when presented with career opportunities and he helped guide me along the way.
I cannot stress the importance of networking. As Dr. Noble would say in his Intro to Sports Management, “It’s not what you know, it’s about who you know. And it’s not about who you know, it’s about who knows you.” Having a strong network goes a long ways. This industry is a tightly knit community, and having people that you can turn to is key. As I type this, I am reminded of certain individuals that I have not touched base with recently and plan on reconnecting.
Were there specific experiences you gained while studying in the Sport Management program that prepared you for the work you do today?
The most valuable experience that I obtained in the Sport Management program had to be the internships that I completed while in school. These experiences helped me gain insight into the real world, helped me identify what I liked and disliked, bolstered my resume, and prepared me for what it took to succeed within the sports industry. In addition, these internships helped me build my network, hone my sales crafts, and learn from the best. While the program may only require one internship from students in order to graduate, I would recommend doing several internships so you can gain a wide array of knowledge and skills.
What advice or suggestions would you give to someone that wanted to pursue a degree in Sport Management?
Working in sports looks sexy. Telling your friends you work for a professional team is cool, but many people do not realize what it is really like. It’s like watching the highlights on Sportscenter of the baseball game last night. There are some intense plays and the crowd goes nuts during those moments. However, what Sportscenter does not show is the downtime during the game, the rain delays that might occur, or all the pitching changes that are made. Hearing about people working in sports is like those highlights. You hear about the remarkable things, but you do not realize everything that goes into it. You do not hear how most jobs in sports are in entry level sales at first. You do not hear about the constant rejection that you receive on the phone. You do not hear about making 100 outbound calls a day. You do not hear about the countless outside events or networking meetings you have to go to. You do not hear about the twelve hour days that are put in. You do not hear about people being let go because they do not hit their sales goals. You do not hear about the initial low pay.
That is not meant to scare anyone away. It is meant to paint a realistic picture. Working in sports is extremely fun. I have taken clients on the field and watched batting practice with them as Adrian Gonzalez dropped bombs over the Petco walls. I have spoken to David Wright in the tunnels at Citi Field. I have had the opportunity to turn down jobs from the New York Yankees. I have watched Arizona State upset Notre Dame and 70,000+ fans go nuts. These are just some of the moments that I would never want to trade in. These moments are why I enjoy working in sports, you just have to realize it takes a lot of hard work, time, and effort to be successful and to enjoy these moments.
The other piece of advice I would pass along is the number of jobs in sports. There are a limited number of professional teams out there, and there are hundreds of other students across the nation gunning for those same positions. If you are truly wanting to work in sports, expect to begin working as an entry level sales representative. While this is not what you may have dreamed of when you were little, it is a great opportunity to learn this side of the business, master your sales skills, and move up into an organization and potentially branch into another department.
How did your experience at Wichita State help you find your first position after graduation?
Wichita State’s Sports Management program is well known. Having a degree from Wichita certainly helps gain recognition. In addition, I would say doing well and having a good GPA goes a long way. When there are hundreds of other resumes that you are competing against, it is important to stand out. The average time a hiring manager takes to look over a resume is ten seconds. Recently, I had a job posting and had 369 resumes submitted. I spent less than three seconds on each resume weeding out the good from the bad. That being said, maintaining a good GPA in class can certainly help. Be an active participant in class and ask questions to those guest speakers that come in. There are some great resources at Wichita State and the faculty is more than willing to help – you just have to ask.
How difficult was it to transition from college life to your professional life? And what advice would you give to students that are close to graduation? For me, the transition from college life to professional life was not difficult. I had worked 30 hours a week during school, took classes, and had internships all at the same time. I was prepared for the long hours and what it took. The biggest change for me was not seeing all the familiar faces and friends every day. While different, I embraced it, made new friends, and enjoyed my time at each stop.
My biggest piece of advice is to grow your network and to gain valuable internship experience. There are many sales combines and networking opportunities that you can attend. While it may cost some money for a flight and registration, it can pay off big dividends. Be coachable and learn during these events. Sports Business Solutions has different opportunities across the nation, and it is a very valuable experience. I have been a coach at these events in the past, and can attest that many individuals that have attended, have landed sales roles within different sports organizations.
Make the most of your internship experiences and learn what you enjoy doing. Grow your skill set and build a good reference that you can leverage down the road!