The Real Stories of Women Who Work in Sports
KATIE GWINN HEWITT
Katie Gwinn Hewitt is a sports information director at the University of Michigan. She graduated from Saint Leo University with a bachelors in communications management in 2013 and a masters of business administration in 2015. I have worked with Katie during my internship at Michigan and have been inspired by her work ethic and dedication to her job. Katie is a fairly young established professional in the sports industry. She has co-founded a blog that acts as a resource for women in sports called Sparkles and Sports, which served as an inspiration for the creation of this blog.
Q: How long have you been working in the sports field?
I majored in communications and part of my degree track required me to complete a mini internship called a pre-internship, which was like three hours per week for a semester. My pre-internship was the first semester of my junior year, and I completed it with my school's athletic department. I played softball in college and knew our sports information director pretty well, so when I explained that I'd like an opportunity to do some feature writing for the department, he gave me a chance. I ended up writing some feature articles that semester and then I kind of never stopped working for them... I asked if I could just keep hanging around and they said yes. I worked a bunch of events for the department doing stats, social media, helping with the recap, playing music, you name it. And I've been working in sports ever since!
Q: When did you decide you wanted to work in the sports field?
Sports were always such a big part of my life. I started playing t-ball when I was four and I never stopped playing baseball or softball until my junior year of college, and even when I quit playing, it wasn't because I didn't like sports. You just can't compare sports to anything. Sports are so unique and broad and awesome and sometimes crappy -- so many highs and lows. I always knew that I wanted to work in sports, but I never knew until I started working for the athletic department at Saint Leo that this job existed. When I was in high school, I was on the newspaper and into journalism, and when I went to college it was with the goal of being a journalist, but when I realized what this role was and that I could work for a school, that made a lot of sense for me. Inside of being on the outside looking in, I would be on the inside looking out and I really liked that.
Q: What is your best memory working in sports?
In 2016, Michigan volleyball had a great year and we hosted the first rounds of the NCAA tournament, which was a lot of work but so fun and so cool. We beat Oregon here in Crisler Center to go to the Sweet Sixteen... That was awesome. I don't normally go into the locker room after games but I did after that game and just seeing the team's reaction and hearing them sing Hail! To The Victors was so cool.
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Q: How did you become comfortable working in a male-dominated industry?
Every time I've worked in sports, it's been with men. It just is the way it is. I was really lucky to work alongside another woman in my first job at Saint Leo named Megan. Our relationship wasn't perfect but we had a lot of great conversations and it was great working with another female. We are really lucky here at Michigan. There are so many women in this athletic department so you never feel outnumbered or weird.
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I think regardless of your gender or gender identity, we're all here for the same purpose. Looking at the people who work in my profession, to be completely frank, it's mostly men. That's what it is, but it's not because the profession doesn't want more women or anything like that. It's just the nature of our job. How can one have a family and do this? Not just be a member of a family, but birth a kid, raise a kid, do all of that and still balance this? It's really hard for a lot of women to find the right answer, and that's why there isn't a lot of women in my specific profession. But once you get into different areas of college athletics like academics, sports medicine, nutrition, and so on, there are plenty of women in those areas.
Q: How do you find a work-life balance?
I don't. I am honestly the worst person to ask that question. I am extremely lucky to have a husband that doesn't care that I work a lot, and so I don’t really have a balance. However, I am also not at a point where I am unhappy. I am sure that in a few years I will not be satisfied with going home and working until 11 p.m., but right now I am so that's okay, and to me, that's part of balance. As for a traditional balance, I don't think there is a right answer. My biggest advice is just to do what makes you happy. Working 70 hours a week like I do makes me happy, and that's why Matt (my husband) is okay with it. If working 40 hours was good and I could get all of my work done and I was satisfied, then that would be okay too. My desire to work is what makes me happy and what makes me feel satisfied so therefore, it doesn't always feel like work. That is part of my mental health and well being and self-care because I feel fulfilled.
Q: What is a piece of advice you would give yourself when you were just starting out?
I don't feel like I've done anything that I would do differently. I would say that if I could go back and tell myself something it would be to read more books. That may sound silly dumb but it's something I really love doing -- not just for an escape but for an educational component. I wish that I had started reading more sporting or leadership books before now. There are so many and I want to read them all but don't have time.
