Sometimes, your first career goal may not become the final one you end with. When you have your mind set on one thing, but something else pops up, it is essential to pivot and adapt.
This was most certainly the case for former Centennial College student and current Toronto Maple Leafs communications coordinator Jennifer Redenbach.
Redenbach has been with the Maple Leafs organization since 2021 as communications coordinator but previously was pursuing a goal of becoming a sports writer.
“I was doing freelance, not for too long, just kind of to get experience and see if that was what I wanted to do and get out there a little bit, network and meet people. It was a lot of fun,” Redenbach said.
However, she said something in her writing needed to be more fulfilling. She loved staying close to a single team and learning everything about them.
“I loved investing into one team and like really knowing the players, knowing their history, how they came up, knowing the front office…how the team was built, I really enjoyed that side. Media just wasn’t doing enough for me.”
Redenbach then set off to fulfil that need. She worked internships with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Argos in various media and communications roles before landing a position with the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose. She held that position from 2019 until 2021.
For her, the experience of working in that position with four other women, of which there are so few in the media relations and sports industry, was something she would cherish forever.
“Yeah, that was awesome…I think that was a great learning opportunity to feel more comfortable in that kind of work situation. So I think yeah, that was a great role and I’m lucky to know them still and still be able to bounce ideas off each other.”
While she has moved past her writing days and time working at CTV in Calgary, she still understands the importance of those previous experiences.
“It’s so interesting, like, being in a newsroom or to freelance or working with another organization that you can learn so much doing each of those roles. And I feel like one of the reasons why I’m here today is that I’m not saying no to anything like that.”
With her being only one of 17 women in the Maple Leafs organization and the only one in the media relations field, she moves forward, taking on any opportunities and challenges that may lie armed with a simple message.
“Don’t say no to any opportunity…maybe you’ll find something and love it. And you’ll be like, I want to do this for the rest of my life, that’s great, too. And that’s why we don’t say no, because you never know what you’ll find.”