A career change — Keith Fernandes
Passionate about exploring the world, Keith is another one who is part of the SportIn Global Mentorship Program.
A while after having already worked in the sports industry, he decided to return and start studying Sports Management.
Let’s know how this trajectory is being.
Thanks a lot Keith!
Keith, could you share with us your background and your professional experience?
I was born in Mumbai, India and at the age of 4, my parents migrated to Abu Dhabi — a city that was so different from my own. This move at the initial stage of my schooling had a strong and lasting influence on my life. Having grown up in a multi-cultural environment, mingling with people from different nationalities came with a lot of teachings. It helped in cultivating my personality to bond and adapt well to people from different backgrounds.
I believe this exposure at a young age pushed me to explore the world further and attain a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Finance from the University of Mumbai, India; and then a Master in Finance from the University of Buffalo, USA. Both these courses paved a strong path to becoming a successful professional in corporate finance. I have 8.5 years of professional experience in finance and strategy across various industries like technology distribution, global business travel, and the legal industry. At this pivotal point in my career, I have decided to enter the global sports industry (particularly football) and help contribute to the business and strategy side of the sport. To achieve this goal, I am currently enrolled in the Football Industry MBA Program at the University of Liverpool and have just started the program last week.
How do you expect to connect what you have learned in each of the countries you have studied to put into practice in the industry?
I am a strong believer that academics provide a strong foundation to grow and help massively to prepare oneself to face unforeseen challenges in the industry through introspection and diving deeper into the issues and challenges. I consider myself fortunate to have benefited from an education in UAE, India, USA and now the UK, where I have gotten to learn from a diverse pool of industry professionals coming from all walks of life, who bring along their diverse ideas and perspectives, this in turn has contributed in me to have a balanced and an open-minded approach when I am exposed to new concepts and learnings that the world, and every industry has to offer.
What major challenges did you face entering the sport industry and how did you solve it?
Quite honestly, the biggest challenge for me coming from an Indian cultural perspective was more external than internal challenges themselves. During my childhood and adolescent days, I was made to believe that it was naïve to consider a career in sports. I do agree to a certain extent that working in sports comes with certain challenges but what people do not realize is that it has great rewards and opportunities that far outweigh the challenges. The way I navigated in overcoming the same was by staying focused to my long-term goal and this journey has been immensely rewarding.
How does your former internship apply to your career progression in the Sports Industry?
To allude to the above point on focus and the cultural challenges that I faced in navigating my journey into the sports industry. Internships in sports have helped me solidify my position that I wanted to work in sports all along.
When I moved to the United States in 2013, I came across a rare sports marketing internship opportunity while pursuing my masters in finance at the University of Buffalo that involved working along the Buffalo Fenians GAA to help in their bid for the Continental Youth Competition. This internship provided me an introduction into the sports marketing landscape and was able to support the club in conducting a feasibility study on the operational capacity of Buffalo, NY to host the games. Happy to share that our hosting bid team won the bid and Buffalo did end up hosting the games in 2017.
After the experience with Buffalo Fenians, I continued to grow within the finance industry and after 8.5 years in finance and strategic planning, I decided to reignite my interest in moving into the business side of the sports industry. I came across an interesting opportunity to widen my scope in sports by focusing on sustainability in sports. I worked as a sustainability and purpose-driven intern with Vermont Green Football Club earlier this year, and supported the club through market research in helping navigating their strategy in its first season. Personally, this experience has made me more interested in the sustainability space and I have been updating myself with this ever-involving sub-sector within the sports industry.
If you could give some tips to our audience about the day-to-day finance industry in the sport industry, what would it be?
As I have worked various industries in the finance space, I would say I feel a lot of skillsets can be easily transferrable and applicable to the sports industry.
What are your expectations of the Sportin Global mentorship program? What do you expect to develop along with your mentor?
The Sportin Global mentorship program has helped me grow my community and learn from the diverse experiences in the sports industry.
I am fortunate to have Sandy Zinn as my mentor who is highly knowledgeable in the industry. We have spoken for about 2.5 hours since the start of the program and each conversation was very insightful and full of learnings. He has been helpful in bouncing ideas and provided me the right tools to help navigate my journey, as I am aspiring to work in the industry soon.
Final Message to our community?
I am happy to join this community and get to know everyone well. I want to strive to keep learning from everyone’s unique experience and perspectives in the sport industry.
