10 Minutes with Grace Otuwehinmi

Can you give our readers a bit of background on yourself?

I’m Grace. I am currently working at Two Circles as a Consultant. I was born and raised in London, and I’ve lived here all my life. I grew up in a Christian household, so religion has played a big part in my upbringing. It’s played an essential role in everything I do and how I live my life. I’m super, super sporty and have dabbled in a lot of sports. I think the very first sport I did when I was young was learning how to swim. I’ve also played tennis, badminton, lacrosse and done a bit of athletics. I started Netball in year 7 – I was 11 years old; I’m 27 now and still going. I would say it is my number one sport to play. I love watching it as well, and I love going to matches with my club. I’m also a big football fan; I support Manchester United – just because my brother supported them, and I jumped on the bandwagon! 

When and how did your interest in sports turn into a career?

I did physical education for both my GCSEs and my A-Levels. I would have completed my A-levels in 2015, and at that time, there was not a huge amount of information about the sports industry and what you could do other than coaching. At University, I decided to go down the Finance and Business route because I thought that if I did Sports Management, it would limit my options. But I enjoyed the course; I’m more of a numbers person, so it definitely suited me. However, when I did my placement at a marketing tech company in their finance department, I knew it wasn’t for me. So that’s when I wanted to go back into sports cause I loved it. I also liked the business side of my degree, so it was like, how can I apply it to sports? That’s when I decided to go to UCFB, which is based in Wembley Stadium, and do a Master’s degree in Sports Management. I wanted to understand more about what kind of roles and jobs were available. Then after University, I sent my CV to about twenty companies. One lady got my CV, and we chatted for 45 minutes. That’s when she told me about TwoCircles and what they do. Eventually, I sent my CV to TwoCircles, and that’s how I ended up there. 

What does your current role as a Consultant entail?

As analysts/ consultants, I like to describe the roles as the team’s heavy lifters. We deal with survey, customer, and ticketing data. Essentially, we help clients better understand their fans and how to reach them and generate more revenue. I have worked on various projects, including marketing for Wimbledon and fan engagement surveys for this niche governing body called International Biathlon. It’s skiing and shooting, a whole discipline, and it’s massive in the colder countries in Europe, the USA, and Canada. I’ve also worked on England Cricket and their sponsorship department, and I found that to be interesting as a revenue-generating stream in sports. I knew nothing about cricket before the job, but now I can definitely speak the cricket language a lot more, and I genuinely enjoyed the workload, too. 

The best thing about working at TwoCircles is genuinely the people. The work is good, and the clients are lovely, but everyone at the company wants everyone to win. There’s just an excellent, vibrant culture and spirit throughout. 

Is there anything you’re excited about when it comes to the future of the sports industry? 

Oh yeah, 100% women’s sport! I can’t wait until we stop saying ‘record attendances’ and start seeing them happening week in and week out where stadiums sell out every single week and women’s teams move from their smaller stadiums into the bigger ones like your Emirates and Old Trafford. It’s not just football but netball as well. We are seeing ticket sales growing and attendance in arenas getting bigger and bigger. I’m looking forward to seeing record attendance at matches become an absolute norm the most! 

I’m also excited about African sports. This year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) was the best I’ve ever seen. From how it was broadcast to the digital traction it got and the memes across Twitter. That’s an example of how people are getting increasingly involved in watching it, and we are eventually seeing more people pour into African nations. So, hopefully, the AFCON tournament we saw this year is just the start of something greater. I’m so excited to see where it will go next! 

What is one piece of advice you would give to a young person who is looking to enter the sports industry?

From the minute we started the master’s programme at UCFB, we were told that it’s not about what you know but who you know in the sports industry. I’d advise anyone if your University is putting on talks or you know companies that are organising networking sessions and conferences, don’t just turn up, soak in the information, and go home; actually, network and speak to people! I know people from my time at University who started off with volunteer positions or placements just by networking, talking to the host, asking the right questions, and making themselves stand out in that space. Keep in contact with people —it just gets your name out there and helps people remember the energy you can bring to the sports industry. 

Secondly, try volunteering at different sports organisations. Not everyone can afford to but volunteer at your local sports club if you can. I got a position to volunteer at Chelmsford Football Club, just before COVID-19 to help support their marketing. It’s just about getting that sort of work on your CV. These are the sorts of experiences and opportunities that many sports companies are looking for.

What challenges do you think people face when entering the sports industry, and what could be done to make the industry more accessible? 

It will sound a little hypocritical from my earlier point, but I think a lot of the intern work at sports clubs tends to be ‘free’; you don’t actually get paid for it, so you’re going in more for the experience rather than the pay. However, if the sports industry wants to be more accessible, it needs to think about people who are eager to work but can’t afford to work for free. There will be people from minority backgrounds who can’t afford to volunteer, so they’re losing out on these huge opportunities to be in these spaces. But the sports industry isn’t thinking outside the box or about those people.

But I will say there are a lot of network programmes and groups you can join to get your foot into the industry. TwoCircles has a Diversity in Sport programme, which is targeted at people who are from minority and underrepresented backgrounds. With things like that, you can get that mentorship and exposure to the industry. Kick It Out, an organisation that works alongside the Premier League, also has a mentoring scheme. It’s about looking online and getting onto those sorts of things, which is an excellent way into the sports industry.

If you could have dinner with any athlete or sports personality, who would it be?

So, it changes every time depending on what’s happening in sports, but I’m going to say Ian Wright. I love that he pushes the men’s game, but I love how he pushes the women’s game forward. It doesn’t come off as a bandwagon he’s just jumping on; he has been consistently following and supporting the women’s game for years! Overall, he’s always been a massive pioneer in women’s sports. I think, as women, it’s essential that we’re growing the game, but we also need allies, and he’s so respected in the men’s space, so it’s great to see him supporting women’s sport.

If you were to choose one person to shine a light on in the industry, who would it be and why?

This is cheating a little bit; I wouldn’t pick a person but rather a broadcaster, specifically CBS Sports and the way they’ve covered the Champion League over the last few seasons. They bring fun energy into sports, often leading to many of their clips going viral. It’s a breath of fresh air, to be honest. We’re supposed to want to watch football, and people like myself enjoy insightful commentary before the game and at the end, but these hosts & pundits know when to be serious and when to laugh. It would be interesting to see if Sky would ever replicate such a format and if it would work with the British audience.

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