The Meteoric Rise of Front Office Sports and Adam White

By: Rayoni Matos

Via: Forbes.com

Throwback to one of our Sports As a Job Podcast episodes! Co-hosts Kolby and Olivia, were able to sit down with Founder and CEO of Front Office Sports (FOS), Adam White. Our mission in the interview was to give our audience a glimpse of White’s journey thus far, and show sports industry hopefuls how dedication, belief in yourself and what you do goes a long way. Front Office Sports started off similarly to what we do here at Sports as a Job, but with the organic growth of social media and interest by young professionals, it has taken off to the next level. As a part of our Spotlight Program, we put the spotlight on White, and his incredible journey. 

Who is Adam White? 
Adam White is twenty five years old and from Phoenix, Arizona. He attended the University of Miami and obtained a Bachelor of Science (B.S), in Education and Sports Management. He is the founder and CEO of Front Office Sports, a business news platform that covers the intersection of sports and business. White, as a college student, found himself trying to gain as much exposure and experience as he could. He volunteered, held various jobs, and understood the importance of gaining experience in different areas of business, and through that is how he turned an idea into career. 

Front Office Sports & its Journey 

White started FOS between 2013 and 2014. He originally started it with the intention of hosting informational interviews with individuals who worked in the multi-billion dollar industry. It was something that at the time allowed him to get in front of decision makers in the industry, and provided him the opportunity to network with people who could have potentially helped him get a job upon graduating. He eventually realized that aside from some major players, the industry was lacking sports business outlets. From then on, he set out to put together a platform with resources that showcased the stories of people, and businesses in the industry. His company provides a natural approach to anything happening in the business world, and sports across any industry — Marketing, Advertising, Retail, Fashion, and as he says, “Really anything and everything that touches sports, we cover from an editorial stand point.” 

In a matter of a few years, FOS became White’s full time job. He hired his first employee in 2019, and now has 14 full-time employees across editorial and business content creation. To give us an idea on what it takes, he shared with us a time in the process, where he was juggling his internship, job, and making sure he was putting in enough time working on FOS. In the interview we also touch on the point of the trials and tribulations we all face in our journeys to success, and White says, “Growth points go through a lot of pain because it’s really hard to go for it, and now all of a sudden you’re working really hard and seeing the results makes it all worth it.” This is something we all connect to, as we all have our moments of fear, doubt, and insecurities. In those moments it is extremely important to be able to think big picture, and to 
think about where the road we are on is leading us. In his journey full of roller-coasters, White learned how to appreciate his journey, and growth— within the business and himself. He encourages us to celebrate our little wins, and to think about how what we put out into the world, will come back to us, even if it takes a while. In our chance to sit down with him we learned about his journey and where he believes his company is heading. 

What does a day to day look like for you? 

White says although he is no longer working three jobs, a lot of the time it still feels like it. With the popularity and growth of the company, his responsibilities grew exponentially. A day to day for White looks like this: 
- He usually wakes up around 5/5:30 am - Commutes into New York City - Is in the office usually from 7:30 am to in between, 6 pm and 8 pm - Commutes back home and hangs out for a few, before he picks 
back up and starts working again.

What was your motivation back then and now to continue what you are doing? 

White says in terms of his motivation there has been a clear transition in comparison to when he started, to now. 
— “Motivation has obviously changed throughout the grind of getting FOS off the ground to now being recognized, and having employees, stakeholders, advertisers, and partners. It went from a survival standpoint to now and continue to not only grow but thrive mentality.” 

What types of people did you want on your team and how did you find them? 

White says that early on it was anyone and everyone he could find to help out. Now he looks for people who are scrappy, people who have bought in, people who are interested in making an impact in more ways than one, people who have the ability to drive what they think is change, and people who seek and want a larger role. 
— “Hiring is difficult, people are the most important assets and you have to be able to take care of your people.” 

What was the turning point where you realized this could really be something special? 

“Probably in 2018, after signing Anheuser-Busch to be the presenting partner. After that things grew, got more complicated and more complex, there were more things at stake, and more people and opportunities involved.” 

In being so young, what is your mindset when going into meetings and conversations with high-level executives. Is there an insecurity you deal with being new to the business? 

“Nobody knows your business better than you do. It doesn’t matter how old you are, but of course there are certain people who know certain nuances better than you do. Just comes from understanding that conversations with CEO's and CMO's, are different than conversations with marketing managers. The approach is very different, like with anything in life it’s about being flexible, studying and doing your homework on you are connecting with. You can go into a conversation and know where the conversation is going before the person even starts talking, because you’ve done what you were suppose to do in preparation.” 

What is your vision for FOS in the next couple of years? 
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“Continue to grow and be a leader in this space. I think it’s going to only explode from a content standpoint, both from the digital and social side of things. So I think it’s going to come down to how do we continue to be, and get to the point where we could build, and there is enough conversation around whats going on in the business side of sports that we could build a 24/7 news organization based off the business of sports, just like you would anything else— retail, marketing. This is sports as a business, and just building off that is where we want to go and what we want to grow to. So anyone and everyone that’s going to help us get there is going to be important, and us making sure we’re making the right decisions to get there is going to be important.”

Follow Adam White on Twitter here and check out FOS here.