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For Andrew Petcash, athletics has always been an essential part of his life. From an early age, Petcash was involved in multiple team sports but found his passion in basketball. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Petcash attended games at the University of Pittsburgh and had a goal from a young age of playing collegiate basketball. Through his dedication and discipline in high school, he was offered a scholarship to Boston University to play basketball.
Throughout his time at Boston University, Petcash was a 2x Academic Honor roll student and part of the 2020 team that won the Patriot League Championship. Although he accomplished a lot on the court, he looks back at his time at BU with gratitude for what sports taught him about life, specifically about handling adversity. Petcash recalls, “my first day showing up to the school playing pickup, I broke my wrist. For my freshman year I was gonna be out, basically, the whole preseason and to have never really been hurt before either, I was going through an injury for the first time.” This injury showed Petcash that everything wouldn’t always go the way that he wanted, but he could get through hard times and take away important lessons. As Petcash finished his athletics career at Boston University he left with many lessons about life that would help him launch his next passion with Profluence.
Petcash’s athletics career came to an abrupt ending as he graduated in 2021, the year that COVID-19 canceled March Madness and all athletic events. It can be a difficult transition from college athletics to the working world since many athletes feel like they lost their passion. For Petcash, it was important that he stayed in the sports industry and followed another interest of his in finance. As NIL came into the landscape of college athletics, Petcash saw a large opportunity to educate athletes about the possibilities of NIL. With Profluence, Petcash began to put out threads about athletes to use them as examples of what they did business-wise.
Over time, Profluence has grown and Petcash has been able to interact with and educate many people in the industry. From the start, having an impact was a large part of the purpose behind the work Petcash was doing. He states, “I’m trying to impact. I don’t know what 14-year-old kid is gonna see my content, watch a podcast or see something. They might become the next big athlete, but athletes aren’t just athletes now, they might give back to the community or start a business that impacts the entire world, you just don’t know. So to me, I have a small impact on how that all plays out.” There are many overlaps between athletics and the professional world, but one of the biggest similarities is the importance of impacting and giving back to others. Whether it is doing something for his teammates, or pushing content to give value to someone else’s perspective or life, Petcash has always valued the impact he can have on others.
When looking at the future for Profluence, Petcash sees impacting others as the best way to grow the brand. With where the brand is now, Petcash has his sights set on impacting as many athletes, founders, and investors in the sports industry as he can. There are many exciting opportunities for Profulence coming down the road, but Petcash will get the brand there by focusing on his goals and executing each day.
From his college career to the growth of Profluence, Petcash has never lost sight of how athletics helped shape who he is. He speaks a lot about how “sports teach discipline and consistency.” For Petcash that was about how he trained and improved in sports, “my off day in basketball was 15 minutes of ball handling a day or 10 minutes of form shooting, it was never really an off day. Now to apply that to the business world to say, yeah, it’s Saturday and I’m gonna have more rest, and I might not have video meetings, but I’m gonna still do something small to be a little bit ahead.” It’s these lessons that Petcash took away from being a student-athlete that have given him the platform and opportunity to give back to the athletics community with Profluence.
Athletes spend lots of time perfecting their craft and working to become better players or teammates. Although athletics is a big part of many people’s lives, it is not the defining characteristic of an individual. Petcash speaks to the importance of identifying what you really like outside of your sport. In general, Petcash believes that the lessons learned in athletics are great building blocks for the rest of your life. He explains, “if I want to get better at basketball, I knew I had to be in the weight room doing XYZ, I knew I had to be in the gym doing XYZ, right? I had my plan and I attacked it, so when you’re transitioning, you got to say, I’m not doing basketball anymore, football, soccer, whatever it is, but I’m building this business, I’m working for this company, I’m building this brand. You have to say, if I do XYZ every day, the big picture will come together and you just have to lay it down and be clear.” The importance of attacking a plan and being disciplined towards your goals is one of the biggest traits athletics teaches. As you transition out of athletics, it is important to lean on those lessons and traits that you learned through your sport. Over Petcash’s journey, he has attacked his goals with a purpose based on what he was passionate about, and he implores athletes to do the same.
Game Plan’s comprehensive software platform integrates mobile-first eLearning as well as virtual mentorship and career services, uniquely designed for athletic organizations. Game Plan works with 875+ athletic departments and organizations with over 240,000 courses completed yearly. Our eLearning courses provide student-athletes ultimate access and flexibility while equipping both athletics departments and the conference office management tools and insight to ensure outstanding experiences and outcomes. To learn more about Game Plan, please visit wearegameplan.com.
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