Meet Frances Garcia, Chief Growth Officer & Athlete Relations

As a former Division I women’s volleyball player at Gonzaga University, Garcia has first-hand knowledge of how laborious transitioning from a high-level collegiate athlete one day to a regular college graduate the next can be.

Reality set in. She did not have the outlet she had leaned on to since age 10 anymore. She had to start looking for another career, another path to blaze.

Maneuvering through the post-college years, after several entry-level sales and administrative roles, Garcia finally landed a corporate position that kickstarted her marketing career. With her head always on a swivel, like a savvy entrepreneur and veteran athlete, Garcia began consulting and assisting startups and small businesses, to improve her social media and growth marketing knowledge.

Within that 10-year span, Garcia embraced the journey leading her to Postseason.

“With the loss of the game, I went through a tough period of transition of who I was and how to find myself,” Garcia admitted. “As I went through my journey and the process of going the corporate route, I found my love and passion for marketing. Leading me to  become an entrepreneur along with my corporate life.” 

Born and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles, Garcia fell in love with sports at a young age. She played various recreational sports, but it wasn’t until playing for a competitive boys' basketball league that she found her love for sports' competitiveness, camaraderie, and community. As a middle schooler, her interest and participation in sports grew. She attended numerous UCLA volleyball and basketball events with her family, where she not only wanted to play like the men and women she adored on the court, but aspired to be a role model off of the court for younger generations. That was the moment she committed to becoming a D-I Athlete. 

“I knew I would be the first in my family to accomplish this goal,” Garcia said. “In my Mexican and Filipino household, we celebrated competition and pride. I hoped, one day, that I could be an inspiration for young women the same way the players before me did. Back then, becoming a D-I collegiate athlete was the goal, but now I’m an executive running a sports company that empowers other athletes like me. This is the dream that I am living. It is important that I ensure Postseason succeeds because I want young women and young girls to look at me and say, ‘Hey, I can and want to do that one day.’ And commit to their journey, which they won’t be doing alone.”

Although earning a Bachelor of Business Administration and Management degree from Gonzaga was personally a great accomplishment, she was the first in her family to achieve such a feat; Garcia still struggled emotionally, physically, and mentally with the loss of the game that she so dearly coveted throughout her childhood and young adulthood.

“When my time was up, and I had to walk away, I felt very alone,” Garcia said. “Throughout the years, I watched my friends and teammates transition through life in all different ways. It felt like I was in a movie where my life was moving slowly, and everyone was moving as fast as the people who walked around New York City. I was really just floating through life into any space that felt good at the time, which ultimately wasn’t the best or healthy for me. From my POV, many of my friends and teammates' journeys appeared seamless. They were start their careers, they were finding relationships, getting married, traveling the world, and building their families, which was great. But I felt like I was still stuck in this slow-playing movie, unsure when I would find that spark again. After a life-changing event, I woke up and was in my 30s. I realized I had been absent for a long time.”

Through period of time, hitting several bumpy and winding roads, Garcia was able to pave a path for herself as a creative professional and a growth marketer. She took her corporate and agency experience, coupled with her sports background, to identify opportunities that would utilize her in developing business strategies, creating programs, and building teams for small businesses, nonprofits, and startups. 

Joining Postseason in January 2022 as the Director of Athlete Relations, Garcia and CEO Jelani Jenkins found a common ground working in a space for purpose versus a space for profit.

Six months later, Garcia was promoted to Chief Growth Officer.

“Finding Postseason, as much as Jelani will give me credit, has given a lot more back to me,” Garcia said. “Once I tapped in, everything started to align. ‘Frances’ was back, and the slow-playing movie ended.”

Garcia will earn a Master of Business Administration degree from the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School in April 2023. She found a passion for serving others and her community as a Strategic Marketing and Communications Director as well as leading their Youth Programming, for the non-profit organization It’s Bigger Than Us, based out of Los Angeles. The non-profit aims to provide health and educational resources for underserved communities of Los Angeles. She credits two of her three role models, tennis player Serena Williams and former UCLA and USA women’s soccer player Lauren Holiday for breaking barriers and how she has been defining her path as of late.

Something that she hopes to carry on.

“Serena is not only a tennis player but also a mother and an entrepreneur,” Garcia said. “Her athletic accolades are incredibly impressive, but when you have the world’s microscope on you at all times and can still accomplish what she has done outside of tennis, that is beyond what words can describe. The way that she poured her thoughts, feelings, and heart into everything that she did without letting the world define her, I will always use as a north star. “As far as someone who I admire and had the pleasure of witnessing her greatness in person is Lauren Holiday. She is an incredible human, a woman of faith, mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and athlete who advocates for humans worldwide and does it with grace and a heart of gold. Her level of empathy is unmatched. I try to model my life after the combined inspiration of the two of them.”

To work, elevate, and empower one another, Garcia and Postseason hope to create the right space to allow female and collegiate athletes to venture into new horizons beyond the game. 

Something that her first role model and boss ingrained in her at an early age.

“Most importantly, I have to give my mom the credit she deserves,” Garcia said. “She will always be my role model. I wouldn’t be here without her. She gave me my athletic talent and taught me to work hard. I also want to credit my dad, an incredibly honorable and hard-working individual, but since this is Women’s History Month, my mom needs her flowers. I have always looked up to my mom. Being the only girl of four boys was tough, but she made sure I could hold my own.  My mom was my first boss, coach, and best friend. I wouldn't change anything through the good or the bad.”

Connect with Frances on LinkedIn!