Alyssa Romano knows sports. She has played them, she has worked in them, and now, honestly, she makes them run. Romano, who played collegiate lacrosse, has literally worked her way up the ladder at Octagon — from intern to Chief Marketing Officer, her current role.
And no, she does not literally make the world of sports run, but she does have a role that continuously intertwines with some of the biggest names in the industry.
As the CMO at Octagon, her daily schedule looks different almost every day of the week. Romano is either traveling, checking in with clients, running meetings or “putting out fires,” as she says.
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Finding her place in sports
The marketing exec didn't always know what she'd be doing with her career. Initially, she wanted to be a marine biologist.
At American University though, that dream faded as her schedule filled up with practices, lifts, games and everything in between — she realized she wanted to work in sports but thought that would come in the form of broadcast journalism. The American University athletic department ended up creating a role for her to work closely with the Sports Information Directors (SIDs). Because of her experience at the collegiate level, Romano got her first-ever role at Octagon: PR intern.
She will not give herself all of the credit since then though. Yes, she has worked her way up to the point where Octagon created a position for her to grow into. But she looks to those around her — they gave her the opportunity for growth.
Climbing the ranks
“The people that you work with every day, that's so important to be around people that are like your family, and it's so cliche, but I really mean it,” Romano says. “People that you genuinely enjoy working with, your friends that you like, you trust, right? Our people are so great. And then two, our clients are awesome.”
Beyond the people who have been directly responsible for her professional success, Romano also thinks her collegiate head coach is a massive reason she is where she is and why she is who she is.
Katie Woods, who was Romano’s head coach at American and is now the women's lacrosse head coach at UConn, impacted Romano more than she could fully put into words. A coworker recently saw Woods speak in person, and Romano wanted one simple message to be passed on:
“Tell her that she shaped my life,” Romano told her coworker.
“She complimented you when you really deserved it, and you had to work for that," Romano says. “It's teaching you how to put the team before yourself. [Lacrosse] taught me how to form real relationships. It taught me how to worry about the details and how important details are. It taught me that I can do a lot of things I thought I couldn't do.”
Shaping the future
Romano speaks highly of all of the women in her life — her “girl gang” as she called them. She loves how women in the sports industry have found a way to lift each other up even when they are in direct competition — whether that’s athletes, coaches or someone behind the scenes.
This newly founded role within Octagon is recent for her. So, a lot of her day is figuring out exactly what that role will entail, even in the midst of chaos with the WNBA Draft or the WTA season in full swing.
“It's like you're charting your own path, which is really cool, but it's also like no one's done this before,” Romano says. “So, what roles do I fill? What's my day? I don't know yet. And so, again, exciting, but also, if I'm going to be really honest, kind of nerve-wracking.”
Over the years, Romano has had opportunities to work with some of the best in their fields.
From Erin Kane, who went on to become Caitlin Clark’s agent, or Micky Lawler, who went on to become the President of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Romano has worked hand-in-hand with some powerful women — one of the most notable changes to the sporting world over the past few decades.
“I had the privilege of working with other really badass women,” Romano says. “Just seeing the passion that they had to drive this forward. It's really cool to see where we started and also great to have the historical context of this is what it was like 10 years ago.”
As her nearly two-decade-long career with Octagon has continued to unfold, Romano has had to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of sports. One way she is doing that is by continuing to immerse herself in the latest and most popular forms of media amongst her clients and other athletes.
“I set a goal for myself this year to try to identify either one new creator or one new media outlet a week just to get familiar with,” Romano says. “If they're doing an interview with Sports Illustrated or FanSided, it's like ‘how does this show up on social?’ Is there a video? Are there photos? How are my friends going to see it? How am I going to share it on social?”
Romano is nowhere near being done. She only graduated from college 15 years ago. To put it simply, she is really young and extremely talented. Most people are not able to envision what the world of women’s sports will look like over the next decade or so, but Romano might just be a crucial piece of making that vision come to life.