I’ve been playing baseball since I was 4 years old - it’s been my life. Yet, when I was drafted in 2017, I began to grow fascinated by the phrase, “build your brand”. A lot of people say it but never truly know how to act on it. In early 2020 during the pandemic, I finally understood it. I started authentically interacting with my fans, giving them an inside look into my life - mostly on TikTok. Before I knew it, I had amassed more than 250k followers on the platform. I knew I was onto something. Then I started to think about the business side of things - creating, promoting, and selling. In early 2021, I was curious about the intersection of fandom and NFTs, and realized the evolving crypto space was a great avenue to express my creativity and build an even deeper connection with my fans and the overall baseball community. In October 2021, I launched the DiamondDawgs NFT collection, which is the first-ever athlete-founded NFT project.In 2023 I founded the Mendoza Baseball Academy, where we help high school juniors and seniors play in college, giving them the resources to develop and get recruited. I can’t wait for the connections I make here and see how we can all help each other out!TikTok: @evan_mendozaTwitter: @e_mendoza18Instagram: @e_mendoza18 or @mendoza.baseball.academyLearn more about the DiamondDawgs here: diamonddawgsnft.com