Career Profile
Nicole Lee, Director,
Integrated Marketing
(National Hockey League)
Laurier alumni Nicole Lee is a prime example of how a
strong educational background, extensive volunteer
experience and a passion for sports can lead to success.
Furthermore, she is an excellent example of how you can
find a career that matches your interests; it just takes a lot of determination during the process.
Nicole graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in May of 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree
in Kinesiology & Physical Education, with the Business Administration Option. Upon graduation,
Nicole attended Ohio University where she received her Masters of Business Administration in
winter 2004 and her Masters of Sports Administration in spring of 2005. Despite Nicole’s
incredible accomplishments, it was not until her fourth and final year at Laurier when she
established her future academic objectives and career aspirations within the Sports
Administration industry.
Currently Nicole is the Director of Integrated Marketing for the National Hockey League (NHL)
and she describes her job as something special and a lot of fun. She gets to work for Canada’s
game, the best game in the world on a daily basis, combining her passion for sports with her
love for marketing. Something she likes most about her job is that it is always different but has
the same goal – using everyone’s favourite game to drive business. Nicole is in charge of
managing a myriad of sponsorship accounts, so she gets to work in many industries such as
beer, tires and chocolate. There is no typical day or week as Nicole is constantly working with
League partners to create new campaigns and evaluate old ones. Nicole simultaneously works
in four to five different industries, events and markets. The highlight of her career was working
on the World Cup of Hockey, which they started getting ready for 8 months in advance.
The most difficult aspect of a career like Nicole’s is that you work long hours and can work
many days in a row without a break. She remembers working 17 days in a row during the
course of the World Cup of Hockey. It is also hard to find a good work/life balance as it is easy
to get caught up in the work she does and the excitement of her job. March to May are
considered to be the slower times in the industry even though there are still many things going
on, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Another difficult aspect of this type of career is that it is
extremely competitive so you are bound to face rejection at some point. Having had faced
rejection in the past, Nicole emphasizes that the best way to deal with it is to take it, learn from
it and move on. Nicole recalls overcoming the most rejection during her time in the US upon
graduating from Ohio University. This resulted in her accepting another low paying internship in
Alliance Development (sponsorship sales) for The Walt Disney Company before finding a full
time position, 6 months later, with Anheuser-Busch in Williamsburg, VA.
Nicole stresses that to do well in this line of work you naturally should have an interest in and
love for sports. You need to have strong people skills as you are constantly working with
external partners, internal departments and multiple personalities along the way. Furthermore,
it is helpful to be competitive and solution oriented – the goal is always to propose an alternate
solution if partner requests cannot be approved. Nicole furthers her education in the field by
constantly reviewing industry news and volunteers as a member of the Sponsorship Marketing
Council of Canada (SMCC) Marketing Committee. Nicole believes technology and innovation will
play a key role in the future of this industry, which has already be seen with Rogers and Virtual
Reality.
If you are interested in a career such as Nicole’s, it is very crucial to volunteer or work as an
unpaid intern with large scale events and marketing companies. This helps to provide the
necessary experience to begin a job in such a competitive field. Since there are a very limited
number of opportunities in Canada within the sports industry, coupled with the very specialized
requirements, it is important to gain these experiences early. Nicole began getting involved as a
student at WLU, which is where she made many good decisions that have helped her in her
professional life. Through getting involved on campus as a Residence Life Don, Marketing
Events Assistant within the Athletic Department and President of Kin Kouncil (Kinesiology
Student Group), Nicole was able to develop her leadership, time management and people skills
that have contributed to the person she is today.
Previously, Nicole worked as a Sales and Marketing Manager for the Michelob ULTRA Open
where she saw many similarities and differences to her current role. Both jobs are sports (golf
vs hockey) and sponsorship based. They are both about maximizing business partnerships and
working with partners to help them make the most out of their contracts. In her previous role
with the Michelob ULTRA Open, Nicole’s focus was on both sales and managing partnerships,
whereas now her primary focus in on managing partners and presenting sales opportunities
within the League when they arise. With the NHL, she deals less with fostering new business
and focuses more on expanding commitments from existing partners to generate incremental
League revenue.
Nicole stresses three key words when providing advice for those considering a sports
administration career path: patience, persistence and passion. In such a competitive industry,
patience is essential as getting your foot in the door can be a challenging and timely effort. This
is why she stresses the importance of gaining suitable experience through volunteering and
unpaid internships. You need to be persistent in your motivation and drive to get in this
industry; you will face rejection and have to fight for your chance - but in the end it will be
worth it. Finally, you need to be passionate for the industry and the sport as there will be long
hours and the potential of relocation. Aside from these three words, Nicole emphasizes that
stress is inevitable but by having fun and loving your work it will certainly help to mitigate the
pressure.