Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast! I’m your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today I’m joined by Keia Cole, Chief Digital Officer at BSE Global — the force behind the Barclays Center, the New York Liberty, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Long Island Nets. From launching groundbreaking fan loyalty programs to reimagining the role of a mascot as a cultural influencer, Keia is transforming how fans connect with iconic brands through data, technology, and a cul...
Jul 10, 2025•26 min•Season 8Ep. 167
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast! I’m your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today, I’m thrilled to be joined by a true trailblazer—Jill Ellis. Jill is the former President of the San Diego Wave and the legendary coach who led the U.S. Women’s National Team to back-to-back FIFA World Cup titles. And now, she’s breaking even more ground as FIFA’s first-ever Chief Football Officer! Jill’s leadership spans from guiding championship teams on the field to s...
Jun 05, 2025•39 min•Season 8Ep. 166
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast! I’m your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today, I’m excited to be joined by Kim Davis, Senior Executive Vice President at the NHL. Throughout her journey across industries, Kim has brought with her a powerful toolkit of transferable leadership skills and a strategic mindset. In addition, she has developed a framework—what she calls the 7 Dimensions of Excellence and Growth that help drive real, measurable impact ever...
May 01, 2025•38 min•Season 8Ep. 165
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today, I’m joined by Lynda Tealer, Senior Vice President of Championships at the NCAA. With nearly 29 years in collegiate athletics, Lynda has a wealth of experience making an impact in every room. We dive into the importance of working with the right people, practicing agility throughout your career, and the value of clear communication and setting expectations as a leader....
Apr 03, 2025•30 min•Season 8Ep. 164
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today, I'm joined by Shauna Barnes and Kristin Frade, Elite Executive Coaches and Partners at Novus Global, Together, they’re passionate about helping leaders and organizations go BEYOND high performance to reach their full potential. Shauna and Kristin emphasize a powerful belief: though change can be uncomfortable, it is inevitable. The key to harnessing potential through ...
Mar 06, 2025•41 min•Season 8Ep. 163
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today I’m joined by Lara Krug, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Executive Vice President and Chief Media & Marketing Officer. Yes, THOSE Chiefs, on their way to the Super Bowl, in pursuit of a historic three-peat! Lara made history herself in 2021, as the Chief’s first-ever CMO. Her career spans from the beauty industry to beer to sports, giving her a unique perspective on leadin...
Feb 06, 2025•39 min•Season 8Ep. 162
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today I am joined by Jessica Gelman, Co-Founder and CEO of Kraft Analytics Group (KAGR), a leading sports and entertainment analytics firm. Jessica is an influential leader and innovator who is driving the sports analytics movement. She co-founded the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and continues to create new avenues for women to succeed in data science careers. She b...
Jan 09, 2025•45 min•Season 8Ep. 161
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast! I’m Dr. Angel Mason, Director of Athletics at Berry College. This episode, we take you back to the 2024 Women Leaders National Convention, where the Women of Color Virtual Circle Community comes to LIFE with the Women of Color Conversation. I had the privilege of sitting down with Nitra Rucker, Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Talent at the USOPC, in front of a packed audience of Women Leaders. With over 20 years of ...
Nov 21, 2024•59 min•Season 7Ep. 160
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast! I’m your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. We are taking you back to Baltimore and the Women Leaders in Sports National Convention, for our powerful “In Every Room” Keynote Panel with Allison Barber, former President and COO of the Indiana Fever, Jill Ellis, President of the San Diego Wave FC and former USWNT Coach and Gloria Nevarez, Commissioner of the Mountain West Conference AND your new Women Leaders in Sports Boa...
Oct 31, 2024•37 min•Season 7Ep. 159
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast! I’m your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today, I’m excited to be joined by our current Board of Directors President, Meg Stevens. After 11 years as Vice President and Director of Athletics and Campus Operations at Averett University, Meg made a significant career shift, and began her new role as President of Arizona Athletic Grounds in July. The timing of her transition, which happened shortly after our brand evolut...
