LISTEN | The New YorkHER Podcast: Ep. 2 with Amy Trask

on this past couple of days. When we decided that you were going to come onto the podcast, I started reading a lot of articles. That turns out there are a lot of articles on you, Amy Trask. Not sure if you were aware, but a lot of people have written some pretty amazing things about you out there. I I my My immediate reaction is, oh, a little worried what they might say, Uh, but no, I you know, earlier in my career, um when or I shouldn't say early in my career, but early um, in the moment

of time, if you will. That I started getting a little bit more attention. My husband looked at me and very wisely said, never read the comments. And I followed that advice to this day. Just don't read the comments. It's true, It really is true, especially me thinking about the position I'm in being the team reporter for the New York Jets. You know a lot of times fan bases can be rough, just or people in general, especially on Twitter social media. So I think that's that's pretty

wise advice from your husband. But what I wanted to jump into with you, Amy, is there was something that caught my eye on a certain article where you were talking about being a woman in the football industry. And for those of you who are listening that do not know, Amy was the first female CEO in the entire National Football League. She became the CEO of the then l A slash Oakland Raiders in n held that position for

sixteen years. But something that was interesting. You were asked by the individual who wrote the article how you viewed yourself as a woman in a male dominated workplace, and you talked about how you never saw your gender in any room you walked into, any situation you did, or any time during your position. How did you establish that mindset? It's it's something that is so interesting to me because I think it's a very different and satisfying approach. Well,

two points. The first is, I started my career in the National Football League in the mid eighties, and I am quite confident that many of your followers, and it pains me to say this, but the truth is they may not have even been alive then. So UM, when you mentioned that I was the only woman in the room, the only woman, UM in a position such as that within the National Football League. That was a long long time ago, and there are certainly more worthy women involved now.

The other point I'll make is this, what I'm about to share with you is the way I conducted myself, and it is what worked for me. But I don't mean to suggest. I'm not suggesting. It's not my intent, my desire, or my wish to suggest that this is necessarily what will work for anyone else. What worked for me is paying absolutely no attention to my gender. It never made sense to me, and it still doesn't. That I would want to walk into a room with the expectation and the hope that no one in that room

would be thinking about my gender. If I was thinking about my gender. In other words, if I walked into a meeting of NFL team owners or the the various owner of the Los Angeles and then Oakland Raiders of football meeting, a coaching meeting, a meeting with bankers or municipal leaders, or any meeting whatsoever, and I expected and hoped that no one in there would be interested or concerned or focused on my gender. It made no sense to me that I should be thinking about my gender,

So I did proceed without regard to gender. And by the way, if other people wanted to waste their time thinking about my gender, will go ahead waste your time, because I wasn't going to waste my time thinking about it. That's such an incredible mindset. And actually, when I was reading some of these articles, it's funny because you you really re quoted some of the things that you had

already mentioned. But what I really loved was the fact that you kind of told yourself, if this is how I want to be treated or how I want to be viewed, I'm going to do the same with myself, which is not look at my gender. How did you see that play out throughout your career in a male dominated industry, Boy, that's an interesting question, and one that is somewhat hard to answer because I can't control for the variable of what if I had comported myself in

a different manner. And look, I'm going to be quick to note or state the obvious, really, but I want to make sure everyone understands I'm well aware of this. I had the tremendous fortune of working for a business owner who wasn't remotely concerned with my gender. He hired me without regard to gender. He advanced me without regard to gender. He customed me without regard to gender. He didn't care about my gender. And that sent a powerful

message to many others. Not to everyone, but to many others. And I recognize that there are many women who don't have that good fortune. So I do understand that. Um, you know, I'm I'm asked quite often was I tested because I was a woman? And you know, my initial reaction was, I don't know, maybe I was, But you know what, let's assume I was tested because of my gender. We know what people are tested all the time. They're tested because of their race, their ethnicity, their religion, their gender,

their educational background, their seniority, their age. And what I know is this the best thing to do when you're tested past the damn test, pass the damn test. What a What an incredible piece of advice. So I'm gonna go out on allege and say that you passed all of the damn tests that were handed your way because of how much success that you saw. Is that fair to say? I don't want to put words in your mouth, but is that fair to say? Well, I appreciate that.

