Scarlet Knight Network Grows Professional Opportunity
Mar 27 | Scarlet Knights for Life™
Connection with former Scarlet Knight Rachel Maeng Brown led to career-changing internship for Rachel Tam
In the months before her senior year, Rachel Tam knew she needed a summer internship.
And as a defensive specialist on the Rutgers volleyball team, she needed an employer who understood that a student-athlete's life is a busy one, even in the offseason.
It turned out Tam didn't have to look any further than her Rutgers Athletics family.
Enter former Rutgers rower Rachel Maeng Brown '18, the founder and CEO of full-service management, marketing, and production firm GEN Agency.
Last year, Tam and Maeng Brown connected through the Scarlet Knight Network, an online database that allows Rutgers alumni and supporters to create profiles and establish professional networking relationships with the university's current student-athletes.
What started as a 30-minute networking call between a pair of Scarlet Knights bloomed into an eye-opening summer internship without Tam having to leave the state of New Jersey.
Tam spent two months learning the ropes from Maeng Brown as GEN Agency's do-it-all remote intern. Tam gained experience in every area of the business: influencer management, brand marketing, event production, and NIL consulting.
"I spent a lot of time communicating with current and potential influencer clients, negotiating deals and writing up contracts," she said. "I also did some work on the brand marketing side and created content for the company's Instagram and website."
One of Tam's main roles at GEN Agency was managing a content partnership between a celebrity chef and a food-delivery company.
"Rachel was a part of the whole process," Maeng Brown said. "She watched me negotiate the pricing, the timeline, the contracts, all that. Then, she scheduled in our database exactly what days he would post the content. She followed up with him to make sure each element was completed."
Tam's final project was in the company's event production arm, where she worked behind-the-scenes to organize and produce a celebrity basketball game featuring TikTok and YouTube content creators.
But beyond any one task completed or resume line-item gained, Tam confirmed one thing: she wants to make sports her career.
"It's not a 9-to-5 where you're doing the same thing every day," she said. "There's a lot of change in your schedule, and you never know what's going to happen the next day or the day after that. That's something that really sealed the deal for me."
It made for a whirlwind few months for Tam, who until recently didn't even realize she'd be interested in the field of sports representation. She credits her one-on-one meetings with Carey Loch, Rutgers' associate athletic director for student-athlete development and success, for helping her identify career areas of interest.
"I walked into Carey's office one day and told her straight-out that I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I wanted to make the right choice to find some good internship experience," Tam said.
"She sat me down and asked me a lot of specific questions I hadn't even considered, like where I saw myself in 10 years and what interested me. Then, she created a list for me of potential job titles that might suit me. And then she set me up with meetings with a few Rutgers student-athlete alumni, and that's how I met Rachel."
For somebody just starting in the sports world, there aren't many better people to learn from than Maeng Brown. She's had a quick rise to the C-suite, holding front-office roles for the New York Mets and boxing promoter Main Events before founding GEN Agency in 2021. That same year, Crain's New York Business named her one of New York City's top 20 sports business leaders in their 20s.
Maeng Brown credits her success to the foundation she built at Rutgers. As a student, she was a member of several on-campus organizations, including the university's student government. Her first post-grad job was in Rutgers football's recruiting department.
Now that's she established her place in the sports business, Maeng Brown sees a responsibility to return the favor to younger Scarlet Knights.
"The Scarlet Knight Network is a great platform because it gives current student-athletes the chance to talk to former student-athletes who have been through the same thing and had similar experiences," she said. "As former student-athletes, I think it's important we give back, even if it's just our time and sharing our experiences."
She provided that opportunity to Tam, who entered her final semester as an undergrad student this spring after completing a successful senior season for Rutgers volleyball.
On the court, Tam earned the biggest role of her career, playing in 25 matches and totaling a career-high 88 digs. Off the court, she grew her professional network even further while representing Rutgers at the Big Ten's first volleyball media day in Chicago, and the marketing major earned Academic All-Big Ten honors.
Wherever her sports journey takes her next, Tam is equipped with the experience and lessons she learned from Maeng Brown during her internship.
"Having that connection with [Maeng Brown] and those similar experiences not only enabled us to connect on a deeper level," Tam said. "It also helped me visualize where I want to be in the future. It helped me say to myself, 'The position Rachel is in now is something I can achieve if I keep working hard.'"
The Scarlet Knights For Life™ program provides career and leadership development, image enhancement, and community engagement for all 700+ student-athletes. This support is offered through a broad array of events and workshops, connection to alumni and industry leaders, personalized networking interactions, and one-on-one professional coaching sessions. Alumni are encouraged to join the Scarlet Knight Network to help expand resources and opportunities for today's student-athletes.
