Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Welcome everyone. Today we’re headed to Washington State to hear how the R function operates at a professional sports organization.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): We’re meeting with Bria Goalie of the Seattle Seahawks.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Thanks for joining us, Bria. Yeah,…

Brea Gulley (Guest): Thank you so much.

Brea Gulley (Guest): It’s great to be here.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): we’re excited to have a little bit about Bria. She leads recruiting and employee experience efforts for the Seattle Seahawks. She is a dedicated professional who finds joy in creating impactful relationships with local universities and game day staff. She is known for speaking with students about her career journey and how they can stand out during the application process. Bria has invested her time to showcase the importance of communication between an employer and its candidate pool. During the Seahawk season, she also works to find new opportunities to improve the employee experience at Lumenfield Stadium. Sounds like honestly such an exciting job.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): and I’m sure we talked about it, you’ve had some past sports experience. Tell us a little bit more about what led you to this role.

Brea Gulley (Guest): I think,…

Brea Gulley (Guest): I went to Washington State University and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I grew up playing basketball for about half of my life. I quit my senior year cuz I kind of wanted to think beyond and use my academic side rather than my physical side. and so in my junior year I became a social media content creator for Wazu and I began making content and social media guys. I fell in love with that and then it happened. So I end up having to come back home from campus. We weren’t allowed to be on campus grounds during COVID and I ended up getting into retail. Not part of my career journey at all. I wanted to be in sports but I guess no one was really hiring in the sports world.

Brea Gulley (Guest): I felt like and so then I said, “Okay, I will take my retail experience and make it more a business experience. How do I build a team and have leadership skills and I can go back into the sports world whenever I’m ready to do that?” So, I end up recruiting students for the RMIT program for retail. And I noticed how students kind of lacked those social skills just from being in COVID.  There’s a whole social reset and I want to teach kids how to speak to professionals, how to curate their social media feeds, create a great resume and cover letter and portfolio so that they can get into those rooms that they desire to be in. That’s like my whole journey is to help others get into their dream careers.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): happened in the world and it’s crazy. Everyone was affected by co so much but hearing individual stories like this is really neat Bria to see how you were able to get into the retail and then find the good there and help that move you forward to help other people as well and students you’re right they can use that help as well with it it was a crazy time.

Brea Gulley (Guest): I don’t want to go back.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Yeah, seriously. Yeah. Yeah. And you mentioned to us that you played basketball, right? Yes.

Brea Gulley (Guest): Yes. Yeah.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): And a lot of topics that we talk about with other guests is just, how you have a culture at every company and it attracts certain kinds of people, right? And I’m sure the Seattle Seahawks tend to attract people who love sports. They’re sports lovers and that’s certainly your background too as well.

Brea Gulley (Guest): Definitely. …

Brea Gulley (Guest): yeah, I grew up playing basketball. My father played for OD High School, so he taught me how to play for most of my whole life. I was not a football fan before I was hired by the Seahawks. I was more of an NBA fan, but I had been converted. So, now I love the Seahawks.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Nice. That’s awesome.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Football is a complex sport.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): You kind of have to go in depth to really understand it and then I think I gain that love for it. So, yeah. 100%. So, talk to us about what it’s like being for a major NFL franchise. Just give us a day in our lives. What’s it like? What are you doing?

Brea Gulley (Guest): Exactly. Yeah.

Brea Gulley (Guest): I think I’m mostly spent prepping because it’s more of a seasonal job. We were busy for half the year, then we’re slow for the other six months of the year before it picks back up again. So, I would say I’m spent, asking managers for their hiring goals, who do they want to hire, how many. I usually start to get flyers created with our banners created for the stadium, posting them at local colleges like Seattle U, UDub, using Handshake and things of that sort.

Brea Gulley (Guest): I also enjoy going to Goodwill and speaking to those people who are looking for entry- level jobs to get their foot in the door. Many of them don’t speak English yet, but that’s totally fine. I just want to teach them how to have those good customer service skills to start off with. That’s mostly my day. They just schedule interview panels with my fellow co-workers and…

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): How does it go?

