SPORTS STAR

A conversation with Meg Stewart, Division 1 soccer player-turned-sports and talent agency president

- BRANDON FRIEDERICH

“I just don’t have it in me to quit. I’ve always been willing to take risks, take chances. And I was never really scared of much.” This statement reflects the mind frame that might propel an athlete to the peak of their game or drive an ambitious young professional to step off the corporate ladder and create their own company. The speaker, Meg Stewart, has done both. The president and co-founder of Los Angeles–based Hour 1 Talent & Sports was telling Maxim about her decision to continue playing goalkeeper for the Southern Methodist University Mustangs after undergoing surgeries on her shoulders. Immediately after her four-year NCAA Division 1 soccer career concluded, Stewart put her film degree to good use, working in various capacities for power players such as filmmakers Richard Donner and Lauren Shuler Donner, J.J. Abrams and Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber. In part, it was her proximity to Guber, who also coowns the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Football Club, that spurred her back into the sports arena. There, she leveraged her combined experience in athletics and film production to climb the ranks at multiple agencies before eventually founding her own.

Tell us what makes you stand out among other sports managers.

I was a player, and I’ve worked at an agency, a management company and production companies in film and TV. I’ve got a 360-degree background that covers all parts of the entertainment industry. There are very few people, let alone females, who have done all that, but I hope that changes. It’s gotten better as I’ve gotten older, but when I was getting into the industry, there weren’t that many of me.