Agent Spotlight: Molly Fletcher

From the 2nd post ever on I Want to be a Sports Agent (made on January 1, 2006) to this day, I have stressed the importance of having an internship in the sports agent industry if this is truly the job that you envision yourself having in the future. I have mentioned it in many posts on this blog and even decided to start up an Internship section to aid others in searching for places to apply. But what do internships have to do with the agent spotlight at hand? Molly Fletcher changed my life forever, and it was through my internship experience.

Let’s get a few things straight here. I am 22 years old, I am just beginning law school in less than a month, and I already have my own sports agency (with an excellent partner) and a few great clients. Sure, I have read plenty of books on the industry and I would like to think that I have a good head on my shoulders, but that alone would not prevent myself from failing in this very tough business. The internship that I completed between my Sophomore and Junior year of college truly enabled me to get to where I am today (creating this blog was a pretty decent idea as well). And Molly Fletcher was an integral part of my experience.

I will remember Molly Fletcher forever. She truly inspired me every single day at work. Her smile, words of advice, calm nature in the face of huge obstacles, etc. all help make her one of the few people in this world that I look up to. Molly is also a woman (go figure), and a lot of people make a big deal about the fact that she is a female thriving in an industry dominated by men. I make a big deal about her because she took me under her wing and taught me tons about what it takes to be a leader within a couple of months time.

I was an intern at Career Sports & Entertainment in the Client Services division. It is probably the toughest section to gain an internship in (there is also marketing, PR, entertainment, etc.). I interned under a lovely lady named Amanda Anglin, who worked for the various agents at the company. Above those agents stood Molly Fletcher, queen agent. The only person that she answered to was Lonnie Cooper, President and CEO of Career Sports (although she was on her game all the time, and was probably rarely questioned). I will always remember the first day being an intern. All of us (about 8 interns in total) were thrown into a room, handed an internship manual, and told to go to our respective offices to read over the packet for the rest of the day. I got to the 3rd page when Molly Fletcher ran into my office and asked me if I knew how to use Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. I had never used either before, but of course I said yes! Moments later, I was working on developing depth charts and roster sheets for various NBA teams because one of CS&E’s top coach clients was shopping around for a potentially higher paying job. I will leave names out, but I was amazed by the confidence that Molly Fletcher had in me on the first day of work. From then on, I would not be the coffee boy that I had envisioned prior to stepping into the CS&E office, and instead took an active role in helping the company increase its performance (I did give the baseball agent, Keith Grunewald some of my mom’s famous cookies on occasion, though).

Besides what I have to say about Molly, many publications have weighed in on her amazing contributions to the sports agent industry. Before I link to some articles on Ms. Fletcher, I can tell you that she manages her 200+ clients while caring for her 3 children that she truly adores. As a college student, she played tennis at Michigan State University. She takes the same energy that she had on the court into her business negotiations. Sports Illustrated wants you to picture Scott Boras changing a poopie diaper [Molly knows best]. Instead, picture Molly as someone who is all about building personal relationships [Female agents a rarity in team sports].

I really could spend an hour on each individual at CS&E, raving about the wonderful job that they all do day in and day out. I would love to tell a little more about some of the other amazing personalities that I was able to become acquainted with while interning at the company. Maybe some other time. 🙂

-Darren Heitner