Game Changer Catchup: Lawrence Bell
Hometown: Fayetteville, NC
University: Queen’s University of Charlotte
Game Changer Term: Fall of 2015
Current Position: Account Executive, Octagon Sports & Entertainment
From 2015 Winning Edge Game Changer to sports professional, Lawrence Bell has developed a successful career as an Account Executive in Client Engagement at major marketing and advertising agency Octagon.
Since completing the Winning Edge Leadership mentoring program and graduating from Queen’s University of Charlotte in 2016, Lawrence rapidly established his position at Octagon. Beginning as an Event Marketing Intern in 2017, he worked his way up through to his current role in less than 2 years.
Lawrence became familiar with Octagon during his time with the Winning Edge program. “As a mentee of the program in 2016, I was paired with DeAndrae Watson, the current VP of Brand Campaigns and Client Engagement at Octagon. He introduced me to what Octagon is and the service they provide.”
This relationship was instrumental to Lawrence’s transition into the industry after college. He was able to build a network and work connections he made through the Winning Edge to pursue a position within the company. “I ended up pursuing a position at Octagon in the summer of 2017, where I began as an intern. I was then offered a position as a trainee and worked my way into becoming an account executive in July of 2018.”
Reflecting back on his time as a part of the program, Lawrence spoke candidly about what that experience meant to him as he was about to embark on the beginning of his career.
“It was an environment that predicated around that growth, and that was special. Everybody doesn’t have that.”
Lawrence is just at the beginning of his career in sports business and his biggest advice for future members of the Winning Edge: be available.
“Just raise your hand, even if it’s a situation where you don’t necessarily feel comfortable or think that you won’t benefit from it. Sometimes you get involved in something and you don’t even realize how much you can get out of it.”
When discussing his biggest takeaways from the Winning Edge experience, Lawrence highlighted the importance of understanding varying career paths. “You can’t always know what roads are ahead of you… You may need to shift and maneuver your way into a position, but there isn’t necessarily always a point A to point B.”
Feature by Camille Buxeda
Camille is a recent graduate of NYU’s School of Professional Studies, where she earned her Masters in Sports Business. Currently, she is the women’s basketball associate social editor at SLAM Media Inc and firmly believes in supporting the WE Leadership Academy’s vision of empowering the next generation of sports leaders.
