The GAIT Way

DC’s Top Image Architect Brands the Political Athlete

Inside the GAIT

Sitting at a brown whicker high-table on the patio of Barcode restaurant in Farragut North, Michael Hardaway shifts between two smart phones, seamlessly conducting the flow of calls, emails and text messages from clients and partners like a seasoned maestro— any professional athlete wanting to make their mark in Washington’s policy driven culture goes to him.

The Chicago native is a brand architect. He has developed one of the strongest personal brands in DC, and has taken his skills, combined with his corporate and political acumen, to push the policy and charitable initiatives of his clientele of athletes.

Perched behind his signature designer shades, the 29 year old Founder and CEO of Cavenger Image Architects (CIA), takes an intermission from his symphony of information to share with Inside the GAIT the philosophy behind his personal brand and his firm’s mission to help athletes change people’s lives.

Inside the GAIT: So I think you have one of the strongest personal brands in D.C. How would you describe it?

Michael Hardaway: Timeless and aggressive (big laugh). I like to win, and so I think my brand projects victory.

I think my ability to cultivate a brand as someone who’s exceptionally driven has gone a long way in my ability to ascend in both the corporate and political sectors. People want to work with [someone] who is both intelligent and affable. I think if you can retain both of those qualities, you’ll be extremely successful in whatever you choose to do.

GAIT: You wear the iconic Cornell West black suit everyday. What’s your inspiration for that?

MH: I love black. Black is my color. Every individual has a color that’s theirs. You have to wear what fits you. It’s just like athletes. Each athlete has to find a cause that fits them. Each man wears a suit that fits him and identifies with him.

GAIT: DC isn’t known for people being intentional about their appearance. Why do you think that is?

MH: I think it’s something that needs to be learned. It’s just like anything else, like financial literacy, right. Everyone’s not born with financial literacy. You have to learn how to do it. It’s the same thing with style, the same thing with your image. You have to learn it. No ones born with it.

GAIT: What advice would you give to people about developing their own brand?

MH: You have to first figure out what you want in life. How you want people to view you, and figure out what the steps are to get to that end. When you figure out what that is, then you can sit back and figure out image wise how you want to project yourself. You know it’s not just the way you dress. It’s the way you walk, and the way you sit, the way you speak. Everything has to come together and be believable… It’s currency in a lot of ways. In terms of the relationships that you have and your ability to get things done. It’s a vital component of [professional growth].

GAIT: So tell me how you got in the business of representing athletes in the political realm?

MH: I worked in public relations at Golin Harris, which is one of the largest PR firms in the world, in their corporate communications practice. I also worked on the Hill in a press capacity, and on the historic 2008 Obama Presidential Campaign and the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team. So those experiences gave me a breadth of capabilities in terms of building narratives and driving those narratives to polish an image for a specific individual. In those instances it was for politicians and corporate executives, and in this capacity it’s for athletes.

Of course I’m a huge sports fan, too. I also realize these guys have a window to change people’s lives, and it’s typically a brief window. So I wanted to lend my skills and my abilities to help them leverage that to improve their lives and the lives of as many people as they could while that window is open.

GAIT: What exactly is it that you do?

MH: We turn athletes into global icons. We identify athletes who have a wider awareness of the branding possibilities their profession affords them and we help them realize that potential on a global scale. We help them figure out their long term goals for the next 5, 10, 15 years and we help build a narrative behind that. Everything he does for the next 5 to 15 years is built around driving to that end.

We’re building a comprehensive image machine. A comprehensive branding strategy includes public policy, it includes traditional charity work, it includes informing fans at a deeper level about what they’re doing and how that compares to their peers, how that compares on an historical level.

GAIT: What are some of the issues that your clients get involved in?

MH: A great example is diabetes. A lot of players are deeply involved in the fight against diabetes, and it’s primarily because they have family members that have diabetes, or it runs in their families. And so it’s a spirited issue for them to do whatever they can to leverage their image to eradicate that disease.

GAIT: What makes an athlete unique, in say, fighting diabetes?

MH: I think they’re the best advocates in many ways. I think the visual first of all helps a lot, right. The initial visual of this athlete who has incredible strength, stays in shape, eats healthy and lives healthy, that’s a great example of how one could live to mitigate the chances of getting diabetes. So you have that initial image and then you have the athlete informing himself and deeply studying the issue and discussing that with his fans and with constituents. It helps galvanize people behind that particular issue.

Case in point. There are 26 million Americans with diabetes. Nineteen million Americans are aware that they have diabetes, and 7 million are unaware that they have diabetes. And so the biggest problem lies in the 7 million Americans who are unaware that they have diabetes. If athletes can be an advocate in informing those individuals to get tested if it runs in your family, inform yourself and know what the risks are and know how you can mitigate that, that makes all the difference.

GAIT: How does that tie-in with the policy arena?

MH: It’s a great marriage between athletes and public policy figures. It takes the legislative effort, it takes the effort of the government to expand access to certain programs and increase funding for them. And it also takes public awareness of these issues, and athletes are unique in creating awareness and getting a groundswell of support behind these issues

We work with the Administration in several capacities where it makes sense to partner athletes with different Administration initiatives and help get the word out. I think it’s a fantastic and admirable program the First Lady has put together [on obesity]. She has that initiative, the NFL has “Play 60” and the NBA has “NBA Fit”, which are their health initiatives. And I think it’s incredible.

GAIT: You mentioned diabetes. What are some of the other issues that your clients are passionate about?

MH: Well obesity, which goes hand-in-hand with diabetes. That’s a huge issue for a lot of athletes. They’re very concerned about children and their ability to stay involved, stay active, stay fit. Cancer is also a primary issue for a lot of guys. They have family members who have died from cancer or suffer from cancer. Those are the three largest ones.

I would say education is also something that’s very important to a lot of athletes as well. You know a lot of them may come from school districts that don’t have the most financial governmental support, and now that they have this ability and this platform to advocate for better opportunities for others, a lot of them have taken that opportunity to go forth and try to improve the lives of those who live in the area they came from.

GAIT: What do you enjoy most about what you do?

MH: I love it! First of all I love being able to work with these guys and help them change people’s lives. When you’re working with an athlete, maybe cancer is his big issue, so you brief him on what the situation is and what he can do. And he may be at some event and meet some kid who has cancer. And the reaction that kid has to the athlete is priceless. Absolutely priceless. I would say that’s easily the best part of this job.

(Originally posted on Inside the GAIT)

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Cheers,

-ASG