The Hive Professional Development Series Begins in June

Allen University Department of Athletics and Director of Athletics Jasher Cox announces The Hive | A Five-Part Professional Development Series for over 400 Yellow Jacket student-athletes.

The five-part professional development series will take place via Zoom on Mondays this summer and will feature a different guest speaker in each session.

Open to all AU student-athletes, The Hive will provide an opportunity for key insight from some of the top professionals in various industries. Student-athletes will be able to participate in a live Q&A with the main objective of each session will be to better prepare students for life after college.

"I am so excited to bring The Hive back to our student athletes for the second consecutive summer," said Director of Athletics Jasher Cox. "This professional development series is a transformative experience for our student-athletes that work so hard to excel personally, athletically, and academically. It is our hope that hearing from various speakers will help our students understand the importance of maximizing every opportunity and resource available, which will set them up for success post-graduation."

Each part of the series will feature a different topic such as "Working in Sports Media", "Women in Sports" and "Working in Higher Education". The Hive is set to begin Monday, June 5 with Year 2 of "The Hive".

Part One - Tiffany Blackmon - June 5 at 4:30 p.m. EST

Tiffany Blackmon is a college football and XFL sideline reporter who joined ESPN in the fall of 2021. Blackmon previously spent more than five years with NFL Media as a reporter and Atlanta-based correspondent for NFL Network, contributing field reports for NFL Network's shows, including NFL Total Access, Around the NFL, Path to the Draft, NFL GameDay Morning and more.

Prior to joining NFL Media, Tiffany worked as an anchor and reporter for Comcast SportsNet Houston. Her responsibilities included covering the NBA's Houston Rockets and co-hosting their weekly All-Access show, as well as covering the NFL's Houston Texans, the University of Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor. Tiffany also served as the host of SportsNet Reports.

Blackmon also worked at the NBC affiliate KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City, where she covered the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder as well as football at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Her previous experience includes serving as Sports Director in Waco, Texas and Weekend Sports anchor at KPLC-TV in Lake Charles, La.

Born in Attleboro, Mass., and raised in Atlanta, Blackmon graduated from Georgia State University in Atlanta with a degree in journalism and telecommunications. She was a four-year letterwinner for the Panthers in women's soccer. Blackmon was recently recognized as part of the Georgia State Alumni Association's "40 Under 40" Class of 2023.

Part Two - Derek Anderson - June 12 at 5:00 p.m. EST

Anderson was born in Louisville, KY in 1973. Abandoned by his parents at the age of 10, he would find himself sleeping in empty apartment buildings, old school buses, and even his high school gymnasium. He would become a single parent at age 15, worked two jobs, but stayed focused enough to graduate with a 3.7 GPA as class president. Anderson believed that living in poverty was just a mindset and even at a young age he believed that winning was a choice, as well as losing.

He would earn a full basketball scholarship to Ohio State University and then transfer to the University of Kentucky, where he helped win an NCAA Championship in 1996. The next year, Anderson was drafted as the 13th pick in the 1997 NBA draft and became the 1st player signed to the Michael Jordan Brand, and was given his own signature shoe. With his first check from the NBA, he started his own company, DA Enterprises, and then established The Derek Anderson Foundation in 1998. The Foundation supplies resources for abused and battered women and children who are without guidance, and reintroduces young men into the workforce. In 2015, Anderson founded the Stamina foundation. The mission of the Stamina Foundation is to empower youth and young adults with the resources and life skills they need to follow their dreams.

In 2006, Anderson won a World Title with the Miami Heat, earning himself a spot on the shortlist of players to win both NCAA and NBA championships. After an 11-year NBA career, he retired in 2008. After retirement, he expanded his business and opened two hotels in Turks & Caicos, his own film studio, Loyalty Media Group, and began writing books and screenplays. In 2010, Anderson produced and directed the documentary "The Untouchables of Kentucky." In 2020, Anderson returned to UK to complete his degree in liberal studies. After being estranged from his parents for more than 24 years, Anderson went to find them both. After finding his father, he lost him 10 months later to a battle with cancer. That same year, he found his mother, who was suffering from addiction. He assisted her in her recovery, and years later, they finally had their first Christmas dinner together in over 28 years. These life events inspired him to write his autobiography and screenplay entitled, "Stamina." Anderson travels the world domestically and abroad sharing life lessons on how to stay on the right path while walking on a rough road. His message is to "Never Allow Someone's Opinion of You to Become Your Reality."

Part Three - Chantel Tremitiere - June 19 at 5:00 p.m. EST

Former WNBA player Dr. Chantel Tremitiere became a viral sensation on Tik Tok during the pandemic with her relatable personality and is the internet's "Auntie" of trick shots.

