Pam Yang- The long yet rewarding road

Overview: Ever since she was in middle school, Pam had a great interest in basketball which influenced much of her personal and professional life. As a kid, she often faced limitations in pursuing sports due to her mother's preferences, leading to a singular focus on basketball. Her career aspirations were shaped by observing her mother's stressful job in finance, driving her to aim for a role she loved, ultimately targeting the Commissioner of the NBA. After working at the NBA and ESPN, she realized she wanted to be closer to the sport itself. She left ESPN to explore other opportunities, including road tripping, bartending, and consulting, before eventually deciding to create her own business.

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On interests as a child: When she was young, Pam had the expectation to do well academically and play the piano which gave her very little time to follow her true inclinations. However, Pam and her mom would both become huge fans of basketball and the New York Knicks which would become her biggest pastime and influence the rest of her life.

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On wanting to become commissioner of the NBA: As a kid, Pam saw her mom and many others around her live an unfulfilling life in finance and similar careers so she decided that she wanted to do something that she loved. That is why she decided to follow her love in basketball and work for Nike, ESPN, and then eventually start her own consulting business. In addition, Pam not only wanted to work in basketball but make it to the highest level as commissioner. Even though she did not reach that pinnacle and eventually changed her mind of her end goal, this sort of determination and will power has been integral to her success.

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On her time bartending and traveling: In between jobs Pam had the opportunity to live in Montana and bartend. This opportunity gave her the chance to reflect on her various roles in the sports industry. She even had the chance to travel 2 months around the country and live in a van.

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On creating her own personal and professional coaching business: After having so many unique roles and experience, Pam decided that she wanted to help people with their personal and professional decisions. Throughout her career, Pam realized that she always had an intrinsic interest in the stories of others and the often circuitous paths that people would take. That is why she decided to take her interest and apply her personal expertise to help and inspire others.

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Advice to her younger self: The biggest piece of advice Pam gave was to have less tunnel vision and focus more on experiential goals. She felt that she was so focused on working in basketball that sometimes she could have stepped out and looked at the bigger picture. What kind of relationships did she want to forge? What type of skills did she want to accrue? In the end, Pam felt that this would lead to less incongruity and allow people to not get stuck into too large of a hole.

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On Becoming You: Pam taught me that it is essential to always be in a mindset of constant development and improvement. There were many times in Pam’s career where she changed directions and pivoted but she used her prior experiences of growth as a slingshot forward. Lastly, Pam highlighted that a problem for many people is that they are too rigid in their goals and because of that a good amount of anxiety ensues. Overall, if one can create a value system of the person they want to become, they can become themself.

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