LimitLES Sports & Entertainment, LLC is a full-service branding, event planning, management, marketing, and public relations company based in Los Angeles, CA. The company was founded in 2008 by Les Strauss, a University of Southern California graduate who studied both Broadcast Journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and also Business Administration at the Marshall School of Business with concentrations in marketing and management.
In June 2020, Les received her M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School of Management through the part-time fully-employed program and was named to the UCLA Anderson Fully Employed MBA Honor Society (top 15% of her class). Traveling for work mainly on weekends, Les was able to take additional classes Tuesday-Thursday evenings to finish with 137 units compared to the normal 80 unit requirement. She received specialization certificates in Marketing, Social Impact, Entrepreneurship, Management & Organizations, and Easton Center's Technology Management. Les spent 3-years as a board member of the UCLA Anderson Sports Business Association. She was also active in the Marketing Association, Net Impact, Entrepreneur Association, Retail Business Association, Anderson Tech Business, Women's Business Connection, and Entertainment Management Association.
Her favorite classes included:
MARKETING "Marketing Strategy and Planning" (Andres Terech), "Digital Marketing Analytics" (Bodapati) "Customer Assessment & Analytics" (Zeithammer) "Brand Management" (Mark Ritson) *Melbourne School of Business, Australia "Sales and Channel Management" (Bucklin)
TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT "Technology Management" (Terry Kramer) "Evolution & Innovation in the Global Mobile Industry" (Terry Kramer) "Global Supply Chain Management" (Chris Tang)
ENTERTAINMENT/SPORTS "Innovations in Sports Marketing" (by Eric Johnson formerly of ESPN) "Sports Business" (Jeff Moorad, former NFL/MLB super agent and owner of the SD Padres), "Impact of COVID-19 on Sports, Media and Entertainment" (Eric Johnson) "Current Business Practices in Film, TV, Sports Business" (Peter Guber, co-owner Warriors/Dodgers/LAFC and Chairman/CEO Mandalay Entertainment with Dan Beckerman, President/CEO of AEG)
SOCIAL IMPACT/NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT "Law and Management of Nonprofit Organizations" (Jane Guerin), "Impact, Creation, Evaluation & Analysis" (Jennifer Walske), "Social Entrepreneurship" (Gayle Northrop)
Les Strauss' passion for sports/music and helping others, combined with her educational background and entrepreneurial mindset led her to create this company. LimitLES was founded with the idea that there are limitLES opportunities out there - in sports, entertainment, and philanthropy.
The company was originally founded with the "LES is More" mentality (specifically geared towards less clients and events, but with more attention to those and their growth and development), however now the company is now growing and expanding.
Born in Chicago, she great up a huge sports fan. Her father had Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, and San Diego Chargers season tickets so sports were a huge part of her childhood and life (she definitely won the “dad lottery”). Les moved to San Diego when she was only a month old and was raised in La Jolla, a small beach town. She grew up a tom boy playing basketball, volleyball, softball, and flag football, but was also a true book lover, overachiever, and nerd (if you can't tell already). At 17 years old while attending the Bishop's School, she got an A+ on a 32-page AP U.S. History final paper about "Michael Jordan: The Globalization of American Athletes and Sports Marketing" and included over forty sources.
After turning down acceptances to other colleges, including UNC Chapel Hill, UCLA and UC Berkeley, she chose USC for the school's resources, Trojan network, and Los Angeles location close to her parents in San Diego. #FIGHTON! Leslie won the 2008 Allan Malamud Sports Journalism Scholarship and at her graduation ceremony in May 2009, Les Strauss was named a Renaissance Scholar (awarded to cum laude students with at least a 3.5 GPA in two distinctly different and unrelated disciplines).
Her passion is in making others better. Her specialties include sports (specifically basketball + new expansion into professional golf/football/baseball), music (concerts/artists' tours/dynamic ticket pricing), business (small companies/start-ups), and non-profits. Les is a firm believer that learning should never stop! She took Certified Financial Planner (CFP) courses through Northwestern University and received her M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School of Management in June 2020 through their fully-employed program. She enjoys reading, meeting new people, traveling, enjoying sunsets at the beach, snorkeling, playing golf with her parents, and exploring new concepts and ideas.
Over the years, Les has gained experience working in the sports and entertainment industries on both the journalism and business side.
Currently her work includes: - Pangos Basketball (pangosaacamp.com), Co-Director of Pangos All-American Camp - Pangos Foundation, Inc. (pangosfoundation.org), Secretary/COO - Fullcourt Press (fullctpress.net), Assistant Director,Brand Manager, Event Organizer and Scout - Nothing But Net Magazine (nbnmagazine.com), Managing Editor/Contributor
Her previous work/internship experience includes: - Jerami Grant (Detroit Pistons), Business Manager/Assistant - Crewtify (crewtify.com), Co-Founder/CMO - Avery Tickets, Brand Manager, Office Manager, Sales Manager, Fraud Department Lead - Flying Falco Entertainment, Inventory Portfolio Analyst - USA Basketball Youth Development (usab.com), Consultant - BallerTV (ballertv.com), Consultant - 5 years Managing Professional Basketball Players (in the NBA and overseas) - The Soulfull Project, Natural Product Expo West Brand Ambassador - PMK/HBH, Sports Public Relations Intern - Sports Illustrated (SI.com NYC office), Editorial Intern - Sports Illustrated, Campus Consultant - Wasserman Media Group (Studio411.com), Marketing Intern - Double Pump, Inc, Executive Assistant - Nike Summer Pro League, Public Relations Intern - Evans Hotels (San Diego), Executive Office Intern