Forged by FAU - Marlene Ryan
Wajih AlBaroudi
9/21/2020
I make sure every day I’m early to meetings, I’m bringing positive vibes, I make sure my team has everything they need to work a successful day. I’m bringing them opportunities to grow and to learn and to succeed, and all of that came through my time at FAU and my scholarship there.
As a regional sales manager at Effectv, Comcast’s advertising division, Marlene Ryan thrives by cultivating a strong team environment. She learned how to do that as a Florida Atlantic University tennis player.
Ryan was a tennis phenom long before her FAU days, advancing to national competition by age 12 and the WTA tour by age 17. Before she could vote or buy a lottery ticket, she played in countries such as Mexico, Germany and Canada, ranking as one of the world’s top 800.
“I just really always had that competitive nature in me,” said Ryan, a Delray Beach native, “and I think it’s needless to say I fell in love with the game probably from the second I started playing it, but once I started playing at a higher level…it was really great.”
On a break from tournament play, Ryan visited her older sister, who was coaching Boca High’s tennis team. FAU coach Marcy Hora-Cava was there recruiting. When Hora-Cava realized who Ryan was, she began luring her to the Owls.
Hora-Cava offered Ryan a full athletic scholarship and an opportunity to help build a winning culture at FAU, and Ryan accepted. She joined the team ahead of the 2010-11 season.
“For me personally,” Ryan said, “it seemed like a great opportunity.”
It was a unique opportunity for Ryan, too. She was homeschooled prior to FAU and never had teammates her age to relate to or work with. Her coach, trainer and nutritionist were involved in her life, but she admits “from a young female standpoint you don’t have anyone else you could lean on or talk to” as a professional.
That changed at FAU. Not only did Ryan play alongside teammates at FAU, she also helped mentor them as a two-time team captain. Ryan implemented training regimens, workouts and practices she learned through international play into the team’s routine, an experience she found valuable to her career.
“I would definitely say from a collegiate athlete to now, the importance of how a team works and grows together is what I really learned at FAU,” Ryan said, “which I think can and will help a lot of athletes as they move from a sports career, college athlete, to the business world. Most business organizations you’re working on a team, and learning how to work successfully on a team is invaluable. It’s truly something that’s the biggest takeaway, probably, for me professionally, that helped me across the board.”
After graduating from FAU in 2013 with a marketing degree, Ryan joined Comcast Spotlight – now Effectv – as a local account executive.
Ryan soon learned her on-court competitiveness translated to the professional realm. The company promoted her five times in eight years, and she’s now the West Palm Beach regional sales manager.
“I’m definitely very career-oriented, I’m very competitive, I’m very passionate at what I do,” Ryan said. “I absolutely love what I do. But going back to my athletic background and what I learned at FAU, I work harder than anyone else around me.”
Ryan helps medium- to large-size businesses show their video commercials to targeted audiences across multiple screens, such as televisions, phones and tablets. The work isn’t identical to college sports, but Ryan says Effectv’s team environment and goal-oriented structure “really takes all the aspects of my collegiate tennis career and put them into a business setting.”
Hora-Cava taught Ryan about succession plans at FAU, having her physically write down goals to better her chances of accomplishing them. It’s a habit Ryan still practices. Her current succession plan is becoming a market director, then a regional director and eventually a business owner.
Those goals won’t be easy to accomplish, but Ryan is prepared to do so after overcoming challenges as an FAU student-athlete.
“Being on a team with eight girls, that takes work,” Ryan said. “It’s a challenge. You have a bunch of different personalities and you want everyone to get along. So, as a captain, I made sure I am early, I am positive and I made sure everyone on the team has everything they need to have a successful practice, successful weight session and what not. Everyone has water, everyone has nutrition bars, everyone has equipment, everyone’s on time. That was my responsibility when Marcy [Hora-Cova] said, ‘You’re the captain, this is what you need to make sure to do.’
“And I take that now with my team,” Ryan continued. “So, I make sure every day I’m early to meetings, I’m bringing positive vibes, I make sure my team has everything they need to work a successful day. I’m bringing them opportunities to grow and to learn and to succeed, and all of that came through my time at FAU and my scholarship there.”