Caroline Trennepohl

I’m Caroline, I started Girls C.A.N. because when I was a young adult I felt like I had no idea of the career options available to me. I didn’t even know these many kinds of jobs existed. I just knew what my parents did and what those around me did. I wished I would have had the exposure in school and other settings to actually know all the opportunities and types of careers that there are in the world. I went into college not knowing what I wanted to do so I started out as a nurse. Many of my friends parents were nurses and it seemed “cool” to go into as many of my friends were going to school for nursing. Verrrrrry quickly I decided I didn’t like sickness nor blood so I stopped nursing real quickly. After that endeavor, I decided to go into marketing and business. I lucked out on this one because I didn’t really know what else to do. Luckily, I loved it! I ended up with a variety of internships. I focused on positions with sports teams. I worked on marketing, social media, brand management, partnerships, analytics, & CRM. I did 4 different internships with the Cincinnati Reds, an internship with StartRight foods, FC St. Louis, SLU athletics, & a few other small boutiques. With all of these internships I found out ALOT about these job fields but that wasn’t what was most important. What mattered most to me was really finding out who I am as a person. I learned so much more about myself as a person and grew personally. I found what I like and don’t like and what situations I thrive in, and ones I don’t prefer. I think it is just as vital to know what you don’t like as much as learning what you do like. (Pro tip: don’t think of any experience as a waste of time even if you hate it and never want to do it again!!! At least you tried and learned what you don’t want to do ever again). From all my experiences I decided that I loved the field of sports. I am happy to continue my career in sports. Working in sports does not define me. I have a creative side that I never want to lose and I’ve always been an entrepreneurial spirit, therefore, I’ve never settled on just one job at a time. As a result, I opened a dance studio work to teach young girls who could not otherwise afford dance classes, along with teaching a special olympics class, and teaching gentle movement classes at nursing homes. I have had a job leasing luxury apartments and many other jobs along my career path all with maintaining working in sports. Needless to say,I like to stay busy. I eventually moved to Seattle where I work for the Seattle Sounders as a membership executive! I love hearing about others non traditional career paths and what sparks their passion. I think it is so important to be a leader and empower other young women to achieve whatever goals they have. I believe in the power of asking as many questions as possible, never letting rejection stop you, & to try try again. You can learn from anyone and I still always say, “I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up”. 😁