well, first of all, thank you guys so much for joining us and Amanda, let me start with you. How did you get involved in in a pack of wolves? And what, um, what do you sort of see as this collective grows. Yeah, that's a great question. Kind of seeing where it all grows. I think we're all in these uncharted waters together. Right. But so the pack of wolves, I found out about a couple of weeks ago, hazel lancaster reached out, um, Kind of on, uh, from what I understand, uh, with him, it's come together very quickly, like in 10 weeks. So for him to put the board together and reach out and to see how I can help our student athletes from a media side or personal branding side. It was really cool to see the message and I was all in immediately. And Jada, how did you get involved? Did they reach out to you or, or how did you get involved? He's reached out to me and I just thought it was an opportunity to get to know my peers outside of their sport and you know, the people who supported the staff and administration. And so, um, when you join, join this collective, uh, do do businesses get in touch with you? Do, does the collective work to, to get you those NHL opportunities or what's been your experience? I know this just got started. So with just a pack of wolves or an island? Yeah. With a pack of wolves. So I literally just joined maybe a couple days ago. And um, so, so what I'm understanding is that they give us opportunities to go out, meet people, um, get involved in the community. And then from there we'll see the NHL deals that come to us. And in general, it looks like you've, you've signed up at least with a wing place currently or do you have other NHL deals? How does that whole process work for you? So I've only had wings over Raleigh, but it's been a great experience just posting on instagram getting involved and then, yeah, I mean it's just been fun. I think that's my experience with it, I think is kind of saying how we're kind of charting these waters together. When you look at NC State alumni and the wolf pack, I mean, we're all over the country were all over the world. And I think from a, you know, even in conversations with with scott, would our executive director and looking at the board that they've put together. You know, it's also an opportunity brian for us to find out where all of our alumni are and kind of have this collective come together and supported these student athletes as a well of support of the community for future wolf packers and ones that have already gone on. So it's uh, it's, it's really neat and of course with Jada and her success, you look at women's sports across the board at NC State, how well they're doing it just, it makes sense that the representation is there as well. I was gonna ask this, this is for sports across the board, right? For basketball, football, women's sports. You name it. Every student athlete is is allowed to participate. Absolutely. I mean, there's the 10 women's sports, the 10 men's sports and you have the coed rifle team. Every athlete, I think under in our book is considered um in terms of being part of the collective and and part of the representation. I mean, that's the interesting thing about this and I l stuff, right? You know, with looking at social media and having personal branding, it can be a business, even in my own world as a broadcaster and and working with my contractors essentially, I represent myself, right. So kind of being able to extend that down too our participants and and letting them know uh finding things that represent them in the community that can help even have their own small little business for themselves is is uh what a wonderful treat for them. What's been the response so far? I think the website went live this earlier this week. But what's been the response from, from the wolf pack community for this collective. Very interested in it. I think I I think you might be my 10th interview so far. So, no, I think that, you know, everyone jumping on it and, you know, it's got to be listen, it's it's a protection on on both sides, right? Like for student athletes, you want them to have better support and the ability to maybe kind of navigate through this with people that they trust. And on our side from an athletic standpoint and from um N. C. State fans, you don't want to get left behind on this kind of stuff and it's just kind of of what that environment is right now. I think a collective and and being on the forefront of this is a win win situation for for everyone. And um I look forward to Jada's experience with it and and getting part of this group. I had even Rosten turner reach out to me and say hey can't wait to work alongside you on this. So from a group of committed NC state graduates and and people that love this institution, we want to make sure that that we're putting our university in a place of being successful in this data as a student athlete. That the rules have changed so quickly. I mean just a couple of years ago you could have been suspended and had to forfeit victories for for some of this stuff as a student athlete. How have you tried to navigate this kind of changing world so quickly. So I mean as Amanda mentioned it it's all new to me it's uncharted water. So I'm hoping, you know, the people that I have, you know the people that I trust, we take this step by step, we follow the rules that are there and we will benefit from the opportunities given us. Have you talked to other teammates, other athletes there that R. And NC. State about their experiences and and kind of compare notes as to what's going on. So my teammate Jackie A she's actually been getting a lot of deals and she's benefiting from it so she's having a great time with it right now. Is that is that mostly based on your social media following or how are people finding it? Yes that's that's what it's seeming like. The more followers you have the easier you are to connect with. Get deals with. So hopefully um with the pack of wolves. I build my platform and get some more followers and create more opportunities. Amanda has the world has changed very quickly here when it comes to college athletics. Um You hear some of these people in Tennessee texas A. And M millions of dollars involved in their collectives. How are you guys kind of navigating the N. C. W. S. Putting in rules now all of a sudden um are you at all talking to prospective athletes or is this simply for people already on campus from my experience