To those who don’t know me, and even those who do, I want to thank you for finding your way to this blog. A quick little bit about me for those who I have not had the pleasure of connecting with yet, My name is Alex Keller, I am 24 years old, and I serve as the lead Multimedia Designer for the University of Virginia Football team. Wow...even typing that sentence out, it seems surreal to me. If you would have told me three years ago that this would be where I am at this stage in my life, I would have thought you were crazy. I am a guy who seemingly stumbled into this field, but ever since I did I have never looked back. That to me is still one of the most interesting things I have found since joining the creative industry and connecting with other creatives is just how many unique, ambitious, and sometimes even accidental ways we each found ourselves where we are now.
For me, when I started my undergraduate degree in 2015 I just wanted to be a sports journalist. I have always held high value in the sentiment that “If you do what you love, you never work a day in your life.” I can recall many days and hours sitting in front of the TV screen as a kid watching SportsCenter for hours on end, so much so I would start to memorize the script the anchors had as the episodes would start to repeat each hour. It didn’t matter what sport it was, I could tell you any stat from a basketball game to a hockey game, to boxing matches and Nascar. I simply just loved sports. I wanted to be an anchor like Stuart Scott, Scott Van Pelt, Adam Schefter, and so many others because I always thought they had the best job possible; watch every game, and then talk about it on TV for a living. As someone who played every sport every season of the year, when I hit the harsh reality that I would never make it professionally as a player, I just knew I needed to find a way to make a career around sports, being a fan wasn’t enough to me.
This led me to take the journalism route which put me on the field at games, let me interview the athletes, and one day I was hoping it would lead me to covering teams at the professional level. During my undergrad at Kennesaw State, I wanted to take my involvement to a whole new level. I didn’t have an “in” working with the athletic department at the beginning so I created the Barstool Kennesaw State social media accounts as a way to cover the sports independently and also get wild and entertaining on social media. When I tell you I bought in heavily to Kennesaw State I mean it. I always thought the school was a sleeping giant in the state of Georgia that nobody really knew about so I wanted to put them on the map and to me having that presence in the social/digital space was a huge part of that.
Through Barstool I created and led podcast shows interviewing athletes, famous alumni, and creating my own graphics and hype videos for the accounts to promote the teams and their games. I also handled all the student submissions of all the wild and entertaining things going on within the student body and would post those as well. I fell in love with the grind of social media and creating content. When my senior year rolled around, I had grown the accounts by the thousands. I was super proud of what I had created and the team I built and was excited for the final lap as a senior.
It was now the fall of 2018, and our football team was surpassing all expectations you would have imagined for a 4 year program. We were conference champs, had won FCS playoff games and even earned a top 10 spot in the rankings, we were dominant. It was at this time, we were set to open the season to play against Georgia State and you know I had to make a hype video for the occasion haha. After spending days cutting up all the YouTube clips I could find and filming some things just around campus, I posted it. Keep in mind it was nothing crazy like you see today and I had no access to the team so I couldn’t film my own content of the players, I just used what was available on Youtube to make it work. The video ended up doing well on social media, better than I thought it would and the next day I got an email from Juan Reyes from Kennesaw State Football asking me if I could come by the office this week… I was terrified to say the least. I thought I was in trouble, I thought they were going to force me to take it down, delete the account, all the worst case scenarios you could imagine. When I got to his office I found out that was not the case.
Juan, who is now Assistant Director of Video Production with Ohio State Football, wanted to see if I was interested in working for the team as a student intern helping with social media creation and filming of practices and games. I was ecstatic! This was a dream come true for me! This was my way in! I get to be on the field filming and doing social media work for a Division 1 football team?! Somebody pinch me. I only had one season working with the team and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Juan inspired me every day and helped me grow as a creative far past any expectations I had. Beyond filming games and practice, I assisted in recruiting visit shoots, highlights, and daily social posts through graphics and video content and I absolutely fell in love with the grind and waking up everyday excited to see what the day had in store. It was through those long days and nights I knew this is exactly what I wanted to do the rest of my life.
When it came time to graduate in the spring of 2019, I was nervous for what was to come. I loved what I did but my work was not the greatest. I was still new to everything and constantly learning every day trying to get better. In an ideal world I wish I could have joined Kennesaw State Athletics as a full-time member but that wasn’t the case. I had one year of true experience, the graphics were ok at best and my video skills were still in their infancy. I applied for everything in sight, I just needed a chance. I was always confident in my abilities to speak and interview and knew if I could get just one chance to talk and show what I can do I would overdeliver in every sense of the word. I had my first portfolio setup. I had a website made. I hashed out my resume countless times with Juan to get it just right. I just needed a chance, and then out of nowhere, it happened.
