As part of the Rams' celebration of Women's History Month this month, the organization wants to inspire Angelenos through stories of female staff changing the game on and off the field.
We conclude this year's series with Head of Partnership Strategy Alec Spivack.
During her first internship in digital marketing, and before social media roles existed, Alec Spivack attempted to grab coffee with everyone she could at Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment (BSE; Nets and Barclays). It was BSE Head of Partnership Activation Josh Pruss who introduced her to the world of partnerships, and effectively put her on her path toward a strategy role in the sports industry.
"I couldn't believe that some people wake up every day and go to work with the sole focus of brainstorming business solutions for all sorts of brands and sports," Spivack said. "I was hooked on partnerships from that moment on."
Today, Spivack is Head of Partnership Strategy for the Rams, in which oversees a team that creates, measures and communicates value for the team's commercial partners. A blend of art an science, the strategy team over the last four years has been built into four verticals: Insights, CRM & Business Analytics, Platform Development and Partnership Development & Strategy.
While many things comprise the best part of Spivack's job, she highlighted the following three:
- Getting the opportunity to build the Rams' Partnership Strategy Team. "Seeing our Strategy team step into their roles as leaders and contributors to push the envelope to move our business forward!"
- Working on unexpected partnerships and bringing something to life that positively impacts our brand, fans and players. "This is what partnerships are all about in my mind. Less so about 'going viral' - more so about finding a unique problem to your market or across your fans. "
- Working cross-functionally. more of me and my team's role is spent working with cross functional stakeholders outside of partnerships than inside partnerships. We're fortunate where no day is the same – one day we're talking about working with Commerical Marketing to build once in a lifetime, unique events for clients, the next we're discussing growing the game of girl's flag, or how to bring Nickelodeon Slime to Rams gameday at SoFi Stadium."
What motivates Spivack is "working with great people who rally behind doing things differently."
"(Also) the realization that in partnership strategy no day is the same," she said. "We get the opportunity to work on projects that stretch across our business from digging in spreadsheets to find a data nugget that is the "ah-ha" we needed, to implementing new revenue streams, or brainstorming campaign ideas!"
For Spivack, what allows her to bring forth a unique perspective in the workspace has less to do with her identity as a women and more to do with her experience as a college athlete.
"I believe my experience as a college athlete has positively impacted my professional career more than my gender," Spivack explained. "Looking back on the sacrifices I made growing up playing soccer – working with teams, taking direction from my coach, understanding sometimes you may disagree with a decision, but you still find ways to make it as successful as you can, stay late, arrive early, do the work that no one wants to do when no one else is looking, just because it's the right thing."
Furthermore, she said that "I try to be someone that always puts people first and always will always make time for my team and people who need support. Whether it's time to chat through a problem, riff on an idea, help work through a difficult situation or go on a walk around the office parking lot because someone needs a second. I don't know if this is because of my gender, but I want to make every effort to be approachable and create an inclusive culture."
Along the same lines, when asked why she thinks it is important for young people to see women like her in her position, she instead said it's important for "professionals to see someone who loves their job, works late and hustles hard, but actively finds other outlets to enjoy and identify with."
A self-described "big fan of work-life fit," Spivack achieves that balance by leading Teacher Yoga Training in Los Angeles. She has her 500-hour ERYT certification in Vinyasa, Power & Yin Yoga, and teaches four classes a week. Since 2017, she has taught more than 2,000 hours of Yoga.
"I (also) play soccer three times a week in the morning before work with a group of guys on the west side and spend my free time with my boyfriend and dog listening to music, enjoying the unreal LA weather, knitting, crafting, and acquiring more hobbies than I should!" she said.
Spivack can point to several influential and trailblazing women in her career.
Her first boss in the sports industry at Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, Jayne Bussman-Wise, was a former college athlete who taught her all the fundamental skills as a pro, gave her a "seat at the table" and showed her once you're at the table or have your foot in the door, it's what you make of that opportunity.
At the NBA, Spivack said Mary O'Laughlin displayed that being yourself and being successful and buttoned up is possible.
Nicole Federico offered Spivack her first full-time job in partnerships and encouraged her curiosity. Federico also trusted her with so much at a young age, and she learned a lot from working her her and some of her favorite people, who happen to be women.
"I wouldn't be in LA if it wasn't for Brittany Ramos, who made time for a quick phone chat one afternoon that led to a mentorship, manager and best of friends!" Spivack said. "Lastly, my current manager, Jen Prince, who continues to set aside a seat for me at the proverbial table. Jen has instilled confidence and wisdom in me that I am incredibly grateful for as we've built out Partnership Strategy at the Rams."
The above example shows that while football has long been a male-dominated sport, Spivack has seen that change throughout her time with the Rams, and wants to continue to see it evolve through the normalization of family integration in sports.
"Football may be a male dominated sport, but the Rams are dominated by women – at least this is how it feels on the business side," Spivack said. "The majority of our executives are women, and it's incredible to work alongside them and learn from them. Seeing women kill it in their career and find ways to spend meaningful time with their families.
"Would love to continue to see family integration normalized in sports – working in sports is amazing, but it's demanding. We're busier in the offseason from a Sales & Strategy POV than we are in-season. Encouraging employees (men & women) to find the balance between being activate members in their children & families lives while also doing excellent work is the goal."
