Yao Williams
Senior Account Executive, Global Marketing Partnerships, National Basketball Association (NBA)
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aving graduated with a Masters degree in the subject from Cleveland State University, Yao Williams already has an impressive history in a variety of sports management positions. From university, he joined the Cleveland Indians MLB team before moving to Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats NBA franchise, cutting his teeth in sales in the team’s ticketing department. He joined the New York Yankees in November 2010 in a premium sales post, generating US$2.6 million in new business and ranking first in renewals, and joined the NBA’s global marketing partnerships department in May 2012. Williams is involved in the Kappa League and is a mentor at the Manhattan Sports Business Academy. Landmark moment of your career so far? At the Charlotte Bobcats, where I learned how to really sell. I think that most importantly it taught me to work hard and to follow the process and then we were pretty much destined for success. The NBA prides itself on its best practices, in regard to selling in a certain way, going through a certain process, but also culturally, such as not wearing red and black shirts to work and doing very conservative things to ensure that you’re successful, whether it’s in the office or out of the office.
Age: 28 Location: New York, USA Education: BA from Miami University; MA in sports management from Cleveland State University
What his nominators said about him: “Yao has exemplified leadership in the office along with a dedicated passion to help others achieve their goals.”
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Sports industry idol? Greg Economou, executive vice president of revenue performance for Madison Square Garden. He’s done an excellent job of moving up the ladder by really adding value wherever he’s landed. Beyond his career, he’s done an excellent job of developing young leaders in regards to really being able to figure out what they’re really great at and helping them maximise on that opportunity. Favourite franchise/team/ athlete/brand in sport? The Yankees, mainly because they set the bar so high. No other team has won
27 world championships and it’s just a standard of winning: win the World Series or it’s a failure of a season. It’s a lot of pressure but it allows you to rise to the occasion at times. Ohio State Buckeyes is my team. I’m from Ohio and we’re a football state, but the Browns and the Bengals haven’t been too good. So I’m more of a college fan than anything. Athlete: Kevin Durant. He’s young, humble and does his job extremely well. Brand: Nike. I try to live by the motto ‘just do it’. I think it’s very simple but it’s really ingrained into my way of living. Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time? Overall, helping brands maximise revenue on an international scale, along with teaching in some capacity. One piece of advice to someone looking to start out in the industry? Really stay hungry. Be a sponge and develop a road map for success; a lot of times people want to be the president or want to be a VP or want to be a senior director or want to be in community relations or sponsorships or whatever category or group or department but they truly don’t know what it takes to get there. Figure that out. iPhone, Blackberry, or Android? Team iPhone. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Foursquare? Facebook, but I only use it for personal reasons. Moët or Bud? Moët. One particular line you use to close a deal? I guess that’s the beauty of conceptual selling, I really don’t have a particular line. I just listen to a brand’s challenges and needs and provide value by aligning our brand and assets with their key objectives.