At just 29 years old, Nicole Kotler is one of the youngest women National Football League (NFL) agents in the industry. No stranger to carving out her own lane in a men-dominated space, she stepped out on faith and pivoted from a career in finance to the sports world.
Born and raised in South Florida, Nicole graduated from Tulane University in 2019 with a degree in finance and management. She then moved to Washington, DC, where she landed a job as a financial consultant. However, she later realized it no longer served her. Following her passions, she entered sports representation in 2021, joining Grady Sports Agency, a boutique sports agency, where she started as an intern and worked her way up to agent in almost five years. For Nicole, landing at faith-based Grady Sports Agency felt like perfect alignment from God, as she now felt a sense of fulfillment in her career.
Beginning as an unpaid intern, Nicole moved up the ladder, graduating to head of marketing, where she arranged deals for athletes with brands such as AirBnB, Uber Eats, and Champ Sports. Now a full-fledged NFL agent, Nicole is focused on setting up her clients for success beyond the field. Nicole chatted with Her Agenda about working in men-dominated spaces, the moment she became an agent, and her accomplishments while working at Grady Sports Agency.
Her Agenda: What made you quit your finance job and enter into a career in the sports industry?
Nicole Kotler: I worked in finance for a couple of years, and at the time, I was chasing the money. I thought making a lot of money was the key to happiness. I quickly realized that that’s not the key to happiness whatsoever. I was working 90 hours a week, making good money, but again, as I said, ultimately, it just wasn’t fulfilling my why. I did my undergrad at Tulane University in New Orleans, and while I was there, I was hired by the athletic department to tutor the football team in accounting and several business courses. I just connected with a lot of the players, and they would open up to me and share that sometimes people they felt were in their corner weren’t really in their corner. They felt [people] were just in their corner for a transactional purpose or didn’t essentially have their best interests at heart. That always stuck with me. When I was in my finance job, I was like, I hate this, I quit, and I took a couple of months with nothing. The one positive is that finance gave me a buffer to be able to quit and not have a backup plan. I dug deep within [myself] about what’s going to be that why, and it always stuck with me what those guys would share with me. I felt like it was kind of a perfect segue that I could take my business background, my connections, and the people that I know on the business side, and help bridge the gap and really advocate for guys and truly have their best interests at heart.
That’s what led me to that decision. I started speaking with a lot of different agents at NBA agencies, NFL agencies, and ultimately I connected with the founder of the agency I’m at now. I fell in love with the mission and the vision of the agency. It was exactly what I wanted to accomplish. He was basically like, I want to help set up our guys for the next 40 or 50 years of their lives. Get them as much money as possible on the contract side, but I really want to put them in a position that they’re good for the next 40 or 50 years of their life. The founder needed people around him that would help execute; being that I had that background of being in finance and business. I like to say all glory to God, just because I really think it was his plan all along.
Her Agenda: What was that transition like for you going from working in finance to ending up at Grady Sports Agency?
Nicole Kotler: It was a big adjustment. One being on the money side. I started as an unpaid intern, making no money. Getting into sports in general is very competitive. I get messages all the time on LinkedIn from people trying to get into sports. You really just have to grind to get your foot in the door, but once you get your foot in the door, it’s still an uphill climb. For me, the only avenue to get in was working unpaid, so I started as an unpaid intern. That was definitely an adjustment, because I went from making a nice, comfortable salary to not making anything. In finance, what you put in is what you get out, so to speak. There were always tangible results that I could tell how I was doing when I worked in finance. Whereas in sports, it’s not like that. I don’t always feel like there’s a correlation between inputs and outputs, specifically as it relates to being an agent. It’s very subjective in terms of getting a guy to sign with you and work with you. There’s a relationship aspect. Wrapping my brain around the fact that there’s not going to be this correlation between what you put in and what you get out, at least on the front end. I think that’s changed now. I’ve been in it for about five years. That’s evolved and changed, and I’ve learned how to find more measurable things that I could be like, Oh, my work paid off X, Y, and Z here, but it’s just not as clear-cut as it was in finance.
Her Agenda: What was the moment like when you found out that you passed the agent exam?
Nicole Kotler: That was incredible. I cried when I got the test. It is pretty challenging. It’s an open-book [test], which everyone is like, ‘Oh, that’s easy.’ I always felt in college, whenever it was open-book, it was always more difficult material. The CBA (the Collective Bargaining Agreement) in itself is massive, probably like four or five hundred pages. You can’t just walk in not knowing the CBA and expect to pass because it’s a timed test. I studied a lot, as I took probably six to seven months of truly studying for it. It’s less about just passing; it’s information that we need to know as agents. I was just excited about the fact that I passed because, as I said, it’s a more difficult exam, but I think also, from the standpoint of, ‘Wow, I’m starting to see the fruits of my labor pay off.’ It started as a pipe dream; now this is a reality.
