Episode 14 is titled ”Training Your Team: Key Skills Every Sports PR Professional Should Have.”We’re joined by Adriene Bueno, a sports and entertainment executive with over adozen years of experience at organizations like the NBA, LinkedIn, and Adidas.

Adriene, now co-founder of thehiring platform Arena Talent, shares her holistic view on what it takes tosucceed in sports PR, from the perspective of a former job seeker, talentmanager, and hiring innovator.

This episode focuses on the keytechnical and soft skills hiring managers are prioritizing today, offeringstrategic advice for both early-career professionals looking to advance andhiring managers struggling to find the right talent.

Five (5) listener takeawaysshould you tune in.

1.      The Biggest Misunderstandings in Sports PR Hiring: The WorkDoesn't Always Speak for Itself. One of the most important skills –Adaptability: The industry is constantly evolving. Professionals must be ableto put themselves in new situations to see how they show up and be flexiblewhen yesterday's strategy doesn't work today.

2.      Passion is the Floor, Not the Ceiling: Being a sports fan is”table stakes.” Hiring managers assume passion; they prioritizebusiness acumen and transferable skills that differentiate a candidate.

3.      Packaging Early-Career Experience: When your resume is”lean,” focus on transferable skills from unrelated jobs (e.g.,customer service, organizing events) that translate to PR tasks like draftingmessaging or organizing programming. Extract and highlight what's most relevantto the specific job you're applying for.

4.      The ”Grunt Work” is the Doorway: Look where no oneelse is looking (outside the big-name teams/leagues) and be willing to do thegrunt work that nobody wants to do, as this can lead to networking and lateropportunities.

5.      Finding Joy in the Work: To avoid a transactional feeling,align your work with your core values (e.g., helping people, learning newskills). This helps sustain motivation and growth throughout your career.

Time          Topic

(00:58)      Introducing Adriene Bueno and her unique career path across theNBA, LinkedIn, Adidas, and more.

(02:20)      The Single Biggest Misunderstanding a sports PR pro has abouthiring managers.

(03:30)      Passion vs. Business Acumen: Why being a fan is the”floor,” not the qualification.

(05:10)      The top 3 Non-Negotiable Technical Skills hiring managersprioritize today.

(05:45)      The role of AI Literacy for PR professionals and the risk ofsounding like an ”echo chamber.”

(07:48)      The value of Great Writing in the age of AI and howorganizations should screen for it.

(11:20)      Packaging Early-Career Experience: How to brand yourself whenyour resume is ”lean.”

(17:46)      Building a Career Methodically: Why you should look where noone else is looking and the value of ”grunt work.”

(22:16)      Finding Joy and Avoiding Transactional Work by aligning yourcareer with core values.

(27:18)      The two crucial Soft Skills that differentiate a rising starfrom an average performer.

(29:57)      Adaptability and Emotional Intelligence as core skills formodern PR.

(35:11)      How to frame a Mid-Career Sports PR History to resonate withoutside recruiters.

(39:15)      The common (and easily fixed) Resume Mistakes that stop prosfrom getting interviews.

(46:42)      The importance of Reverse Mentorship and how networking buildsskills beyond formal training.

(51:35)      How Arena Talent is Disrupting Hiring by focusing onrelationships and equitable access.