{"id":659,"date":"2020-12-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/sport-business\/reports\/oli-walsh-how-do-you-manage\/"},"modified":"2021-08-10T09:59:31","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T09:59:31","slug":"oli-walsh-how-do-you-manage","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/sport-business\/articles\/oli-walsh-how-do-you-manage\/","title":{"rendered":"Oli Walsh – How do you manage?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n\t
\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t
\n \n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n Dec 02, 2020 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Oli Walsh – How do you manage?<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
Category<\/div>\n Brands & Sponsorship<\/a> <\/div>\n
\n
Share<\/div>\n Facebook<\/a>\n Twitter<\/a>\n Email<\/a>\n Copy Link<\/a>\n
https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/sport-business\/articles\/oli-walsh-how-do-you-manage\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

A window into the working worlds of people from across the sports industry now that nothing is as it was.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

\n

Oli Walsh is a sports marketer with significant experience leading brand sponsor activity at agencies and within brand organisations themselves.<\/h4>\n

He was made redundant this year after Enterprise wound down its sponsorship department following the business impact of the pandemic. He had spent four years running Enterprise Rent-a-Car\u2019s EMEA sponsorship activity, principally focused on the Uefa Europa League and European Tour golf, and before that was Head of Partner Activation at phone manufacturer HTC for its Uefa Champions League and Europa League sponsorship activity. He lives in Acton in London with his wife and two children.<\/p>\n

How are you feeling on a scale of 1-10?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday I would have said about a 7. But then this morning I got feedback that I hadn\u2019t got to a final shortlist for a role so now I\u2019d say I\u2019m probably at a 5. By the end of the day I\u2019ll probably be back up to a 7.<\/p>\n

These things happen. But with every application you put so much of your time and dedication into it that you\u2019re almost anticipating the next step and you\u2019re always thinking about it. So when that doesn\u2019t come, there\u2019s disappointment and the question \u2018why?\u2019 and the curiosity as to who will go on to land that role. But then you just have to move on and look forward to the next thing.<\/p>\n

Who was the last person you spoke to before me?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well the feedback was over email. Classic email for bad news! I emailed the HR person and the hiring manager and they came right back, which lifted me a little. I\u2019m a judge for the European Sponsorship Awards so I put my head down a bit this morning and got off email and phone and read through a load of entries for that. It\u2019s important to focus on what\u2019s in front of you and not get distracted.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your current working set-up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting when people ask, \u2018are you working?\u2019 or \u2018are you working from home?\u2019 or assume, when I\u2019m dropping my kids at school, that I\u2019m not working so ask me what I\u2019m doing instead. But actually through this whole process I do feel like I\u2019m working; not for someone but for myself.<\/p>\n

We have a space upstairs which is and was my wife\u2019s home office. We share that space, but she has first dibs on it, and if she\u2019s there I\u2019ll work at the kitchen table. It seems to work well. Ideally I\u2019d prefer to work upstairs; you\u2019re a bit more away from everything \u2013 and you\u2019re not near the fridge! Genuinely, it\u2019s a real challenge; no matter how many times you look in the fridge there\u2019s still the same stuff there. That and the cups of tea or coffee you have during the day are your only distractions; whereas in an office you\u2019d have interaction with other people; you\u2019d walk to the printer or another department. It\u2019s not having a massive impact on efficiency, but probably is on health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s interesting when people ask, \u2018are you working?\u2019 or \u2018are you working from home?\u2019 or assume, when I\u2019m dropping my kids at school, that I\u2019m not working so ask me what I\u2019m doing instead. But actually through this whole process I do feel like I\u2019m working; not for someone but for myself.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What does your wife do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>She\u2019s a neuroscientist. She works with children, adolescents and adults who have developmental conditions and issues. Her job is intense. A lot of the work is to do with diagnosing particular issues. Hers is a profession where it really should be face-to-face, so she still does that where Covid allows. I always look at the work she does and it\u2019s incredible; I think we balance each other out: she does all the good in the world, and I work in sport and entertainment trying to sell people stuff. And sometimes stuff that they don\u2019t even want or need. But we both enjoy what we do, and that\u2019s really important.<\/p>\n

Who else are you sharing your work environment with?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got two kids: a boy who\u2019s just turned five and started school in September, and a daughter who is two and a half. Lockdown with them had its challenges \u2013 as anyone with kids would know. I was fortunate in that I haven\u2019t been working in the traditional sense so I\u2019ve been able to help out more than I would otherwise.<\/p>\n

I used to work in Egham and our hours were 8-6, so I could never really ever do drop-off and pick-up. So to be able to do those kinds of things, which may seem small, has been a real benefit of this lockdown. My kids weren\u2019t old enough really to do proper home-schooling. We had these grand plans for structuring their days \u2013 an hour of reading on this, an hour of fun play on that \u2013 and it just didn\u2019t materialise in that way. So we\u2019re glad our son has been able to start school this September!<\/p>\n

How do you split the business of running your life together with your wife?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m more conscious of everything my wife does \u2013 both seen and unseen \u2013 with the kids and the house and her work, and appreciate how difficult that all is. We split things between us on a day-by-day basis depending on what we both have on. And we as a family like to do things together, so if we can both do drop-off or pick-up together then we like to do that. I\u2019ve been able to do more with the kids this year than I ever have done before, and I hope in the future that level of flexibility can and will continue into whatever my next role is.<\/p>\n