I Am Making A Big Life Change
I have been with Barstool going on seven years this fall. Throughout my tenure here I've went from dipping my toe into the content game to it becoming my full-time job. It has been a rocky road with a ton of ups and downs, but the journey is the journey and I'm enjoying the ride.
I started at Barstool in October of 2016 as the Senior Director of Ad Operations. I was brought on to do programmatic advertising. I did that for several years while helping us build the ad portion of our podcast network and also moonlighting as the Producer of The Yak (then titled "The Evening Yak") and an NFL podcast called "Laces Out". Over the years I got more and more into content becoming a mainstay on The Yak from the booth while being on other pods, streams, and shows.
It wasn't until last June where I officially became full-time content. I was so excited the process that started over a year earlier with a 18 slide powerpoint was finally coming to the desired result. They told me right before The Dozen live event in Chicago. When I saw Big Cat later that night I gave him a hug and he told me, "now you'll have to move to Chicago" somewhat in jest. I knew the plan was always for him to move back to the Windy City, but he knew I was a father of two and live around my parents and my in-laws. A move was unlikely at that point, but I decided from that point forward I'd have to start building an independent brand that could stand on it's own. That's where Trust the Data was really born.
As the year went on, the possibility of moving to Chicago became more and more real in parallel with the continued rise of The Yak, the growth of Trust the Data, and more. Over the next few months as things continued to get fleshed out I spoke 1-on-1 with Big Cat, who is easily my biggest supporter in the company and we agreed this would be a good move for me. I put together this five minute video which was essentially an updated video version of that 18 slide powerpoint to sway the decision makers. Over the next few weeks it went from quick conversations to asking questions on legal language.
And today I am very proud to share this news per my pal and best source for news I care about, Adam Schefter.
That is actually my new title, which I'm stoked about. It's a big step up from Junior Draft Analyst! I will pick up an additional business responsibility in working with Hank to communicate progress on a lot of the new office ideas to New York while staying on as full-time content.
I'd like to give a huge shoutout and thank you to Big Cat, Erika, Dave, Gaz, Hank, Paul from legal, and everyone at Barstool who made this possible. A special shoutout to my wife for unwavering belief in me. She is down to uproot our family of four to the middle of America so I can live my dream. And thanks to our families for the continued support. I'm looking forward to the next chapter and to continue to grow with Barstool. Comments will be open for both well wishes and to call me a moon faced loser. I love you guys!