Kyle Kaminski - Resilience Through Change

The only absolute in life is change. A funny premise that you have probably heard before, yet time and again remains true. Some changes come at exactly the right moment like a prayer fulfilled. We are grateful for the positive changes when they come upon us. Yet, as you already know all too well, change can be an overwhelming mess we never predicted, pondered, or prepared for. In minor shifts and major upheavals, we are faced with the negativity of change. As humans, we naturally resist change. We like what we know, and we want to fight to keep it, even if the change might be better.

Whether we like it or not, ask for it or not, change is coming. There is only so much resistance that a person can do. Most people will fight against a change until they are 100% in agreement that the change is better than their current circumstance, and even then, they still aren’t satisfied. There are best practices to navigate change and truly thrive through the process, but for some people the best they can do is soften the blow.

It’s in these moments of change, specifically the more stressful changes, we learn more about ourselves. In the simplest terms, we learn more about what we like and dislike. Beyond that, we uncover strengths we didn’t know we had, and improve upon our weaknesses that we have ignored or let be. It is not the avoidance of change that makes us better, but rather the resilience through change that allows us to come out stronger than we were before.

Kyle Kaminski is a talented young professional and a great friend to many, and he has lived a life of unique changes. Some of these changes have been blessings, while others have been mountains to climb. And yet, through it all, Kyle found a way. He embraced the changes, and after every setback and hurdle, he found a way to learn. He found a way to survive. He found ways to be better and better, and soon would welcome change as a challenge. Through it all, he stayed resilient. He worked hard, seized the right moments, and never let the bad times keep him down.

Not to discount any of Kyle’s upbringing, or any of the hardships early on in his life – ranging from the deaths of loved ones to switching schools more than once – the changes that directly led Kyle where he is today began in his time at Ohio University. When Kyle wasn’t studying, or having fun, he was a member of the wrestling team. If you are reading this and have ever wrestled, or know someone in the wrestling community, you are aware that it is a sport that breeds passion in all who come close to it. Writing this as a non-wrestler who has seen Kyle’s dedication to the sport, I can only attempt to understand the depth of it. It was a lifelong quest of Kyle’s to be the best wrestler he could be. Until it wasn’t.

Some changes are hard to accept, but Kyle reached a point in his life that this passionate spark of his sport had faded. What used to be the highlight of his day became something he dreaded. The motivation to win became a motivation to just get by. Being a college athlete is a major commitment on your schedule, your body, and your lifestyle. After many years, Kyle reached a mental breaking point, and he was ready to hang it up. The spark wasn’t gone entirely, but it was no longer enough to satisfy him. Going through these great demands while feeling the passion slip away led to a dark period. Feeling that darkness stemming from something that used to produce such light made it even harder on Kyle. It was almost as if his sport was betraying him; or worse, that he was betraying his sport, and all of the people who pushed him along the way.

Kyle thought he was being strong by staying with the program. He didn’t want to quit on the sport he loved, one that both he and his family had committed so much time and energy towards. Further, he was receiving a significant scholarship towards his education thanks to the sport. How could he justify walking away from something that would have such an impact on his future? Over time, Kyle came to see that he was only coping, and he could not out-will what had to be done. So, he did the bravest thing that he could do: He talked about it.

Talking about what’s bothering us is always a daunting step to take, for any person undergoing an emotional hardship. For Kyle, he was additionally burdened with the aforementioned guilt of leaving the sport he spent his whole life committed to, along with the fear of talking to his coach who had been a tough authority figure in his life for years. Kyle spent weeks worrying about what reaction he might face from his coach (let alone from his team that he grew to know and love). When the two sat down to talk, Kyle was pleasantly surprised to be met with nothing but kindness.

His coach knew something had been different about Kyle, and that the same excited kid he recruited a few years prior seemed like a stranger now. When they sat down to talk, Kyle’s worries of that initial conversation were lifted as he received compassion, not anger. Saying how he felt to the person with the power to help him was freeing. And not only did he have the power, Kyle’s coach used that power to truly help.

Kyle’s two biggest fears of walking away from wrestling were his connections to the team and his scholarship. His coach had an idea to alleviate both of those worries. Kyle was offered a chance to stay with the team as an assistant: He would help keep score at meets, run the team’s social media, travel with the team, and stay connected to the sport and his people. And he would keep his scholarship money.

This change in Kyle’s life was not easy, but in the end, it was positive. In this moment, you may argue that the resilient thing to do would have been to “tough it out,” and you can choose to believe that. But for Kyle, that would have been resilience for wrestling, not resilience for himself. Instead of continuing down the path that he was “supposed to” be on, Kyle initiated the change for a new path forward. A better path forward. Because he spoke his feelings, and was met with a compassionate solution, Kyle was able to turn his hardship into a great opportunity. That is resilience.

Something I have yet to mention about this opportunity is that Kyle majored in Sports Management. Now he would have collegiate staff experience on his resume. With that experience, he was able to secure an internship. And then another. And then another. Kyle’s leap of faith away from college wrestling began a career trajectory that directly led him to his current position on the sales team with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kyle has worked for the Cavs since May of 2019 and is currently on his fifth position of increasing responsibility within the sales organization. In that time, Kyle has worked hard to study the ins and outs of his product offering and partner with clients to provide an engaging experience at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. While it may sound like Kyle has it made in the shade, his tenure with the Cavs has included disruption, it has included change.

