In the fifth instalment of the Fuse Stories series, Sarita shares insights into her career journey—a testament to perseverance and determination. She reflects on her transition from financial services to the sports and entertainment industry, where her true passions lie. Now at Fuse, she plays a key role in delivering impactful work for Just Eat and their UEFA competitions sponsorship.
13 Mins Read
Can you give our readers a bit of background on yourself and when you knew you wanted to work in the Sports and Entertainment industry?
Hi everyone, my name is Sarita. I’m a first-generation British Asian, born and raised in England. My cultural background stems from both Nairobi, Kenya, the birthplace of my parents and Rajasthan, India, which dates back to my ancestral roots.
During my upbringing, I had always been extremely inspired by my dad and brother, whose lives were centred around sports. My dad had an incredible journey in sports. He began his career as an athlete in hockey and football, where he travelled internationally to compete, won numerous awards for his achievements, and had the pleasure of playing alongside sporting greats Paul Barber (former vice-captain of Great Britain’s Hockey team) and Ian Taylor (former England hockey goalkeeper). Over time, he has evolved to working on ‘off-pitch’ initiatives, where he has taken on roles including managing Southall FC alongside Tommy Taylor (former West Ham United footballer) and working to address the under-representation of Asians in football through the Asian Star programme hosted by Chelsea FC, working with the likes of Eden Hazard.
My brother is also paving his legacy in sports. He has dedicated his early years to pursuing his football career, earning him a football scholarship at one of the UK’s most prestigious footballing academies and later coaching for Chelsea FC. Due to unfortunate circumstances, his first dream of becoming a professional footballer was cut short. However, this did not set him back from pursuing his alternative goal of building the best sports company in the world, which he’s actively working on. Alongside this, he remains disciplined and trains and competes in various sports.
Due to my environment and family influences, my passion for sport was ignited. I could see this starting to play out in my day-to-day life, where I wanted to participate in and watch sports. Over time, I found myself drawn to Martial Arts, Tennis and Formula 1, leading me to achieve my Black Belt in Tae-Kwon-Do, training to compete in Tennis, and wanting to pursue a career in Formula 1.
However, my life had not yet actualised this passion. I took a job in financial services following my university degree in management with marketing. During my time in this sector, I achieved a level of success, earning my way to becoming a manager at the firm, working closely with the Senior Leadership team and delivering key business initiatives. Then COVID hit. COVID had broken many of us out of our regular daily routines and gave us the time to reflect on our current lives and future goals more clearly. During this time, I realised I wanted my passion for sport to encompass all aspects of my life, including my career path.
What has your journey into the industry entailed, and how did you land your role at Fuse?
My journey into the sports and entertainment industry was challenging. Although I had some exposure to the industry, having organised sports hospitality packages within my previous role, I still lacked any meaningful experience. After realising that I wanted to pursue a career in sports, more specifically Formula 1, I embarked on what I thought would be an exciting journey of applying into the industry. However, months had passed, and I still hadn’t secured a role. After continuous rejection, I was left feeling emotionally drained, exhausted and disheartened, but I continued to push on. After a year of applying to hundreds of positions and having no success, doubt crept in, and I began questioning whether this was the right path for me. Was I not good enough? What did I not have? Would I ever be able to work in this industry?
Then, one day, I went for a walk with my brother and explained what I was going through. I was on the verge of giving up and unsure what to do anymore. Having faced many challenges in the sports industry, he was able to offer some words of advice and encouragement. He laid out three different options. Option one was to give up on the sports industry and stay in my current role, remaining unfulfilled. Option two was to find a more senior role in financial services, which I could potentially land quicker based on my experience; however, I may not truly be happy over time. Option three, would be to keep applying for positions in the sports industry no matter how long it took because eventually, one day I will secure a role and begin building on my dream. This is precisely what I needed to hear, and the option I wanted to choose was clear.
Almost a month later, I continued to persevere in applying for roles, and my persistence, determination, and dedication resulted in an opportunity that presented itself, with a great position working across motorsport and football at Fuse. My journey in applying to the sports and entertainment industry taught me, that if you want something, you need to push past all the obstacles, rejections and self-doubt. Only after you’ve cultivated the strength to overcome these, will the right opportunities present themselves.
What does your current role as a Senior Account Executive (UEFA Competitions) entail?
After an exciting few years working at Fuse across numerous brands and various sports, I currently work with Just Eat, helping deliver their sponsorship rights with UEFA across four major competitions: the Men’s and Women’s Champions League and the Men’s Europa League and Conference League. The first sponsorship right is the Official Match Ball Deliverer activation, where a child delivers the match ball to the referee on the pitch. The second sponsorship right is the Centre Circle Carrier activation, where 6 to 12 adults wave a flag in the middle of the pitch. Both activations take place during the opening ceremony of a match.
As a team, we organise around 200 activations throughout the year across Europe, providing a memorable guest experience for each match. This involves managing end-to-end tailored communications to guests, providing high-quality Just Eat and UEFA branded merchandise for them to wear during the activation, distributing tickets so guests can enjoy the match, and briefing local chaperones to take care of the guests throughout a matchday.
As we near the end of the season, we work collaboratively with Just Eat to host unforgettable events around the competition finals. Last year, I had the incredible opportunity to work on the UEFA Conference League Finals in Athens, hosting a welcome dinner, an Acropolis tour, and a food tour. I then headed back to London to help on Just Eat’s Champion’s League Final events, involving a Media Event with football legends Rio Ferdinand and Wesley Sneijder, followed by an after-party at The Shard!
Can you take us through what a typical work week looks like?
