How to Create a Job For Yourself That Has Never Existed with the NFL's First-Ever Fashion Editor

Let's Get Dressed

Kyle Smith, the NFL's first-ever fashion editor, shares how he created a groundbreaking role that didn't exist before. Starting with a casua

Key takeaways

• Athletes are becoming fashion's most trusted voices due to their authenticity and influence.
• Creating a new career path starts with identifying an unmet need and building proof of concept through passion projects.

Main topics

• Creating a non-existent job role in the NFL
• The power of social media as proof of concept

Notable quotes

"I always made sure to leave room for magic. It's like, okay, I got to pay the bills, but oh, I see there's a job opening at the NFL. I don't know anything about football. I'm just going to go do it and see what happens."

Conclusion

Kyle Smith exemplifies how passion, creativity, and strategic visibility can forge

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) I've learned a few things about being around athletes. One is they don't do a single thing they don't want to do. Speaker 1 (0:05) Kyle, welcome to Let's Get Dressed. Speaker 2 (0:07) I work for the NFL as their first ever fashion editor. I help the NFL leverage fashion to grow their fan base. Speaker 1 (0:17) This is a first of a kind role. Why now for the NFL? Speaker 2 (0:21) There's so much opportunity in both spaces, and they're just kind of getting to know each other. Athletes bring so much authenticity to everything they do, and I think consumers can pick up on that. I always think my job is education. I Speaker 1 (0:33) love chatting with fashion people who are pure creatives, but also have to operate in a corporate setting. I Speaker 2 (0:40) always made sure to leave room for magic. It's like, okay, I got to pay the bills, but oh, I see there's a job opening at the NFL. I don't know anything about football. I'm just going to go do it and see what happens. Speaker 1 (0:51) This episode is coming out right as football season's starting. What designers or fashion moments should we be excited about? Speaker 1 (1:00) Welcome back to Let's Get Dressed. Before we dive into today's episode, make sure that you're following the show both on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that you don't miss a new episode. In case you want to watch today's episode, you can head over to YouTube. The full episode is available there too. And when you're done, leave us a review. I always love to hear what you guys think about the episodes and it really helps the show go. Now let's go get dressed. Speaker 1 (1:26) Kyle, welcome to Let's Get Dressed. Speaker 2 (1:27) Hi, how are you? I'm Speaker 1 (1:29) so good. I'm so happy to have you here. Speaker 2 (1:30) I can't believe it's finally happening. Speaker 1 (1:32) I know. I actually remember we had done a podcast episode at the beginning of this year and we're covering the Super Bowl and we're talking about football and your name had come up and I ended up doing a deep dive and became so infatuated with what you do. And I know we also share some team members over at CAA. So everyone had always been like, you need to meet Kyle. So up your alley. And so I'm happy to have you here today. Finally, we get to chat all the things. I Speaker 2 (2:00) can't wait. I feel like I don't know if we have enough time. We don't. We actually don't have enough time. Speaker 1 (2:05) I also knew that you were like my people when I emailed you and your Gmail photo was Edna Mode. Speaker 2 (2:12) What's really funny about that is that's also my Slack icon for the entire NFL. Speaker 1 (2:20) Thank you so much. Speaker 2 (2:22) There's like 5,000 people in the NFL Slack and it's all like some professional photos and some people have like maybe their like mascot of their favorite NFL team and mine's just Edna Mode. Speaker 1 (2:33) Thank you for that representation. Speaker 2 (2:35) Thank you. We need it. I feel like I dress superheroes, so I look up to her. Speaker 1 (2:39) I love that. Also, she's one of the most iconic. I think she is one of the most iconic Disney characters ever made. Speaker 2 (2:45) A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Her hair, her stature, her like little quips, like her little rules, like no capes. Speaker 1 (2:54) Right. Or Speaker 2 (2:55) like, I don't look back, darling. It distracts from the now. Like, yeah. People Speaker 1 (3:00) are always like, The Devil Wears Prada is my fashion bible. And I'm like, nope, it's Edna mode. Speaker 2 (3:04) No, because when people bring up The Devil Wears Prada, that's my favorite horror movie. Every time. Like, everyone's like, what's your favorite horror