Jordon Rooney

Jordon Rooney is a Pittsburgh-based social media marketing expert, entrepreneur, and personal branding coach. Formerly a school speaker and professional football player, he is now CEO and creative director of the branding agency Built Different Creative. He is also CEO of the sports branding course Slash Athletes as well as personal branding coach for the Duquesne Dukes men's basketball|Duquesne Dukes men’s basketball team.
== Early Life ==
Jordon Rooney was born on January 12,1990 in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He attended Union School District (Pennsylvania)|Union High School and later went on to obtain a degree in Criminal Justice from Westminster College (Pennsylvania)|Westminster College. After college, he pursued a professional football career in Serbia, Poland, and Brazil. 
== Career ==
=== Speaking Career ===
After his professional football career, Jordon Rooney traveled the United States as a motivational speaker. He traveled to 250 schools in 17 different states. His success as a speaker led him to begin to create socially relevant content on social media. His accounts garnered over 140k followers and 20 million views. Jordon Rooney will speak about digital age branding at the 2021 TED (conference)|TEDxUNYP conference in Czech Republic. He has also won the Google Pitch Competition.
=== Never Fear Being Different (NFBD) ===
Never Fear Being Different (NFBD) is a non-profit with a mission to educate Pittsburgh youth about the power of social media and encourage them to step out of their comfort zones founded by Jordon Rooney. Vlog University is part of NFBD that teaches Pittsburgh area teens digital literacy and marketing strategy. Formally a summer program, Vlog University is now the first marketing agency fully run by high school students. In 2020, they created content for Robert Morris University and The Buhl Foundation. NFBD hosts their annual All-Star Football Game in which 70 NCAA Division I|Division 1 and NCAA Division II|Division II committed high school seniors are coached by professional and college athletes. They also participate in leadership building and branding workshops. 
=== Built Different ===
Built Different Creative is a marketing agency founded by Jordon Rooney. They work with a number of Pittsburgh based brands as well as several national brands. They were tasked with creating a commercial for Giant Eagle as well as rebranding the Pittsburgh region’s identity. In 2020, the agency was awarded the platinum AVA Digital Award, Dotcomm Creative Platinum Award, Hermes Creative Platinum Award, Dotcomm Creative Gold Award, and the Hermes Creative Gold Award. 
=== Slash Athletes ===
Slash Athletes is a sports branding course and development program that teaches athletes how to build their own personal brand. It was founded by Jordon Rooney in 2020 in response to the announcement that student athletes will now have the opportunity be compensated for their National Collegiate Athletic Association|name, image, and likeness. In March 2021, Saints John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School|Saints John Neumann and Maria Goretti High School in Philadelphia|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania signed with Slash Athletes. 
=== Personal Brand Coaching ===
In May 2021, Jordon Rooney was announced as the personal branding coach for the Duquesne Dukes men's basketball|Duquesne Dukes men’s basketball team. In this position, Rooney works one-on-one with athletes to not only help them monetize themselves, but also to teach them the power of social media. Rooney is the first personal branding coach in the country as well as the first personal branding coach for a NCAA Division I|Division 1 school. Though his formal title is Personal Branding Coach for Men's Basketball, Rooney will work with all athletes, including women's teams. Recently, Jordon Rooney was featured in articles on ESPN's sister website, The Undefeated (website)|The Undefeated, as well as Kevin Durant's sports business entity, Boardroom. 
===Jaster===
In July 2021, Rooney became the CEO of Jaster, an athlete marketing agency designed for the digital age. Jaster focuses on helping athletes build their personal brands, leveraging social media and digital marketing strategies to enhance their visibility and engagement with fans.
Category:American marketing businesspeople
Category:American entrepreneurs