Depressed at 17, NAIA Volleyball Athlete Chloe V. Mitchell Reveals How Social Media Saved Her Life

There are always two facets of a coin. When it comes to social media, the topic has always been debatable whether it is good for human beings or not. However, a former volleyball star chose to make the best use of social media and not only did she become one of the 1st athletes to monetize her likeness, but also created an empire in sports branding. Discussing her journey to success, Chloe V. Mitchell is the first guest of our new podcast series, ES Think Tank. In a bid to showcase the symbiotic relationship between sports and brands, EssentiallySports has introduced a brand new podcast, ‘ES Think Tank’. Leading the charge of interacting with the entities is Trey Holder, who is the college sports lead at Brand Innovators and the Chief Business Officer at Accelerate 360.

While Mitchell has a lot of college sports exploits to her name, she is more prominently recognized for something entirely revolutionary. Here, let’s take a detailed look at how the 22-year-old transformed her life from the depths of depression via social media. 

Impact of social media on Chloe V. Mitchell

Back in the day, the NCAA/NAIA athletes were not permitted to earn money. However, Mitchell got an opportunity to do something productive by sheer luck. As the dark clouds of covid-19 loomed large, like everybody else, Mitchell too, had to be locked up inside her home. Unfortunately, this took a heavy toll on her mental health. At just 17, Mitchell went into depression sitting back at home.

Reminiscing about her experience, Mitchell stated, “I was bored. I was quite honestly really depressed because quarantine had taken away my senior year, I had no prom, and you know, we’re all down in the dumps because of Covid.” However, she did ultimately find a job where she started to give her backyard a makeover. While in the process, Mitchell also began posting the content online. 

This is where things began to get hectic for the former NCAA athlete. Millions of people took interest, and as a result, Mitchell even clinched a $3,000 initial sponsorship from Smart Cups. However, the rigid NCAA norms had her scared about giving up her earnings. Luckily, things changed in October 2020 when the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics(NAIA) decided to relax the restrictions. However, Mitchell was always clear about why college athletes must earn money.

Chloe Mitchell refers to the capitalist practice

Speaking about her inclination towards college athletes earning money, Mitchell said, “We live in a country that thrives off of capitalism. That’s what we do. That’s kind of our thing…So if we are given that opportunity to participate in [capitalism].” She further opined that students should be allowed to promote themselves and their brands for future convenience.

Read More: Is Colorado Recruit Gage Goldberg Secretly Dating a Volleyball Star Raylynn Pitts?

Working to solve such an issue, Chloe’s father, Keith Mitchell, devised an app by the name of ‘PlayBooked’. This app enables athletes to collaborate and get in touch with sponsors on social media. As things stand now, with a whopping following of 2.7 million on TikTok, Chloe V. Mitchell remains a force to be reckoned with.

To watch the first episode of Think Tank, tune in to esfancast.tv on Apr 9th at 11 AM PST and 2 PM EST.

Continue to Read: Pro Volleyball Night: USA’s Volleyball Capital Reaffirms Its Status After Securing Top Two Attendance Records