Thursday Tailgates
Thursday Tailgates brings you the best of tailgating! Each week, Alicia will share a recipe perfect for tailgating, pictures of amazing tailgate parties or lists of where you can join in on the action over the upcoming weekend.
I have good news, people: One week from today, college football will kick-off! Fall is in the air, and with that comes one of America’s greatest pastimes: the tailgate party.
Each week, I will be highlighting amazing tailgate parties, giving you recipes to take to your own and providing lists of where you can join in on the tailgate party action.
Given that I want this to be an interactive experience, I need all of your help! Here’s what I need you to do:
1. Send me your favorite tailgate recipes (pictures are always good, too!).
2. Send me pictures, descriptions and stories of the greatest tailgate party you’ve ever attended.
3. If you’re planning a tailgate party (for any sports event) and would like it publicized on the site, please send me information about it.
You can send the above to RulingSports@gmail.com with the subject line “Tailgate.”
This is a great way to get the word out about your event to the thousands of visitors to this site! And perhaps, by the end of the season, we’ll know just who throws the best party.
Please remember, by sharing your story, recipe, pictures or event details, that you are giving AliciaJessop.com the right to reuse and publish said information. Additionally, you are giving Alicia Jessop the right to share said information on Facebook.com/AliciaJessop and Twitter.com/RulingSports.
What’s Good Wednesday: Why Women Love Sephora
What’s Good Wednesday is Alicia’s weekly series discussing all things good. From product reviews to dating do’s and don’ts and funny stories to favorite places, you’ll find it here, because Alicia doesn’t have a) a show to discuss her favorite things or b) the money to hand them out.
This time last week, I was wandering about like a blind puppy through the aisles of my local Home Depot store in an attempt to locate wooden stakes so that I could make my own lawn flamingos (don’t ask). I think many women who do not often engage in home improvement projects would admit that walking into a hardware store is a bit daunting. All eyes are on you, as you are clearly an outsider in this world. Since you don’t frequent the place often, you’re lost, further bringing attention to yourself. If you’re like me and are clueless about home improvement projects, it is also likely that you really have no idea what you’re looking for. All in all, it can be a taxing experience.
As I clicked up and down the aisles in my high heels last week, drawing the attention of a few more people than I’d prefer, the following thought hit me: I wonder if hardware stores are to men what Sephora is to women?
Given that I’m an active Twitter user, I posed the question to my followers. Essentially, my question was answered in the affirmative, as a large number of followers indicated that they didn’t know what Sephora was and others pointed out that they don’t “get it.” Given this response, I wanted to break down why (most) women love and are fascinated by Sephora and some pointers for my male followers in fostering and accepting this love.
1. Sephora speaks to women
Many women are interested and find pleasure in keeping up their personal appearance, specifically related to their face. Some women do this merely by using a cleanser to wash their face and applying a moisturizer. Others go to greater lengths, including such things as exfoliating and applying masks. A large number of women apply at least some amount of makeup.
The reason why Sephora is great, is that it addresses the skin care needs of every woman. From the woman whose skin care routine involves only washing her face and moisturizing it to the woman who applies false eyelashes and heavy eye shadow routinely, the store has something for everyone.
This is important, as other makeup chain stores or brands sold exclusively at department stores sometimes limit their market by only catering to the needs of specific women. By offering a wide range of products suited to practically every woman on the planet, Sephora is a place that every woman can find something that she either wants or needs.
2. Shopping at Sephora is fun
As I noted above, I am not into home improvement projects. As such, I do not understand the attraction of going to the hardware store. Visits there are more stressful for me than fun.
Save for maybe Bloomingdale’s, for me, Sephora is like an adult Disneyland. It feels somewhat like a prestigious adult club that you gain entry to upon reaching puberty. The store is very aesthetically pleasing with its black and white decor into which splashes of red are mixed. Its aisles are widely spaced and organized throughout the store to allow you to flow through easily on your hunt for exciting skin care products.