I appreciate that you're not putting words in my mouth. I appreciate what you said. Um look, I made a lot of mistakes. I made my share of mistakes. Did I ultimately pass the tests? Yes, I did, but not without stumbles and bumbles and fumbles on the way. And you know what, that's okay. You know I told people all the time. I still tell people all the time. In business, it's okay to make a mistake. Um look, there are certain industries, certain professions where you can't make

a mistake. I had the privilege, and that just pleasure of flying with the Air Force in an F sixteen, and when that pilot was upside down, we were flying upside down, he had the plane upside down. He was going almost five miles an hour. That would be a really bad time to make a mistake. Yes, but in business, in business in general, it's okay to make a mistake.

And I told staff that all the time, and I told them I would make mistakes, and I told them, when I make mistakes, I'm gonna account on you to help me fix them. And guess what, when you make mistakes, I'm going to help you fix yours. So yes, I do believe I ultimately passed the test. But to suggest, or to to hint or to intimate that I did

so without mistakes would be silly. I made a lot of mistakes, and mistakes are a good thing to have because we're all human and in order to get where we need to go, everybody's going to make mistakes, I think, especially in the sports industry, and oftentimes I can't speak for all women, but oftentimes a lot of women feel like they can't make mistakes at all. They feel like I have to make half the amount of mistakes, no, twice as much, which I think sometimes is a pressure

we often put on ourselves. But also again you know, just just the industry at times being male dominated. But like you said, making mistakes is part of the game plan. If you don't make mistakes, how are you going to learn? Well, that's exactly right. And again it's industry specific. My brother and his wife, my sister in law are doctors, and if one of them screams oh no in the middle of a procedure on a humans body, well that's a problem.

But most mistakes in business can be corrected. And they may cost money, and they may cost time and effort and energy, but most of them can be corrected. And I would say one of the things that worked very very well from me, again noting that we're each different, is saying to staff, I'm gonna make mistakes and I'm gonna help I'm going to count on you to help me fix them. And you're gonna make mistakes and that's okay,

and I'm going to help you fix them. And I'm teen times I would gather staff together and I would say, guess what, I made a mistake. I need you to help me fix it. And not only did they rally to do so, it made everybody feel more comfortable sharing when they had made a mistake. And the worst thing you can do when you make a mistake is trying to bury it or hide it and not address it head on. But I will also note that when I gathered everyone together to say I made a mistake, will

you help me fix it? I always had an ice cream Sunday bar set up. I love that it was. Was that something you you wanted to implement? Was it new? Who's that doing? First of all, everything is better with ice cream. Agree, If you're going to be creative, if you're gonna problem solve, if you're going to fix a mistake, whatever you're gonna do, it's going to go better with ice cream. That's very true. I might have to I actually might have to patch that idea to my boss.

If you don't mind some world wid you listen, Amy. I don't want to focus on just one aspect of your career because you have so many accomplishments that we can talk about. We could talk about you overcoming your fear of television and being on CBS as an analyst. We could talk about your time at the Oakland Raiders. We can talk about you publishing a book. There's so many things that we can talk about. But what I really want to dive into is how you got to

where you're at today. What type of we already talked about the mindset you had on gender. But what type of mindset led you to the success that you've seen with both The Raiders and now on television. What was it, what ignited a passion inside of you? I don't know that I can attribute it to a mind set in particular. I will note that one of the things that I believe helped me was something my parents instilled in me. And I believe this just passionately to this day. Hard

work matters. Hard work really, really really matters. Um. I tell people all the time, work as hard as you can, and if you think can't think, if you think you can't work any harder, find a way to work harder. I can't tell you how many times, because I lost count of the number that people would walk into my office, either at the Raiders or they approach me now or in my role with the Big Three, or any number of contexts, and they'll say, how do we accomplish what

you've accomplished? How do we put ourselves on a trajectory to do what you've done? And I look at them and I say, do you notice that when you get here in the morning, my car is already here. I was kind of met with a stare, and I'd say, and do you notice that when you go home at night, my car is still here? And look, that's not my way of looking for love. For working long hours, that's my way of explaining hard work is very, very, very important.