Brea Gulley (Guest): colleagues. I am also busy just from recognition. So for game days, I recently did a folks on the field recognition for part-time employees and it’s on a quarterly basis. So I invite maybe about 15 to 30 people on the field to have their face on the big screen and then they’re recognized for their hard work and dedication for game days. They get a photo with Chuck Arnold and our stadium general manager. So that was really cool.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Wow, that is so fun.

Brea Gulley (Guest): They love that part of game days.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Everybody wants to be on the jumbotron,

Brea Gulley (Guest): Yeah. …

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Or the big screen, whatever. Yeah. It sounds like you are very people focused. You’re always reaching out and helping people, whether they’re going to be looking for a job in the future or maybe they have one and you’re good at recognizing them and those pieces are so important. So, do you have any tips? Let’s go on that first side. Do you have any tips for job seekers? You’ve talked to a lot of people and helped them, to be able to interview better.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): tell our listeners, what are some of your tips for job seekers who want to work for a professional sports organization?

Brea Gulley (Guest): excuse I would say just get involved if you’re still in school.  I love seeing kids who are part of a Greek life, in a sorority. that shows me as a recruiter or as an employer that you have leadership skills. You are organized and can handle more than one thing at a time and juggling your priorities in life. and that you enjoy being out in different environments. You can also adapt to wherever you’re put in. I’d also say if you’re still in school or even post college, in your career to go to local events, there’s plenty of things that happen in Seattle like career fairs or,, we have galas, that come here by UNCCF or Urban League or things of that sort. Even just volunteering like doing check-in and just seeing who comes.

Brea Gulley (Guest): Many sports teams get tables at those events. So it’s nice to check in those professionals and talk to them to pick their brain of how they got into the industry. Another thing I would say is to use social media that is like our gift with technology nowadays using LinkedIn. When I was in college my adviser encouraged me to get 500 plus new LinkedIn connections over the summertime. So I worked to do that and just reached out to other professionals and asked them to do phone calls with me to see their journey. and I also used to create my social media feed. So for example,…

Brea Gulley (Guest): I didn’t know if I wanted to be in broadcasting social media. So I started following people who are already doing those things.  I could aspire to be just like them and just focus on my social media and what I aspire to be.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): That’s honestly some of the best advice we’ve heard on the show.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Very specific. I’m just thinking about the connections that are being made that different types of networking advice that you shared and I definitely agree with using LinkedIn and connecting with people sharing what you’re up to in posts and talk about the things that you’re passionate about share observations and news articles that could be relevant and sending different things that you’re learning with potential people

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): that could help you get a job somewhere.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Anytime you can add value and show some expertise, it helps make a good impression. So, I think those are some incredible tips, Bria. yeah, and such a good place to start with LinkedIn, just shooting for getting that 500 plus because that’s something that shows up on your profile if you have that 500 plus. So, I love that. And I do want to take just one step back here because I thought it was so interesting. You mentioned going to Goodwill and talking with people there. So what’s that? You just walk into Goodwill and you start looking around at stuff and you’re like, “Hey, you want to work with me?” Or I’m just so curious. Okay.

Brea Gulley (Guest): Yeah. Yeah.

Brea Gulley (Guest): No, I usually rent out a table for a day and I’ll have my little booth there, my flyers there. I will get my flyers into different languages. That way people who are Vietnamese or people who speak Spanish can read what I’m hiring for. and I guess it has a great first impression on our work culture. I would say that we are welcoming diversity, equity, and inclusion at our company. We want people of all backgrounds to come work for us. Seattle is a very diverse city to live in and I love having my staff that I hire reflect the diversity of…

Brea Gulley (Guest): where you live. I mean diversity is really important.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Okay,…

Brea Gulley (Guest): it helps companies to really break those barriers and become a mixing pot of thriving ideas and it also helps to increase employee retention. So I think it’s a great way to start

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): That’s awesome. I love how you mentioned having your diversity reflect the area that you live in because you can’t just shoot for certain demographics if that doesn’t reflect,…

Brea Gulley (Guest): Thank you.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): where you’re actually hiring from. and I think that’s realistic but a good way to structure what you’re looking for. I like that. And the booth that makes way more sense. I was like I wonder Yeah. secret shopper recruiting effort.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): That’s kind of a new strategy here. Tell us a little bit more about the game days. You were mentioning how you can spotlight people on the big screen. Do you have anything before the game days and maybe after how do you and your team support staff after the games?