Oct 03, 2024•42 min•Season 7Ep. 158
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today I am joined by Dr. Ivana Rich, Associate Vice President & Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Edwards Waters University. Dr. Rich made history as the first female athletic director in the school’s 155-year history...Let’s go! We discuss career pivots, being the first and overcoming associated challenges, cultivating a growth mindset both on and off the field, ...
Sep 12, 2024•35 min•Season 7Ep. 157
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today I am joined by Sherika Montgomery, Commissioner of the Big South Conference. Sherika’s path to the commissioner chair at the Big South started as a student athlete in that conference, and as her career progressed includes leadership at just about every level of the NCAA. We discuss the importance of being informed of industry changes and headlines, showing up prepared ...
Aug 22, 2024•37 min•Season 7Ep. 156
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today I am joined by Dionna Widder, Chief Revenue Officer at the Nashville Predators. Dionna is an outstanding leader and has had a remarkable career in pro sports working in the NBA, NFL,MLS and now the NHL. She has elevated quickly in all of her roles, but not without grit & determination. We talk about how she used observation as a superpower, what makes us different ...
Aug 01, 2024•45 min•Season 7Ep. 155
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today I’m joined by Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee! With the Summer Olympics only two weeks away, Sarah explains how she is leading her team in preparation for Paris! We also talk about leading through crisis, the importance of athlete well-being, her focus on inclusivity, the effect team sports had on her developing as a leader, and how sh...
Jul 11, 2024•46 min•Season 7Ep. 154
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. In this episode, I’m joined by good friend and partner of Women Leaders, Chrissy Dunlap. Chrissy is the Chief Revenue Officer at BirdieBox, a luxury gifting solution that focuses on the creation of extraordinary personalized experiences. Chrissy’s journey to leadership is interesting, because she elevated through the world of sales, which is somewhat non-traditional for a wo...
Jun 13, 2024•40 min•Season 7Ep. 153
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today we connect with Jovan Overshown, the Deputy Athletic Director & Chief Revenue Officer at Baylor University - where Jovan is doing it ALL! We talk about her evolution into fundraising, development, and multi media rights in addition to being the primary sport supervisor for football, and she shares some GREAT advice for pivoting into new roles. Keep listening for mo...
May 30, 2024•33 min•Season 7Ep. 152
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. We’ve got a special one for you today as I talk with Beth Goetz, the Director of Athletics at the University of Iowa. She joins us coming off the SPECTACULAR run the Iowa Women’s Basketball program had this year…making it all the way to the NCAA championship game for the 2nd year in a row. We ask Beth for her perspective on “The Caitlin Clark Effect”, what it was like being ...
May 09, 2024•43 min•Season 7Ep. 151
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast... I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today we are joined by the author of THREE Wall Street Journal best-sellers and workplace strategist, Erica Keswin! Erica was a big hit as a LeaderShop speaker at our last convention and we are thrilled to have her on the podcast! Erica's most recent book - The Retention Revolution: 7 Surprising (and Very Human!) Ways to Keep Employees Connected to Your Company – offers pra...
Apr 18, 2024•34 min•Season 7Ep. 150
Today, we take you back to our Big 12 Reception in Kansas City, taking place during the Big 12 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, where I had a chance to sit down with Commissioner Brett Yormark for a fireside chat! Keep listening for more from the Big 12 Commissioner, and remember, We Are Women Leaders.
Mar 28, 2024•22 min•Season 7Ep. 149
Welcome to the Women Leaders Podcast. Today is a very special episode as I'm joined by Sheri Fella, the founder and CEO of Bloombase, an executive development firm that focuses on increasing the high-performance impact of executives and teams. Sheri here today to talk more about her career journey, leadership and working with executive coaches. Listen in and remember, We are Women Leaders.
Mar 05, 2024•19 min•Season 7Ep. 148
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast...I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today we have a VERY special guest – Angie Long, Co-owner of the NWSL Kansas City Current. Angie and her husband Chris are not just making an impact on the NWSL and Kansas City, they are creating a legacy for women’s sports. We discuss how it all began, including bringing the team to KC, the hiring of staff, building the FIRST-of-its-kind training facility, and of course, th...