So that's something my parents instilled in me, and I cherish that to this day and I share with people to this day. Whatever your passion is, whatever you're doing, whether you're passionate about it or not, if you wish to succeed, if you wish to advance, work as hard as you can. And if you think you can't work any harder, work harder. The other piece of advice that I received, and this was from my mom, not from both of my parents, was to thine own self be true.

And my mom told me that from the time I was a little, little little girl, and like moms can do, she told that to me over and over and over again, and like kids can do, I rolled my eyes when she did. But it's the best advice I've ever received. And the reason I share that now with you for purposes of this podcast is to underscore the fact that I'm sharing what worked for me, but just because it worked for me, to ignore my gender. Just because it worked for me to work like a little crazy person

doesn't mean that's the right answer for everyone. To thine own self be true. And by the way, as a footnote, it wasn't until I was well into my studies at cal Berkeley, maybe even close to graduation, that I learned my mom didn't invent that. That was Shakespeare. Well, it's okay, we can still look at our mother's as I'm superheroes, right there you go, I'm giving the credit to my mom. That's okay. Well, well we'll put it as as your mother. That's who we will credit too in the history books.

Thank you, okay, thank you of course. So between all of the different accomplishments that you've had so far in your life, what would you say was one of the most challenging parts to balancing all of the different hills you climbed, Because, like, like I already mentioned, one of the articles I read, you talked about overcoming your fear of being on television and being on camera, and then you mentioned it, you know, being chairman of the board of the Big Three, and then you were CEO for

a professional football team. What was one of the biggest challenges. I got it all excited about your question. I'm glad you're excited. I'm going to address the challenge you reference because if it helps someone else overcome or stare down and fight their insecurity, well that would be really need O. My biggest insecurity my whole life, dating back to when I was a little kid, has been my physical appearance. And I've just always always always been very insecure about that.

Right or wrong, smarter, dumb, it doesn't matter when we have an insecurity. We have an insecurity, and that was mine. So you know, even if you look back at my family's old home movies, UM, I'm not in them because someone would turn on a camera and I would run so fast in the other direction. Al would assign me to play corner or receiver. Uh. So, after I left the Raiders, I um was contacted by CBS Sports, and my immediate reaction was no, no, no, no no no, I'm

not doing that. No no, no, no, no no. And I won't belabor the story. But it went on and on and and my reaction was very very strong, and one evening I was sharing that reaction and and and the opportunity and my response to it and my thoughts about it with a group of people, some of whom were closer friends, some of whom were friends, but not

the closest friends I have. And one of the women there looked at me after I went on and on about why I wasn't going to do it and what my insecurities were, and how being on camera has always been my greatest fear, being on live camera. That is, whether it's a video or television. Look, there's a reason I'm not on video with you right now, and I'm just doing this by audio. Being on camera has always been my biggest fear. And she looked to me and in a very quiet voice, she said, let it go.

And that resonated with me. It really did. Those three words were so powerful that they changed the trajectory and direction of my life. Because with that advice, which I as I said, it resonated. I said, what the heck? And I said yes to CBS Sports CBS Sports Network, and I jumped in and I could not be happier

than I did. So if anyone listening to this um has an opportunity to do something which scares them, my suggestion is you might want to think about that, because sometimes doing something very scary can work out very well. I think that is a perfect note to end our very serious discussion on all things you've accomplished throughout your life. Amy, Before I let you go, we only have about a minute now. I want to do something fun with the remainder of your time. I want to do a little

bit of rapid fire. Are you comfortable with that? I love rapid fire, Thank goodness, Finally somebody who enjoys rapid fire as much as I do. Every time I say that, people are like, all right, okay, you and I may you know, we may have a real relationship going here, because I absolutely love rapid fire. I mean I just got so excited I screamed in your ear. Let's go. That's okay, that's perfectly okay. That we got the rapid

