Recently our Partnerships Coordinator, Winnie Carey, got to experience what it's like to be a part of our marketing team first-hand.
I started at UpHouse in May of 2024. Earlier that year, I found out about UpHouse, and I was hooked. So, to the horror of every business student ever, I sent out an application for summer internships and crossed my fingers.
I remember getting the email with the job offer and wondering what a Business Development Coordinator was, but not caring because I had gotten hired at my dream agency. I learned a lot that summer and found out that I love research. It's very satisfying to know your work helped win a contract.
When I applied, I was initially hoping to be on the marketing team, but as soon as I dug into business development, I had mostly forgotten about that initial plan. This summer, however, I kept hearing about how busy the marketing team was, and I felt like I had capacity to help. I figured I'd proof a few documents and help a few tasks down the finish line—nothing too major.
For about five seconds that was true, and then my director, Courtney, asked me to join a meeting with Olympian Desiree Scott and former coach Robert Gale. I was what you'd call a "dandelion kid" when I played soccer, so I was a little worried about how well I'd fit into this meeting, but of course I was beyond excited. My debrief before the meeting was that Winnipeg might be getting its first professional women's sports team and the first expansion team of the Northern Super League (NSL). If you hadn't heard about the league until this year, don't feel bad—I didn't know about it either, but it has officially become my entire personality, so it's my job to make sure everybody knows.
From the first meeting I was all in. Our VP of Creative, Brenlee, went over the brand story, and Des and Rob spoke about how much this meant to them and how they'd fought for Winnipeg every step of the way. Like many Winnipeggers, I have a complicated relationship with the city, but working with Des and Rob destroyed any doubts I had—this city is one of a kind and deserves big things!
As soon as Des and Rob found out the league had selected Winnipeg, we got a running start. It's so funny in hindsight what I thought I'd be doing for this project and what I ended up doing, but it's unreal to know that I was a part of something so historic.
We started planning the launch immediately. Every step of the way was a brand-new experience for me, and it was the best just jumping right into the deep end. It was almost like, "Well, there's no room to mess this up, so we just have to crush it."
One of my largest priorities heading into the launch was merchandise. I was coordinating everything from design to manufacturing and my email had never been busier. We were sourcing tents, finding an MC and a stage, printing a backdrop and the list goes on. Having a team led by women for this project felt so right and I continue to be in awe of what we got done in such a short amount of time.
This was also the first time I was a large part of a video production. We assembled a dream team and I was able to advocate for what I felt we'd need for social media content, which paid off in spades. Did I mention after handling UpHouse socials for seven months, I was now going to be coordinating a client's social media for the first time? What did I say about jumping into the deep end…?
As we got closer to the launch date, it felt like almost everyone at UpHouse had a role. We had people decorating, helping with set up and tear down, coordinating interviews, driving supplies around and everything else in between. A lot of people put in some major overtime to make sure this launch was as amazing as this team deserves.
I've been told by a friend or two that I can be a workaholic and this summer did not help my case. I've also received the feedback that I could improve on taking ownership over my work, so I'm going to try that right now. I project managed the NSL Winnipeg launch. I worked so hard on this project and put everything I had into it and got so much more out of it. I was in meeting after meeting, sending email after email. It took up every brain cell I have and I would do it a million times over.
A day or two before the launch, the league asked if we could have watermelon slices at the event to create a soccer jamboree vibe, so of course we said, "Absolutely, we'll get it done." The night before the launch, after finishing all my errands, I got home and proceeded to cut watermelon and orange slices until one in the morning. At 6:30 a.m., I woke up and got on the phone with Brenlee to ensure we got the launch video posted for 7 a.m. while I packed up my car and drove to The Forks for set up. A few hours later, I learned what a heat rash was, but continued on to the celebration at King's Head Pub. After all was said and done, I got home at a time I will not disclose.
Until a few weeks ago when I went back to school to finish the final semester of my degree, I was managing the NSL social media accounts along with two of our summer interns, Hannah and Yuliya, who have luckily stuck around at UpHouse. It was a huge learning curve for me, handling an account that was quickly growing while we were still in the early stages of the team. It really pushed me to get creative because so much sports content is built around the players and games. Anyone who works in social media will tell you how many hats you have to wear, but luckily working at an agency where everyone has at least a few hats on at all times prepared me for a responsibility like this.
As a queer woman, watching the growth in women's professional sports has been so incredible. Watching such strong, fearless women take up the space they deserve is so emotional, especially when I think of all my coworkers' kiddos who will grow up in a world where it isn't quite so groundbreaking to watch women's sports on TV and go to purpose-built stadiums to see women athletes getting paid what they deserve. I'm so grateful to Courtney for letting me branch out this summer and try so many new things and to the entire team working on NSL Winnipeg who have been accomplishing such amazing things all summer and beyond.
While I'm back on the biz dev grind now, it's both intriguing and intimidating to know that somewhere down the road, I could switch things up again.
Now go buy your season ticket deposit! What're you waiting for?!