And as a defensive specialist on the Rutgers volleyball team, she needed an employer who understood that a student-athlete's life is a busy one, even in the offseason.
It turned out Tam didn't have to look any further than her Rutgers Athletics family.
Enter former Rutgers rower Rachel Maeng Brown '18, the founder and CEO of full-service management, marketing, and production firm GEN Agency.
Last year, Tam and Maeng Brown connected through the Scarlet Knight Network, an online database that allows Rutgers alumni and supporters to create profiles and establish professional networking relationships with the university's current student-athletes.
What started as a 30-minute networking call between a pair of Scarlet Knights bloomed into an eye-opening summer internship without Tam having to leave the state of New Jersey.
Tam spent two months learning the ropes from Maeng Brown as GEN Agency's do-it-all remote intern. Tam gained experience in every area of the business: influencer management, brand marketing, event production, and NIL consulting.
"I spent a lot of time communicating with current and potential influencer clients, negotiating deals and writing up contracts," she said. "I also did some work on the brand marketing side and created content for the company's Instagram and website."
One of Tam's main roles at GEN Agency was managing a content partnership between a celebrity chef and a food-delivery company.
"Rachel was a part of the whole process," Maeng Brown said. "She watched me negotiate the pricing, the timeline, the contracts, all that. Then, she scheduled in our database exactly what days he would post the content. She followed up with him to make sure each element was completed."
Tam's final project was in the company's event production arm, where she worked behind-the-scenes to organize and produce a celebrity basketball game featuring TikTok and YouTube content creators.
But beyond any one task completed or resume line-item gained, Tam confirmed one thing: she wants to make sports her career.
"It's not a 9-to-5 where you're doing the same thing every day," she said. "There's a lot of change in your schedule, and you never know what's going to happen the next day or the day after that. That's something that really sealed the deal for me."
It made for a whirlwind few months for Tam, who until recently didn't even realize she'd be interested in the field of sports representation. She credits her one-on-one meetings with Carey Loch, Rutgers' associate athletic director for student-athlete development and success, for helping her identify career areas of interest.
"I walked into Carey's office one day and told her straight-out that I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I wanted to make the right choice to find some good internship experience," Tam said.
"She sat me down and asked me a lot of specific questions I hadn't even considered, like where I saw myself in 10 years and what interested me. Then, she created a list for me of potential job titles that might suit me. And then she set me up with meetings with a few Rutgers student-athlete alumni, and that's how I met Rachel."
For somebody just starting in the sports world, there aren't many better people to learn from than Maeng Brown. She's had a quick rise to the C-suite, holding front-office roles for the New York Mets and boxing promoter Main Events before founding GEN Agency in 2021. That same year, Crain's New York Business named her one of New York City's top 20 sports business leaders in their 20s.
Maeng Brown credits her success to the foundation she built at Rutgers. As a student, she was a member of several on-campus organizations, including the university's student government. Her first post-grad job was in Rutgers football's recruiting department.
Now that's she established her place in the sports business, Maeng Brown sees a responsibility to return the favor to younger Scarlet Knights.
"The Scarlet Knight Network is a great platform because it gives current student-athletes the chance to talk to former student-athletes who have been through the same thing and had similar experiences," she said. "As former student-athletes, I think it's important we give back, even if it's just our time and sharing our experiences."
She provided that opportunity to Tam, who entered her final semester as an undergrad student this spring after completing a successful senior season for Rutgers volleyball.
On the court, Tam earned the biggest role of her career, playing in 25 matches and totaling a career-high 88 digs. Off the court, she grew her professional network even further while representing Rutgers at the Big Ten's first volleyball media day in Chicago, and the marketing major earned Academic All-Big Ten honors.
Wherever her sports journey takes her next, Tam is equipped with the experience and lessons she learned from Maeng Brown during her internship.
"Having that connection with [Maeng Brown] and those similar experiences not only enabled us to connect on a deeper level," Tam said. "It also helped me visualize where I want to be in the future. It helped me say to myself, 'The position Rachel is in now is something I can achieve if I keep working hard.'"
The Scarlet Knights For Life™ program provides career and leadership development, image enhancement, and community engagement for all 700+ student-athletes. This support is offered through a broad array of events and workshops, connection to alumni and industry leaders, personalized networking interactions, and one-on-one professional coaching sessions. Alumni are encouraged to join the Scarlet Knight Network to help expand resources and opportunities for today's student-athletes.
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