After a few calls, I was a finalist for some positions but I was losing time. Graduation was in two days and I was about to go back to working at Chic Fil A because I didn’t have anything lined up. I will never forget this, Daniel Tate, Assistant AD at Mercer University, slides into my Twitter DM’s asking if I had anything lined up after graduation because they had a position available. The position was a Graduate Assistant Position for Creative Media working with all 18 Division 1 Sports. Once again I thought this was a dream come true. I get a masters degree paid for and two years working in an athletic department to further my skills and constantly improve. After I interviewed I accepted the job instantly. I got my chance and still today I cannot imagine where I would be if I did not get that message from Mr. Tate and the opportunity of a lifetime. I wasn’t someone who created graphics and stuff in high school, I didn’t really get involved with the Barstool and creative stuff until my junior and senior year of college but he saw something in me and took a chance on a kid like me who had only one true year of experience working for Kennesaw State Football. I am forever grateful because I had no backup plan.
Over the next year and a half I worked my ass off every single day. I wanted to overdeliver, I wanted to grow, and I wanted to fully buy into Mercer University and give them a product and social presence that not only the fans would love and appreciate, but also one that put Mercer at the forefront of creative media as a whole. Something that you would stop and see on your timelines and wonder what school that was and even ask “Where the hell is Mercer?”
While at Mercer I had the pleasure of working with some of the hardest working and best creatives in the country. Marcus Thompkins, Jhalen Wingate, Ben Murray, Tituoan Le Roux and Mitch Robinson are some of the greatest friends, coworkers, mentors, and collaborators I have ever had the pleasure of being around and they always pushed me to be the best that I could be.
The thing with us mid-major/ FCS guys and all the other creatives working at the lower level schools, we all have small teams and all have to wear multiple hats. We don’t have the massive budgets like the Power 5 does, and we don’t have the massive teams of 10+ designers and video guys to cover every sport. At any given time at Mercer it was just 3-4 guys and some student interns and that's ok. For me, I spent almost my entire time at Mercer being the only designer for the entire athletic department while also balancing a full class load as a Graduate Assistant. While there were many stressful days, I knew I had two options, I could either run from the opportunity, or I can take advantage of the situation as the Lead Creative and build something special. I took the ladder, grabbed the opportunity by the reins and ran with it. As a creative both personally and professionally my mentality has always been,
“Just get 1% better everyday”
Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a brand or your career, but if you can just strive to learn one new thing everyday, and make subtle improvements both in your work and other facets of your life than you will one day achieve your goals and go beyond your own expectations. There are many days even now when I hate every piece of work I have created thinking it's not good enough, I suck, why am I even in this field, but then I take a step back. I look at my old work compared to now and realize just how far I have come, how much I have grown and then I am right back to it. I know as a creative I struggle when I compare my work to others, especially the big timers and people who have been doing this for 10+ years, I stress myself out. The reality is I'm only in my 2nd year doing this full time and I have a lifetime to keep growing, keep improving, and watch my work and quality improve. I think back to that quote every single day. Just get 1% better, in time all of those small things add up. Will Smith said it best,
“You don’t try to build a wall. You don’t set out to build a wall. You don’t say ‘I’m going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that’s ever been built.’ You don’t start there. You say ‘I’m gonna lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid,’ and you do that every single day, and soon you have a wall.”
Now, I am 24 years old and just took a dream job as the lead designer for a Power 5 school with Virginia. Like I said, I never would have imagined that I would be here, doing what I love. As someone who struggles with confidence at times with my work, the imposter syndrome hits differently now because of the level I am at. As someone who has been self-taught for the majority of my career it is mind-blowing at times to see that there are people out there that love my work. The support I have received from this community and my coworkers is unreal and I hope to continue to meet and connect with as many creatives as possible in the future. My advice to anyone trying to get into this field or any field for that matter is simply don’t stop working. If you find something you are passionate about and truly love doing, don't stop because I promise you that hard work does not go unnoticed and dreams and aspirations are not out of reach. I love this quote that I have on my wall that reads
“Your name has been spoken about in rooms you have yet to step into.”
I look at that every day and just push the gas pedal down even further. It reminds me that I have earned everything I have gotten up to this point and will continue each day to be the best version of myself and continue on my own pursuit of happiness in everything I do.
I know through this post I have probably rambled and gone on tangents but this was a chance to tell my story and use this as a reminder to myself of how crazy this journey has been and how I got to this point. To those who made it this far, just know there is no cookie-cutter strategy for being a creative or working in this field, just work hard, put the time in, believe in yourself and put your work out there for the world to see and doors will open for you.
I am ecstatic at the new opportunity I have here at Virginia but my mentality is still the same, I am going to over-deliver in every sense of the word and contribute to this great University and brand in as many ways as possible the same way I would at an FCS or Division II school. The work is not finished, and for me personally, I know I am just getting started!
Thank you to everyone that has helped me get this point, I would not be the man I am today without you all. And to those who have never met or connected with me do not hesitate to reach out!
- Alex Keller (@itsKellerr)
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