{"669635":{"#nid":"669635","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Making History, and Passing on the Lessons Learned, Are All in a Day\u0027s Work for This Ivan Allen College Alumnus","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Antwan Owens, HTS 2021, signed a deal for advertisers to use his name and image in July 2021, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/2021\/07\/01\/jackson-state-antwan-owens-first-nil-endorsement-deal\u0022\u003Ehe made history\u003C\/a\u003E as the first NCAA athlete to monetize his career legally. Now, he\u0027s chalking up another first: being named as a member of Forbes\u0027 inaugural \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/forbesunder30team\/2023\/08\/09\/30-under-30-local-2023-atlanta\/?sh=e323acc662db\u0022\u003E30 Under 30 Atlanta list.\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOwens, 24, was highlighted for his company, The Owens Group Consulting. Through it, he uses his experience as a student-athlete navigating the murky financial waters of endorsement deals, limited liability corporations, and taxes to help others ink deals and do the same.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A lot of these guys are young, and this is their first time in the world of business,\u0022 Owens said. \u0022So, they just look for that guidance, and I try to provide it for them.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ncaa.org\/sports\/2021\/7\/9\/name-image-likeness.aspx\u0022\u003EName, Image, and Likeness (NIL)\u003C\/a\u003E contracts are a new generation of endorsement deals, and Owens\u0027 work reflects that in the companies he chooses to work with. While some might assume athletes work with traditionally sports-related brands such as Nike or Under Armour, Owens connects his clients with artificial intelligence and technology companies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Georgia Tech definitely sparked my interest in technology and how technology interacts with the world itself,\u0022 Owens said. \u0022But I would say the other half is just being young and innovative because tech is a part of our generation and our era. It has been ingrained in every aspect of our daily lives.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOwens focuses on ownership for the athletes he works with, helping them invest in the startups they partner with and thus have a say in the companies\u0027 future.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We want to bring something to the table that\u0027s innovative rather than just being a model or brand ambassador,\u0022 Owens said. \u0022We\u0027re able to have leverage in terms of talking to these companies and seeing where we can fit in in terms of percentage or equity so that we\u0027re actually tied into the company, and we have the best interests of not only ourselves but the partnering company as well,\u0022 he explains.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOwens graduated from the Ivan Allen College with a degree in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/undergraduate\/major\u0022\u003EHistory, Technology, and Society,\u003C\/a\u003E which he says is \u201csomething I use every day.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring his time in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of History and Sociology,\u003C\/a\u003E Owens discovered a passion for studying geographical data and analyzing the demographic breakdown of areas. Coming from Tallahassee, Florida, a city with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/wfsu.org\/nsbw\/choiced-out-in-florida-how-decisions-on-education-affect-communities\u0022\u003Eone of the most segregated school districts\u003C\/a\u003E in the state, Owens said he appreciates the importance of education and, even more critically, passing it along to others. That\u0027s the core of what he does with his work.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The deals that these guys are closing and the money they\u0027re seeing now, if they invest it the right way, it can set them up even before their professional aspirations. It\u0027s something that they can use right now to put them in a better position later, whether it\u0027s them opening up their own businesses or organizations or anything of that sort,\u0022 Owens said. \u0022So I think it\u0027s important that they understand the tools and the parameters of everything they\u0027re getting into, and then from there, they can make an educated decision on every move they make afterward.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMeet more \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/alumni\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Efeatured alumni\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E in the School of History and Sociology!\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EWhen Antwan Owens, HTS 2021, signed a deal for advertisers to use his name and image in July 2021, \u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ehe made history\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E as the first NCAA athlete to monetize his career legally. Now, he\u0027s chalking up another first: being named as a member of Forbes\u0027 inaugural \u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E30 Under 30 Atlanta list.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Antwan Owens, HTS 2021, made history as the first NCAA athlete to monetize his career legally. Now, he\u0027s chalking up another first: being named as a member of Forbes\u0027 inaugural 30 Under 30 Atlanta list."}],"uid":"35766","created_gmt":"2023-09-13 14:47:08","changed_gmt":"2025-01-14 18:46:49","author":"dminardi3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-09-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-09-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671690":{"id":"671690","type":"image","title":"Owens in Times Square on the day he signed his NIL deal","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAntwan Owens, center, poses in Times Square on the day he signed his NIL deal.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1694617048","gmt_created":"2023-09-13 14:57:28","changed":"1694704862","gmt_changed":"2023-09-14 15:21:02","alt":"Antwan Owens posing with two men from the company that endorsed him in front of a sign in Times Square about the deal.","file":{"fid":"254795","name":"Untitled design - 2023-09-13T095435.584.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/09\/13\/Untitled%20design%20-%202023-09-13T095435.584.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/09\/13\/Untitled%20design%20-%202023-09-13T095435.584.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2389272,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/09\/13\/Untitled%20design%20-%202023-09-13T095435.584.png?itok=5GDHZ9nJ"}}},"media_ids":["671690"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1288","name":"School of History and Sociology"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:dminardi3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EDi Minardi\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["dminardi3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}