Just a few weeks after the Green Bay Packers’ 2011 Super Bowl victory, 9-year-old Jack Bartosz of Hartland found himself face to face with star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Bartosz was battling neuroblastoma, a type of pediatric cancer, and Rodgers had recently gotten involved with the Milwaukee-based Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer Fund.
The two were introduced at a Milwaukee Wave game as part of a fundraising event for the MACC Fund. After some photos and autographs in the locker room, Bartosz and Rodgers walked hand-in-hand out onto the field to a cheering crowd.
It was a career-defining experience for
Chellee Siewert, who had orchestrated the event as the Wave’s then-vice president of marketing. What struck her most was the impact the young boy ultimately had on Rodgers.
Bartosz died in 2012 following a seven-year battle with cancer, and Rodgers would later write a column in The Players’ Tribune about their unexpected friendship, saying “his passing only strengthened my resolve to make a difference for kids battling cancer.”
“People think the kiddos are the only ones impacted when, in reality, the athletes are human, and they’re impacted as well,” said Siewert, who went on to launch Waukesha-based
Capture Sports & Entertainment in 2011 with the mission of helping athletes and entertainers use their platforms to impact lives.
The marketing firm has worked with some of the biggest names in pro sports – including Rodgers, Dwyane Wade, J.J. Watt, Pat Connaughton, Drew Brees and the late Bart Starr – to establish charitable foundations, grow philanthropic impact and develop personal brands.
To date, Capture has helped raise more than $30 million for its clients’ nonprofit organizations, which support causes ranging from cancer research to youth sports to food insecurity. Most recently, the company added Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love to its roster – which has grown to more than 25 active clients – for a season-long campaign promoting his Hands of 10ve Foundation.
Now, nearly 13 years into running Capture Sports & Entertainment as owner and president, Siewert’s ‘why’ remains the same.
“For me, there’s always that moment of when you see the athletes impacted,” she said. “That for me is my ‘why’ because they’re going to be impacted, they’re going to want to continue to do good and it just continues that circle.”
Building momentum
Siewert launched the company – then known as Capture Marketing & Events – in October 2011, shortly after leaving the Milwaukee Wave, where she spearheaded the launch of its foundation as well as a first-of-its-kind charitable jersey program.
The decision to strike out on her own was shaped by both her professional background – which also included stints at Rogers Behavioral Health, the National MS Society and the Metropolitan Builders Association – as well as her role as a mother of two.
“At the time, my kids were at an age that working for a sports team wasn’t conducive to the mom I wanted to be,” said Siewert. “I wanted to be able to take them to school, I wanted to be able to pick them up … and be there in the way that I wanted to be.”
It also helped that she came from a family of entrepreneurs. Her grandfather started four small businesses in his lifetime and her grandmother ran her own interior decorating company.
“I didn’t think it was odd that a woman owned a business because I saw my grandma do it,” Siewert said. “That was always in the back of my mind.”
Siewert’s original business plan was to work with corporations on their cause marketing strategies. But the experience working with Rodgers at the Wave had made a lasting impression, and then, just months after founding Capture, Siewert was introduced to J.J. Watt. The Pewaukee native had started his foundation while playing college football at the University of Wisconsin and, as he prepared to enter the NFL draft, he was looking to grow his impact.
Signing Watt as Capture’s first sports industry client was the “impetus,” said Siewert, for shifting focus from corporate to sports philanthropy. Capture has since worked with the now-retired Houston Texan and his Justin J. Watt Foundation to raise more than $5.4 million to fund after-school athletic programs for middle schoolers.
Part of what underpins Capture’s work is positioning professional athletes and their families for the next chapter. Whether it’s through philanthropic campaigns, corporate endorsement deals or social media strategy, developing an authentic personal brand is crucial to that, said Siewert.
Capture expanded into personal branding about three years ago after clients asked for help with building their digital footprints.
“Athletes understand they are a brand,” said Siewert. “We help them define, what is their brand and how do you continue that brand through all aspects of your life? People and corporations and potential endorsers, they want to know who you are off the field, off the court; they want to know what your values are and the fun things you love to do. And so, for us, it’s being able to find out more about them and sharing that story for them.”
Leading through learning
In Capture’s early days, Siewert intended to keep the company small, with about three or four employees, but that changed as Capture continued to attract high-profile clients.
“I can remember having lunch with one of my mentors and she said, ‘You know what, you’re working with some of the best of the best, you can grow and don’t be afraid of success,’” said Siewert.
Over the past 13 years, Capture has grown to about 20 employees. Most are stationed at the company’s Waukesha office at 2120 Pewaukee Road, with a handful working remotely from Austin, Chicago, Appleton and Washington.
As the company has expanded and evolved, so has Siewert as a leader who’s continuously learning, she said. One of the toughest, most crucial things she had to learn along the way was how to delegate.
“I always say Capture is like my third baby,” she said. “But as you grow, you need to be able to delegate and give up some of the control … and be OK with letting go. And once, I would say, I really learned that, is where we’ve seen the growth.”
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Chellee Siewert. Credit: Valerie Hill[/caption]