movie? I'm like, The Devil Wears Prada. Speaker 1 (3:16) I'm Speaker 2 (3:17) sorry. Like, quitting a dream job because your boyfriend wants you to make him, like, a grilled cheese. Speaker 1 (3:23) With $7 cheese. Speaker 2 (3:24) Dude. Speaker 1 (3:25) Enjoy your life a little. Live a little. No. Speaker 2 (3:27) Like, I go pay homage to that fountain where Andy throws her sidekick to, like, every fashion week just to, like, bring myself good luck in the industry and keep getting invited. Speaker 1 (3:40) Yes. And for all these reasons, you are a fashion icon. Speaker 2 (3:43) Trying. Speaker 1 (3:45) Okay, to start off, for people who are just tuning in, getting to know you, tell us a little bit about what you do in the fashion space. Speaker 2 (3:51) That's a really good question. I work for the NFL as their first ever fashion editor. That's like I always say my main gig and the one that I love to do the most. It's brought me so much joy in the world of fashion. At the league, I help the NFL, one, leverage fashion to grow their fan base, help our players learn about the opportunities that exist within fashion to grow their personal brand, whether that's just looking and dressing really well, brand deals, how to go to Fashion Week, how they can talk about their charities and the causes that they support. and do that maybe through fashion. The last big bucket of what I do there is talk to brands about the opportunity that fashion can have with sports. Is it the tunnel walk, for example? Can they get brand visibility by addressing a player? by inviting them to their table at the Met Gala. There's so much opportunity in both spaces and they're just kind of getting to know each other and I'm kind of like grabbing both of their hands and being like, come on sports, come on fashion, let's chat. Speaker 1 (5:09) This is a like first of a kind role. This is something that you would not when you're saying to someone sports and fashion, this is not something that I feel like we'd ever really put together in the past. And I want to go all the way back to the beginning of starting out this role because you have a really interesting career trajectory. You used to work for Carla Welch and now you're at the NFL. We love Carla in this house. We love Carla. At the beginning of this year. The Speaker 2 (5:35) school Speaker 1 (5:35) of Speaker 2 (5:35) Carla is what I always say. It Speaker 1 (5:37) is. It is a college. It's an Ivy League, in my opinion. That's Speaker 2 (5:41) a PhD program, an accelerated PhD program. Speaker 1 (5:44) Absolutely. I'm sure learning from her was an amazing experience. So before you got brought back to the NFL, what were you originally interested in doing? Speaker 2 (5:54) I always knew I wanted to work in fashion. That was just something from the beginning. As a kid going into college, graduating, I knew fashion. There was something there for me. But I never knew what. And then working in celebrity styling, like, okay, like, this is really cool to see how fashion could be a tool to grow somebody. One of the classes at the School of Carla Welch actually is Leave Room for Magic. And I always made sure to leave room for magic. It's like, okay, I got to pay the bills. But like, oh, I see there's a job opening at the NFL on the network side as a stylist. I don't know anything about football. I'm just gonna go do it and see what happens and... It kind of just led to this. I never would have seen the really amazing outfits that players wear in the tunnel if I wasn't on set of the NFL Network dressing Kimmy Chex and all the other hosts of the network. And I just was paying attention and saw like there was an opportunity to do something. Speaker 1 (6:58) And you were doing that. I think I learned that you were actually posting tunnel fits during COVID on a separate Instagram account. Speaker 2 (7:04) Yeah, it was started that while I was at the network. pre-COVID, and then COVID happened, got laid off. I kept it up because I'm home and bored, and the NFL doesn't stop for anything. So the games were still happening. I was like, okay, fashion must be happening still in the tunnels. And then one day, an executive on the social side of the NFL saw that account, and they were like, who are you? Do you want a job here? And I was like, haha, I used to work here. Like, you don't know me. And I remember even When I went to an old, old executive at the league saying like, we should be posting more fashion. He was like, oh, we do on this other account. And it was like one in 40 posts were fashion. I was like, Speaker 1 (7:48) no, people Speaker 2 (7:49) want more because players were DMing me. Like that little account with like 800 