College Sports Information Directors of America

 
 

In the latest edition of CSC Women to Watch, we highlight Lynnea Phillips, who has spent the last six years at Indiana University. It's been nearly two years since she assumed her current role as assistant athletic director of NIL, student-athlete branding, social and digital media.
 
Phillips oversees content for IU Athletics’ social media accounts, specifically acting as the main voice for Indiana Athletics, Indiana football and Indiana men’s basketball. She also is the editor of IUHoosiers.com and helps athletes with building their personal brands.
 
Prior to working at Indiana, Phillips was the social media coordinator for the University of North Carolina from 2014-2016 and interned with the NCAA national office as a membership & student-athlete affairs postgraduate intern (2013-14). Phillips earned her bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Colorado State University-Pueblo, where she was also a student assistant in the sports information department.
 
 
What is your favorite part about your job?
LP: I really love interacting with the student-athletes on the branding front. For the majority of my career, I've used my branding and digital and social skills to help build the athletic department social, but now it's cool to kind of have an impact more so on student-athletes and coaches too — we work with them on their message and their platform. So it's just cool to hear what different people want to project on their social media and then help them come up with a plan.
 
What is the most challenging part of your job?
LP: I would definitely say having the title that I have. There's a lot of people that have questions about NIL and it changes a lot, so having to kind of stay up to date. I don’t want to say it’s a negative, but it's definitely a challenge in that you kind of always have to stay up to date on what's happening with NIL. Every state is different, every institution is different on how they handle it. So staying up to date while juggling traditional social responsibilities … all those things can be challenging at times.
 
What have you learned about NIL and student-athlete brand building in the past few years?
LP: I knew this going in, but it was definitely underscored that every athlete is very different on how they approach their brand and how they approach NIL. Some athletes aren't that interested in it. Not all of them are interested in pursuing businesses to work with … some athletes wish there were more opportunities. So it definitely runs the gamut. The ability not to have a ‘one size fits all’ approach is really important.

When did you realize that working in college athletics was a career you wanted to pursue? 
LP: In high school, I was an athlete — I played volleyball and I threw the shotput and discus. When I went to college, my high school coaches had some connections there [with my college’s athletic department]. The athletic department was looking for someone who was reliable, and my old high school coaches put in a good word - and that's how I got started.
 
I switched my major three different times when I was in college, so I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do. When I was looking for a new major, my boss at the time — Anthony Sandstrom — suggested ‘Why don’t you major in communications?’ And I was like, ‘Actually, that could be really cool.’ I ultimately switched my major to integrated communications. I didn't really know that it was even a job before I came to college and was exposed to it, but I really fell in love with working in an athletics department.
 
How important is it to be a woman, a Black woman at that, that is inspiring others to join this field?
LP: I take it very seriously. I recognize that especially in college athletics in general, but even in Division I, I believe I'm the only Black woman who leads social, especially for football and men's basketball as those are my two main sports. So I recognize that there's not a lot of people who look like me in the field; and at times, that has been a challenge, I'm not gonna lie. But I take the representation of minorities very seriously.
 
I try to do good work. I think sometimes your work speaks for you more than other things that you do. But also — this interview is a good example — if people ask me to speak or put my name out there, I try to do it because I recognize that representation matters.
 
So I want to not only represent and be somebody that someone who looks like me can look to and say, ‘well, she can do it, I can do it.’ But I also think it's important to lift as you rise … we have a really big intern program at IU and I take the charge that I have in hiring women and hiring minorities very seriously. Being able to give them the tools that they need to one day get the job that I have.
 
  
What was your experience like working at the NCAA national office as an intern?
LP: It was majorly important. I know that I wouldn't be where I am today — Indiana or literally still working in sports — without that internship. They really pride themselves on professional development when you're an intern with NCAA, so that was my first taste of meeting people outside the national office walls. I got to meet a lot of different people. I came from NCAA Division II, and had only been on two other college campuses other than my own, so I didn't really know a lot about the industry. I didn't know a whole lot about college athletics, so I took the sponge approach and I said yes to doing a lot of different things, just because I wanted to get the experience.
 
How important has networking been for you progressing as a professional, but also just making connections with other people in the industry?
LP: That has probably been one of the most important parts of my career … the ability to connect with other like-minded people. So when I was a young professional, it was really important for me to connect with other young professionals.
 
I'm an introvert and so I don't always love talking to strangers. But I think connecting with people on a genuine level is really important.
 
What is your favorite sports to watch?
LP: I love the NFL. I'm a Steelers fan. My family is from Pennsylvania so I have to be a Steelers fan! But I am a big professional football person.
 
What are some hobbies you like to do outside of work?
LP: I like to travel, cook, listen to music and go to concerts … normal stuff.