Mar 10: Inspiring Conversations with Justin J. Giangrande of NETWORK
Hi Justin J., so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I had always wanted to attend a big football or basketball school, so when it came time for college, I chose the University of Florida. I was there during the glory days–graduated in 2006–and I’ll never forget meeting Tim Tebow as a freshman. Right away, it was clear to me that he was going to be something special. During my time at UF, I built a few businesses and had the incredible experience of witnessing back-to-back national championships: basketball, then football, then basketball again. I stayed in Florida until 2008 where I continued to grow my businesses while working on different projects with Tim, including his charity event; when he won the Heisman, I was also lucky enough to be part of it. It was an unforgettable time for University of Florida sports, as you can imagine, and a phenomenal time to be there.
After that, I moved out to Los Angeles and landed an internship at Priority Sports, which eventually turned into a role in which I helped them sign Chandler Parsons. This was around 2010, and that’s when I started noticing the shift towards marketing and branding in the sports world. LeBron and Johnny Manziel were beginning to separate their marketing from their agents, and I just had a feeling that was the future of the industry.
These experiences and insight led me to start my own firm called NCLUSIVE, which was essentially what we now know as modern athlete brand-building. We focused on marketing, endorsement deals, public relations, social media, and websites for athletes. Over time, NCLUSIVE grew to represent 30 NFL and NBA players, including three first-round picks in 2015. At one point, we had the highest-paid NBA player at the time, Mike Conley Jr. Amid the growth, Gary and AJ Vaynerchuk approached me about merging my business with VaynerSports and becoming a partner. Their entrepreneurial approach and media business accomplishments really intrigued me, so I made the move.
