Blog
Running Laps and Running a Company: What I’ve Learned as a Student-Athlete and Managing Director
How I balance track practice, journalism classes at Drake, and leading a travel tech company from 4,500 miles away.
People often ask me the same question: “How do you have time for all of that?” The honest answer is that I don’t have more time than anyone else. I just had to get very intentional about how I use it.
I’m a journalism student at Drake University, a member of the Drake Bulldogs track and field team, and Managing Director and Director of Product at ByteTravel, a travel technology company based in Barcelona. Here’s what that actually looks like, and what it has taught me.
What a Typical Day Looks Like
Barcelona is seven hours ahead of Des Moines. That means my team is finishing lunch while I’m finishing breakfast, and I have a short window each morning to catch them before their day ends.
A normal weekday usually breaks down like this:
- Early morning: practice with the team, then recovery.
- Mid-morning: calls and decisions with Barcelona while their office is still open.
- Afternoon: classes, reporting assignments, and study time.
- Evening: product work, emails, and planning the next day.
It isn’t glamorous. Most days are about doing the small things on time.
Three Rules That Keep Me on Track
1. Protect the non-negotiables
Practice, class, and sleep go on my calendar first. Work fits around them, not the other way around. If I skip sleep to answer emails, my training suffers, and then my focus at work suffers too.
2. Decide once, not every day
I plan my week every Sunday. When Monday arrives, I’m not deciding whether to study or when to call a partner. That decision is already made.
3. Communicate early
When a meet conflicts with a deadline, I tell my coach, professor, or team as soon as I know, not the night before. People are flexible when you give them time.
What Track Has Taught Me About Business
The longer I do both, the more I see that the track and the office reward the same habits:
- Consistency beats intensity. One great workout doesn’t make a season, and one great launch doesn’t make a company.
- Data tells the truth. Split times and user numbers don’t care how you feel. Both show you exactly where to improve.
- Recovery is part of the plan. Teams burn out the same way athletes do when nobody plans for rest.
- You’re never really alone. My teammates and my colleagues push me to be better than I would be on my own.
My Advice to Other Student-Athletes
If you’re thinking about starting a business, taking a big internship, or building a side project while competing, my advice is simple: start small and be honest about your limits. You don’t need to do everything at once. You need a schedule you can actually keep.
Being busy isn’t the goal. Being intentional is. Some weeks I get the balance right, and some weeks I don’t, but every week I learn a little more about how to do it better.