As crazy as it may sound, going to Sephora is like an adventure for me. When I walk into its doors, it’s somewhat like walking into a treasure chest. While I’ve been there hundreds of times, given the store’s constant desire to provide the best products to its customers, I always know I am going to discover something new. Whether it is a new skin care regimen, lip gloss or mascara, Sephora’s layout and in-store employees make trying new things accessible and fun.
3. (Most) Women Have a Serious Interest in Skin Care
As a teenager, and honestly throughout college, I did not take as good of care of my skin as I should have. Then, one day I woke up during my second year of law school and spotted a gnarly line across my forehead. While I have never been incredibly vain, seeing the line spurred me to action. I realized that I’m only given one face in this lifetime. I’m not really interested in undergoing plastic surgery, as the thought of having a knife slice across my face doesn’t really appeal to me.
Given my aversion to plastic surgery and desire to not look like I’m 60 at age 30, I realized that I needed to invest in my face. Yes, some products at Sephora cost more (and some a lot) more than what you would find at a drug store. However, I know that they are less expensive (and painful) than plastic surgery. This is not to knock drug store cosmetics and skin care lines. There are some that work great. However, everything that I have purchased at Sephora works great. Upon beginning the skin care regimen that I am on now, my acne and blemishes cleared up. The appearance of that dreaded forehead line reduced. My skin became more glowing. I was sold. And I’ve been drinking the Sephora Koolaide since.
I know that most guys don’t get what women’s beef is with aging and why we’re willing to shell out big bucks to prevent it. It’s because you leave us for younger women if we don’t (totally kidding about that…sort of). Ultimately, our concern with aging and fascination with anti-aging can probably be equated to why many of you spend hundreds of hours in the gym and thousands of dollars on protein powder in attempts to bulk up. You don’t need to fully understand why we take the skin care efforts that we do. Rather, you only need to accept it.
4. Sephora offers great perks
In an age of value shopping and plastic rewards cards, Sephora gets it. Sephora offers a variety of perks. First, it offers the free perk of willingly offer samples of any of the items it sells. So, before buying the $100 face cream, you can receive a sample of it to take home and try out. The store is very generous with their samples and I have never seen them deny anyone a sample of a product they’re interested in.
Next, the store offers certain special samples when you make purchases. The best samples are given online, as you can choose from a variety of high-end samples upon placing your order. These are always great to have for travel and just to get a sense of which new products you might be interested in.
The store also offers a points reward sign-up that is free to shoppers. For every 150 or 500 points that you accumulate (1 point is earned for each $1 spent), you will receive trial or full-size versions of great Sephora products. I’ve received some awesome mascaras, eye shadows, makeup primers and face washes.
My favorite Sephora perk, though, is its Beauty Insiders rewards program. If you spend $350 at Sephora annually (trust me, it isn’t hard), you become a member of the program. Then, throughout the year, you receive a variety of nice rewards. For instance, during your birth month, you receive a gift. Last year I received a Philosophy brand (amazing stuff) body wash (retail: $16). This year, I received two Sugar brand lipglosses. You also receive free makeovers throughout the year, discount coupons and access to certain products before the general public. The variety of perks Sephora offers its customers demonstrates that it cares about them and wants their return business. The perks are better than that of any other cosmetics store that I have seen.
5. What it boils down to
Sephora is like a secret treehouse for grown women, where they come to share their beauty secrets, let their cares go and have fun shopping for items to enhance their appearance. It is a place where women I may or may not know are capable of spending 2+ hours. It is a store that for some women, the opportunity to visit there weekly would be accepted. Essentially, what you need to know, is that Sephora is a woman’s hardware store.
So, like a trip to the hardware store, expect to spend some time at Sephora if you journey there with your wife or girlfriend. Understand that you may not understand why she needs everything she picks out, just as she probably doesn’t understand why you need 3 tools that do the same thing. Overall though, like the hardware store does for many men, Sephora inexplicably brings a lot of happiness to many women.
Tuesday Truths: On Faith
Tuesday Truths is Alicia’s weekly series on faith. Here, Alicia will discuss the ways in which her Christian faith has shaped her life and led her onto the path she is currently traveling. The goal is to foster an open discussion where viewpoints are considered and accepted.
