Welcome to the newest members of the LAPS team, Lauren Smith and Samruddh Bhat.
Lauren Smith:
Firstly I’d like to say how excited I am to be joining the LAPS team. It has come at a very transitional time in my career and I’m excited for what lies ahead.
After 12 years of training full-time and travelling the globe to compete, including 2 Olympic Games, I have just retired from international badminton. With many of the attributes I developed through sport, I also bring my current experience as a transitioning athlete to the team.
My interest in media and content has grown from my own experience on social media, I began posting videos of home training, and general larking about during lockdown. I have been growing my page since then and love the connection it has given me to a wider audience, especially as badminton isn’t a widely followed sport in the UK.
I’ll be working across the LAPS platform, creating videos and blogs for our members, writing newsletters and sharing social media content. In this role, I’m most excited about connecting with athletes and sharing their stories in the hope of enthusing others to build a career alongside or after professional sport.
And if there’s anything you’d like to see from LAPS content, or if you’d like to be featured, please feel free to get in touch!
Samruddh Bhat:
Greetings to everyone!
I would like to start off by saying how grateful I am to Rob and Robbie for giving me this opportunity and I am excited to see how this new journey of mine unfolds.
Following a 10-year career as a professional cricketer and 3 years working as a strategic analyst, I moved to the UK in the September of 2022 to pursue a Masters in Sports Business and Management. I am hoping to bring the combined experience of my sporting career and educational qualifications to the LAPS team.
Like most of you, sport is my life so when I made the decision to transition, I was very particular that I wanted to do something within the sports industry. I soon realised that it wasn’t that easy because not everyone understands the qualities that an athlete can bring to the table. It was during this journey that I came across LAPS and felt an instant connection purely because of what they were striving for.
As Partnerships Manager, I will be focussing on securing placement for our members and forging Partnerships that will hopefully benefit LAPS and its members. My aim is to represent the athlete community with pride and create awareness about the benefits of hiring an athlete. If any of our members are looking for specific opportunities, please feel free to reach out to me as I would love to play a part in helping you secure your dream job.
Robbie Simpson, Managing Director on LAPS newest team members:
“We’re really excited to be adding Lauren and Samruddh to the LAPS team. We know that sports professionals make great employees, and with so much experience between them, we know they will bring great value to our team and our members.”