Women in Sports Wednesday: Bella Martin VP of Marketing for WICK Sports, and Branding & Marketing Director for Higher Calling Sports Agency

By: Madison Hedding

What’s your story? 

Bella Martin was born and raised in a military family, so she doesn’t have one place that she calls home. But she spent a good amount of her childhood in DC, so that’s where she likes to to tell people she’s from. As a child, she was thrown into swimming at a very early age. Her mom swam, so naturally, all of the xkids were signed up for lessons before they could walk.

Swimming for Bella was that way of having ‘consistency’ in her life no matter where her family moved. “No matter where I was, where I moved, there was always a team that I could join – water was always water.”

When Bella lived in Germany, 5-9 years old, she joined an internationally competitive swim team traveling to different countries in Europe to compete. Through that, she was able to form quality relationships that she still has kept to this day. Bella has always found a lot of her identity in sports.

Bella swam throughout high school competitively and was planning to swim at the College of Charleston for her collegiate career. But, during her senior year of high school, the coach told her that the program was going to be cut next season. So, Bella had figure out what she was going to do with her life now that it was over. “I never really thought about what I was going to do for a job or outside of sports. Swimming felt like a fulltime job so I was going to do that now and figure the rest out later.”

She ultimately decided to attend Penn State, as it was close to family. Penn State didn’t have sports management as a major, and still doesn’t to this day. With Bella’s history of sports being all encompassing of her life, and then deciding to pursue sports as a career, she was conflicted with what to do.

After her freshman year, and not feeling fulfilled in what she was doing, she took a summer job at a law firm in Dallas, “I wanted to transfer and explore what options I could pursue in my life. During that time I lived with an Aggie family. They were so supportive of what I was doing but pushed me to consider moving to Texas and finish school at A&M.” It didn’t take much convincing, and the thought was then stuck in her head.

“I remember it was that same summer in the middle of the day pouring rain when I was taking a campus tour, and I was loving every second of it. It was then when I decided I needed to find my way back to College Station one day.” Bella found her place, and she knew in her heart it was where she’d call home one day.

That following semester, Bella went back to Penn State, and sadly got a really bad stomach infection. It kept her out of school for the majority of that semester. “I told my parents, I don’t know why I’m sick, the doctors literally couldn’t figure it out. But I realized then this was my opportunity and my moment to move. And they were NOT very happy but supportive nonetheless.” But, she knew exactly where she was headed – to College Station.

During her senior year, in one of her sports classes, she had the opportunity to sell tickets for the Spurs. With that, whoever sold the most tickets that semester was offered a full-time job and Bella won top salesman. But, she didn’t want to do sales. She knew that it wasn’t where she was supposed to be.

Bella ended up graduating from Texas A&M with her degree in Sport Management. With the help of a professor, she was able to go back to school to pursue her Master's in Sport Management and do research in sports/athlete branding. With that, her professor said she’d help Bella figure out what she was passionate about and get her a job.

Within her first semester of being a Graduate Assistant and doing research, Bella found a new passion and wanted to continue school and pursue her Ph.D. “Well, I was so wrong.” That semester, she was working on a project that focused on the Women’s National Team and the pay differences between male and female athletes. Bella finally then realized this is where she could see herself doing this for a full-time career– and thought she found her place in the sports world.

But that following March, she presented her research and was so underwhelmed with how she thought she was supposed to feel. “I went to present and I just felt I spent so much time preparing for this presentation and it went really well and I thought it was going to be this reassuring feeling of this is what I am supposed to do but it was the exact opposite.” She then had to contemplate what she was going to do, but she didn't want to pursue a career she wasn't fully passionate about.

Bella finished up her presentation and headed back home. Unfortunately, COVID hit shortly after, so she was stuck trying to figure out what she was going to do. “I couldn’t go to school, I can’t do any of the same research from home… I thought what am I supposed to do?” So Bella started looking for ways to bring career development opportunities for graduate students in her program since there weren’t any, to begin with.

Bella then came across the Penn State Business Conference and tried to see if she could bring the same concept to A&M. Through this, she developed a relationship with the gentleman who started it at Penn State, Alex. Alex and Bella became great friends, and through their conversations, the panels she moderated, and ideas she generated from this concept, she found her passion for sports and marketing in a capacity that she had never explored before.

