Upper St. Clair graduate finds niche with Penguins
Cassandler Wangler admits her job is like a dream come true.
As a lifelong fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins, it’s only natural the 2017 graduate of Upper St. Clair High School would feel that way. After all, she is an inside sales representative for the NHL team.
“I realize for so many people their dream is to one day be able to work their way up to working for their hometown sports team,” Wangler said. “I was given that opportunity right out of college.”
Wangler, 23, really didn’t know what her next step was going to be upon graduating from USC.
“I took a gap year between high school and college,” Wangler explained. “I didn’t want to go to college and take a bunch of classes in a specific major, then switch a couple years later.”
Eventually, she settled on Point Park University’s Sports, Arts & Management program. At first, Wangler wanted to focus on the program’s entertainment aspect — she was involved with some of the musicals at USC. However, that changed once she got a summer internship with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021.
“I was there and thought I might actually prefer sports over entertainment,” Wangler said. “It’s such a fun atmosphere to be working for a sports team when there are fans that are so passionate about it. I love the environment of being in a sports arena or park.”
While at Point Park, she even did some volunteer work making cold calls to sell tickets for Pirates and the Penguins games, which she found to be invaluable preparation for a job in sales.
“It’s giving you real-world experience,” Wangler said. “The hardest part of sales is people turning you down. It builds so much confidence getting on the phone and having a conversation knowing you’re really not an expert and your eyes are opened a little bit wide.”
The 2022 graduate of Point Park University eventually interned with the Penguins in the spring of that year. She began her job with the team in July.
“I love it so much,” Wangler said. “It was unbelievable. It was just such an amazing opportunity to have. That confirmed that I wanted to go into sports.”
Wangler’s typical day is spent making calls and sending emails to different leads. She also gives tours to people who might be interested in purchasing some sort of ticket package. She said she averages about 100 calls a day.
“My favorite part of my job is that I get to talk to people who are just as passionate about the Penguins as I am,” Wangler said.
Something Wangler found very helpful was participating in the National Collegiate Sports Sales Championships in 2021 in Atlanta. She placed seventh out of 64 contestants, many from much bigger schools than Point Park.
“It was a sales role play competition,” Wangler said. “It was fun. I loved the environment and loved the sales process that we were working with.”
It’s all led to a dream job for Wangler.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “I’m still very much a fan of the Penguins, but now I feel I’m a part of them, a part of the organization. It’s very interesting, but it’s so much fun. It’s a cool job to have and to be able to tell people, I work for the Penguins.”