Long Beach State University Athletics
Jordan Candelaria Participates In Inaugural NCAA Legacy Lab
3/4/2026 10:25:00 AM | Women's Soccer
The NCAA Legacy Lab empowers student-athletes to build entrepreneurial futures.
Through high-energy workshops, collaborative team challenges, networking sessions and specialized learning tracks, the program pushed student-athletes to think boldly about the ventures they could build and the legacies they could shape beyond sport.
"The Legacy Lab was built in order to help student-athletes become the entrepreneurs that their hearts desire," said Ashley Jocelyn, associate director of leadership development programs and initiatives. "We want to help them understand that they're able to build legacies while they're still student-athletes. They can be elite student-athletes and elite human beings."
Brick by brick
Day 1 began with professional headshots before learners entered the Discovery Zone — a workshop focused on the DISC personality assessment. The session, which was led by Crystal Rogers, associate director at the NCAA Sport Science Institute, helped learners recognize their communication styles and strengthen their collaborative awareness on and off the field of competition.
"A big thing that I've taken away is learning how to have different relationships with everyone and that not everyone can be taught or talked to the same way," said Cayla Jackson, a sophomore on the women's soccer team at Illinois. "Being able to know your personnel, know what their goals are, know who they are as a person so you can build a strong community."
Jocelyn introduced The Hustle Bowl in the afternoon. A fast-paced and creativity-driven team challenge, The Hustle Bowl involved learners turning concepts into scalable business ideas that they would pitch during the final day of the program.
Dream big
The second day invited student-athletes deeper into the entrepreneurial mindset. The morning commenced with Learning To Fail — a dynamic workshop led by Aaron Dinin, professor at Duke. The session focused on reframing failure as a natural and necessary process for innovation, empowering learners to turn risk into momentum.
Later, Ivory Tabb, CEO of Ivory Tabb Consults, guided learners through a session on how to upgrade their brand by turning their personal voice into business force. The interactive format pushed the student-athletes to articulate what makes them unique and how that authenticity can become a strategic asset in business.
"(Tabb) breathed a lot of confidence into us," said Tommy Rice, who runs on the men's track and field and cross country teams at Tulane. "She helped us understand that it's OK to show off what makes us unique as individuals. That was one lecture that was really refreshing and gave me a lot of confidence to go back into my community, to my team and university and really show what I'm about."
Built on greatness
On Saturday, learners transitioned to a panel session led by former student-athletes who have built businesses; secured name, image and likeness deals; or are in the profit-for-good sector. Panel members Kodi Brenner, Sophia Groth Davila, Kate Fitzgerald and Demitra Carter offered real-world perspective into the possibilities of entrepreneurship and examples of some pitfalls to avoid.
Learners had the opportunity to choose from one of three tailored sessions in the afternoon, exploring digital branding, business marketing or mission-driven strategy. The day concluded with a session on negotiation skills for athlete-entrepreneurs led by Luke Schultheis and Jackson Marcotte, NCAA legal affairs associate directors. The session emphasized how student-athletes can navigate deals, partnerships and opportunities beyond the game. Additionally, learners were equipped with the tools to protect their value and make strategic decisions that turn conversations into long-term business wins.
Your next move
The final day of Legacy Lab brought excitement and anticipation as teams prepared for The Hustle Bowl presentations — a spirited showcase of teamwork, creativity and strategic thinking. The championship round highlighted how far each group had come in just three days of collaboration and skill development. Garrett Messer (men's track and field at Indiana), Kylan Overstreet (men's track and field at Marshall), Zoe Bjelac (field hockey at Quinnipiac) and Erin Connolly (women's soccer at Wisconsin) won a three-year website domain, builder package and ongoing mentorship by GoDaddy, enabling them to build websites for their future endeavors.
Jeremiah Brown, career and leadership development consultant with The LEAD Co., closed the event with a keynote on identity, resilience and intentional legacy building. His message encouraged student-athletes to see their next steps not simply as career decisions but as purposeful acts of shaping their future impact.
"This was my first time being in an environment like this, and it was just a really great opportunity to learn and connect with other like-minded student-athletes," said Demetrius John, who is on the football team at Illinois. "It's just been great to learn from everyone's experiences and gain as much information as I can."
