Women in Sports Wednesday: Marissa Bayer

By: Madison Hedding

Who: Marissa Bayer  Furman University Marketing Assistant Social Handle: @mbayer34

What’s your story? 

“When I was younger, I never would have imagined that I’d be where I am now. It’s been such a unique journey.” Marissa Bayer grew up around sports her entire life. Her three other siblings all played college athletics in football, basketball, and golf. She grew up playing basketball and swimming and with both seasons overlapping, she chose to stick with basketball as she got older. 

Lucky enough throughout her career, she was fortunate enough to play under a coach that truly invested in her as a person and as an athlete. “He was able to teach me to get to the skill level to be able to compete at the Division I level.” And, with that, I knew that I was going to play college basketball.

Little did she know, but Marissa’s mom had emailed Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina for her during her Junior year of high school. “She told them that if at any time they were near her hometown or near a travel ball tournament they had to check out her 6’1 basketball daughter.” 

She was playing in a tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina, and ended up being scouted by the head coach at Wofford. “I went on an official visit and I fell in love with the campus. The culture and the team just felt perfect. I came into a basketball program that wasn’t very good, and went through years of struggles to being part of turning the program around.” Marissa was offered a scholarship to play, so she packed up her bags and moved to Spartanburg.

“Being a student-athlete, you’re very caught up in that life of school and basketball. It was really hard to wrap my head around what I was going to do after the game was over, and I didn’t know.” She had got to intern for a summer project and worked closely with Annie Mitchell, the VP of Marketing for the University itself. “I had mentioned to her that I wanted to work in possibly sports marketing but I didn’t know how… and Annie told me I should use my student-athlete connections with the university and reach out to the athletic marketing department at Wofford.” 

Marissa went to her coaches before graduation for guidance and went to her coaches for guidance to see if they could help her connect with people in the industry. One of the coach's daughters was in the sport management master’s program at The University of South Carolina. “I didn’t want to go to graduate school, but I said I might as well since everyone else has a master’s degree. So I applied, and I got in.” 

Marissa moved to Columbia, South Carolina, and was able to intern with the Athletic Department at USC during her time in school. As the program was only a year-long, afterward she found a temporary internship at Georgia State to fill in the gap. During that time, she was still on the hunt for a full-time job. 

In December 2020, while interning at Georgia State, Marissa’s boss offered her a promotion to oversee several spots, kids club and interns. That same week, she received an email for a job opening at Furman University for a Marketing Assistant. “It was funny because Furman being the rival to Wofford, I never considered working there.” After going through the interview processes for both jobs at Georgia State and Furman, she ultimately decided that due to the culture at Furman, she would accept that position. “The process of choosing between these positions was difficult, considering both schools provided opportunities to gain meaningful experience.”

Marissa has not worked at Furman for very long yet, but she is confident that she made the right decision. “I was thrown into the fire with responsibilities, but in a good way. I have a voice. I can implement my ideas. If an idea does not work, my boss is willing to talk through why it does not or how it could be adjusted to something we can do. I appreciate how all of the departments here work together (sometimes doing tasks outside of their typical job). Above all else, my boss trusts me.” 

Through it all, Marissa is still amazed by the timing of her life, and more so in her career. “It’s amazing to me the timing of everything and how it worked itself out. Now that I look back on it, timing is always so incredible.” 

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

Overarchingly, something that’s continually being brought to light more in the sports world is mental health. It’s not something that she’s personally been through. “But seeing so many passionate people in my industry sacrifice their mental health to do their jobs, I’ve learned so much about the depth of the issue and how it’s important to talk about it.” 

There are good days and there are bad days. Sometimes, the workload can be overwhelming working in sports – especially during crossover season or even in the middle of a pandemic. Marissa is beyond thankful to hear that there are bosses and leaders in the industry who are understanding that we are human and if we work constantly and never have a second to breathe – it’s going to be detrimental to our health. “At one point or another, everyone who works in sports gets to that point of their career. And knowing that you have an industry full of people with who you can be real and honest with and can help you get through any situation you’re facing. Plus, it’s more likely that someone else has been in your shoes and can help you process and get you through it.” As tough as the sports industry can be on people, it is reassuring to know that we all have each other’s back through thick and thin. 

Working in sports specifically, Marissa hasn’t had many issues that women have had to experience. “The one thing that bothers me the most is when a boss, being male, will treat his employees, being female, differently. Not because of how they do their job, but simply because they are assumed to be lesser.” 
 
 There was a situation that happened to Marissa, where she was talked down upon and poorly treated by her male boss during her time as an intern. “Unfortunately while that was a very small and not super serious instance, there are more exaggerated examples of that happening in the workplace in a much worse setting. I hope to bring these instances to life and to talk about them industry-wide so we can create a welcoming environment in sports for everyone; not a hostile work environment for women.” Women should not have to sacrifice their mental health, nor how they are treated in the workplace, to pursue what they love doing. 

Currently, a challenge Marissa is still working through is learning to be articulate and define what she wants to do and how she’s going to accomplish it. “Being young and in my first ever full-time job, I want to be a sponge and absorb everything. But I also want to work hard and prove that I want to be there and that I can do a good job.” Marissa is blessed to be surrounded by an amazing culture at Furman currently that motivates her to take that extra step to ensure that her athletes, coaches, and staff are provided the best experience possible.

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? 

There is a podcast that Marissa listens to, called the Rookie Contract who is run by two young industry sport professionals. “They kept mentioning being a swiss army knife in the industry. Especially in marketing, there are so many facets of what we do, that everything has to come together.” The more we’re like a swiss army knife, the more we can adapt to the ever-changing environment that is the world of sports – and be successful. 
 
 Some of the things that Marissa is working on now are: striving to do a ton of networking, learning Adobe Photoshop, spending time analyzing and researching trends in the sports industry, attending all the NACMA webinars, and absorbing everything she can during her first year in a full-time role in the industry. The more diverse skillset you can have, the more valuable it can make you. “Even as I lack experience, I make up for it in other ways.” 

Lastly, timing is everything. During her last semester in grad school, she had a lot of doubts about getting a full-time role in marketing. “I felt that so many people were more experienced than myself.” The quote that Marissa has followed since 2020 is, “Put yourself in the right place as much as possible because eventually, it’ll be the right time.” Keep asking those questions, keep improving your technical skills, and keep expanding your network – eventually, it’ll pay off. 
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

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