Current role: Global Marketing Partnerships, NBA
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Major: Business and Marketing, Journalism Minor
Isabel Adler '20 shares how taking advantage of great opportunities through internships and class projects helped lead her to a career in global partnerships at the National Basketball Association's headquarters in New York City.
Why did you choose NYU Shanghai?
I had always wanted to go to NYU and was obsessed with the idea of studying abroad. Growing up, my family traveled a lot, so I knew I wanted to study in a different country. I attended one of the information sessions at NYU in New York City and thought it would be cool to be part of a brand-new campus [in Shanghai]. The more I talked about it, the more I thought, “why not?”
I started taking Chinese when I was in 8th grade. My middle school was selected to be part of a government program to integrate Mandarin into more public schools so that was my first exposure to Chinese culture. I would say choosing NYU Shanghai was a combination of wanting to study abroad and then having some exposure to the language and the culture.
I have to give all the credit to my parents because they were the ones who really pushed me to apply to NYU Shanghai. I applied early decision and never looked back.
What experiences at NYU Shanghai had the greatest impact on you?
I participated in Model United Nations throughout high school, so when I got to NYU Shanghai, I wanted to help bring a similar program to the school. I remember thinking there is no better place than NYU Shanghai to bring people together for Model UN. From there, a group of students in both the freshman and senior classes got together and laid the groundwork for the conference. We had to find corporate sponsors to help execute the event and cover the costs of anything from marketing materials to conference programming.
We had hundreds of students from all over China and even some from other countries in Asia that flew in to participate. It was an incredible opportunity to be able to spearhead something like that and see it come to fruition.
Which courses or professors have had a long-lasting impact on you?
I took a class called Topics in Business Real Case Studies. The professor, William Reinfeld, collaborated with three companies who were willing to work with students throughout the semester on a project. I got paired with NBA China. We worked on a fan marketing project for the NBA’s fall 2019 Global Games in China. That class/project was eye-opening for me because it was the first time I felt like I really made an impact. I got the chance to tackle a real-world situation. Back then, I couldn’t have known that I would end up working for the same organization all these years later.
How did attending NYU Shanghai prepare you for your post-college life?
It taught me to be flexible, but also to be open-minded. One of the best things about NYU Shanghai is that there's so many people from all around the world and throughout mainland China. Understanding how they grew up and what life was like for them really exposed me to a lot.
I met my best friends for life in Shanghai and the atmosphere of the city helped to prepare me for my current working environment. My job is very fast-paced and living in a city like Shanghai where you’re always on your toes and never have a dull moment helped shape me into the person that I am, able to thrive in a constantly changing environment.
How did your study away experience help you figure out your career path?
I studied in New York for the first semester of my junior year. In addition to my classes, I interned at Live Nation on their brand partnerships team, which was my first true marketing partnerships experience and set me down the path to where I am today.
At the end of my junior year, NYU launched NYU Los Angeles, which was designed for students who wanted to work in the entertainment industry. I applied and was accepted in the first cohort of students there. That program was definitely critical in helping start my career.
One of the most memorable courses I took was a class called Business Structure of the Music Industry. The professor, a lawyer named Eugene Salomon, brought in a lot of guest lecturers, [and] one of whom was Mitra Darab, who at the time was the head of global marketing for Capitol Music Group, one of the biggest record labels under Universal Music Group. After class I asked for her email and we quickly became close. Post-graduation, we stayed in touch and she ended up hiring me to work for her. If it had not been for that class, I wouldn't have met her and wouldn't have gotten my first job at Capitol Records. More importantly, I wouldn’t have met someone who I now consider to be one of my closest mentors.
What does a day working at the NBA look like for you?
It really depends on the time of year. There’s definitely a misconception that when the season is over our work is done. That could not be further from the truth! Our NBA marketing partnerships team works with our roster of brand partners all year long to help them best utilize the NBA to achieve their marketing and business goals. Every day, we’re working with both external and internal parties on anything from event planning, marketing campaign execution, content strategy, and more. Our job is to bring our partnerships to life in the best and most exciting way possible.
Any advice for current NYU Shanghai students navigating their post-graduation career plans?
The biggest piece of advice I can give them is to be curious and keep an open mind. I meet with a lot of students interested in getting into the sports world and I tell them all the same thing: you can’t be picky. I’m very lucky that my second job out of college is what I would call my dream job, but that is certainly not the norm. You shouldn't expect that your first job out of school is going to be your dream job. If it is, you're incredibly fortunate. But you can't hold yourself to that standard because you're setting yourself up to be disappointed or potentially missing out on opportunities that could change your life. You never know where something might lead you.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Hopefully still here! I truly love my work at the NBA. I've had the chance to work on a lot of incredible projects in my time at the League so far. When I came here, I believe I brought a unique perspective because of my time at NYU Shanghai. The NBA has a huge global audience and as someone who lived abroad for four years in China, a summer in Paris, and spent time traveling in my childhood, I hope I can provide valuable insight to the organization as we become more and more of a global business. I can only hope I’m still here helping to lead the charge in a variety of our different marketing and business development endeavors around the world, which is something I’ve become really passionate about.