In this day and age, faith is seen by many as a taboo topic: something that should only be discussed behind the walls of a church and something that often breeds controversy. Peers of my generation often do not even discuss their faith amongst close confidants for fear of alienating them or pushing buttons. For too long, I have subscribed to these notions.
Over the last year, I have devoted my life to writing, telling and sharing sports stories. My faith allows me to realize that it is God that has given me this opportunity. Yet, for the last year, I have not said that publicly. It is for that reason that I am launching the Tuesday Truths section of my personal website. My goal here is to share my ideas on Christianity and explain how my faith has shaped my life to put me in the position I am today.
To begin the conversation, I want to provide some background on my faith. As we move forward, I will talk more about what I believe and how I apply Christianity to my life and the decisions I make in it on a daily basis.
I was baptized in the Lutheran church at the ripe age of two months old. There was likely no question that this would happen, given that several of my maternal grandmother’s family members were pastors and my mother grew up attending Lutheran school. My earliest memories involve attending church with my grandparents and mom every Sunday. I always enjoyed going to church and my parents never had to fight me to get me there. My grandpa, on the other hand, was different. One of my funniest childhood memories is the time that my grandfather clearly was worn out from sitting on the pew for 80+ years. An hour before we were supposed to leave for service, he decided to take some laxatives to ahem, prevent him from attending. Well played, Gramps! While I would like to think that my parents would have allowed me to choose my own religion, one thing is certain: I have sought a relationship with Christ throughout my entire life.
With both sets of my grandparents at my baptism in August 1984.
At age ten, I received my first Communion. My maternal grandparents commemorated the event by giving me a Bible that sits next to my bed and is opened every night. At age 13, I began my first of three years of Confirmation classes. There, I not only made friends whose morals and values mirrored mine, but I truly began to understand what it means to be a Christian. At age 15, I confirmed my faith in Christ in front of my family and congregation. It is one of the things in my life of which I am the most proud.
The morning of my Confirmation, the associate pastor at my church pulled me aside. She told me that she “knew” God was going to do big things with my life. Thinking back upon my life, I think I always knew that I had been given many gifts and that if I used them correctly, they would be put to work helping others. As a child, I always had incredibly high expectations of myself, oftentimes worked harder than my peers and placed heavier burdens on myself. While some didn’t understand why I did this, I knew deep down that I was working toward fulfilling the purpose God had created my life for.
While I am a student of the Bible and a follower of Jesus, I was raised in a loving and accepting home. In my household, we were open to all, were quick to help people of all walks of life, and the only thing that was unacceptable was hatred of any kind. For that reason, one of the largest tenets of the Christian faith to me, is to love your neighbor as yourself. If you read the Bible, you know that there is no asterisk after that statement. We are taught to love our neighbor no matter who she is, what he believes in or what they’ve done. I strive to live every day and execute each of my decisions by remembering first my faith in Jesus Christ, and secondly, that I am put on this planet to love others regardless of who they are or where they are in life.
My Dad often tells me a story about a time when I was a teenager and he asked what the best thing he and my mother did for me as parents. My parents, in my opinion, are two of the greatest that ever lived. They have done so many amazing, selfless things for me throughout my life. Rather than wracking my brain through all of the sacrifices they made to make my life better, I quickly answered: “You introduced me to Christ.” That introduction and the personal relationship that followed have made my life so much easier and better. It allowed me to succeed in school, develop strong relationships, show compassion to others and live a happy and fulfilling life.
Yes, I have made mistakes in my life. My four years of college would arguably be the best demonstration of that fact. I sin everyday. However, the peace of mind I have in knowing that I am forgiven for the mistakes and sins that I commit as a result of my human nature is the greatest comfort in my life. It is that comfort and knowledge that allows me to wake up everyday with the hope that I’ll be a little better than I was the day before. It is that understanding that allows me to recognize the purpose my life was built for and to pursue it fearlessly.
