IN CONVERSATION WITH
Jinisha Sharma
(Business and Management, 2018)
“An overview and understanding of the whole sports ecosystem is essential because when companies are hiring, they are looking for individuals that bring a range of skills to the table to work in a sports company. It’s a great industry to be a part of, and I hope more young people get involved!”
Jinisha Sharma is a business graduate from the University of Exeter. After Exeter, she pursued her further studies before returning to India to focus on sports management. Jinisha is the Director of Capri Sports, the sports business arm of Capri Global, a major Indian financial services firm. Capri Sports aims to promote accessibility, equality and growth in the sports ecosystem in India.
Born in the year 1998, in India, Jinisha has been inspirational in promoting women’s cricket, driving sustainable investments, and supporting social impact initiatives. Her vision emphasises empowering female athletes and expanding opportunities in Indian sports. We loved getting the chance to catch up with her!
Your journey into sports ownership and management is quite unique. Could you share a bit about where you started?
In my final year at Exeter, I took two contrasting finance courses, one on traditional finance and another exploring finance through social lenses (gender, class, race, social impact), which I found fascinating and something clicked in me to pursue this career further within the sports industry. I loved everything about that class and I felt like a lot of things in my life were coming together, so I knew that that was my calling. I wanted to do something that was going be in the realm of finance and make a positive impact. I started working for Capri Global in the Environmental, Social and Governance team at the time, where I still do some work today. Subsequently I took a sabbatical to finish my masters, post which I decided to move into sports.
Looking back at your time at Exeter, which experiences or lessons have most influenced your career and leadership style?
I had a very interesting move to Exeter because I didn’t do my first year there. I was a transfer student, so I did my first year in India and I transferred to Exeter in my second year, which was a bit of a challenge as there aren’t many students who do that. I had to figure how I was going to find things I was interested in. I saw an events coordinator job advertised for the UNICEF Society, which I applied for and was successful. Working with that society and meeting so many different people was a huge part of where I discovered managing teams, managing workload, and learning more about leading with empathy. It was an honour that I got to lead the society, next year as the President. I wanted to do things with purpose and lead activity which has a greater goal; all things I learned about myself whilst I was a student.
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced in leading a major sports franchise, and how have you navigated them?
I think one of the biggest challenges was that I wasn’t coming with experience of having worked in sports. There is quite a difference in terms of how you operate a sports business and I had to learn on the job and do so quickly. For me it was extremely important that I was doing the day-to-day jobs as well as learning more about the organisation, while also building the trust of the team. I was very much there in the trenches with them when we were problem solving and they could see me as a team player. I also wanted them to know I was there to support them, and at the same time challenge them as a Gen X leader in the company with fresh ideas.
Women’s representation in sports leadership is growing but still limited. How do you see your role in shaping opportunities for women in this space?
Currently the number of women in sports that you can bring on board is very limited. And I think we’re all equally part of the problem, because we’re not scaling up fast enough or giving women the experience and opportunities we should. I am trying to balance this out by giving more opportunities to women. It’s not something that can be taught in a classroom, you need to be there to come in and experience it in a team environment. I think there’s a lot more that needs to be done and we’re definitely still figuring it out.
Capri Sports focuses heavily on community engagement. Which initiatives are you personally most passionate about, and why?
What I’m really enjoying, is seeing the outcome of some of the school programmes that we’re doing. The biggest gap when we look at why there is a lower percentage of girls and women in sports, is because for the longest time they’ve been watching men play sports. The representation for women was very poor, but luckily this is starting to change. The school programmes play a huge role in this as they curate experiences and opportunities for young women and girls. We started this initiative last year, and we went to 11 cities and multiple schools to start looking at how we can scale this up.
What skills do you believe the next generation of sports executives need, and what advice would you give current Exeter students aspiring to join this industry?
I would say that it’s very important to be as intersectional as you can be. An overview and understanding of the whole sports ecosystem is essential because when companies are hiring, they are looking for individuals that bring a range of skills to the table to work in a sports company. It’s a great industry to be a part of, and I hope more young people get involved!