As their relationship grew, Bella found a love for personal branding practices more specifically. In June of 2020, Bella was offered a position to come on as the Director of Branding and Marketing for Higher Calling Sports, a sports agency in Dallas. She thought she had found her place in the world but little did she know candles would soon be calling her name.

“I was literally scrolling through Instagram one day and saw this sports candle company and my first thought was, ‘they’re just starting out, we can totally do a private label with one of my athletes or even our agency’, which would be a really cool opportunity for revenue for both of us.”   

So Bella set up a call with the owners, Kyle and Adrian. The call went spectacular, and Bella loved what they were doing. Through their candid conversation, she mentioned to them that if they needed help with branding, marketing, or anything else to let her know as she loved their vision. Well, it didn’t take very long for Bella’s phone to ring.

“Adrian called and told me that he wanted me to come work for them, and I was like for sure let’s do it!” Bella signed onto what is now known as WICK Sports Candles, as their VP of Marketing. Now at 24, she has two pretty lofty titles working for both WICK and Higher Calling, but she sees it as such a blessing. She feels this way because she was able to truly find her calling in sports through sports candles and personal branding in a unique way.

“I never thought I’d work in sports in this capacity – especially in candles but here I am, and I love what I do every day. And the best part about it is that everyone loves candles too.”

Share some struggles/challenges you have had to overcome that you face as a woman working in sports? 

“For me, and working with Higher Calling, it was really easy for me as we shared all of the same values. So, I never felt like anything that I was given, was because I was a woman.”

“When it came to working with Kyle and Adrian at WICK, they were very upfront with me when they brought me on.” They shared with her that it wasn’t because she was a woman that they wanted her to work with them, rather it was because she was a woman that she would be beneficial for the role. A company that was founded by two males for a product that was traditionally beloved by primarily women, they needed a female perspective and presence. And Bella was the answer.

“I have so many ideas for WICK. When I started, I told them, for the first brand ambassadors we have, we want them all to be female athletes. I want to be able to lift other women up if I’m going to do this.” Through the last few months, Bella has been able to realize the power and impact that she can bring to women in sports through this platform. She realizes that yes she was given this position as she is a woman, but she’s also given this position because she is amazing at what she does. “As long as who I’m working for doesn’t see me as being any less because I am a woman- we’re cool.”

What is the best advice you can give a woman who is either just getting her foot in the industry, or already working in sports about how to navigate the struggles and challenges we face? 

When it comes to branding, people are more often than not confused on how to go about it. Bella shares that “people don’t understand how to showcase themselves in a positive way or how to tell their story. But I have the answer; be genuine and be authentically you.”

What Bella has learned is that by sharing your raw and unique story and what you have struggled with, being open and welcome in conversation is beyond beneficial not only for you but for other people too. “It doesn’t mean you have to post about every single struggle you have, and it doesn’t mean that you should brag and boast about everything going on that’s right. But, be honest. People crave honesty and authenticity.”

If you are able to speak truth upon something that other people are wondering about, you’re going to have a positive impact on their life – whether you know it or not. Bella strongly believes that personal branding is so important for your social presence, and for your professional career. “It’s so hard to find a balance of posting on social, whether that’s criticisms or the good things going on in your life. No matter what you do, you have to find a balance that will showcase who you genuinely are. Because at the end of the day that’s what an employer wants – a genuine and honest person to work for them.”

The last piece of advice Bella firmly believes in, is that LinkedIn is the platform where you should be heavily sharing your own personal story - good or bad. All anyone wants to show is what we’re doing right in life, but not everything in life will always go right. LinkedIn still holds so many people who are willing to listen, so take advantage of it. “It’s ok to share areas in your life where you’re not the proudest of. Especially as a woman. There’s a beautiful line between being emotionally vulnerable and oversharing. Just make sure that you are being genuine and honest about your life and experiences.”  

Bella Martin is an incredible woman doing incredible things for sports, branding, and women in sports. She utilizes the gifts that God has blessed her with to help others achieve their dreams within sports.

If you are interested in learning more about Higher Calling or WICK you can visit both of their websites here: 

WICK Sports Candles 
https://www.wicksports.com/
Higher Calling Sports Agency 
https://www.hcsportsagency.com/

If you are interested in sharing your story, struggles, and words of encouragement for other women in sports, please send me a DM through social media (@MadisonHedding) or email me at 15mhedding@gmail.com 

Support Women in Sports. ALWAYS. 
Madison Hedding ​