WE Have a Super Bowl Champion!
*** Not quite but one of our Game Changers was definitely in the building!
Candice Dominquez is a 23-year-old, decorated track star from Ventura, CA. She started running track in high school, won five awards including Big Sky, Freshman, Junior, and Senior Record, and continued to run track through the completion of her Master’s degree in 2019. Candice has a vibrant personality and a heart for helping athletes in their personal lives. This year, through her job with the Kansas City Chiefs, she got to attend the Super Bowl and assist the players on the team.
Tell me a little about you:
I was born and raised in a small little beach town, Ventura, CA. I went to Sacramento University for three years, where I ran track. My events were high jump and I dabbled in the long and triple jump. I got my Bachelor’s degree in 2017 in Business with an HR concentration.
How did you find out about and get involved with Winning Edge?
My life skills coordinator, Dawon Baker, thought I would be a good fit for the program. He sent me the application and at first, I kept putting it off, not because I didn’t care or take it seriously. There were just so many things going on that I didn’t give myself the time. I’m so fortunate that he reminded me. I applied and got in and that was just a dream come true for so many reasons.
How do you think the Winning Edge has impacted your journey?
So going into the retreat, I had already graduated and got in with the Chiefs. So I went into it a little closed-minded. But in sharing my story and expressing what I want to do, the people at the retreat opened my eyes up to the different ways to get into the career. So many different people approached me wanting to connect me with people they knew. The Dinner of Influence was FANTASTIC, especially for networking. People were like, hey that’s what you want to do? Cool, you need to meet this person. The opportunities to meet people and hear other people’s opinions and experiences really helped me out. I learned I had so many options and could do different things to do to get where I want to go.
You now work with the Kansas City Chiefs. How did you get there?
After graduation I reached out to Ramzee Robinson, the director of player engagement at Kansas City Chiefs, because it was close to my school, and just said, “Hey, I’m interested in getting to know what you do with the Chiefs, how you got your position, if you’d be willing to talk to me, please let me know. It was a message on LinkedIn. He got back to me and told me to call him. So I did and we just talked, got to know each other, and he told me about his past, how he got to where he is now, and what he does for the Chiefs. I was so satisfied with the conversation, like cool, thanks. In the end, he said they were looking for an intern and to send my resume and I was just like ok! It’s not where I was expecting it to go but after kissing the Lombardi at the Super Bowl, I’m so thankful that’s where it went.
Speaking of the Super Bowl, what was that experience like for you?
It was an incredible experience. I was running around a lot during the whole weekend, assisting family members, answering questions. I tried walking from my room to the food room and got stopped like six times on the way, that’s how intense it was. It was a good experience of course, but the Super Bowl itself was stressful! We were losing for like three and a half quarters. That is not how you want to go into a Super Bowl. During one quarter, I was like, this is going to be the saddest flight home tomorrow. But when we scored again to get us up, I texted my boss to find out if I should head down to the field. If we win, my department is in charge of bringing the families onto the field. So he was like yes, just in case. I’m standing there with the practice squad guys with like 20 seconds left and when we won, I was just like wow… we just won the Super Bowl!
What was the energy like?
It was crazy! Guys were crying. Family members were so proud. Oh my gosh… I have no words. It was an awesome experience. Like, I kissed the Lombardi trophy. No other sporting experience really resonated with me like that.
What are your plans for the future?
I actually want to be a sports agent, at least I think. For now, I see myself staying with player engagement for a couple of years. All through undergrad, I planned to go to law school. I said I’m going to be a sports agent and that’s how my life is going to go. But because I went five years straight through school, between undergrad and my masters, I was like, I’ll chill out for a year and do something in the meantime. The reason I wanted to be a sports agent is that I want to help the athletes. These guys are making millions of dollars but I want to help them in their lives off the field and making everything easier for them there. I’ve learned since being in player engagement, it’s giving me more satisfaction than I feel I can get to a sports agency. Working with these professional athletes, seeing more of what these agents do, I feel like is less of what I want to do and player engagement is more of what I want to do. We help get them enrolled in the offseason. We teach them about financial education, bring people in to help them get set up for the offseason; Really just anything they need off the field. Literally no day is the same for me. I do want to go to law school, even if I’m a practicing attorney for professional athletes. But I can also retire to being a sports agent and still feel like I have my dream job. I want to continue to see myself progress in a way that makes me feel satisfied with the work that I’m doing and satisfied that I’m putting my degree to work. As long as I’m making self-improvements, advancing in a career, and I’m happy in it, I’m still going to feel good.
