MLS-Sola Winley (Long Post)

[jaahmuhl]

Raw Content: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fd8I8It6LuOIMESkZmUlfCBJapuOXepZ?usp=sharing

[jaahmuhl]

Raw Content: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fd8I8It6LuOIMESkZmUlfCBJapuOXepZ?usp=sharing

[jaahmuhl]

Transcript: https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/FIDQ-a0lT15bbO8UuKceGEFwy2dtNVWmfiyw3hr3nHqkHjgJJUH-UiIZSC-JLEN5Hjpn1pgKRILdnk4SOkIkNcuYejY?loadFrom=SharedLink

[James-Moore18]

Clip: 19:01-19:34

Hello hello everyone (EXCITED AND WITH ENERGY) welcome back to Office Hours. A show about how to make a successful jump from college to young professional life. We know that landing your first job can often be an intimidating, complicated and stressful process, but its not impossible! (UP ENERGRY) And we’re here to help by giving you access to some of the brightest minds in business to get their advice for how to build a successful career. Take what you can (short pause), pick what you like and listen for that stroke of brilliance that you can use to help you get hired.

I’m Brett Hummel and on today's show we have Sola Winley, the first Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the MLS. He may be the first ever to have the position with the MLS, but Sola has been doing Diversity and Inclusion work for a long time. in fact Sola gave up a successful first career with the NFL to pursue his passion for helping people and making a mark in society.

2nd Song/Long Intro There is an old saying that It's not always what you know, but it's who you know. When two people are equally qualified for a position or a new opportunity, often the person who is chosen is selected because of their relationship with the decision-makers. Having a strong network of people is one of the keys to unlocking doors that lead to new opportunities. But building a network is pointless; however, if it is simply an echo chamber that will give you the same opinion no matter who you talk to, so diversity in thought within it is key. Achieving a trustworthy diverse network that you can consult with from time to time can be challenging. Difficult does not mean impossible though, and Sola has some great insight how he built a diverse network of peers which has helped him to open doors to many great opportunities throughout his life.

Sola’s path to get to where he is now started off at UConn and even though he had committed to going to work for the school's athletic department, he was lucky enough to get a last-minute job offer to work for the NFL, which even though he was a little torn eventually saw as a once in a lifetime opportunity. A few years into his employment with the NFL Sola was selected to work on marketing the NFL on the international stage through programs such as NFL Europe and was eventually offered a chance help lead the NFL’s London offices. Now here is where the story gets really interesting because instead of taking what to many would be a dream offer, Sola turned it down. Breaking against the conventional wisdom, it was the diversity of his network that allowed him to understand his true passion for helping people and helped guide him to return to school to become certified in Social Work. At first glance you might be thinking why after having so much success would you go back to school in something like social work? Well as you'll find out, it turned out to be key in terms of setting himself up in the long run...even allowing him to open his own consulting practice and then move to A+E Networks.

Sola is a very driven person who has achieved his incredible success through his hard work. It's his insight though about the power that each person has over their lives and the importance of relationships is truly eye opening. This is because the path to get to our goals may not always be straight forward and opportunities may not present themselves to us exactly when or where we want them to but he believes it is important that we should never settle and give up on our goals. Like Sola we all have the ability to expand our networks and make the choices that will lead us to where want to go. With perfect gems like his 5 part plan, Sola gives us some incredible insight that will help you see life through a different lens and inspire you to chase your goals. With that being said, enough of me talking, lets DIVE IN!

[jaahmuhl]

@James-Moore18 You need a caption

[James-Moore18]

Caption:

Sola Winley, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer of the MLS, joins us today to speak about the importance of establishing a strong and diverse Network. We also spoke with him about taking control over one's circumstances with a change in mindset, and the importance of not being afraid to chase new opportunities to do things that you enjoy. With gems like his five part plan being dropped throughout the interview this is a great listen as well.

[jaahmuhl]

@James-Moore18 Ready to start recording this intro?

[James-Moore18]

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fd8I8It6LuOIMESkZmUlfCBJapuOXepZ?usp=share_link

[jaahmuhl]

@James-Moore18 I think you gotta redo the sola one

[James-Moore18]

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1k35XSEIpj6fMgE2Y7-TlKzP3J8CkGOtn

[jaahmuhl]

Needs new intro

[jaahmuhl]

Podcast Intros: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dKQE4MtJeebYk_t6myghoI_Cgk2eO-7_?usp=drive_link