Tremitiere was born in Williamsport, PA and adopted into the family of William and Barbara Tremitiere as an infant growing up in York, PA. She has 14 brothers and sisters of differing ethnic backgrounds. She grew up playing basketball with her siblings, stating that they needed another player to make two even teams. She averaged 30 points a game in middle school and was a basketball star at William Penn High School, graduating in 1987.

She chose to attend Auburn University, where she received a full basketball scholarship. Tremitiere won 2 SEC Championships and played in 3 National Championship games while at Auburn. She earned her bachelor's degree in Marketing/Public Relations from Auburn and was then an assistant basketball coach for the Lady Tigers in 1991-92, the University of Texas in 1992-93, and UMass in 1993-96. During this time, Chantel continued her hoop dreams overseas, playing in Poland, where her play caught the attention of professional scouts.

In the 1997 WNBA draft, Tremitiere was selected as the 18th overall pick by the Sacramento Monarchs. She had her most successful season playing with the Monarchs, averaging 7.6 points and 4.8 assists while leading the WNBA with an average of 37.5 minutes per game. She also began a non-profit organization called Assist One, which broadcasts the stories of children waiting to be adopted in the Sacramento area.

The retired WNBA player is as impressive off the court as she is on it. When she left basketball, Tremitiere pursued other interests such as acting and music and can be seen in the 2002 Disney movie Double Teamed. She produced the 1999 Platinum hit "Hoody Hoo" for Master P and No Limit Records. She has also held many charity basketball games, and continues her commitment to community service, speaking for youth groups and volunteering to work with at-risk youth. She was a guest speaker at the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) 2005 annual conference in Pittsburgh as well. She then founded BLANK MiNDZ, a video and graphic production company in Atlanta, GA in 2005.

After returning to Auburn for graduate school, she completed her MBA in 2015 and her PhD in 2017 while also battling thyroid cancer. She is currently a Global Athlete Marketing Manager at NIKE.

Part Four - Naima Cochrane - June 26 at 5:00 p.m. EST

Naima Cochrane is a music industry veteran, journalist and leading voice in Black music and culture who specializes in putting Black culture in context. Naima spent more than 20 years in the entertainment industry, from culture-shifting labels Bad Boy and Arista Records, to legacy majors Columbia and Epic Records. She worked with mold-breaking acts including Beyoncé, John Legend and "Tyler the Creator" as a marketing executive. She also continues her work with Oscar-nominated, Emmy, Grammy and Tony award-winning actress and singer Cynthia Erivo, as management.

She now has her hands in and on all the things that she loves: writing, speaking, strategizing, marketing, programming and curating. Her line is that "I do a little bit of a lot," but there is a through-line in all of her work: putting Black culture in context. The "little bit of a lot" line is a semi-joke, but her creative and professional passions manifest in different ways.

She's been a regular contributing writer for Billboard and Vibe, with additional bylines in People, Essence, The Undefeated, Pitchfork, Vice, Vox and more. In 2017, Naima created #MusicSermon, a curated storytelling series on Twitter about pre-blog era Soul and Hip-Hop. The series was a viral hit, with Sunday "services" often drawing engagement from Ava Duvernay, Lin Manuel Miranda, Missy Elliot and a host of others. It tells the stories of underrepresented eras and stories of urban music in an entertaining and accessible style.

#MusicSermon transitioned Naima into journalism, and since 2018 she and/or her work have been featured in and on outlets including Billboard, Essence, and the NY Times Popcast. She's also a contributing essayist for the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap (2021). Because of her unique experience as both an industry insider and journalist, she's a sought out researcher known for deep dives and highlighting connections between past and present, and has worked with partners including Spotify, Sirius XM and LeBron James' Spring Hill Company on special and scripted projects. Naima keeps one foot on the business side of the entertainment industry through consulting, and was a lead for Empire's highly anticipated re-release of the late singer Aaliyah's catalog in 2021.

Naima is a founding board member of the Black Music Action Coalition, an advocacy organization of music managers and lawyers formed in the wake of George Floyd's tragic murder in 2020 to address systemic racism within the music business and beyond. In 2021, she authored the inaugural Music Industry Action Report Card, a first-of-its-kind public accounting which assigned music companies a grade for their work reinvesting in the executives, artists and communities who drive the most popular genre in the world.

Naima is based in NYC, where she weaves riveting threads as a Twitter raconteur and teaches herself how to DJ.

Part Five - TBD - July 10 at 5:00 p.m. EST