Q: What is the best way to set yourself apart?
Be yourself. What sets me apart is who I am. I am goofy and I laugh and I make jokes and I am not always formal but I'm always professional. I am just quirky and I have found that people appreciate a real person and that's always my goal. You're looking at what you've got. It can be a mess but that's who I am. I love my job, but I don't always love my job. I am truthful. That's who I am, and I have been able to have difficult conversations because of that -- because I'm just being a real, true genuine person. And when I think about my future, there are great jobs out there that I'm sure that I would want one day but if they're not the right fit for who I am, then they are not worth it. I have worked at a place where I wasn't the right fit, and I don't want to do that again. Embracing who you are, to me, is the most important. I wouldn't be where I am today or who I am today if I wasn't okay with me.
Q: What is the level of importance of getting master's degree in the sports field?
It's definitely benefited me but it's not for everyone. I love school. I would be in school for the rest of my life if I could afford it or had the time. I love having a master's degree, not for what it is but I loved learning the things that I learned -- they were fascinating to me. I think I did it for the resume but I'm happy I did because of what I learned. I would recommend it if you like school.
Q: Can you talk about your experience creating a blog for women in sports?
My experience has been so positive. Olivia (Coiro) and I began the blog as a way to help women working in sports because we personally did not have female mentors and we didn't want young women in the business to feel like there was no one out there to help them. Since we launched, we've gotten a ton of positive feedback and actually decided to expand our staff last summer, which was awesome. I've also had so many growth opportunities, including working with Olivia and overseeing a staff of writers. Overall, it's been awesome.
Co-founders of Sparkles and Sports, Katie and Olivia Corio
Q: How has doing this impacted you?
The impact of this is that I've met so many people outside of college athletics, outside of sports. We never did this to highlight ourselves, but we went to our convention last summer and people kept coming up to us and telling us they loved our blog and thanked us for doing it. That was never our expectation or desire. The whole goal was to help people, and in doing that, our circle has expanded. People will reference Katie and Olivia from Sparkles and Sports within their own circles and it's kind of cool.
Q: What's your experience starting the Sparkling podcast?
The podcast has been a lot -- I don't want to say -- harder than I thought. I wish I had started it at different time in the year, like last summer when I was less busy. We actually haven't posted an episode in a while because I've been on the road for a month. But overall, it's really great because I love audio books and podcasts so it's been really cool to see what all goes into that. My friend Kyler, who works at Eastern Michigan, produces it and he's been amazing. I do the work of reading the book or listening to the book and the recording and he makes it sound like it's a real iTunes podcast. Every time I record something, I'm like "uh, I sound so stupid" and then he takes out the "uhs" and the "uhms" and makes me sounds so smart. I'm extremely thankful for that!
Q: You have made a fairly long distance relocation from home in Florida. Can you talk about that change and how you adapted and made that transition?
That was hard. When I originally applied for this job, my husband said that he didn't want to move to Michigan, and I was like "Ok, well I'm going to apply and see how it goes." And then when I was offered the position, it was really hard to decide to move because we were engaged at the time. I'm really glad that he didn't break up with me! And then I had to move and live here by myself, because Matt didn't live here for the first six months. I moved here at the end of September, started in October, and then we got married in December and he didn't move here until March. That was really crappy. Then he moved in March and I was in baseball season. He drove here on a Wednesday and I left Thursday to go to Hawaii with our baseball team. I was like, "ok, take care of the dog, love you, bye."
The moving was hard; the first six months (alone) were hard, especially since it was my first winter. I had never driven in snow and I actually ended up on a median one day. I was braking and was going to slide into the car in front of me so I ended up driving onto a median. Thankfully, both me and the car were okay, but then I was like, who do I call to help me? Thankfully I had a great coworker who came and helped me out.
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So the beginning of the move was tough, but it's been really cool to experience a new place. I didn't always want to live in Florida, but it's difficult living far away from home. My parents feel it the most; it's hard on them. My brother moved to Japan, so now they're empty-nesters and none of their kids live in the state anymore. But living somewhere else has been cool even when you end up on a median and don't know who to call. I love experiencing new things so this is my new thing. We bought a house and now I have to shovel the driveway but life is about experiences and I'm very happy I made the choice to move here.