University of Delaware Athletics
Johnson, Committed to Excelling in Every Aspect
10/14/2022 11:33:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
NEWARK, Del. – University of Delaware fifth-year senior Meghan Johnson recently participated in the Name, Image, & Likeness program earlier this year in Atlanta. It was one of the best experiences of her life.
She returned to campus energized and more focused than ever to make sure her fellow student-athletes understood all of the nuances and positives of NIL.
The NIL Summit is an incredible opportunity to meet other student-athletes, employers, and brands. The three days are designed for student-athletes to learn from speakers, panel discussions, and general conversations. The Summit empowers student-athletes to reflect on their purpose, brand, and the impact they want to have to the people around them, social media followers, and the fans they are connecting with on the field.
A tremendous leader for the women's lacrosse program, Johnson has also been a terrific model of excellence and outstanding representative of Delaware athletics. She's a member of the SAAC executive board as well as Delaware Athletics' 302 award winner.
"Meghan is an amazing leader within our program," shared head women's lacrosse coach Amy Altig. "She is a servant leader at her core, always doing the little things regardless of the task. Meg has left her legacy here through her passion for helping others and her desire to create a culture of inclusivity."
In her own words, Johnson shares her experience.
What was a key takeaway from the NIL Summit and how can it help other student-athletes?
The main takeaway from the NIL summit was that there is a consensus between brands and student-athletes that the Name, Image, and Likeliness are continuing to evolve and there are still areas of grey. Navigating this new era for student-athletes is exciting, it allows us to be innovators, build our brands, drive our message, and share our stories. The NIL is an inclusive environment, it is open to any student-athlete from any sport and any school, no matter how many followers you have on your social media platforms, the NIL allows you to explore brands that align with your purpose to promote and create a partnership with. There was a sense of empowerment within the arena at the College Hall of Fame, between student-athletes meeting each other, networking with brands, and listening to impactful speakers, leaving the immersive summit I was driven to put more time and effort into reflecting on what my purpose is, how I can express that through the content I share and what brands match the mission I want to be a part of. It's an exciting time for student-athletes and the sooner you start the process of purposefully composing your social media platforms to reach your specific audience and drive your message with the promotions of brands, the bigger impact you will make within the digital space.
Quotes from the NIL Summit…
"If you really love what you do, and you know that, it will be contagious." – Tim Tebow
"More through your actions, less through your words." – Tim Tebow
"Build your brand, not for the next four but the next forty." – Tim Tebow
My favorite key speaker was Tim Tebow. It was a closed-door workshop designed for student-athletes to listen to Tim Tebow's individual journey and career path as an NFL player. His storytelling skills captured the room, as student-athletes followed his journey through the different stories he told to express the hardships he faced, whom he leaned on during those times, how he built his brand, and where he is today. Above are three quotes that sum up the three different sections he took us through. Starting off with a greater purpose, the more you love what you are doing whether that is your sport, academic path, extracurriculars, career, or reaching people through your brand, there will be a natural wave of contagious energy that radiates off of you the more you love it. Leading to how you express that love is through the actions you perform and less about what you say about it. Fewer words and more actions earn your teammates, colleagues, and classmates' respect. Ending with the last quote, your brand needs to represent who you are, you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable with your followers, showing the good, the bad, and the in-between. It shows that you are first a person and then comes your jersey. Your audience and followers will appreciate and relate to you as a person which will gain their respect, trust and commitment to following your story.
Why was the NIL Summit an event you wanted to take part in?
The NIL summit was an event I wanted to take part in because it was a great opportunity to meet and network with other student-athletes, employers, and brands. The newness of the legalization of NIL excited me as there are still a lot of unanswered questions and it's a chance for student-athletes to collectively build this era to fit our desires and achieve our personal, professional, and brand goals. Another reason I wanted to part take in this summit was to educate myself, learn from other student-athletes and keynote speakers, and bring this knowledge back to our community.
Our athletic department and student-athletes are behind in comparison to other schools and other student-athletes. It's rooted in our lack of knowledge on the NIL, how to make a NIL deal and how to build our individual brands. Eventually, a step for our athlete department could be having a NIL administrator who orchestrates workshops that are focused on individuals building their brands through exercises and sending NIL opportunities.
