Sean Tresvant

Executive Director, Brand Marketing, Sports Illustrated
New York City. Age: 36

As executive director of brand marketing at Sports Illustrated, Sean Tresvant manages the properties and promotions group that includes the $20 million Swimsuit and $10 million Sportsman of the Year properties, as well as the $5 million Tailgate Nation platform. He also oversees creative services, including all advertising and creative work for television, mobile, print and Internet mediums, and is in charge of editorial projects and Sports Illustrated events, such as the Sportsman of the Year and Super Bowl parties.

Tresvant attributes his success to several factors, among them, his family’s unwavering support, the fact that he has been surrounded by brilliant business minds throughout his career and college basketball, which, he says, gave him “a strong sense of teamwork. I have had great people teach me things, show me things. I have worked with some great people along the way,” he says.

But Tresvant worked hard on his own to reach where he is today. At just 36, he has more than 10 years of managerial experience, much of it racked up at The Pepsi-Cola Co., Reckitt & Benckiser and The Campbell Soup Co. He obtained both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in communications from Washington State University, and a master’s in business administration from Seattle University.

Tresvant makes time to coach his daughter’s soccer team. He and his wife also have a son. He volunteers throughout the year at soup kitchens and has worked with Habitat for Humanity. “That gives you a real warm feeling when you do stuff like that, the volunteer stuff. When you help out people who may be less fortunate, it’s always a good thing,” he says. In fact, if he had the time he would do even more in the community, such as “mentor, coach and rebuild youth,” he says.

Tresvant certainly is a high-powered player in the business world. With his generous and humble nature and youth on his side, who knows how high his star will rise?