fire going, We've got the ice cream. I think we're off to a good start, agreed, all right, you ready? I am. These are gonna be all over the place a little bit. But and you're just gonna you're gonna say something and you want my rapid fire response. Yep. The first thing that comes to mind. Even if after we listen back to this and you're like, it's not actually how I feel. It doesn't matter, rapid fire, got it? Okay, okay, okay,

go to midnight snack, ain't me? Ice cream? Favorite and and being more and being more direct, usually an ice cream Sunday, but at a minimum ice cream. And if it's very late at night, it's going to be ice cream, of course, straight from the tub with a spoon, but with sprinkles and whip cream dumped on top of it. Love it? What flavor of ice cream? Now I have to ask, honest to gosh, no favorite flavor. I I just can't pick. I like you. I love that. That's

a great answer, all right. Number two favorite raider of all time? Well, I won't name him. I do have a favorite raider. I've never ever ever named him, and I won't name him. Early, early, early in my career. Long story, but I messed up a contract. It was the first contract I worked on. I got a phone call at home at the middle of the night from

Al Again. I want to give it to you rapidly, so I won't give you the whole story, but I will say that this player, who was the last man on the roster, redid tore up his contract, redid it and save my job, but I'll never name him. Well, you know what, as long as he knows he did you a solid I think that's all that matters. He did me a solid. Favorite movie genre oh um, I could do favorite movie easily. Favorite movie genre, m hmm, happy movies. I like feel good movies, me too. Last

movie that made you cry? This one's tough because I can't even name this one. Oh, I'm not sure movies make me cry? Are we allowed to get one that we pass on because we just didn't know the answer? Yes, okay, this is my past question because I don't know. I cry it. I cry it almost every movie. You know what, there's no shame in that. Don't have any shame in your game and just own up to that. I thank you.

Off the activity something involving the beach, whether it's a walk on the beach, a swim at the beach, beach, oriented love, that celebrity crush. Oh oh, let me think I can honest, honest, honest answer. Honest, honest, honest answer is my husband. I only crushes my husband. That's sweet. You're gonna melt my heart. You didn't. It's not technically the right answer, but it's okay, because rapid fire and it's really sweet and it's and it's an honest answer.

Yes all I can ask for. Okay, just two more most embarrassing moment while working for the Raiders, first of all, and I will give you one. But so you know, I could give you a list of embarrassing moments. I embarrassed myself so often it's hard to think of my most embarrassing one. Let me think of an embarrassing one. God, so many. Let me think I'm the same. I don't. I don't know if you're like me, but I'm clumsy, so I trip a lot. Well, okay, here you go.

This is not my most embarrassing one. But since you mentioned clumsy. First week or so in the Raiders, having a discussion with Al, I have a latte on my desk. I'm talking. I talked with my hands. I whacked the latte all over the room, all over everywhere. He stares at me, and I would say, I'm kind of proud that I didn't miss a beat. I just kept talking. You just kept talking, pretended like it didn't even happen. Exactly.

I aspire to be like that. Okay, one last one for you, Amy, and then I'm gonna let you go your jack of all trades. You've done so many different things so far in your lifetime. But if there is one other job in the world where you could retire on, which would it be? You know, I've been thinking about that a lot lately. There is no particular job, but I would love to do something UM helpful in the education area and working to provide opportunities to kids that

don't have the same resources as many kids. UM. I've talked to a couple of my girlfriends about maybe just taking a building somewhere in an area where there's not as much painting it bright yellow, bright orange, and writing hope on the front and welcoming kids in and doing all we can to help them. What an incredible What an incredible aspiration. I hope. I hope to see that played out someday. I really do. Well. If it happens,

I'll invite you. Yes. Thank you so much, Amy Trask for joining me on an episode two of the New York per podcast. It was an absolute honor. Thank you so much. It was absolutely positively my pleasure. Thank you for inviting me. I am honored to join us. M