Brea Gulley (Guest): So I oversee recruitment, my other teammate oversees training and my other teammate oversees onboarding. So once I hire them, my coworker assists them with training. So we do unconscious bias training. That way our employees know how to greet people of all backgrounds and walks of life. Let’s see another thing that we would do to support our staff by just budgeting. So if we win a game sometimes we will recognize our staff with desserts or treats from other women-owned or minor minority owned businesses around Seattle. They’ll come and that’s a nice reward because of the hard work that’s put in during game days. …

Brea Gulley (Guest): how else do I support the staff? That’s a good question. I am.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Those are all And I’m guessing you’re at the game,…

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): right? And yes,…

Brea Gulley (Guest): So another thing that we do I’m usually there around 6:00 a.m. on game days. because we also help to feed our staff like a lunch or a breakfast. They’re ready to go in their field for a long eight hour day of work.  So,  All right.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Yeah, I can only imagine that’s a lot. And there are other organizations out there that have event-based businesses. I mean, if anybody out there has ever done Ragnar, it’s like a running relay. people that work for Ragnar, when it’s a race day, it’s kind of like a game day where everybody’s on. It’s been a long day. There’s not just for the football players, for the runners.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): a unique environment when you’re talking about and supporting people because it’s not a regular clock at work and go home type of environment.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): It’s very hands-on through the duration of an event. And so to show up at 6:00 a.m. and make sure things are planned out and you’re going to have food there for everyone and everyone supported. I mean, everyone, you and your team, you’re doing a lot of work. Yeah. So,…

Brea Gulley (Guest): Yeah, it’s been a long time.

Brea Gulley (Guest): It’s not a regular nine to five kind of job. Yeah.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): I would say you have to love football at some point,…

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Maybe you didn’t at the beginning, but it’s a good thing you do now because you spend a lot of time watching it and being part of it.

Brea Gulley (Guest): Yeah, exactly.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): So, we know you like to speak at colleges and you’ve had a lot of interactions with students that are trying to enter the workforce.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): what final piece of advice would you give to these students who are starting to look for a career in HR?

Brea Gulley (Guest): I would say intern,…

Brea Gulley (Guest): intern. So, I was a social media content creator. It’s totally opposite from being an H. It’s very structured. It’s not so creative thinking. was more black and so definitely intern or job shadow or interview people who are already in the field that you want to be in and just see if that is an interest to you and hop around. This is your time to navigate from broadcasting, creative, whatever your heart desires in that field. And I’d also say as you are going through your career journey, ask questions. There’s never a dumb question. absorb all you can right now.

Brea Gulley (Guest): take notes and take up space. Don’t be afraid to speak how we have the Seattle phrase where no one wants to say hello and use your mouth to say hello and introduce yourself what do you want in life, those kinds of  Yeah.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): take up space.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): I love that. And I love just saying hello. I mean, too often we just kind of go about our business, especially being out in public. I think we as a society could do with some more hellos. I love that. Thank you Bria for your time today. I think we nailed some amazing pieces of advice and…

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): some great places to start. You came way prepared. I love it.

Brea Gulley (Guest): You think so?

Brea Gulley (Guest): I kind of winged you a little bit.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Yeah. Yeah.

Brea Gulley (Guest): Thank you.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Thank you so much for your time and for those listening, please try to sign up for our newsletter so we can let you know when a new episode comes out and leave us a review. Let us know what you want to hear from us. And we’ll add a link to Bria’s LinkedIn profile.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): So, everyone that wants to take her advice and connect, go ahead and get those 500 plus connections. Bria can be your first one.

Brea Gulley (Guest): Yes, I love that.

Brea Gulley (Guest): Thank you guys.

Matt & Crista Vance (Hosts): Thank you so much. Yep. We’ll see you.

Brea Gulley (Guest): Take Thank you guys. Bye.