followers, players were DMing them or me to be like, hey, I love that you're posting this. It's really cool. Players were noticing, which was, I think, a key, a key moment. I Speaker 1 (8:04) think what I've always really admired. most about you is this idea that you've been able to create something that didn't exist before. I think about, you know, I got my start on Instagram in like 2012 and I had a front row seat to so many incredible talent who created lanes and entirely new industries for themselves. And I think hearing you say this, leaving a little bit of room for magic and that vision to be able to see There is a need for this is a really, really rare thing that I think a lot of people can really learn from, especially in this day and age where we are experiencing a lot of newness and a lot of different industries. Speaker 2 (8:46) First of all, thank you. If you asked me when I was a kid if I was going to be in sports, no. So I had to leave room for magic there. Any Speaker 1 (8:54) sports at all, like in the family, anything? Did you ever watch anything growing up? Speaker 2 (8:57) No. Speaker 1 (8:58) Zero? Speaker 2 (8:59) Nothing. Speaker 1 (9:00) Nothing. Speaker 2 (9:01) I remember getting my dog. on Super Bowl Sunday years ago. And I was like, this is never going to be a problem to celebrate his gotcha day. I Speaker 1 (9:10) was going to say a different kind of American holiday. Yeah, I was Speaker 2 (9:13) like, I'm never going to have to like worry about am I busy on Super Bowl Sunday and I can spend time with my Australian shepherd and celebrate him. Speaker 1 (9:20) You have an Australian shepherd? I Speaker 2 (9:22) do. So Speaker 1 (9:22) do I. Speaker 2 (9:22) Stop it. Speaker 1 (9:23) What's yours? Tell me everything. Speaker 2 (9:25) His name's Ozzy, short for Osiris. Speaker 1 (9:27) Love. Speaker 2 (9:27) You know, Egyptian. Yes. Speaker 1 (9:29) He's Speaker 2 (9:29) just wild. He's just... Living wild and free. What Speaker 1 (9:32) color is he? Speaker 2 (9:32) He's a black tri. Speaker 1 (9:34) Oh, beautiful. I know. What about yours? I have Speaker 2 (9:36) a Speaker 1 (9:36) red merle. Speaker 2 (9:37) Stop it. His Speaker 1 (9:38) name's Bodhi. Speaker 2 (9:40) We'll share pictures later. Speaker 1 (9:41) We have Speaker 2 (9:41) to. Like, oh my God. Speaker 1 (9:42) I see a lot of Aussies in LA, but I don't meet a lot of people who have Aussies because they're a very rare breed, but so are we. Speaker 2 (9:49) There's so much energy and work. Speaker 1 (9:53) It's a lot of work. Speaker 2 (9:54) It's a lot of work. Speaker 1 (9:55) I also have a special place in my heart for fashion people. who have dogs that shed. And we're all black. Speaker 2 (10:02) Do you see a hair on my body? No. No. Really Speaker 1 (10:05) quickly, run us through what's the routine? Because I'm sure there are people listening with dogs that Speaker 2 (10:10) shed. I have lint rollers at every exit point of my house. There's a steam setting on my dryer that is like really good for all of this too. Me too. No, it's just, I can't, I can't be seen like that. Speaker 1 (10:24) I feel so seen. Speaker 2 (10:25) Yeah. Speaker 1 (10:26) Genuinely, the steam setting on my dryer is Speaker 2 (10:29) on Speaker 1 (10:29) every day. Speaker 2 (10:30) Yeah. Do you have the LG one? The LG dryer? Speaker 1 (10:33) I think I do. I could Speaker 2 (10:34) talk about washers and dryers all day, actually. We Speaker 1 (10:36) need to do a whole separate episode on how to properly wash our clothes. But yes. Speaker 2 (10:39) Yeah. Speaker 1 (10:40) That's amazing. Speaker 2 (10:41) Yeah. It's a lot of work, but he's so worth it. He's so worth it. They Speaker 1 (10:46) really are. Speaker 2 (10:46) But where were we? Speaker 1 (10:47) Talking about a gotcha day and how sports had no role. Oh, yeah. I Speaker 2 (10:50) never saw myself having to. be busy on Super Bowl Sunday. I wasn't watching that when I got my dog and now I miss it every year. Except for this year, it's going to be in LA. So hopefully I get to see my dog on Super Bowl Sunday as well. Speaker 1 (11:08) What was in this pitch for the NFL? What were some things that you shared that you thought were like, this is important? Speaker 2 (11:15) It's so funny. So like, To get the actual job or whenever I got that DM to that account, it wasn't even like I had to pitch anything. They saw it. Like, that's really why I made that account was to just have a proof of concept. Fans care. Players care. There's enough content to be posting this. And I don't even want to work in social. I was, like, graphic designing up until, like, 4 in the morning. Like, I had Photoshop open, making things