I’ve been given many gifts in this 28-year long life of mine. I consider the opportunity to share sports stories with the world every single day one of the largest of those gifts. However, I consider it an even greater gift to be able to discuss the source of those gifts. I look forward to sharing this journey with you all.
How has faith shaped your life? Where are you today that you might not have been without faith?
Managing Monday: Asking For (And Getting) What You Want
Managing Monday is Alicia’s weekly career advice series. Check back every Monday for stories on how you can further your career and follow your dreams. If you have story ideas for this series, email Alicia.
Mick Jagger once sang, “You can’t always get what you want.” While that may be true, the sure-fire way to never get what you want, is to fail to ask for it.
One of the earliest, and most important lessons, I learned early on in my sports media career, is that you cannot be afraid to ask for what you want.
Asking for what you want, and subsequently getting it, requires several steps. Here, I will break down those steps in an effort to help you use this measure to achieve your career goals.
1. Define what you want
Before you can ask anyone to assist you in furthering your career goals, you must first define what your goals are. Oftentimes, objectives necessary to achieve goals are confused for goals themselves. In order to fully understand what it is you are trying to achieve and what help you need from others to get there, you must hash out your goals and the objectives required to achieve them.
Ultimately, there is no shortcut or clear and easy way to define what your goals are. Defining goals requires personal reflection, soul-searching, and likely, putting pen to paper and writing your goals out. Before you ask anyone for anything, you should first and foremost fully define what it is that you are seeking.
Here is an example: Say that you are seeking a job as a sports lawyer. In order to fulfill this goal, you will likely need to meet numerous objectives. First, you will need to graduate from law school. You will likely need to obtain some sort of sports law related work experience. To obtain this work experience, you will most likely need to attend sports law events, network with sports lawyers and educate yourself about sports law issues. Thereafter, you will need to take and pass the bar. Then, you will apply and interview for sports law positions, and hopefully obtain one.
In achieving this goal, you may consider reaching out to other sports lawyers for their assistance. Before fully defining what you are seeking, you may consider simply asking them, “Can you help me become a sports lawyer?” It is likely that some lawyers will bite at your question and respond. However, by fully defining what you want and the objectives you must achieve to reach that goal, you will be better prepared to ask for specific help. Asking for specific help will better allow those to whom you are reaching out, to give you the response that you want.
For instance, say that you are seeking advice about which law schools offer the best sports law programs. Knowing that you are seeking this specific information, you can reach out to sports lawyers who graduated from certain schools that you’re looking at and ask them about their particular experience. This gives you and the person you are reaching out to (who is likely a stranger) a common interest and starting ground to build a professional relationship upon. More importantly, by avoiding the general question of “how do I become a sports lawyer,” you set yourself apart from others who may also be reaching out to the contact. This is important, as it is likely that this person is contacted by many people to discuss the subject you are contacting them about. By approaching them with a unique and specific question targeted to their interests, you are ensuring that your name sticks out in their mind.
2. Understand the importance of community
I am a true believer that every experience in life shapes you for something bigger. For that reason, I am grateful that one of the first people I met in my sports media career journey was Rafer Johnson. Rafer is the 1960 Olympic gold medalist for the decathlon. He has lived one of the most interesting and integrity-driven lives of anyone I have ever heard of. In preparing to interview Rafer last fall, I read his autobiography, The Best That I Can Be.
Reading that book is one of the greatest things that ever happened to me, and my career. In the book’s pages, Rafer constantly depicts how he was only able to become the best that he could be through the help of others. He constantly stresses the importance of community in achieving one’s dreams.
While much can be learned by the way in which Rafer has lived his life, anyone seeking to fulfill their own dreams would be amiss to not realize that they hinge on the help of others. Thus, you will find many points throughout your career that you need to ask someone for something to get what you want. However, getting them to say “yes,” can be difficult if they feel no sense of loyalty or commitment toward you.
For this reason, it is important to understand the value and need for community. While at the start of your career, it is unlikely that you know the top professionals in your field who may be able to help you get to where you want, that should not prevent you from reaching out to them. Rather, when you do reach out to them, you need to be cognizant that in doing so, you are building your professional community. In that regard, be sure to be professional and courteous in every exchange. Furthermore, be willing to share about your background, so that the person can get a sense of who you are and where you are coming from. Demonstrate that you are aware of their background, by noting some facts about their background that impressed you or that you found interesting.
