Co-Founded in 2006 by Mark Sperling, Group Y's mission is to intersect influencers across industries and ignite ideas that inspire the current and next generation leaders and decision makers in the Action Sports, Street/Youth Culture, and Entertainment industry.
I came across the Group Y Network last year while attending the 2014 Agenda Emerge in Long Beach, CA. This was an incredible expereince for me as I was introduced to many Iconic people involved in todays Action Sport and Street Culture industry such as Jeff Staple (Staple Design), and Jason Mayden (Nike/Michael Jordan). As a young professional in the Action Sports industry, I am always hungry to learn and be immersed in the enviroments that help build leaders in this industry.
After dropping out of Business School in 2010 to pursure an opportunity in the Entertainment and Sports industry in Los Angeles, I've always felt that I had to be extra persistent on opportunity in the Action Sports industry as I was going up against extemely talented professionals with an associate or bachlores degree. My experience has been very unique though, as I've been very fortunate to hold postitons with MLB, NBA, and Oakley. At first I was very hard on myself about "dropping out" of college because I felt that I was missing out on so much learning and opportunity. But I look back at my career from the past 7 years in sports/entertainment, and I feel like i've been learning from the best in the industry! Much of my career's progress has been from attending workshops and networking events hosted by Red bull, Group Y, Lululemon, and ESPN. Group Y in particular has greatly influenced my career, and has inspired me to venture into different aspects of sports and social media marketing, such as the launch of KTXsports.
Group Y hosts many events through out the year (mostly in Souther California), and are very educational and inspiring. Please visit www.groupynetwork.com to learn more about thier mission, and to view upcoming events in your area. The next event will be on 09/16/2015 in Costa Mesa, CA with Hurley founder, Bob Hurley. You won't want to miss out on this one!
Photo courtesy of GroupY Instagram Page: @GROUPY