Inspired by personal experiences in athletics, a year and a half long research program was completed looking at how a coach’s philosophy may affect the transferability of life skills onto their athletes. The impact of a coach’s perceived role and expectations regarding how to effectively coach, and their coaching values/philosophy on influencing the development of life skills within their athletes was passionately studied. I was accepted to present my research at the Ninth Annual Sport and Society Conference at Florida International University as an emerging scholar. The final report is currently in the process of being published in the 2019 Sport and Society Journal.

This project came from an upper level management class called Power and Influence. My team of three other females analyzed two commercials from Body Beast Workout Program and Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer. The analysis was created using concepts from Cialdini's Influence: Science and Practice on how the creators of these commercials are attempting to influence and manipulate people. We developed a well thought out paper to communicate the outcomes of the analysis. We also presented our material to the rest of the class using a creative approach to engage the class in discussion with our skit, videos, and applicable examples. This creative direction of presentation allowed the class to fully understand and remember the information presented.

I selected Ashton Eaton as an athlete to evaluate throughout the semester on his training, decisions, and overall personalty. I applied excerise and sports pychology material to fully understand what made him a successful athlete and communicated this information effectively in an application paper.

During an intensive summer position, I was responsible for collecting and organizing research articles on Grit for Doctor Stefanie Boyer, associate marketing professor at Bryant Univeristy. Grit is a personality trait defined as having strong passion and courage for long-term goals. This organization was crucial for the professionals to look at in depth if this trait was important to have for marketing and sales success. Other work throughout this position included event planning and management for Bryant University’s semi-annual National Intercollegiate Sales Competition.

This research consisted of how and why athletes are continually improving in their performance throughout the years. Technology in sports in rapidly growing including complex technology such as motion analysis and training robots or simple technology like shoes and training/competitive surfaces. The propose of the research was to inform the viewers how technology has improved athletics as well as informing those curious in the negative effects of technology and how it can actually be seen as taking away the true meaning of sport with its complexity.

An in-depth study was done on Amazon's management styles with the use of scholarly journals, periodicals, and books. My team, Team Unity, analyzed both Jeff Bezos' and the organization’s management philosophies, concepts, approaches, and impact. Our findings was presented to the class in a creative way using games, triva, and an engaging class disccusion. The purpose of this research project was to understand management beyond just a textbook approach while gaining valuable experience working as a member of a team. The team practiced our own styles of management skills in planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Our team dynamics showed through as a high-performance management team with receiving the recognition of top preforming team in the class.

I led and influenced a top performing team of four other students when elected as the team's manager through a semester worth of projects. A team contract, detailed project plan, and a design thinking project was completed. The design thinking project consisted of creating a solution to a problem on Bryant University's Residence Life system and presenting it to the organization in hopes for implementation in the near future. Team Unity received recognition as top performing team throughout the entire semester.

As a Bryant requirement, I was given the opportunity to work with a team of first year students for only 72 hours to design a prototype computer application for home improvement stores to assist customers at ‘Do It Yourself’ projects for the store to increase their sales. The team prepared a business proposal to explain the prototype to faculty and alumni judges. My cohort received honorable mention in a judged competition.

Over a two month period, a business plan was created with a team of four other students under my selected role as the project manager. The team developed a small business idea based off of our observation that some of us skii and snowboard, and found that normal gloves do not efficiently keep our hands warm on the slopes. Our product idea became a pair of electronically heated gloves meant specifically for skiers and snowboarders. The purpose of this plan was to provide an opportunity to demonstrate the groups knowledge and understanding of common business terminology and concepts, assist the group in understanding the interrelationships among the various business functions, assist in developing project management skills, and provide a hands-on experience in a common and useful business activity. This plan was presented in a varity of different aspects including an elevator pitch, tri-fold presentation, and a full business proposal in front of hypothetical investors.