Today we’d like to introduce you to Lesheala Dawson aka Shea Dawson.
Hi Lesheala, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in Columbia Missouri, but raised in San Diego California. My mother moved us across the country to Southern California when my brother and I were very young. She did that so we could follow our dreams and see the world from different perspectives. She needed us to have a holistic worldview, one that encompassed having a life full possibilities. She’s the GOAT for that. She definitely over achieved.
It’s because of her that I’ve been able to acquire and cultivate unique skill sets, develop a creative thinking process and dream beyond that status quo. Realizing early that all that really means is that I’m a disrupter. I’ve been able to help create things in my industry that are both disruptive yet extremely impactful for the next generation athlete and sports fans. Although the ascension of my career was born out of rage. Or maybe it was love? I couldn’t tell the difference at the time but I just know that my heart was full of something powerful that night. The night that my younger brother Malcolm Thomas went undrafted in the 2011 NBA Draft. It was in that moment that my pro-path education & my advocacy career were born.
From that day forward, I refused to ever be uneducated about the inner workings of sports business and the NBA pro-process. I vowed to never again be an innocent bystander while I watched a system devour young dreams and stifle bright futures. I knew that I cared too much about the human experience to let this treachery go unchecked. So I had to try and improve this process or help change something. That night alone had altered my families human experience completely. I had to find a way for us to get through that.
Now that I have time to reflect back, my career was actually born out of pure love and compassion for my brother, but enraged at these systems. How could this continue to go unchecked. These are peoples lives. I feel a deep responsibility for future families who will experience this process and also be affected as my family was.
The NBA dream chasing process is full of broken promises and no recourse. Imagine spending your entire childhood preparing, training, and being molded for one thing, only for that one thing to pass you by without an explanation as to why.
Many athletes will or have already experienced this type of heartbreak and ostracizing when facing the harsh realities associated with professional sports aspirations. It’s a heavy burden that even their loved ones carry with them forever.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Well, I don’t think any black woman has had anything easy in her life. So I’m not going to sit here and tell my story from some disadvantaged seat as if my journey were any more difficult than the next woman.
What I can say is that growing up a curious black child in America with abnormal dreams, there was no road map, no blueprint and very little guidance from adults that looked like me. So I leaned on alchemy. I always knew that I wouldn’t be fulfilled in my life unless I pursued my personal legend. In order to do that, I had to get comfortable in my own skin and understand my value proposition to the world.
Did I face adversity? Yes, at every turn. Did I fail? Yes, more times than I can count? Did people hurt me? Yes, the ones closest to me, but I’m thankful for the perspective that it’s given to me.
One thing that I’ve learned to love about pain is that you can turn your pain into renewable energy and reroute it to produce great things from within. I became a master strategist, a skilled connector, disrupter and innovator. I became the unapologetic black woman that I am so proud of today. Adversity taught me exactly who I am and who I am not.
I think when you’re forced to operate professionally in a patriarchal society, in a system that wasn’t built with you in mind, you have no choice but to learn how to innovate and sometimes infiltrate in order to continue to make an impact. Being black, being a woman, working in professional sports with men who only see you as the help, probably sounds like unfavorable odds but when you have been practicing in the outside lanes your whole life, you know exactly what and where the disadvantages to make moves accordingly. Pushing through all of the noise simply comes down to a mindset shift.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
People often ask what I do?
But to me, my professional job titles aren’t the most important thing to share about what I do. The most important titles are the ones that we give ourselves. They help guide us in our decision-making and better communicate our personal brands to the world.
It also demonstrates that you take pride in the life you want to live each day. I love a person who wears their positive intentionality for everyone to see. So, to answer what I do?
I’m most proud of my self-proclaimed titles, Human Connection Guru and Enthusiast, Human Development Advocate, Pro-Pathway Educator and Researcher. Although I’ve worked incredibly hard for my professional titles, sometimes they just don’t cover my magic in its totality.
But for those who are traditionalist and reading this like “Yeah, yeah Shea. What do you do?” I am the Sr. Director of Athlete Relations and Partnership Development at Overtime. My most recent project was helping to launch Overtime Elite (OTE) back in March 2021 located in Atlantic Station. OTE is a transformative new sports league in the city of Atlanta that offers the world’s most talented young basketball players a better pathway to becoming professional athletes.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
My advice is to talk to everyone. Be friendly and kind to all the new people that you meet in the flow of your everyday life. The universe is always conspiring for your greatest good. Build organic relationships by connecting with the people right next to you or in front of you.
A lot of people tend to seek out celebrities and public figures but they don’t always have the time to invest in you the way someone locally would be able to. If you are reaching out via the internet, please don’t ask for things right out of the gate. Just let that person know how much you admire them and how much they inspire you. Those are the most moving messages that warrant a response.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tipping-the-scales/id1586692009
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/lesheala?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lesheala_
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYaI6GSBXjhxN0demYrx1GQ
- Other: https://boardroom.tv/overtime-elite-shea-dawson-tbt/
Image Credits
The picture of me in the mask standing with a player was taken by Haley Salvador (@Haleysalv on IG). The others were taken by me or sent to me by friends.