A typical work week commences with a team meeting on Monday morning, where we align on key deadlines and priorities and discuss any potential challenges that may arise that week. We’ll then prepare for upcoming match activations, which involve an array of activities such as confirming which matches Just Eat would like to activate at, confirming guest numbers and match ticket requirements, sourcing and briefing chaperones, ordering and delivering merchandise, sending guest communications, overseeing match days and capturing feedback.
In addition to match day preparation, each team member takes on other responsibilities. For me, this involves managing the merchandise workstream across in-season activations to ensure we have sufficient stock and planning requirements for the upcoming season. We’ll also have several meetings with key stakeholders such as Just Eat, UEFA, and suppliers to share key updates, discuss notable points, and tackle any issues.
You’ve worked across some amazing accounts and brands so far at Fuse, which one has been your favourite and why?
Although I currently enjoy working with Just Eat in football, before this, I was given an amazing opportunity to work with Vodafone, hosting their Wimbledon VIP hospitality event. I worked closely with the Fuse, Vodafone and the Wimbledon team to deliver a VIP hospitality suite experience, to over 600 Vodafone guests during the 2023 Championships. With months of dedicated planning and preparation, we hosted a truly memorable guest experience, from arrival to in-suite food and beverage, activities, courtside tickets and fun-filled goodie bags, leaving guests feeling incredibly happy and receiving outstanding client feedback.
This was my favourite experience at Fuse, as I had the opportunity to work on a sport I loved and create wonderful working relationships and memories with Vodafone’s friendly team. I enjoyed working within Wimbledon’s prestigious atmosphere and was honoured to be in the presence of top-tier tennis players, who continuously inspire me to work hard to achieve my goals.
What are some of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of your job?
The most challenging aspect is dealing with merchandise issues. Our merchandise is stored centrally in The Netherlands and must be delivered to chaperones and all participating team stadiums across Europe. Sometimes, guest merchandise isn’t delivered on time due to delivery or customs delays. If backup stock at stadiums isn’t available, we must find solutions within a limited time. Furthermore, preparing merchandise for upcoming seasons may also pose challenges, as tasks need to be carried out simultaneously whilst adhering to specific requirements. To elaborate further, several merchandise items may need to be ordered from different suppliers, with different designs and quantity requirements, and delivered to different locations by different deadlines. This is all whilst remaining within the client’s budget. With all these moving parts, keeping across everything can be challenging. However, this can be achieved with ongoing organisation, attention to detail, and dedication.
The most rewarding aspect of my job is helping Just Eat carry out their Official Match Ball Delivery activations, creating opportunities for children to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience and fulfilling their dreams. This experience enables children to watch their favourite football players warm up on the pitch and walk out with them during the opening ceremony. We can see how thrilled and excited the children are, and we receive heart-warming feedback from their parents/guardians on how memorable the experience was for them.
What skills are the most crucial to your role?
Organisation – This is essential across any task, whether creating a simple to-do list for the day and week, creating a deadline planner, or a match day tracker to keep you updated with task progression. Being organised will aid anyone’s productivity.
Project Management – When it comes to completing tasks, whether big or small, effective project management is crucial. For example, when working out what merchandise is required for upcoming seasons, I create a project plan which includes tasks, deadlines, owners, and likely risks. I review and update this daily to track what has been completed and what is left to do. This allows me to action daily tasks to achieve the overarching goals and enables me to complete multiple tasks simultaneously. Project management helps break down one big task into small tasks, making the project more manageable.
Multi-tasking – Multi-tasking is not easy, especially when so many tasks need to be moved forward simultaneously. However, through training and speaking to people, I’ve learnt a few tips to help me:
Attention To Detail – This skill is incredibly important as many mistakes can be made by not giving yourself the time to focus on the details. For example, spending a few minutes to reread an email or checking submissions can prevent future issues. Listening intently during meetings is also essential. If an update is shared and missed, this may culminate in many problems. Therefore, always spend those extra few minutes checking the details and listening intently in meetings.
What is your favourite thing about working at Fuse?
My favourite thing is the opportunities available to work on different accounts within different sporting and entertainment sectors and the flexibility to take advantage of these opportunities. My career at Fuse began with working on the Nissan Formula E account, where my core focus was reporting and partnership activation management. I then moved into the events team, working with Vodafone on their Glastonbury and Wimbledon sponsorship events. I later moved onto the Just Eat account, supporting their football rights activations.
With this being my first step into the sports industry, I’ve gained such diverse and rich experience working with different brands across different industries across various sports and entertainment, which will help shape my future career path. I’ve also valued working with and learning from various talented people and teams within Fuse, brand clients, and rightsholders.
What more do you think needs to be done to make the industry more accessible?
Making the industry more accessible to people from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds is incredibly important as it can introduce new talent, knowledge, experience, skills and a new way of thinking into the industry. I see this being achieved in a two-pronged approach. Firstly, rightsholders, brands, sports clubs, associations, foundations and recruiters should continue exploring ways to host sports events, recruitment days, and networking forums that target this audience. This can be achieved by working with companies such as Bridged, promoting events via their online community or attending universities, schools, and local events. Creating a forum to connect with diverse and underrepresented backgrounds can allow people to connect with experienced professionals in the industry who can offer guidance and support.
Secondly, if people from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds have an interest in entering the sports and entertainment industry, it’s crucial for them to increase their visibility in front of the right people and showcase their interests. Achieving this may involve participating or volunteering at local or major sports events, finding and attending recruitment days, and networking with the right people in person or via online platforms such as LinkedIn. This allows your interests and talent to be recognised by those who can help you enter the industry.
What is one piece of advice you would give to a young person who is looking to enter the sports and entertainment industry?
Continue to persevere, especially during the challenging times, as an opportunity will present itself for you to start your career in the industry. Secondly, don’t let your differences hold you back. Embrace your differences, and let them push you forward to achieve your goals. Stay true to your values and show up in the best way.