Name:Â Lottie Stockwell
Position/Institution:Â Associate AD for Marketing, University of Louisville
Number of years in your position:Â 4 years
Alma Mater:Â University of Kentucky
Hometown:Â Lafayette, LA
Twitter: @lcstockwell
1. Why did you become involved in ICLA?
When I joined the athletics department in 2015, I was coming in from a branding agency in the private sector. I became involved in ICLA because it was an immediate resource and immense tool in the licensing baptism by fire from this side.
2. How has your involvement with ICLA influenced your career?
Honestly, I wish I was involved more because ICLA has been a great influence in my career. It is a hub of very talented people who go out of their way to share resources and knowledge and help those of us who are new. I am greatly appreciative to the Association for the professional development and open door to questions.
3. Why/when did you decide to pursue a career in collegiate licensing?
I wasn't actually looking to focus on licensing, but it came with the job when I joined the Louisville athletics department in 2015 as an assistant AD of brand marketing. There was a learning curve for me, to say the least, and honestly, some days there still is. Licensing professionals should be respected as the subject-matter experts that they are, and for schools to be truly successful and move the needle in this space, licensing should be treated as a stand-alone focus. That never becomes clearer than when personnel changes happen, and I am pulling double duty trying to make sure the basics are covered.
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4. What is the biggest challenge to working in a university environment?
The biggest challenge to working in a university environment is understanding and serving a wide variety of internal and external audiences well. I don't know that it is different than other non-university environments, though, because this is a challenge everywhere.
5. What is the most important skill you have developed in your career?
The most important skill I have developed in my career is reading people. I think I chose marketing in the first place because I am insanely curious about human behavior and why we do what we do. Being able to read people without judgment and to quickly ascertain what their needs, objectives, etc. are can be highly effective across all aspects of life, especially in the workplace.
6. When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with?
When people come to me for help, they usually want help with navigating personalities of other people.
7. Who has been the most influential person in your career?
Vince Tyra, a former athletics director at the University of Louisville, has been the most influential person in my career.
8. Who's your role model? Why?
My role model is Oprah Winfrey. She frequently says that vulnerability is the cornerstone of confidence. I love that. What else do you need in life to be successful than being more of yourself? Oprah is transcendent because of her authenticity and her innate ability to pull that out of others.
9. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? What advice would you give to someone looking to enter the field of collegiate licensing?
The best piece of advice I ever received was the quote, "Pioneers get the arrows; settlers get the land." In other words, sometimes we are so quick to want to be the first at something that we may rush into decisions that aren't the best long-term solution. We all want to be fearless in bringing new opportunities and new stories for our brands, but it's not always a bad thing to pause to ensure we our setting ourselves up for long-term success. For anyone entering the field, I would recommend researching the stories behind the brand. Understand why it resonates with people and why they want to represent it as one of their own attributes. Once you understand those driving factors for your audience, it clears the path for more creative ways to reach them and accelerates decision-making when choosing who to partner with, for example.
10. In your opinion, where is collegiate licensing headed in the future?
Where collegiate licensing is heading is the million-dollar question considering NIL. I think brand advocacy is most certainly going to pivot to include many individual interests under the umbrella of the master brand in ways we have not seen. We will be challenged to rethink brand protection and take risks that have been prudent to avoid in the past. But one thing will not change. I believe the most successful brands are those that lean into who they are and are unabashedly authentic. They never try to be something they are not. Those that have built solid foundations based in their own unique story will continue to evolve in ways that are attractive to the existing fan base, and new ones as well, regardless of shifts in the marketplace.
11. If you could choose one amenity to add to the workplace, what would it be?
Our "break" room at the moment is a microwave on top of a fridge in the server room, so an amenity that I would add (which would be over the top for me right now) is an icemaker.
12. What percentage of your workweek is spent in your office?
About 75% of my workweek is spent in my office.
13. If you could turn any activity into an Olympic sport, what would you have a good chance at winning a medal for?
I would have a good chance at winning a medal for organizing.
14. What's your favorite quote?
My favorite quote is, "Everything always works out for us."
15. What hobby would you get into if time and money weren't an issue?
If time and money weren't an issue, I would get into boating. Lake life sounds awfully nice.
16. What is your favorite family tradition?
My favorite family tradition is making my kids laugh.
17. What are you really good at that might surprise people?
It might surprise people that I'm really good at cake decorating and US presidential trivia.
18. If you didn't have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?
If I didn't have to sleep, I would read with the extra time.
19. What is your biggest pet peeve?
My biggest pet peeve is people complaining without any self-awareness and without offering a solution to the problem.
20. What is your favorite binge-worthy show or book you are reading right now?
I am currently reading the
Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown. Embarrassingly, I just finished binging
Ted Lasso and I am behind on
Succession. I don't think you can go wrong with a good ol'
Dateline NBC binge, though.