OUR HISTORY

Built on Relationships, Strong in Service, Focused on Results

Founded in 1995 by Manny Schmidt, and formally incorporated in 1997, Link Management began as a management firm specializing in post career transition services for professional and internationally competing amateur athletes, as they transitioned from their careers as high-performance athletes to their post athletic careers. Over the years, Link Management became one of the leading providers of personal and business branding solutions in the sports, entertainment and service sectors.

What became clear from the many career transition strategies executed on behalf of recently retired athletes, is that the majority of these athletes had not adequately prepared for or been effectively equipped to handle this transition. Thus, to better meet this increasing need, Link Management underwent a transition by introducing The Link PlayerCo Planning System™ and expanded its service offering with the formal introduction of The Link Athlete Agency in 2009, the The Link Athlete Development Division in 2013 and The Link Performance Speakers Division in 2015. This was all based on a commitment to be more effective in working with athletes on a pre, during and post athletic career basis, whereby they would be better positioned for success in sport and in life. It was from this position that Link’s core service philosophy was born, “to help our clients use sport to create success in life, rather than using life to create success in sports”.

Built on a strong base of client relationships, the team at Link has had the opportunity to work with and guide the careers of numerous professional and elite level amateur athletes, Olympians, and entertainers. They have additionally been called upon to provide event management and strategic advisory services to many corporate executives, entrepreneurs, business experts, industry leading professional speakers and best-selling authors.

Today, Link Management is a full-service agency with a growing client base in its Team Sport, iSport, Talent Management and Performance Speakers Divisions, and is being led by a dedicated team of professionals committed to delivering ‘best-in-class’ services, solutions and results.