Booker T. Washington Grad 'Proving The Possible' In Male-Dominated Profession

Nicole Lynn is a rising star in the male-dominated field of sports agents, but her way to the top hasn't been easy.

"See, many times you have to believe in yourself more than others believe in you," she said.

Lynn was the commencement speaker at her alma mater of Booker T. Washington this year.

"I could have never imagined a little over 10 years ago when I sat in their seat that I would be the speaker," Lynn said.

She has the credentials - currently one of only a few minority female agents licensed by the NFL Players Association, working for Young Money Sports Agency.

It's a profession she said she has to prove herself daily.

"Your credibility is questioned every single day. And then it's also this aspect of having to navigate a male-dominated industry that really doesn't want women in.  They take it almost as a joke," she said.

She's not a joke - she has 10 clients in the NFL, including familiar names to Big 12 fans. She knew in college this is what she wanted to do.

"I watched a lot of athletes come from the same background that I did, rags, and then go to riches, and then they end up back at rags, but the agent is the life coach,” she said. "I typically recruit players that have the same growing up experience that I do.”

Her experience in Tulsa growing up was, to use her words, rags.

"Really the motivation factor was to survive. There were a lot of times where we didn't have our electric or gas, we always struggled to figure out what we're going to eat, we didn't have school clothes," Lynn said.

At the intersection of 36th and Cincinnati is just one of a few places Lynn's family made home. Raised by a single mother, they went through many eviction notices.

Many times, she wore the same clothes to school daily. She was in the middle of drug deals and even robbed at gunpoint.

Her safe place was high school.

"I knew when I was in the walls of BTW, that I was going to eat, I was going to have electricity, that I was going to safe," she said.

So, it's fitting a former Hornet who used to walk the hallways would come back to share her story.

The last line of her speech is a great description of her life.

"Remember, it always seems impossible until it's done. Here's to proving the possible."