Talking Baseball With Gabrielle Scheder-Bieschin

Title: Corporate Communications Manager, Washington Nationals Baseball Club

Location: Washington, D.C.

Job highlights: Supporting Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games Pyeonchang 2018; launching Frito-Lay’s Cracker Jill, the 2022 PRNews Platium Awards Campaign of the Year, Sports; planning the Nationals media tour for Opening Day 2023

Favorite downtime activity: Heading to the National Mall to run or read 

Any 3 dinner guests: Make it brunch with my friends Melissa, Kristina and Alex — their advice, wit and laughter can set a positive tone for any week. 

Favorite books: “The Disaster Tourist” by Yun Ko-eun and “Anxious People” by Fredrik Backman

Best leadership advice: “Take a walk before you send that email.”

Apps you can’t live without: Duolingo to keep up my Spanish and German, and Libby to read my public library books

What was your dream job as a child? Were you always interested in sports?

Growing up, I had a lot of ideas for what my job could be and none of them had anything to do with sports. Sports were something I loved — watching the World Cup with friends, competing in triathlons — but I didn’t think to combine that passion with my communications degree until my last year of college.  

How did you get your start in PR, and what led you to Major League Baseball?  

I studied communications in college because I loved stories — not necessarily telling my own, but hearing and celebrating others’ first and foremost. From there, PR felt like the most natural fit as I explored career options through my internships. I got an internship at the Wasserman sports agency, and worked for my college’s athletics department in undergrad before working in the president’s office at the NCAA in executive communications. 

I moved into the Olympic Movement with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (also known as Team USA) and then handled Olympic sponsors as agency clients at Ketchum. While at Ketchum, I picked up some baseball work just because it seemed interesting — and from there, I joined the Washington Nationals. 

When you focus on the corporate side in sports, which means speaking more about the company, stadium and off-field happenings, you don’t need to know every statistic and nuance of the sport; you need to know how to make the business as interesting and compelling as the sport itself. This skill can more easily transfer across sports, and that’s part of what I love about my work — it feeds into the passion and community of a sport, but can extend beyond into other fields. 

What is top of mind in the sports sector?

The average person may see sports as entertainment — and while they are fun, sports are still a business. That is clearer than ever: Several teams are going through sales, college conferences are realigning, major sports broadcasting networks are in flux and The New York Times just shut down its sports desk. 

As the corporate communications manager, it’s my job to help elevate the off-the-field happenings of our baseball club, so understanding the business stories happening across the industry allows me to better tailor our outreach to ensure it’s interesting and timed appropriately. 

While the industry is going through some tough changes, there are also trends to be excited about. The latest generation of athletes has grown up on social media — because of this, more and more are taking ownership of their brand and are willing to speak about topics they care about.

This can be a huge opportunity for teams to showcase how sports are more than just hitting a ball on a field; sports are a platform with which to build community and propel change. 

How is your department structured? What is a typical workday like for you?

It’s easiest to think of our department as two halves: Our baseball communications team members will travel with the team to provide media with baseball-specific support, like player interviews and game notes, while our corporate communications team members focus on a range of internal and external off-field news. 

Workdays during the season look very different than during the off-season. The off-season (November-January) is generally focused on strategy — figuring out what has been working, what we want to change and how we can get better in the future. 

As we get ready for the season, we start working with media to showcase new storylines that we want fans to know about for Opening Day. Once the season is underway, a workday is defined by if there’s a homestand or not.

With 162 games each season, we are constantly fielding requests from media or pitching them on the happenings around our ball club — whether it’s a new local concession launching, a theme night or a player’s new fashion line. Being in D.C., we also host a lot of dignitaries and VIPs, and work with their press secretaries to host their media, or create and share press kits.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your communications career during the global pandemic while at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee?

Sports are full of constantly moving pieces — from injuries to trades to customer experiences — but the pandemic was one piece we did not see coming. In March 2020, the communications department was planning our Team USA Media Summit in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games when the world shut down. Some athletes had already earned spots on the team, and others were about to compete at their Olympic and Paralympic Trials — all of that was suddenly on pause.

The Games only come around every four years, and it’s a narrow window for many athletes to not only be at their physical peak but also increase their sponsorship income, so it was understandably a stressful time.

The USOPC put in place several different support systems for athletes, and I was incredibly proud to help our internal departments cohesively come up with a strategy to communicate these opportunities as well as updates on the Games (which were delayed a year) directly and consistently to athletes — creating a new channel we hadn‘t leveraged previously. 

Sports is a fast-moving industry that tends to require working weeknights and weekends. Combined with the 24/7 nature of PR, burnout can run rampant if left unchecked. When I was starting in the industry, I was told that I had “choose two” between eating well, sleeping enough and exercising. 

As an avid baker and runner who needs eight hours of sleep each day, I swore to myself I would support a better environment for my teams. I’ve found that, along with setting an example of prioritizing wellness, it comes down to three elements of a strong team: proper staffing, enough trust and camaraderie to step in to support each other, and open communication to strategically prioritize or scrap what isn’t worth the time. I’m fortunate our department recognizes this.

What makes a great story, and how can PR pros can best make a meaningful connection with audiences?

A good story becomes a great story with the addition of a strong personal connection. Not every story can have a sports star or celebrity attached to it, but all stories can tap into a feeling or moment your audience can relate to. This hook may differ between audiences, but it allows the “what” of the story to stand out and stick. 

Along with figuring this out, I spend a lot of time thinking about platform and visuals to accompany a story — because where different folks may see the story and how it comes to life will determine how receptive various audiences are to your message.

What advice can you share with the future generation of PR pros? 

There are so many different avenues to take working in PR; find a boss who is willing to let you try different ones when you’re starting out to see what you enjoy best!

Employees can make or break a brand’s reputation. While earned and owned media are vital in growing awareness and trust, don’t forget to build up your most valuable asset — your people.