Sports-business careers, compressed into usable lessons.
52 Weeks of Hustle is a compact interview series built around the business side of sports and live entertainment. Each conversation follows a clear path from career origin story to industry trends, quick-pressure questions, and practical takeaways.
PRESS PLAY
52 Weeks of Hustle is a brisk, structured interview show about building a career in the business of sports. Travis Appel sets a clear lane and stays in it. The episodes move from origin story to career lessons, then into trends, quick personal questions, and closing takeaways. That format gives the show a steady rhythm, even when guests have long answers and detailed resumes. The emphasis is rarely on scores or highlights. It is about the work around the game. Recent conversations cover membership services, fan loyalty, ticket sales, premium hospitality, strategy, college athletics, live entertainment, and the challenge of selling an experience rather than only a seat. Ashley Galbraith talks through finding purpose in baseball even though football and basketball shaped her early fandom. Branden Moran explains how sports sales skills carried into pickleball, apparel, memberships, and team leadership. John Abbamondi connects attention to detail and trust in specialized teammates to the standards of sports operations. Jared Kozinn focuses on openness to opportunity across NHL, NFL, MLB, and college athletics settings. Joe Redmon describes a late turn from finance and management toward a sports career. Adam Boliek highlights training, mentorship, relocation, and learning through discomfort. Tom Bowden stresses hustle, innovation, asking for help, and investing in relationships so people know the quality of the work. Christian Henze brings the same growth mindset to strategy, messaging, fan experience, and problem-solving with curiosity. The result is less a celebrity sports show than a compact professional-development series for the people behind the venue lights. It favors specifics. Guests talk about moving cities, switching leagues, learning sales process, leading teams, and building a reputation over time. The show can sound coach-like, but it stays grounded because the advice comes from career turns rather than slogans. Its recurring promise is simple: sports business rewards people who keep learning, notice details, and make themselves useful before the next role is obvious.
Made for: Built for listeners who want to get into the sports business and listeners who want to continue to be elite in the industry. It also suits fans curious about the sales, strategy, membership, and leadership work behind teams and events.
What sets it apart: The show’s fixed, under-24-minute structure keeps career stories from sprawling. Its edge comes from turning sports-business resumes into repeatable habits: curiosity, consistency, process, risk tolerance, relationship-building, and fan-first selling.
52 Weeks of Hustle is a podcast hosted by Travis Apple, who has held Executive Roles with teams in the NBA and MLB. Each podcast will consist of Travis having a conversation with top ranking professionals in the sports industry as you will hear their career path, what they look for in successful people, and ultimately a few take-a-ways for listeners to apply to their day to day.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Sports business becomes concrete through Travis Appel's tightly structured conversations about sales, leadership, career moves, and the work behind fan experiences.
Travis Appel turns sports business careers into brisk, practical conversations about how people sell, lead, change roles, and build organizations.
Travis Apple's hustle hot seat turns your sports-career curiosity into questions worth taking to your next interview.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Ashley Galbraith makes a grounded case for building a sports career through curiosity, impact, and openness to an unexpected lane.
Ashley Galbraith's rise from Struthers, Ohio, to Vice President of Membership Services and Fan Loyalty gives this 52 Weeks of Hustle episode a steady career-development spine.
A brisk sports-business career tour finds its sharpest insight in the move from team roles to building a pickleball business.
52 Weeks of Hustle tracks a sports sales and leadership career through roles with the LA Clippers, Anaheim Angels, Anaheim Ducks, St. Louis Cardinals, Legends, LA Chargers, Courtside Pickleball Live, Detroit Tigers, Red Wings, and LA Kings.
A sports-business career lesson on turning sales experience into mentorship and taking the next risk.
Adam Bullock's sports-business path comes through in a few clean turns: a move into senior premium account work, weekly sales training, and later roles tied to Orlando City SC and the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games.
Tom Bowden ties sports-business growth to effort, experience-building, and relationships that keep a career moving.
Tom Bowden's path from the Columbus Crew to the Brooklyn Nets and then to Concierge Live keeps circling one durable idea: sports sales works best when it feels like an experience fans want to be part of.
Christian Henze turns curiosity, sales discipline, and hard problems into a grounded career lens for sports business.
Christian Henze's path from Funding Circle to Chief Strategy Officer of the Premier Lacrosse League gives the episode a clear spine: careers in sports and live entertainment hold up better when they are built around strong people, steady curiosity, and a disciplined sales…
New York sports arguments, served hot.
Friday afternoon sports argument, Southern California accent included.
Capital Region sports talk with national range.
Mostly sports, fully invested.
Human stories from unexpected public lives.
Gene DeFelippo discusses his unexpected career journey from aspiring coach to president of NACDA and consultant in sports business.
Travis Appel interviews Emily Jaenson, founder of the Let's Go Company, about her career in minor league baseball and her work on increasing confidence.
Travis Apple interviews Keith Baulsir, SVP and Chief Partnership Officer for Foley Entertainment Group, about his career journey from aspiring player agent to sports executive.
Travis Apple interviews Ryan Richardson, co-founder and president of Rise Sports Collective, about his entrepreneurial journey and insights for industry leaders.
Travis Applin interviews Corey Ruff, SVP of Strategy and Analytics for the Chicago Bears, about his career journey and the importance of evolving in the sports industry.
Ashley Galbraith, Vice President of Membership Services and Fan Loyalty for the LA Dodgers, describes a career path from Ohio State University track and field to Finish Line, the Cleveland Cavaliers, LAFC, and more than seven and a half years with the Dodgers.
["Season six of 52 Weeks of Hustle opens with Travis Appel's 24-minute interview format and Brandon Moran, the LA Kings' Vice President of Ticket Sales and Service.", "Brandon has worked for the LA Clippers, Anaheim Angels, Anaheim Ducks, St.
John Abimondi, co-founder and CEO of Prospector Baseball Group, explains how he built a sports career spanning the U.S.
Travis Appel interviews Jared Kozinn about his career in professional and college sports, focusing on taking risks and moving to new opportunities.
Joe Redmon, VP of Memberships and Hospitality at NYCFC, discusses his unconventional journey from finance to sports business.
Adam Bullock says the Dream sell “results” like date nights, daddy-daughter time, and client entertainment, not wins and losses.
Tom Bowden, Chief Revenue Officer at Concierge Live, connects his 20-year career across the Northern California Golf Association, Columbus Crew, Brooklyn Nets, New York Red Bulls, and Sportsdigita to a simple idea: people and relationships matter most.
["Travis Appel opens 52 Weeks of Hustle with Christian Henze, the Chief Strategy Officer of the Premier Lacrosse League, and says the show has featured more than 260 industry leaders across season six.", "Henze says the PLL now spans an eight-team men's touring league, a four-team women's touring league, youth lacrosse, a media business acquired in 2020, sponsorship, merchandise, and a nonprofit arm.", "He compares the PLL to Funding Circle, explains why the league moved from a touring-only identity to home-market teams like New York Atlas and Maryland Whipsnakes, and points to fan data, home affinity, and an around-80 NPS.", "He closes with advice to be proactive, stay curious, and run toward challenging environments, while saying lacrosse's 2028 Olympic return and players like Pat Spencer point to the sport's next growth phase."]