I am frequently the only African American woman in the room. At the end of the day, I’m a Black girl. It doesn’t matter how successful I am. It doesn’t matter how many clients I have. It doesn’t get easier and I am still a Black girl in this industry. With that barrier, I have to navigate in a different way. How? By saying (to myself), ‘Get over it.’ I don’t make excuses and I don’t let the barriers navigate where I go.
— Nicole Lynn, a litigation associate at Norton Rose Fulbright who also works as a sports agent with Lil Wayne’s Young Money agency, commenting on the diversity issues within the sports management world, which she says are even worse than those present within the legal profession. Andrew Price, a partner at the firm, says Lynn is excelling at both of her careers. “[She] has been able to do both and do them well, and I don’t know how she does it. I get emails from Nicole at all hours of the night. She has never let being an agent affect her work at the firm.”
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.