Grad Carley leaves big PR firms behind to be his own bossSpring 2009 - By Megan Brilley
He is an entrepreneur as well as a sports public relations agent. He is a Southern Illinois University Edwardsville graduate and has helped build the careers of football players from Cincinnati to Seattle. He is Tim Carley.
Carley began his journey at SIUE in 1988, double majoring in television-radio and public relations.
“I knew I wasn’t going into the TV-R track, but it’s always good to have a backup plan,” Carley said. “My professors and advisors helped me with that.”
Riley Maynard was among Carley’s college professors. Carley said he owes much of his success to both Maynard and the university.
“The tools he gave me I still use in my 30s,” Carley said. “It’s amazing what a college education can do for a person.”
“He’s a great guy,” Maynard said. “He knows what he wants and he goes for it.”
Carley has heard through the grapevine from students at SIUE that Maynard isn’t the easiest of professors, but he believes that’s what a student needs to succeed.
“Riley’s style of teaching may not be for everyone, but it’s what I needed. Students have to understand the he had the experience and he knows what he is talking about,” Carley advised. “He never let up on me, but I always knew that he knew exactly what he was doing and knew that he was preparing me for the real world.”
When Carley graduated in May 1993 he received an internship four months later at what was then Barnes Hospital in the public relations department.
“I was able to watch it change from Barnes Hospital to Barnes-Jewish Hospital; it was a great experience and it taught me a lot,” Carley said.
Working for Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Carley was able to build contacts in the PR community. Slowly but surely, he began to work his way up the ladder when he got his next job at Saint Louis University Hospital’s public relations department where he worked for four and a half years.
From there he went to public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard and then Weber Shandwick. Although Carley had great opportunities at major PR firms, he felt something was missing.
“I got sick and tired of making money for other people,” he said. “I wanted to do something where I would be my own boss and make my own money.”
He started his own public relations business in 2002 -- TGC public relations. However, his new business would not be in the line of work he expected.
Carley decided to work as an agent for football players Shayne Graham, Josh Brown and Coren Robinson.
“I’m focused, that’s why they hired me to be their agent,” Carley explained. “The average life of a football player is three years. That’s why they need an agent to get them the best career they can get.”
Carley now has 25 clients and plans to continue growing his business.
“I plan to only get bigger and better,” Carley said.
His job is to set up meetings and interviews with the media for the players. If the media wants to speak with one of his clients, they must go through him first.
“You have to have thick skin for this business because it’s not easy,” Carley said. “At the same time, you have to know how to laugh.”
SIUE junior and Mass Communications major Amanda Villioco finds Carley inspiring.
“He came and spoke in one of my classes, and he cracked me up by constantly telling jokes,” Villioco said. “He’s funny and laid back, but, at the same time, you can tell he knows how to work hard and that he knows what he’s doing. He’s gone really far in this business, and I admire that about him.”