The Rising 25 class of 2019, presented by AB InBev, represents some of the brightest young professionals in the sports industry. Over the next several weeks, we’re proud to introduce you to this year’s winners and highlight some of their achievements to date.
Today, meet Glenn Hyams: Senior Coordinator of Club Business Development at the NFL. A 2016 graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Hyams completed internships with WBAL (NBC), ABC, iHeartMedia, Disney Channel, the Baltimore Orioles and ESPN before landing a role as part of the NFL’s Junior Rotational Program after graduation.
READ MORE: Meet the Rising 25: Daniel Everett of FloSports
Participating in a large number of internships as an undergraduate student is not easy. Hyams accomplished this, however, by doing the proper research on the companies and proactively networking.
“I began by reaching out to a few people locally, I think that kick-started everything for me,” he says. “I realized how competitive everything is getting nowadays, and it was good to get my foot in the door for all these different companies. Once I got interviews, I did my due diligence and studied up as much as possible for every interview. Treating it like it’s a test and going all out on the preparation standpoint allowed me to stand out amongst other candidates.”
Time management proved to be essential.
“Working at the Orioles, for example, we would have a game at night, and I had to be at the office at four o’clock,” he says. “I knew that at the beginning of the day I needed to focus on the schoolwork that I had to get done. I realized that if I didn’t maintain the structure that I needed, things would get out of control and I’d fall behind. The structure was a big component for me.”
Now that he’s with the NFL, Hyams savors the role he plays in enhancing the overall fan experience across the league.
“I oversee our fan-experience initiatives and that’s everything that encompasses the door-to-door experience, meaning the moment you leave your front door to the second you’re at the stadium to when you come back,” he says. “I do genuinely love going to games and observing the gameday experience across the country. I don’t think there is any feeling that compares to attending a full-capacity stadium with everyone rooting for the same team no matter the time of year. Being able to see that all come together and the memories that people make going to football games while overseeing that all has been really special and fresh, keeping me interested in everything I do during the year.”
READ MORE: Meet the Rising 25: Dori Atkins of Learfield IMG College
Hyams advises young professionals looking to get their careers off to a similarly fast start to continually keep their eyes open for new opportunities.
“Be open to anything,” he says. “Expand your horizons and expand your network. If there’s something or someone that you’re interested in, reach out to them. Obviously there will be times you’re disappointed and things won’t work out. But if you just keep pushing at it and doing the right things, everything always works out.”
Meet the full class of 2019 here.
