When it comes to rising to challenges, Renata Souto, a postgraduate and international sports marketing student, knows what's required to overcome them. Her positive attitude is bound to create a new horizon in the marketing world.
There are so many misconceptions in the sports industry that can make it hard for women to start a career. When Fernanda Gentil, a Brazilian sports journalist, got her opportunity to be on television, she rocked it. She instantly became my inspirational success story. She revolutionized the way sports news is presented and has become a television icon. Not only do I admire her overall success but also the fact that she isn't afraid of anything. This is what I aspire to for my future self. By working hard, no matter what people think about my gender and nationality, and showing everyone that I’m capable, I plan on having a successful career to be proud of one day.
As a journalist graduate back in Brazil, I gained experience working as a copywriter for some marketing agencies. I studied journalism because of my passion for sports and my dream of becoming a sports journalist. But this changed when I started working in marketing. I realized my interest lay more in this field as it was where I could truly be more creative.
So, I decided to start studying sports marketing at George Brown College. Since starting the program, I’m seeing a lot of areas I can explore. What truly excites me about sports marketing is that at its core, it’s all about bringing people to sporting events. I want to be part of the amazing experiences sports fans have and for that, I’m willing to learn as much as I can now to succeed in my career.
I’ve faced a couple of challenges in my life, but the one that impacted me the most was when I was graduating from university. In my last year, we had to do a huge group presentation. With almost one year to work on this, our group chose to create a website for their presentation. With just two weeks left before the big day, the group member who was responsible for the website revealed it to us. We were all shocked because it was nothing like we had discussed. Everyone in my group began to panic. Suddenly, this leadership side of me I didn’t know I had, stepped up to fix the issue.
In less than ten days, I was able to create a whole new new website for us thanks to the many people I contacted for help. From this challenge, I’ve learned the importance of communication and that although it is ok to split up tasks, everyone should keep in touch to ensure things are going smoothly. It is not about a lack of trust but rather it is about keeping everyone in the loop so that when issues come up, we can work calmly through them together.
Being an immigrant has its challenges, but I am not afraid of them. I work hard to believe in myself, in who I want to become and am willing to make the hard decisions. I will tell you something: moving abroad is no easy thing. Moving aboard when the whole world is facing a pandemic is another thing entirely. But that was what I did. I left my parents, my friends, and my culture to follow my dream and improve myself as a professional. I also work hard to make it seem like a piece of cake. Studying, working, volunteering, and having an active social life can be difficult to manage, but coming to Canada has been my greatest achievement so far.
This is why I plan to dip into many sides of marketing so I can make better decisions on which niche I'll follow. At first, I wanted to work in a marketing role in broadcast media (such as TSN) but there are other avenues I’d like to discover. There’s social media, sponsorships, sales, and brand marketing that all pique my interest. I particularly find the growth of social media in the business world fascinating. Or how digital marketing in general can, in a matter of seconds share information to millions of people. The technological evolution mixed with marketing can truly make peoples’ lives so much easier.
Whatever career path I choose to follow, I aim to be as successful as possible. Beyond just selling products, I want to impact my customers’, coworkers’ or my clients’ lives by bringing them knowledge and joy.
