University of Richmond Athletics
Spider Women’s Lacrosse Gains Insight On New York Networking Trip
01/18/2019 | Women's Lacrosse, Spider Athletic Fund
Members of the University of Richmond women's lacrosse team gained valuable knowledge off the field last week before the start of the 2019 season. Traveling to New York City, they visited a series of companies specializing in a range of business, management, marketing, and financial services.
Nineteen student-athletes joined the women's lacrosse coaching staff on the trip, meeting at One World Trade Center before sitting down with Richmond alumni at five different companies throughout the day.
"This trip provided such great exposure and insight into so many firms that have Richmond alumni," junior Katie Vates said of the experience. "You get a completely different perspective hearing from alumni and asking them questions about their work, rather than just reading and studying these types of businesses in the classroom."
Not every student-athlete on the trip is a business major, but all were able to have a valuable experience and learn about their own career paths in one way or another.
"As a non-business major, I was skeptical about whether there are areas in the business sector where my skillset could be used," senior Marissa Brown said. "This trip opened my eyes to the many different people and positions that go into running a successful business. It was very encouraging to hear from many Richmond alumni who didn't major in business, but were able to find a place for their skills within the field."
The team began the day at PubWorX and Richmond alum Will Michalopoulos, '85, and recent alums Annie Gaggis and Noah Maggin, '18, learning about the company's work with publishers aimed at consumer marketing, circulation management, production services and paper solutions.
The Spiders' second stop of the day was at UBS, where Vates, along with teammates Megan Gianforte and Julie Ball, worked this past summer. While at the financial and wealth management services firm, the Spiders were greeted by former Spider student-athletes Jason Chandler, '93, Head of Wealth Management USA, as well as Sean Baker, '15, Alicia Curry, '91, Todd Conklin, '93, and Scott Nevin, '93.
Next up was a trip down to investment firm Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, where the team met with alum Chris Barnett, '94. Chris organized a panel of speakers that included Richmond alum Christopher Ricciardi, '91, Jill Clancy, '04, and Chelsea Babcock, '11.
The fourth stop of the trip was at CSM LeadDog, a sports marketing agency. The Spiders were led around the headquarters by Richmond women's lacrosse alum Anna Jeszceck, '15, as well as CEO and Richmond alum Dan Mannix, '89.
The final company of the day was AlphaSights, an information consulting firm and employer of recent Richmond women's lacrosse graduate Emily Newman, '16.
The busy day concluded with a University of Richmond alumni and networking event, which included groups of students in marketing and finance, as well as alumni in the greater New York City area. The event was capped off by keynote speaker Jamie Parilla, '87, who serves as the Executive Director of Internal Communications at JP Morgan. The event allowed the Spiders to meet and mingle with alumni involved in various aspects of the business, marketing and financial world, giving the student-athletes an idea of the opportunities that exist after graduation.
"As a business major, this trip helped me hone some of my networking skills and increase my investment and finance knowledge," Vates added. "But we all learned something from this experience, whether it pertained to our specific major or not. This trip provided insight and knowledge that could not ever be taught in a classroom. I am very grateful for this opportunity that Richmond lacrosse has provided and for the sense of community that this University has created among its alumni."
Nineteen student-athletes joined the women's lacrosse coaching staff on the trip, meeting at One World Trade Center before sitting down with Richmond alumni at five different companies throughout the day.
"This trip provided such great exposure and insight into so many firms that have Richmond alumni," junior Katie Vates said of the experience. "You get a completely different perspective hearing from alumni and asking them questions about their work, rather than just reading and studying these types of businesses in the classroom."
Not every student-athlete on the trip is a business major, but all were able to have a valuable experience and learn about their own career paths in one way or another.
"As a non-business major, I was skeptical about whether there are areas in the business sector where my skillset could be used," senior Marissa Brown said. "This trip opened my eyes to the many different people and positions that go into running a successful business. It was very encouraging to hear from many Richmond alumni who didn't major in business, but were able to find a place for their skills within the field."
The team began the day at PubWorX and Richmond alum Will Michalopoulos, '85, and recent alums Annie Gaggis and Noah Maggin, '18, learning about the company's work with publishers aimed at consumer marketing, circulation management, production services and paper solutions.
The Spiders' second stop of the day was at UBS, where Vates, along with teammates Megan Gianforte and Julie Ball, worked this past summer. While at the financial and wealth management services firm, the Spiders were greeted by former Spider student-athletes Jason Chandler, '93, Head of Wealth Management USA, as well as Sean Baker, '15, Alicia Curry, '91, Todd Conklin, '93, and Scott Nevin, '93.
Next up was a trip down to investment firm Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, where the team met with alum Chris Barnett, '94. Chris organized a panel of speakers that included Richmond alum Christopher Ricciardi, '91, Jill Clancy, '04, and Chelsea Babcock, '11.
The fourth stop of the trip was at CSM LeadDog, a sports marketing agency. The Spiders were led around the headquarters by Richmond women's lacrosse alum Anna Jeszceck, '15, as well as CEO and Richmond alum Dan Mannix, '89.
The final company of the day was AlphaSights, an information consulting firm and employer of recent Richmond women's lacrosse graduate Emily Newman, '16.
The busy day concluded with a University of Richmond alumni and networking event, which included groups of students in marketing and finance, as well as alumni in the greater New York City area. The event was capped off by keynote speaker Jamie Parilla, '87, who serves as the Executive Director of Internal Communications at JP Morgan. The event allowed the Spiders to meet and mingle with alumni involved in various aspects of the business, marketing and financial world, giving the student-athletes an idea of the opportunities that exist after graduation.
"As a business major, this trip helped me hone some of my networking skills and increase my investment and finance knowledge," Vates added. "But we all learned something from this experience, whether it pertained to our specific major or not. This trip provided insight and knowledge that could not ever be taught in a classroom. I am very grateful for this opportunity that Richmond lacrosse has provided and for the sense of community that this University has created among its alumni."
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