Nicole Lynn’s “professional Hail Mary” led her to become a force in the sports world.
The University of Oklahoma College of Law graduate has progressively grown her presence as a sports agent over the past decade. Most recently, she was promoted to president of football operations at Klutch Sports Group, and she has an impressive roster of clients which includes Chukuemeke Egbule, Jalen Hurts, Ogbo Okoronkwo, Quinnen Williams, and Bijan Robinson, among others.
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Reflecting on her career trajectory during Black Magic Reimagined 2023, she acknowledges a crucial moment in her journey when she was balancing work as a full-time attorney and sports agent for seven years.
“When I first got into the business, I had to work as a full-time attorney to pay for the passion project of being a sports agent,” she told the audience in Dallas, TX. “I did both of those for seven years. Early on it was not a problem. I had one player, but then I had 20 players. So I was working day in and day out moonlighting as an agent. I knew the goal was to leave law.”
Lynn wanted to first check off several boxes before making her pivot official. While she achieved all her goals in that season, it took her mental and physical health depreciating before she took the leap.
“My professional Hail Mary was leaving a solid paying salary every two weeks at one of the top law firms in the world to go and do sports full-time,” Lynn told AFROTECH in an interview. “I did have all these guardrails in place and check marks I wanted to hit before I did that. I hit them and I still just could not overcome the fear of leaving.”
She continued, “I just think it’s funny the way God orchestrates things because I was almost forced to leave. My mental and physical health were on the edge of collapsing, and I didn’t really have a choice. So, I think the fear definitely held me back, and a little fear in doses is good, right? It can be motivating, but when it is crippling, that’s the issue. So for me, leaving the law firm was my professional Hail Mary, and thank God it worked out.”
It has been reinforced in the headlines that Lynn’s decision was the right one for her. She has been a driver of change in many areas. According to Sports Illustrated, she was the first Black woman to secure a top-three pick in the NFL.
She was also the first Black female agent to represent an NFL player in the Super Bowl — Jalen Hurts.
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At the time, Hurts became the highest-paid player in NFL history as a result of the deal, which was also the largest one arranged by a female agent.
This may not have come to fruition without Lynn first introducing herself to the athlete. What’s more, she opted for a less traditional route, choosing an Instagram direct message that read “Hey, have you picked an agent? If not, I’d love to link.”
“I didn’t have his phone number. I didn’t have his email address. So, I used what I had,” Lynn shared with AFROTECH. “I knew what his Instagram was, and in this day and age everybody’s on Instagram and you know it was a long shot. He had over one million followers. For him to even see the DM was a blessing but, again, that was another just professional Hail Mary that paid off.”
Above all else, Lynn also knows her worth and the value she is providing in the industry.
“It’s always just trying to be the most prepared person in the room, making sure that I’m an expert in my field, that I can talk the talk and back it up,” she said. “So, there’s the headlines, but what am I actually producing? It’s not just doing the biggest deal in NFL history, it’s making sure that deal is structured correctly. It’s making sure that it protects my player. So, for me, excellence is your greatest currency.”
Looking ahead, Lynn plans to climb more ladders. For now, she is also focused on motherhood. With her three-month-old as her pride and joy, she wants to ensure that she has time for all her responsibilities.
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“For me, the marker of success is going to be how I can balance this career as a new mom,” she detailed. “I have a three-month-old newborn, and my life looks very different than it did over the last 10 years. I was able to work differently in the last decade. I could work myself to death if I needed to. I could do whatever I needed to make sure I was successful. And now I’ve gotta find a different, more flexible, reasonable way to still reach my goal. So for me, success is going to be figuring out that balance of my career and passion and my family.”