Have you heard about a little thing called COVID-19? Well, without going into too much detail, the global pandemic put a stop to a lot of our regularly scheduled activities. Restaurants were closed, people worked from home, and things like hand sanitizer and toilet paper were out of stock in stores everywhere. There was one other majorly affected part of society that specifically hit Kyle close to home. During the height of COVID-19, the NBA shut down, and fans were not allowed to attend basketball games. Kyle had no product to sell.

What does a salesperson do when their product is literally cancelled? This is not a situation anyone in sales wants to face, no matter what the product is. It is not a situation Kyle was prepared for, but it is one he had to face. This sudden change had an immediate impact on Kyle’s life.

In no particular order, there were three main impacts for Kyle. First, any new clients that Kyle had been working with were now in limbo. He didn’t want to lose the relationship he had with them, but at the time there was no way to move the sale forward. A lot of time and effort now felt wasted, with no clear solution. Second, there were the existing clients who already paid good money and now couldn’t watch any games. Most were understanding and willing to wait (they would still receive credit for their money spent on future games), others needed their money refunded, and a select few thought Kyle was personally at fault for this situation. There is nothing quite like being blamed for something that is out of your hands. Third, and most personally to Kyle, his income was affected. Working for commission is truly the best of times, and the worst of times. And for Kyle, this was the worst of times.

As you should have hopefully guessed, since this is a story about resilience, Kyle found a way to persevere. He stayed resilient in this change, as he always has. Though Kyle would be the first to give credit to his organization’s guidance, as well as his customers’ patience, he deserves a lot of credit himself.

He kept close contact with his prospects even though he could not promise them when basketball would return. After a while, Kyle was in a position to offer great discounts on future ticket packages. He could close some sales and get down payments on a promise for future business. Of the many who did not want to commit until the NBA was back in full swing, Kyle still kept a relationship, and many of them remain his closest clients to this day.

Kyle diligently communicated with his existing customers. He let them know updates, timelines, and whatever he could to keep them informed. It didn’t make the situation perfect for anyone, but Kyle mitigated frustration through empathy, transparency, and good old fashioned people skills. Kyle showed his clients exactly what kind of representative he was, and he never told a lie nor made a promise he didn’t intend to keep.

Kyle did a great job, but he is still not a miracle worker. He was not able to have a record year of sales when basketball was off, but he still had bills to pay. Luckily, a former employer of Kyle was able to take advantage of COVID-19’s economy, and he opened a bar. You read that correctly: In a time when restaurants had to convert their business from dine-in to carry-out, someone was able to invest in the then-affordable real estate to open a bar. Of course, the way they ran their business was limited to the restrictions at the time, but the bar needed a staff, and Kyle always wanted to try bartending. And that’s what he did.

This situation was good for Kyle in two ways. First, he was able to pick up some extra cash to help him get by when money was tight. Secondly, he learned a new skill that he had fun with. He learned to mix almost any drink he was asked, a talent that many of his friends came to appreciate in the years that have followed. Hobbies are a good thing.

Pretty soon, more and more restrictions were lifted, and business at the bar took off. For a short period of time, Kyle was making more money from a few nights of bartending than selling Cavs tickets. That was until the NBA’s restrictions lifted as well. And finally, from the hardship came relief, as Kyle was able to bounce back better than ever. His resilience paid off.

It would be easy, and almost understandable, for someone like Kyle to develop a superiority complex. In the hardest of times, he found ways to adapt and win. But it never got to his head, and instead he wants to see others succeed just as he did. In his role with the Cavs, Kyle has served as a mentor to younger members of the sales organization. He helps them navigate problems early in their career, shares his strategies for success, and helps them learn the lessons in failure. He teaches them resilience.

Becoming so talented at supporting younger sales representatives, Kyle has recently been promoted to Manager of The Foundation, which is the Cavaliers’ department dedicated to recent college graduates often in their first job out of school. In fact, this is the team that Kyle joined after graduating from Ohio University, so his sales career has come full circle where he is now guiding other young professionals on the same path he began on with the Cavaliers.

With his newfound passion for helping others grow, Kyle has also been lucky enough to find a way back to his first love of sports. Combining his talents as a wrestler and a leader, Kyle joined the coaching staff at his alma mater, Padua Franciscan High School. So even though Kyle makes his living through basketball, he still finds joy in the sport of wrestling in his time, on his terms.

There’s an important reason to end on this note. For Kyle, leaving wrestling was so hard because he felt his lifelong passion become a strain on his mental health. In making the hard (but right) choice to step away, Kyle opened a new door to happiness and great career opportunities. As fate would have it, he found his way back to wrestling in another change: Moving from the mat to the sideline. And he gets to pass on his knowledge, and his resilience, to the next generation.

It’s hard to see our greatest loves become the things that hurt us most. But if you roll with the changes, stay true to yourself, and stay resilient, you may see the old love come back stronger than ever, in a whole new way.