Gael Power: Thomas Weingarten ’16
Chief Growth Officer at Overtime
Major: Business Management
What started as an internship at a startup, became the opportunity of a lifetime. Thomas Weingarten ’16 rose to the Chief Growth Officer for Overtime, a sports media company valued at over $500 million with hundreds of employees today. Thomas credits his leadership abilities, listening skills and time management tactics to his experiences at Iona. He took lessons learned at the University and became a social media trailblazer – innovating and creating viral sports content without a blueprint to follow.
When Thomas set out to find the perfect internship, he turned to where most people turn for information – Google. His first instinct was to look up “sports internships” since sports have always been his passion, and that’s when he came across Overtime.
Starting as an intern during his junior and senior years at Iona, Thomas eventually rose to head of social media, overseeing content for the organization’s 70 million social media followers.
Time management skills are critical in Thomas’ job, and he honed those skills at Iona.
“I was a full-time student while working a bunch of other jobs,” he said. “It was important for me to do well in school and find my passions outside of it. Without having to do that in college, I think I would’ve gone through a lot more growing pains in my career.”
Thomas also appreciated Iona’s career fairs. He would attend them to learn about each company and each role they had. After he graduated, Thomas came back and had his own booth for Overtime.
“I really felt like I had accomplished something by being able to come back,” he said.
WHY IONA
“I chose Iona because it felt like home – my mom, grandpa, and many of my relatives went to Iona. I also loved during a nice day how people were just outside on campus walking around and talking to one another. I felt like the students at Iona all respected one another and were very hard workers. That atmosphere inspired me to want to be my best.”
THOMAS’ ADVICE
“Take chances. You never know what internship, connection or experience might lead you to your dream job. I thought I had it all figured out, I was going to be a basketball coach. But one small internship changed my whole entire life.”
A DAY AT OVERTIME
- Spend time on social media catching up on the latest trends
- Internal meetings with team
- External meeting with brands on collaborations
- Brainstorm content ideas
IONA HIGHLIGHTS
- Career Fairs
- Commencement
- Energy on Campus