Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Crosson
Hi Jessica, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hailing from a small town in Pennsylvania called Annville, I attended college at a state school near Pittsburgh called California University of Pennsylvania where I quickly realized my passion for the business side of the sports and entertainment industries. I had various internships including working marketing & social media for the Harrisburg City Islanders/Penn FC (USL) and community relations for the Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL). My experiences from those internships and through WISE Pittsburgh helped me jumpstart my career in ticket sales.
I started in ticket sales and have risen quickly through various roles in group sales and service, beginning with the Pittsburgh Pirates and then Inter Miami CF before arriving at the Miami Marlins. I have consistently been recognized for high sales performance and leadership, such as being a top seller at Inter Miami and voted as Sales Rookie of the Year within my first year at the Marlins.
Currently I am the Manager of Group Sales & Services at the Miami Marlins, where I oversee a team and lead group outings and fan experiences at loanDepot park. I am also heavily involved in employee engagement, wellness initiatives, and have launched the Miami Marlins Women’s Front Office Network.
Some of my key achievements are being recognized as the 2024 Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce Badass Women of the Year in Sports Award winner, a 2023 MLB Katy Feeney Leadership Award honoree, 2023 South Florida Business & Wealth Up and Comer Award winner as well as leading the Marlins group sales team in revenue for 2022 and 2023, earning the Golden Marlin award and Hustle Award multiple times.
I have a robust background in leadership, sales, community engagement, and women empowerment, making me a standout in my field.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wouldn’t say it has been a smooth road – what career path is ever truly smooth – but I work incredibly hard and push myself to succeed in every aspect possible.
The pandemic was brutal for everyone and was the first time I realized I really had to be an adult now – I had just taken a loan out to make the move from Pittsburgh to Miami three months prior and then my income was impacted entirely as we couldn’t have fans at games and even if we could, barely anyone was trying to spend their money on soccer tickets at the time. At one point I had to navigate unemployment due to furlough and realized how painfully slow that process was – I basically had no income until we were brought back from furlough and had to fly home and stay with family just to negate any expenses outside of just paying rent during that time. It was a very uncertain and scary time to be alone in a new place but overall, there were a lot of lessons that I learned about myself, managing finances, what I was looking for in a company, etc. during that time.
After the pandemic ended, I started to quickly rise in a new organization which can always ruffle feathers, but I expect nothing short of success for myself because I know what I bring to the table from the commitment I show the organizations I work for and the tasks I take on, so I try to just keep my head down and keep grinding.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I serve on the leadership team for the Miami Marlins Ticket Sales & Service team. We are responsible for generating revenue for the organization through Marlins membership sales, group ticket sales, premium ticket sales, and overall service we can provide those who purchase tickets with us. My specialty is on the group sales side of things, so we focus on any outing of 10+ people as well as suite sales and all theme nights and heritage celebrations. It sounds cliche but we celebrate so many heritages and host so many theme nights that there is truly something for everyone to enjoy outside of just the baseball game and I think that makes the Marlins unique!
Within the organization but outside of my direct job responsibilities and what I believe sets me apart, I am most proud of launching our Front Office Women’s Network. This network has existed for just over a year and is a resource for all women in the organization to utilize as much or as little as they would like. We split everyone up into ‘squads’ led by four other incredible women in the organization so they can meet and get to know various women in the organization they wouldn’t typically interact with on a day-to-day basis. We host quarterly guest speaker sessions, monthly social events, and have an emphasis on supporting our Marlins Foundation events as well as giving back to other local community groups. This work is why I believe I was selected for the Katy Feeney Leadership Award which was a HUGE honor – I’m so grateful to have been connected with that cohort of ladies and been a part of that program. I’m currently in the early stages of another passion project to showcase loanDepot park and our Women’s Network in the community and sports industry even more!
Within my job responsibilities, I am incredibly proud of being able to hit my sales goal every year while growing our theme nights and am excited to be able to start really developing our Account Executives into sales stars as I move into more of a management role with a side of selling in 2025.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Having good mentors is SO important. Understanding the importance of networking is so crucial to career development in my opinion. I am constantly relying on my mentors for career advice and help through personal hardships at times. There was actually a study done by Chief, the private executive women’s membership network, that found only 32% of surveyed women leaders have a mentor, yet mentorship remains a powerful factor in career growth. I have been fortunate to have great leaders in my life from when I got my start in sports sales – I still keep in touch with former bosses of mine that I look at as mentors to me but have also put a focus on finding more female mentorship both within sports and outside of the industry.
When it comes to networking, I utilize LinkedIn heavily – I will request to connect with truly anyone with the sports industry so I can see what other teams are finding successes in. I also joined groups such as Women in Sports & Events (WISE) South Florida and the Pro Sports Assembly to network more with those in my industry as well as became involved in Leadership Miami through the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce to meet more people in our community! I also always recommend attending conferences/summits whether in-person or virtual – I recently attended the She’s Got Time conference and the network I gained from being there was incredible!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mlb.com/marlins/tickets/group-tickets
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marlins_jess
- Twitter: https://x.com/marlins_jess
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-crosson-a4aaa1123?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