In this virtual day and age, it is not uncommon for strangers to reach out to one another seeking advice or help. However, you cannot expect a complete stranger to respond to your request for help if they do not feel some sort of connection to you. For that reason, it is important that you work to build a sense of “community” into your first request for assistance.
3. Be bold
As I noted above, the one way to never get what you want is to fail to ask for it. I launched my sports media career a mere 13-months ago. I know for certain that I would not be in the position I am today if I didn’t make bold requests from my peers. Yes, I have been told “no” (or even worse, received no response) several times. But, for the large part, I’ve received favorable responses and assistance from my peers.
One of my favorite examples involves Albert Pujols. In the winter of 2011, Pujols signed a monster contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In celebration of signing him, the Angels hosted a press conference, open to the public on a Saturday afternoon. I reached out to the Angels’ Director of Media Relations, whom I had met through writing for RulingSports.com, asking if I could obtain a media credential to the event. At this time, RulingSports.com had been in existence all of five months. I figured his answer would be, “no,” but I decided I would ask anyway.
When I arrived at the press conference, I wasn’t sure if my credential request had been approved. I was nearly crestfallen when I saw thousands of people standing in front of Angel Stadium, figuring I wouldn’t even be able to catch a glimpse of Pujols. Realizing that if I was going to be able to cover the press conference, I knew that I was going to have to be bold and march up to the media station. Bearing no credential on my chest, I was quickly stopped and the guards tried to turn me away. I told them I had applied for a credential, but that I had not heard back from the Angels’ Media Relations Director. They asked me for my name, went and found him, and minutes later I was being ushered into the second row of the Pujols press conference.
That day marked my first appearance on major sports networks. I asked Pujols a question about how moving to the American League would affect his ability to play into the twilight of his career. It was aired repeatedly on ESPN and other networks. Nobody would have heard my question had I not been bold that day and asked for what I wanted.
4. Don’t Give Up
Sometimes, a person you reach out to will tell you “no.” Or they won’t respond. Don’t take either for an answer.
It is unlikely that the person you reached out to is the only person who can answer your question and help you on your quest to find what you want. Do not let “no’s” deter you. Rather, reach out to as many people as you can think of whom you believe will be able to answer your question. The more people you reach out to in an attempt to build a professional community and seek advice, the larger your network will become. Subsequently, the greater of an arsenal of advice you will have at your disposal.
In what I do in sports media, I rely a lot upon the insight of others. As such, it is not uncommon for me to email 25 athletics directors in one day, or ten NFL teams. Sometimes I am greatly surprised by the positive response I am given to a request. Other times, I am grateful that I asked many people for help at once, as only a few will positively respond. Ultimately though, because I know what I want, I will not let someone’s “no” prevent me from getting there.
What methods have you used to achieve what you want in your career?
Welcome!
Welcome to the newly designed AliciaJessop.com! Here, you will find links to my writing for RulingSports.com, BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.com. You will also be able to follow along with my Twitter and Facebook feeds and keep up-to-date on my radio and TV show appearances.
This page will also serve as a way for me to broaden my conversation with you. On Monday’s, you can look forward to the “Alicia’s Career Advice” series. Tuesday’s will feature conversations about the ways in which faith drives and betters my life. Wednesday’s weekly topic will be “Women’s Views,” which will feature product reviews and dating advice that can be used and enjoyed by men and women alike.
The goal of launching AliciaJessop.com is to better acquaint the thousands of readers that follow my writing with the in-and-out’s of my daily life. While I love nothing more than being able to discuss sports with all of you, the fact of the matter is, that there is much more to me than my sports knowledge. I look forward to sharing this with all of you.
Over the last 13 months, many of you have helped me further my dream of working in sports media. I look forward to sharing my ongoing journey with you and interacting with you here!
Alicia Jessop 