What would make a person leave their dream job? It’s a daunting decision, as Melissa Menta knows.
In 2023, Menta left her managerial role in player operations in the NFL to begin law school.
“If you would have told 22-year-old me that I was going to leave this job, I’d be like, ‘You’re crazy,'” she says. “I had made it — why would I ever want to leave?”
The journey to—and from—the NFL
From gymnastics and soccer to lacrosse and track, Menta has participated in sports as long as she can remember.
At the same time, “I always knew I wanted to do something in business,” the 32-year-old says. “So, when I learned that I could intersect that with something I really love, like sports, I was like, there’s no other way; that’s what I want to do.”
After earning her degree in sports management from NYU, she got a job in player operations at the NFL in 2016, working on player content development and marketing. She was promoted three times in seven years, she says, overseeing a team of four by the time she left.
Working at the NFL was a great experience, Menta says, but she also increasingly felt her job entailed reactively solving problems rather than proactively “shaping how things were going to look,” she says. “I was feeling a little unfulfilled intellectually.”
Menta, who considers herself positive and energetic, says she felt her disposition at work change. “When I started to feel my energy dip, I was like, maybe something needs to shift,” she says.
Despite having gone to multiple Super Bowls, her favorite event was the annual owners’ meetings. “I loved being around the decision-makers,” she says, “and I realized those are the rooms I want to be in.”
Melissa Menta quit her dream job in player operations at the NFL to go to law school.
Melissa Menta
She had a conversation with a successful woman at the NFL who had a law degree and recommended Menta pursue one too. “It’s an immediate credential that you have in your corner,” Menta says, which she says seemed especially valuable as a woman in a male-dominated industry like sports. Many league commissioners and other prominent executives in sports have legal backgrounds, she adds.
“I kept finding myself in rooms where the lawyers were the ones driving the decisions, not just advising on them,” Menta says. “I felt like I already had the business acumen and the institutional knowledge, but I didn’t have the legal framework to actually be an influential decision-maker.”
Law school, she says, would help her hone her critical analysis abilities, draft airtight documents, negotiate the rules that govern how sports organizations operate and more, all of which she hoped would ease a return to sports one day.
“I felt like those are skills I didn’t have,” she says, so, “I was like, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s go down this path.'”
‘The time to take a risk’
Menta had some hesitations. She felt she had a good shot at continued career advancement if she stayed at the NFL, she says, and wondered: “Do I leave that for something that is potentially great?”
A few questions helped her decide to make the leap. For one, she says she asked herself: “Do I really see myself doing this particular job for the rest of my career?” The answer was no. She also asked herself what she’d regret more, staying or leaving, and what was really holding her back. As a single woman who didn’t have kids or own a home, she says it was “the time to take a risk.”
The adjustment to law school was challenging. She initially felt behind compared to many students who were younger or had prior law experience, she says, and she had to get back into the rhythm of student life after years of full-time work.
“My head was spinning,” Menta says. “There were a couple of moments where I’m like, ‘Am I in above my head?'”
Through her doubts, she says she tried to remember, “I was going to grow and learn so much over these three years of law school that there’s no way I would be worse off at the end.”
Her No. 1 tip for career changers
Menta’s best advice for anyone weighing a career change, based on her experience making a pivot, is to talk with “people who’ve seen around the corner already.”
“I needed to seek advice from people who have done something similar,” she says, noting the impact of the female mentor figure who inspired her to go to law school. “There are so many people who are successful in their careers [who] love paying it forward and giving advice and guidance, as long as you just reach out and ask.”
If you’re considering a switch, “trust your gut,” Menta says. “If you’re thinking about it, there’s a reason.”
Menta is slated to start a job in corporate law after graduating in May. Though the position doesn’t immediately have a sports tie-in, she hopes to return to the industry one day, ideally in a leadership position.
“I say I left my dream job, but I’m taking a little hiatus from my dream job,” she says. “The goal is always to get back to sports.”
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