within the collective. I've just seen current and rostered athletes. Um everyone that I've worked with on the media training side and getting them ready for interviews or from learning and kind of connecting with who they are authentically. So we can find some of these uh deals locally in the community or what their representation might look like. Um but from my, I can't answer that from what maybe the business side of the collective is doing, but from my interactions, it's all been with rostered students and that's kind of your role to help help with media training and you know, get get people kind of ready for to present themselves out to the world. It is, it is and that's you know, that that extends beyond like you were just talking about Jada's social media, right? Like that is that's how people connect with athletes, that's how people connect with the world these days. So to be able to have um protection to that and to to recognize that in a in a way that's also a personal statement from you. So having that authentic expression both publicly and privately via your social media or however you communicate with the community, all these things are very important because now you are your own business essentially and you're representing yourself publicly. A whole new level of training, right? Um different than just interacting with maybe some local media now. You're you're kind of a brand in a lot of ways. Yeah. And you know, I think there's little things that, you know, we talk about um you know, I always kind of give the group insights on, you know, my favorite thing to teach people is having an exit strategy when it comes to interviews or when it comes to something that you're not comfortable with because if you know your exit strategy then no one can really throw you off. Right, so dig in and, and uh normally I just tell people, you know, hey brian, that's a great question, but I can't answer that or hey brian, that's a great question, I don't have an idea on that. And then, you know, it's, you build that rapport with, with people in the community, you know how it goes brian, I'm sure you have relationships with people in Raleigh in this community that sometimes you do have to ask those tough questions, but you've built enough respect and rapport with them that um, you have to go that angle with sometimes people, but uh, you know, we all work in it together and I think it becomes a fair world, but yeah, no, it's, it's really fun and uh, I like the idea that from my side of it, you know, here I'm, I'm past college a little bit now to be able to have some sort of influence back on the community and be part of the wolf pack. Again, it's extremely rewarding. Jada's some of those things, almost as important as, as the NHL deals, I mean, training on branding and, and the media as well as I'm sure there are business people involved and, and, and can teach you other aspects of, of kind of being a professional, I'm sorry, I didn't really understand your question. Yeah, no problem. I wondered, being part of the collective and getting that kind of training and having these resources available to you. Seems almost as important as, as maybe some of the deals that will come definitely. I feel like it gives us experience or helps us gain more experience, you know, with interviews on the court, well as off the court, you know, meeting new people knowing what to say, how to say it. So I'm very appreciative for Amanda pack of wolves preparing me for life itself. Have you changed your social media at all or taken some of these tips yet or is that my instagram is kind of the same as nothing really, I've added to it, but I think my instagram is pretty professional as it is right now. Are there some are there some some deals? Some companies, some you don't have to mention specific ones but that you'd like to get involved with some industries that, that you would be very interested in maybe working with someone. So I have been dying to work in skincare, especially with like Fenty skin Neutrogena. Like I really want to get into that because I enjoy, you know, self care stuff like that working on my skin. So I really do hope to get into that someday. Amanda, Can you help her out with that? Well, I think that goes back to the authenticity we were talking about right? Like what is, you know that the thing with social media now, you can express yourself with who you are and what interests you. So the idea that Jada knows what she's passionate about an extension of being a student athlete, those are, I mean that almost helps, that makes our job easy, right? That's gonna help the collective locate her into businesses or members in the community that um, also share the same interests. So I think it's, it's wonderful that that Jada immediately knew something that she's passionate about because then it's not, you're not presenting yourself, um, not in a representation of who you truly are. And I think that's where kind of people can go down the wrong road when it comes to social media and branding, you're just if you're not posting with passion or if you're not posting in a place that is reflective of who you are, then I think your viewer and your audience know those things. So you know, it's kind of all tied in together on, on that image and and how you present it forward, but from a local community standpoint, I think that's where the collective comes in and while I'm on the media side, I know we have people doing financial literacy for the student athletes as well as I'm sure there's an attorney arm of it. So yet to be able to provide these services back to these guys as they also navigate this NHL world is what the support is supposed to be for. You've talked about that authenticity a couple of times when you, when you talk to him, you know, I can only imagine what I would have been like as a college and you want to scoop up as much as you can. And do you talk to talk to the prospective student athletes about being choosy? You know, only doing things that you actually care about, not necessarily grabbing everything opportunity that might be out there. I think you should, that's the way that I would approach it. I think that also makes you more credible and uh, you know, protecting that in the long term. I, I think makes for better and more probably even supportive deals that are possible. So that, that to me I think is core to representation wherever you're at. Uh, so when it comes to the N I. L