This fall, INFLCR is highlighting our clients across college athletics, and their successes and lessons learned empowering athletes on social the past year. Thanks to these featured clients for not only empowering your athletes, but also being champions of the INFLCR app and platform!
In this Q&A, we’re featuring Mike Holmes, Associate AD at Georgia State University.
What was your journey to get to this point in your career?
I have had a fun and unique journey to my current position at Georgia State over the last 22 years. I started in the business as a student assistant in the Georgia State Sports Communications office in 1998 while just a freshman. It was a great time to be a Panther and I enjoyed my four years at GSU while working in the office the entire time.
After graduating and earning a Master’s degree, I left Georgia State in 2003 to start my first full-time job, before starting my own business. I returned to Georgia State in 2008 as an Assistant Director. Since then I have worked my way up the ladder to my current role which I started in 2015.
I have had the opportunity to experience some of the greatest moments in Georgia State history over the last 22 years and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
What are the top 3 pieces of career advice you have?
Throughout my career I have relied on three pieces of career advice that I believe have gotten me to where I am today.
No. 1, is earning respect. If you respect others and earn their respect as well, everything else will come easy and fall into place.
No. 2, is understanding time management. Everyone is busy, but things can definitely get challenging working in college athletics. Developing your time management skills from when you are young and then developing a plan, even knowing it may change, will definitely help you along your journey.
And finally, No. 3, always be where your feet are. If you are in the office working, that should be what you are focused on. If you are at home, that should be your focus. It is definitely a tight rope to walk, but it can be done and will make you a better person in many ways.
How has COVID-19 impacted your current role?
COVID-19 has played a huge role in my life over the last six months. At Georgia State, we are still working remotely and plan to continue that into the fall.
When the pandemic first started in March, I found myself trying to balance work as well as teaching my seven-year old son. His school went back virtually again this fall, so I have had to brush up on my teaching skills for a second grader. From a work perspective, I love to be around our staff, so that has been the hardest part during this time. We have a great sports communications group who all work really hard, so the one thing that has come easy during this time is that I knew I never had to micro-manage anyone.
We have continued to tell great stories of our student-athletes even throughout the summer when things would normally slow down. Even with sports returning, I think we have found a new niche in telling more feature stories which we want to continue for a long time.
What are some of the changes and how have you adapted to continue executing your responsibilities?
The biggest change has definitely been working remotely over the last six months. When you can just walk across the hall and ask a question of someone, it is a whole lot easier than sending an e-mail, making a phone call, or sending a text.
We are also used to being around our coaches and student-athletes a lot, but we have barely seen them over the last six months. That has made things more challenging, but we have come up with ways to stay in touch and make sure we are still getting our messages out via our website and social media in regards to each one of our programs.
Aside from INFLCR, what is one thing that makes your job easier for you?
The biggest thing that makes my job easier is having a staff that I can trust.
I am not one to micro-manage – I want teammates on my staff who I can trust will get their jobs done, take care of their student-athletes and coaches, and represent our University in the best light possible. I am fortunate to have a team that I truly believes does that every day. We work hard, but we also play hard, and I think that makes things rewarding for us.
If you could change one thing about the content industry, what would that be?
The one thing I would change about the content industry is the speed at which it is changing.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the newest gadgets as much as the next person, but each time we find ourselves up-to-speed in learning something new, it seems to change overnight.
Thankfully INFLCR is helping us keep up and I know that our student-athletes and coaches appreciate it.
Keep up with Mike:
Twitter: @MrBeachBum23
LinkedIn: Mike Holmes
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