She returned to campus energized and more focused than ever to make sure her fellow student-athletes understood all of the nuances and positives of NIL.
The NIL Summit is an incredible opportunity to meet other student-athletes, employers, and brands. The three days are designed for student-athletes to learn from speakers, panel discussions, and general conversations. The Summit empowers student-athletes to reflect on their purpose, brand, and the impact they want to have to the people around them, social media followers, and the fans they are connecting with on the field.
A tremendous leader for the women's lacrosse program, Johnson has also been a terrific model of excellence and outstanding representative of Delaware athletics. She's a member of the SAAC executive board as well as Delaware Athletics' 302 award winner.
"Meghan is an amazing leader within our program," shared head women's lacrosse coach Amy Altig. "She is a servant leader at her core, always doing the little things regardless of the task. Meg has left her legacy here through her passion for helping others and her desire to create a culture of inclusivity."
In her own words, Johnson shares her experience.
 |
 |
What was a key takeaway from the NIL Summit and how can it help other student-athletes?
The main takeaway from the NIL summit was that there is a consensus between brands and student-athletes that the Name, Image, and Likeliness are continuing to evolve and there are still areas of grey. Navigating this new era for student-athletes is exciting, it allows us to be innovators, build our brands, drive our message, and share our stories. The NIL is an inclusive environment, it is open to any student-athlete from any sport and any school, no matter how many followers you have on your social media platforms, the NIL allows you to explore brands that align with your purpose to promote and create a partnership with. There was a sense of empowerment within the arena at the College Hall of Fame, between student-athletes meeting each other, networking with brands, and listening to impactful speakers, leaving the immersive summit I was driven to put more time and effort into reflecting on what my purpose is, how I can express that through the content I share and what brands match the mission I want to be a part of. It's an exciting time for student-athletes and the sooner you start the process of purposefully composing your social media platforms to reach your specific audience and drive your message with the promotions of brands, the bigger impact you will make within the digital space.
Quotes from the NIL Summit…
"If you really love what you do, and you know that, it will be contagious." – Tim Tebow
"More through your actions, less through your words." – Tim Tebow
"Build your brand, not for the next four but the next forty." – Tim Tebow
My favorite key speaker was Tim Tebow. It was a closed-door workshop designed for student-athletes to listen to Tim Tebow's individual journey and career path as an NFL player. His storytelling skills captured the room, as student-athletes followed his journey through the different stories he told to express the hardships he faced, whom he leaned on during those times, how he built his brand, and where he is today. Above are three quotes that sum up the three different sections he took us through. Starting off with a greater purpose, the more you love what you are doing whether that is your sport, academic path, extracurriculars, career, or reaching people through your brand, there will be a natural wave of contagious energy that radiates off of you the more you love it. Leading to how you express that love is through the actions you perform and less about what you say about it. Fewer words and more actions earn your teammates, colleagues, and classmates' respect. Ending with the last quote, your brand needs to represent who you are, you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable with your followers, showing the good, the bad, and the in-between. It shows that you are first a person and then comes your jersey. Your audience and followers will appreciate and relate to you as a person which will gain their respect, trust and commitment to following your story.
Why was the NIL Summit an event you wanted to take part in?
The NIL summit was an event I wanted to take part in because it was a great opportunity to meet and network with other student-athletes, employers, and brands. The newness of the legalization of NIL excited me as there are still a lot of unanswered questions and it's a chance for student-athletes to collectively build this era to fit our desires and achieve our personal, professional, and brand goals. Another reason I wanted to part take in this summit was to educate myself, learn from other student-athletes and keynote speakers, and bring this knowledge back to our community.
Our athletic department and student-athletes are behind in comparison to other schools and other student-athletes. It's rooted in our lack of knowledge on the NIL, how to make a NIL deal and how to build our individual brands. Eventually, a step for our athlete department could be having a NIL administrator who orchestrates workshops that are focused on individuals building their brands through exercises and sending NIL opportunities.
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Players Mentioned
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