{"id":663,"date":"2020-11-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/sport-business\/reports\/bein-media-groups-andrea-ekblad-how-do-you-manage\/"},"modified":"2021-08-10T09:59:32","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T09:59:32","slug":"bein-media-andrea-ekblad-how-do-you-manage","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/sport-business\/articles\/bein-media-andrea-ekblad-how-do-you-manage\/","title":{"rendered":"beIN Media Group’s Andrea Ekblad – How do you manage?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n Nov 17, 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

beIN Media Group’s Andrea Ekblad – 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
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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

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Andrea Ekblad\u2019s role is Partnerships, Acquisitions & Content Strategy at beIN Media Group.<\/h4>\n

She looks after optimising rights partnerships with the broadcaster’s top 20 rights holder partners globally, including the Premier League, IOC, LaLiga, and the NBA. This year she also produced The beINSPIRED Podcast<\/a> with some of the best female athletes in the world. Andrea lives in St. Albans, UK, with her four-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n

How are you feeling right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Halloween night when lockdown was announced again here in the UK, I took it a bit hard and I was worried. But as the week went on and with school staying open, I haven\u2019t actually felt any changes from the weeks and months before. I try to focus on the things I\u2019m in control of. You\u2019re asking this question just days after the positive outcome of the US election so I feel much lighter right now. I genuinely feel a shift in my mood, and I feel some sort of positive change like the tide is turning for the better. But also, to be honest, this time has been quite tough. Especially the first six months of the pandemic, with no family support for me here in the UK and no childcare. My family are back in Hungary. But looking back, having been able to go through work, smashing targets, hosting commercial workshops, producing a whole new series of podcasts, it also gave me the sense of having a super power: if I can do this now then I can do anything.<\/p>\n

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

It was one of about 15 beIN colleagues of mine just now on a Zoom call. We had Miami, Paris, Doha, Istanbul, Singapore and London on it.<\/p>\n

Where you working from now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t been to the office in central London since March and have been entirely working from home; from my flat in St Albans. During the first six months of lockdown when nursery closed for my daughter, the dining table in the living room turned into our co-working space: Pre-school exercises for my daughter that I stayed up late to curate the night before, especially in the first couple of months; and beIN partnerships headquarters for me. It\u2019s got a little more advanced now and I\u2019ve set up a mini office in the corner of the living room with a foldable desk, a monitor and a laptop.<\/p>\n

“This time has been quite tough… but looking back, having been able to go through work, smashing targets, hosting commercial workshops, producing a whole new series of podcasts, it also gave me the sense of having a super power: if I can do this now then I can do anything.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How do you feel about your work-from-home environment?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actually when the pandemic hit I was already a champion of flexible working culture and the ethos of working from home. When my daughter was very little and I couldn\u2019t go back to my previous role on a part-time basis, I took a mini detour from the sports industry and worked for a social media start-up. It only employed part-timers and we all worked flexibly. So I\u2019m not entirely new to this system. In fact I brought some communication tools like Slack and a couple of others to beIN from that experience, which we are all now making really good use of. And work has been really great and understanding of everyone\u2019s personal situation. I do miss seeing colleagues, business partners and friends in the industry. But I do see the positive impacts for the future of this era, and I think it\u2019s completely transformational. Not only for career-driven mothers, but really for everyone.<\/p>\n