Pro Day: Sometimes, You Just Got to Eat Dirt

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Visit Women Talk Sports each Monday to read the weekly Pro Day column featuring interviews with women at the top of their game. The series will feature career insights and advice from women who are paving the way for a rising generation of sports business leaders.

This week, WTS speaks with Tyler Tumminia, Senior Vice President of The Goldklang Group, a sports management firm that operates several minor league baseball clubs. Tyler launched the group's signature marketing philosophy "Be Your Own Fan" and also attended Major League Baseball's Scout School in September 2011.

WTS: What was a formative leadership experience for you?

I was fortunate to grow up in a really great family. A lot of lessons that I apply to my job today are from my father: being fair and consistent as a leader yet sensitive at the same time. My mother always used to say, “You just got to eat dirt,” in the sense that you have to be tough. You’re going to have good days and bad days. From my family and people in the industry along the way, just having the courage to stick in it and overcome obstacles and challenges has made me the person I am today. 

WTS: Did you ever have moments of self-doubt as you were rising in your career?

I have [those thoughts] every day. The moment that I just wake up and not have any doubt and think that I have all the answers, I should probably remove myself from my job. I like doubt and fear. I like playing devil’s advocate and getting pushback. I do think that that gets the best idea at the end of the day. 

WTS: With your family roots in baseball [Tumminia’s father John is a longtime scout for the Chicago White Sox] was it preordained that you would end up in a team ownership group? Or did you experience a career pivot?

I grew up in the game. I’m fortunate that my father put me in front of different people over the years, but I couldn’t get a job in the game. [The industry] is so competitive and closed. Even with that history, I couldn’t get in. So I did do a complete pivot in to the financial services and high-tech industry. But I did so willingly. I was told by another female in the industry to go get the business side outside of the game. That’s what I tried to do for the first four or five years. I knew I was going to apply that to the game eventually. It wasn’t beneath me to give up a good job and do an internship at one of the clubs, because that’s how much I loved [baseball.]

WTS: What steps do you take to develop strong teams?

That’s an everyday thing. The teams and general managers are the reasons for our success. They take the day-to-day level and make sure that everyone is learning and developing. My role is more about trying to find that next star. In the environment that we work in, we try to aid in having fun. For Jeff Goldklang and myself, we want everyone to have a fun environment to work in but to take it seriously at the same time. But really for us it is hiring the right people. You got to get that right.

WTS: What major changes do you foresee in women’s sports leadership over the next five to ten years?

I think there is only room to grow. The door has moved open and has widened over the years. It’s up to women to show off their skills and have desire and hunger to do it. I have no doubt that we will see the first female general manager, whether it’s [senior vice president of baseball operations at Major League Baseball] Kim Ng or someone else. It’s been shown at the major league and minor league level. We talk about it all the time – minor league baseball will hire its first female president in the next few years.

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