Life and Work with Joy Coleman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joy Coleman.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Joy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
While attending Northern Arizona University for my Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education and Special Education, I needed a job to help pay for basic necessities. My sophomore year, I began working for NAU TV Services which had a Live Sports Production Truck and worked with Fox Sports Arizona to broadcast all NAU home Football, Volleyball, Basketball (Men’s and Women’s), and Soccer games. I started out as a Stage Manager and was responsible for keeping talent and technicians on task, managing rehearsals and made sure all segments were hit during a production/live hits. After a year of training in Chyron live graphics, I was the Chyron operator for all of NAU’s Live Sports Productions on Fox Sports Arizona. I held this position while finishing up my Duel Bachelors degree and moved to Phoenix to complete my student teaching. Since moving to Phoenix, I had the opportunity to learn a new graphics operating system, XPression by Ross Video which allowed me to not only operate graphics during a live sports broadcast but also learn to design a graphic from scratch. After almost two years of teaching, I left the education system to work as a freelancer for in-house productions with an NFL Team and while I loved the work I was doing, I realized I am passionate about both teaching and sports and went back to teaching. I currently freelance for professional teams, college teams and national television networks in Chryon, XPression, Video Playback, and Stats. While balancing teaching and the sports world can be hard at times, I wouldn’t imagine it a different way.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The biggest challenges is I have two strong careers that require a ton of work and time. A typical day for me is waking up at 5 am to get my family ready for the day. After I drop my son off at Preschool, I head to my school until 4 pm. If I have a sporting event that evening, I will leave school and go directly to the sporting event and prepare mine for the show. Majority of the time, a show won’t end until after 10 pm and if it’s on a weekday (which is often) I also have to make sure I am prepared for the next school day. Working in education and live sports requires a lot of planning and time-management.

My advice would be to not give up. In live sports, there aren’t a ton of women in the industry, let alone women who hold high positions. Towards the end of my schooling at NAU, almost the entire production truck positions were women (Director, Producer, Technical Director, Playback, Score box, Graphics, and Audio). The grin is hard but when you do get your foot in the door, make your mark. Also, try and get to know everyone you are working with and treat every gig as your first because impressions matter!

Please tell us about your work.
I am currently a 3rd-grade teacher and Freelance Graphics Operator/Designer for live sports productions. For graphics, I am trained in Chyron and XPression which are a graphics operating system that can be used for Live Sports Broadcasts (Fox Sports, ESPN, YES, etc), conference presentations and corporate events. I am most proud of being able to work in two high demand careers and still love what I do after almost ten years of working in both fields. I have had the opportunity to be trained by outstanding professionals in both professions and work with very talented individuals.

I think what sets me apart from others is most often people in the live sports industry don’t associate a Teacher as someone who can also design and operate live graphics and its versa in education. When I’m asked if I freelance full time or just teach, and I tell those, “No, I am a Teacher full time or I also work in Live Sports and a graphics operator.” I get asked well how did you start working in live sports or why not only teach? And it’s simple, I love teaching and molding young minds just as much as I love being able to bring a sporting event life and help tell a story for the fans throughout the game. I have worked many sporting games were records were set or broken and being able to create a graphic explaining that to the fans in the arena or at home on the couch is just as rewarding as seeing a child read for the first time.

There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that a lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
My advice is to go work for free/minimum wage for someone they respect and if they hate it, move on and try something else. In the process, you gain experience and pick up skills and contacts along the way.

Throughout college, I was able to work with established freelancers from Phoenix. These freelancers would travel and work with the college students and train them along the way. Because of these connections, I was able to get freelance work when I moved to Phoenix.

Contact Info:

• Email: joy.coleman286@gmail.com

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