Feb 29, 2024•40 min•Season 7Ep. 147
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast... I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. Today we are joined by Desiree Reed Francois - Women Leaders board member and University of Missouri’s FIRST female and woman of color Director of Athletics! We had Desiree on the podcast several years ago, episode 48 actually, and talked through her career journey, her why, and other leadership insights. So, if be sure to check that one out if you haven’t. This conversatio...
Feb 08, 2024•33 min•Season 7Ep. 146
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast... I am your host, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in Sports. We have a special episode coming to you straight from the College Football Playoff last week in Houston. In partnership with the CFP, Our “Celebrating Female Playmakers” event brought together over 200 women and men to connect and listen to a great conversation between top industry experts. And now we bring it to YOU! The FIRE panel included: Jen Cohen, Director of Athletic...
Jan 18, 2024•41 min•Season 7Ep. 145
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders in Sports Podcast... I am your host, Patti Phillips. Today, we have a special episode on the Deputy Mindset that was recorded during our 2023 National Convention that took place in October. We will hear from these four talented women shaping their organizations as great Number 2’s: Carrie Michaels, Senior Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator at Shippensburg University Heather Owen, Deputy Athletics Director and SWA at Stanford Univ...
Nov 16, 2023•55 min•Season 6Ep. 144
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders In Sports Podcast…I’m Dr. Angel Mason, Director of Athletics at Berry College. I’ll be taking over for Patti Phillips on this special podcast episode, coming to you straight from the 2023 Women Leaders National Convention in New Orleans earlier this month! The Women of Color Conversation is one of my favorite parts of Convention each year – our Women of Color Virtual Circle community comes to LIFE, and with over 300 members in attendance, I had the opportun...
Oct 26, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 6Ep. 143
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders In Sports Podcast…I’m Patti Phillips, and today, I’m NOT your host. We have a very special episode for you though, as we give our community a behind the scenes look into our decision to evolve our brand to be more inclusive of all women working in sports. Nicole Auerbach, a leading voice in college sports, will help facilitate the conversation– Nicole is a senior writer at the Athletic, serves as a studio analyst for the Big Ten Network and is a radio host ...
Sep 21, 2023•32 min•Season 6Ep. 142
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders Podcast. I’m your host, Patti Phillips…And I’m super excited about today’s conversation. We all want to be able to speak as well as we think, right? Well, get your notebook ready! Communications expert Angie Bennett joins me for the ultimate coaching session. Angie, a long-time friend of Women Leaders, is the Senior Vice President at Dardis Communications, where she’s been teaching people how to share their gift, for the past 12 years. Just a few tips you’l...
Aug 31, 2023•42 min•Season 6Ep. 141
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders Podcast. I’m your host, Patti Phillips… Today I am thrilled joined by the President of Baylor University, Dr. Linda Livingstone! President Livingstone, a former Division I Women’s Basketball player and the current chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, has led Baylor through an impressive transformation during her tenure that started in 2017. Throughout our conversation, she breaks down her leadership style and the importance of creating a culture that works...
Aug 10, 2023•34 min•Season 6Ep. 140
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders Podcast. I’m your host, Patti Phillips… Today I’m joined by Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Commissioner Sonja Stills! Sonja is the first woman commissioner in the conference’s history, as well as the first woman commissioner of a Division 1 HBCU Conference…talking about Kicking Glass! There are so many great insights in this conversation – including the importance of going above and beyond in your job, and how that will always pay off for you down t...
Jul 20, 2023•33 min•Season 6Ep. 139
Hello and welcome to the Women Leaders Podcast. I’m your host, Patti Phillips… Today we honor and celebrate Juneteenth - the day that enslaved black Americans in Texas became free. Juneteenth gives us an opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go. In this episode, we take you back to a vital conversation that took place at our 2022 National Convention in Kansas City, where Dr. Angel Mason, Director of Athletics at Berry College and one of our Women of Color Circ...
Jun 19, 2023•58 min•Season 6Ep. 138