stuff, I think the more true you are to who you are and your character will just represent that through brands that want to be a part of what you're doing. I know you did some work on the, on the equity study between the men's tournament and the women's tournament? Um, especially, you know, we saw all the exposure that Jada and her teammates got during this year's NC double A tournament. Are things changing. Did you get a sense that, I mean there was a lot of talk with and I started that women might benefit the most from it. They stick around school a little bit longer. They have incredible opportunities to, to be on television. It's not a saturated market. How have you sort of explain that to some of the women athletes that you're dealing with? Yeah, I think so. The equity study that we did in conjunction with the N. C double A was purposely to look at how the women's tournament was performing and that to me showcases that people are paying attention and people are aware of it right? So when you actually break down into the numbers, the women's basketball tournament is one of the only sports properties that is finding continuous growth. Year over year, you face were faced in a world of cord cutters and everything going to streaming and numbers are falling. You have this entity that actually is growing. Um, and so to me that showcases that there is interest, there are people that are paying attention to it now. If you start giving some of that sponsorship money that goes solely to the men's basketball tournament, you start redirecting some of that. Imagine the possibilities. So I think just, um, you know, I don't want to say, you point out the disparities between things. I think you just become more self aware and recognize, hey, we might have been ignoring this over here if we give attention to it, what's possible and you know, my thing too, that is, and it's funny because working in motorsports also a very male dominated industry, we always look at kind of opportunities for women in motorsports. For women in automotive. And the funny part is, is when you break down the economics of consumerism, we were the ones that have all the buying power, were the ones making the decisions for the household. So, uh, you know, I think just having, uh, showcasing that and I, you know, it's one of those things, Do you go in too deep conversation about it or do you just know that the time is right now and people are paying attention and it's actually happening? So I think it's a, it's a great time for women in sports, JD. You, you participated in both, you know, the tournament last year of the tournament this year, did you feel a difference? Did you feel like the N C double A had addressed maybe some of those concerns and, and that the spotlight was a little brighter on you guys. I definitely do after the incident that happened. Uh, and all the female, actually, all the females that spoke up about it. Uh, they brought so much attention to it. I feel like they had no choice but to accommodate us and give us more attention. You know, the attention that we deserve. Um, so I, I did feel a lot of difference. Um, so the first, I don't know if this is Answering your question with the first year, like after the tournament, I gained like maybe 75 followers And then this year I gained like 300 after the 20 minutes. So I do feel like there was an improvement and people watching, actually, I hadn't even thought about it from that aspect. So that showcases right there, that the attention is there and that better coverage and promotion was given to that tournament. That's great jade. I had no idea. That's awesome. Um, the new followers are they you think they're finding you through the, through the tournament, through all the television time that you guys got and want to want to check out? Great. Um, what's next for the collective? I don't know if either of you have it or is there some kind of event or things that you guys are doing to, to start to promote the athletes that have signed up and get other athletes to join? Yeah, I think what's next is, uh, you know, I, I find it so impressive that they've been able to pull this together and so I guess 2.5 months, right. But, uh, yeah, I do think there will be a semiannual annual events for the collective. I think with the student athletes, just finding all of those ways that we can start supporting those that are already within the collective and, and future members, but I think from a standpoint of, of what this might look like the leadership, but I don't know if you were able to talk with scott would, but he's really just taken this on completely. And I mean I I know that he's he's like working on all this stuff at night and he has kids at home, so poor thing. But I think from what they've established from a representation of what the pack of wolves is gonna look like um from the front side, um it's a committed team of of being able to kind of push this forward. There's a gentleman on the board that I have known for for many years within my own career, a guy named matt Hong, he used to run turner sports on the operations side and retired and is now doing stuff on the back end uh with media rights and stuff. And when I saw his name, part of this collective, they really did an amazing job of finding former Wolfpack um alumni that can have a large impact on this group. So they they thought that out extensively. So I do trust trust the leadership of where this is headed. Do you know any anything you'd like to gain out of out of the collective as it moves forward, Something you're looking forward to out of it. Uh Yeah, so honestly, I've always been like a person who's kept to myself, so with this opportunity I hope to me a whole lot of people who want the same thing that I do, you know, heading the same direction, meet my peer athletes you know outside of there or get to know them personally. Um Just really get to know the N. C. State community and just embrace it all. Yeah. Well great that's all I had. Is there anything you'd like to add? Anything I missed about the collective or or about your experiences with it so far? I'm afraid of them. My bad. Okay go ahead Amanda. Sorry. Oh no I'm saying that was great man. That was awesome brian thank you. Great great anything from you? No I'm good thank you. Well great congratulations on the collective and good luck as you guys move forward. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate the time. Thank you.