Her Agenda: What are some of the accomplishments in your career that you’re most proud of?
Nicole Kotler: One of our clients is Elijah Roberts; he’s a defensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I grew really close with his mom. When we were recruiting him to sign with us, I found out a lot about his mom’s story. She was in an abusive relationship, and she started her own non-profit called Pain to Purpose. Whenever I was speaking with Elijah, he told me that whatever agency he signed with, he wanted the people around him to help him use his platform to elevate his mom and elevate his mom’s voice. That became my core mission with them. I found out she’s a beautiful singer, so this year I got his mom an opportunity to sing the national anthem at a Tampa Bay Bucs game. She sang the national anthem live. It was all over the NFL Network, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated. Millions of people saw that opportunity. What I was especially proud of is that I really wanted to give her nonprofit a voice. Whenever they introduced her to sing the national anthem, I made sure they introduced her not just as Elijah’s mom, but also as the founder and CEO of her Pain to Purpose program.
That opportunity in and of itself created so many other opportunities and speaking engagements for her. She’s gotten thousands of dollars in donations from that opportunity and other opportunities we’ve helped bridge off of it. I didn’t make any money off of that, but it was one of the moments that I was most proud of because, one, I don’t think that that’s been done in the history of the NFL that I know of. At least it hasn’t been done with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That moment, seeing him being able to run up to her after with his jersey on and then go play the game after, to me, it’s just made everything worth it. I’m most proud of the things that change our clients’ lives for the future, not just in the short term. It’s about honing in on that mission of trying to help them build a life for the next 40 years.
Her Agenda: How has working at the Grady Sports Agency fulfilled you work-wise?
Nicole Kotler: I started as an unpaid intern and worked my way up. It’s a more boutique agency, and I’ve worn multiple hats there. It’s a grind, and it has its pros and its cons, but it allows me to embrace the entrepreneurial side of myself, of being able to wear multiple hats at a given point. For the last couple of years, I was the director of marketing. I recently stepped down from that role because I’m a full-fledged NFL agent, which takes up a lot of my time. I think, for one, it’s fulfilled the entrepreneurial side of me by letting me wear multiple hats and affect the business in multiple ways. Something I love about our agency is that we’re a faith-based agency.
Not that we push our faith onto anyone, but our logo is the Jesus Fish. My walk with the Lord has evolved so much since I started at the company. What are the odds that I end up at a company where our logo is the Jesus fish? That’s only God that it would happen in that way. I really do appreciate the people at the agency because we all kind of share the same morals and values. Whenever we’re going through something as a group, we always relate it to scripture. It sounds corny to say, but when I’m going through something hard and I call Joshua (the founder), he’s not just thinking of it from the business aspect. He’ll point me back to the word. I find it invaluable to work with people like that because it really does keep me anchored. At the end of the day, my goal is to build out his kingdom. It’s really hard to focus on yourself when you’re in the business world. If you focus on the why behind why you’re doing it, I think that makes things better. That has been like why I feel so fulfilled in this. I’m getting to do what I love. I’m being able to impact other people’s families, but I’m doing it for a purpose, and the purpose is, again, his kingdom.
Her Agenda: You’re one of the youngest women in essentially a men-dominated space. How does that make you feel?
Nicole Kotler: I’m not shy about working in a male-dominated industry. It was the same thing when I was working in finance. I was one of two. In my finance job, there were only two women, including myself. Everyone else was male. I came from that world. Even when I was in my business courses at Tulane, predominantly men in my classes. I’ve always kind of been in a situation where it’s strictly male-dominated. It has its challenges for sure, but again, I just have to remember why I’m doing it. There are days when I do beat myself up for certain things. Sometimes I feel like, as a woman in a male-dominated space, I have to be on my P’s and Q’s maybe a little bit more than one of my male colleagues. That’s not anything against them; I’m blessed that all the guys that I work with recognize that and they’re supportive. I’m a unicorn in the space, and I want to be a unicorn because I think I want to be the person that stands out. After all, that’s what gets you opportunities if you take those opportunities in front of you. I think it’s making sure not to get in my own head about it or let it make me feel insecure, but instead use it to fuel me forward. I think having people around me who speak life into me, like my coworkers who keep powering ahead or empowering me, is super fruitful.
[Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length and clarity.]
