NASCAR intern talks storytelling through sports – The Badger Herald

Keyla Pillacela is a rising junior at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin. She has experience working in video production for Wisconsin Athletics during the school year and is spending this summer interning with NASCAR. Read below to hear from about Keyla about her experiences in sports communication and her campus leadership.

Could you tell me a little bit about yourself and your background?

I am an incoming junior. I am originally from Chicago, born and raised. I remember when I was looking for colleges, I really wanted a Big 10 school, a lot of school spirit, a big football team. So, I went to visit Madison junior year of high school, and I completely fell in love. I realized that I really enjoyed talking to people, being super creative, and doing everything with a lot of intention. After talking to an advisor from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, I was completely sold. In school, I am pretty involved. I work video production for Wisconsin Athletics during the school year. Right now, during the summer, I am interning with NASCAR, so that has been a whole other experience on its own. I am very family-oriented, so when I come back home, I spend time with all of my siblings. And I am the oldest of five, so that is also important to “who Keyla is.”

What got you interested in sports communication?

I remember watching my first World Cup in 2014 when it was in Brazil. I remember just the emotions that you can feel through the screen and the impact that soccer has on the world. It’s one of the most watched sports in the world — especially when it comes to the World Cup. My parents are from Ecuador, and I remember seeing my team play and how proud I felt. And I knew that I wanted to be part of that storytelling of a country and bring all of this spotlight to the beautiful country of Ecuador. I remember I wanted to do that through sports, because soccer is such a big part of the Ecuadorian culture. Wherever I go in sports, I want to be able to tell a story with intention in order to spotlight these beautiful countries and what they have to offer.

Can you tell me about your experience in Big 10 video production?

When I’m working with Wisconsin Athletics, it’s an overlap with the Big 10 Network and Wisconsin Athletics. We put on any show that you’ve been able to see. From the football games to the softball games, it’s a wide array of sports. As soon as I make a graphic or replay for the video board or for Big 10, I am immediately able to see my work. I think it’s been really rewarding because I know a lot of people are looking at it and every time I do it, I know I’m getting better.

Photo courtesy of Kayah Shamapande-Scarboro.

What were your responsibilities in Big 10 video production?

Keeping track of, for example, the advertisements that go up in the suites when it’s a football game and showing them at the necessary time. In football games, there’s many breaks, so it’s important you are accurately displaying the advertisements during those breaks. The audio is a big part of video production and brings so much energy to the games, so we worked a lot on audio. I also worked on “the bug” or the scoreboard, adjusting anything if needed. We look at a game from multiple screens, so we are able to accurately write down the points, fouls and everything that is missed.

What is your role at NASCAR, and how does it compare to your Big 10 role?

It’s very different ends of sports. One is video production and one is external or communications. I’m an intern with the communications department for the Chicago Street Race for NASCAR … I’ve been able to write press releases, media advisories, attend media days with drivers and spend a lot of one-on-one time with them. This role is very hands-on. Just last week, I was on a media day with Ryan Blainey, who is one of our drivers. I started off at O’Hare, and immediately, we were doing radio hit after radio hit until we got to NBC5, Fox, WGN  or where we’re supposed to be for the day … it’s very rewarding. It’s different from video production with Wisconsin Athletics, because it’s more of a media facing role rather than a back-of-the house role. At Wisconsin Athletics, you are displaying something for an audience. In media, you’re working on what that display is and trying to be true and intentional in your storytelling.

Can you tell me a little bit about your leadership here on campus?

I remember freshman year, I joined a club on campus and I learned so much, like networking, resume building. Being surrounded by so many driven individuals that have strong work ethics propelled me. I knew that I wanted to make an impact on the incoming class. Now that I’m going into junior year, four of my friends and I are undergoing the process of founding a new club called Bloom Street. We are doing that with the intention of landing students in very competitive internships and clubs. For me, it’s been really important to see representation across campus and highly selective roles. I know the way I can do that is by giving back to what helped me my freshman and sophomore year, which is why we decided to found Bloom Street. It’s been keeping us very busy, but I think it’s very rewarding because we know that at the end, we are going to form a community for people. People could come [up to] us with questions, such as resume or networking questions. I think we forget that going into college, not a lot of people come with social capital. I came in with no social capital, which meant not knowing how to network, optimize my resume or to join clubs with intention. Being able to plant that seed early on in people’s academic career is enough for me, because I know I will be giving back. We want to see representation across the leaderboard. We want to see people who look like us in high finance, corporate and sports.

Can you tell me about your experience with the Association of Latino Professionals for America and about your leadership with the organization?

I was introduced to ALPFA in high school, and I thought it was such an amazing opportunity for Latinos to network, learn more about each other, corporate, resume building, etc. The UW-Madison chapter of ALPFA was created a few days before the start of my freshman year. This past year, they created a mentor-mentee buddy system. Like how I started, my mentee had no idea how to start with internships, job search or how to fix her resume. I was able to show her and walk her through what I had learned and what had helped me. She has an internship this summer, right after her sophomore year, so I am very proud of her. My leadership definitely comes from being exposed to so many different people. It’s grown empathy, cultural awareness and social and emotional intelligence in me.

What are your career aspirations?

If any position has these words, I would go for it: storytelling, intention and creativity. Whatever I do, I need it to have storytelling. Storytelling is the core of who I am. Being able to tell a story with intention has been another thing. I see myself in sports, at NASCAR, in FIFA, in soccer. Soccer has always been a big part of who I am and of my culture. Even being in the room at NASCAR and telling a little about who I am and being able to bring those unique, creative ideas to the storytelling and communications in NASCAR for the Chicago Street Race has meant so much. It means bringing representation into a bigger scope. If I am able to do that in a company, I would be happy.

Do you have any advice for students who want to join your field?

For my fellow Badgers, I want to give more of a motivational advice and then a technical advice. For motivation, I remember waking up at 4 a.m. during recruitment season, setting up recruitment chats or doing homework — whatever had to get done because either grades or an internship were at stake. It’s hard to time manage when there is so much going on around you, and I remember waking up at 4 a.m. thinking, “I don’t want to do this.” I had to ask myself, “how badly do I want to do this? To be in sports? To work in my dream job?” That question got me up every morning and pushed me through days of recruitment and schoolwork. The epitome of why I am here is because my parents came here for a better future for me and my siblings. So, I also had to ask myself, “why did my parents come to this country?” My technical advice is to network. Talk to anyone, not to get something from them but with intention and show who you are. Stay honest to who you are — people don’t want to hire robots!