1
00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:02,880
Speaker 1: For me, I've always seen being a woman, to see

2
00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:05,360
Speaker 1: a black woman working in sports as my superpower because

3
00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:07,920
Speaker 1: the one thing you can't tell me about is what's

4
00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,120
Speaker 1: relevant to women or people of color. When I got

5
00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:13,960
Speaker 1: promoted to be a CMO, you're able to park in

6
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:15,760
Speaker 1: the reserve parking area at.

7
00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:16,840
Speaker 2: The arena, which is a big deal.

8
00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:18,520
Speaker 1: And during the day I was heading over there to

9
00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,160
Speaker 1: a meeting I had just gotten promoted, and I parked

10
00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:23,280
Speaker 1: my car. I was walking into the building at a

11
00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:25,040
Speaker 1: security guard stop and he's like, I'm sorry, man, you

12
00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,800
Speaker 1: can't park there. That's reserve for executives. And I was

13
00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:31,000
Speaker 1: just like okay, and I kept walking and he was

14
00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:32,760
Speaker 1: like ma'am. Then I showed him my badge. I was like,

15
00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,479
Speaker 1: I say, like most of party literally says executive underneath it,

16
00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,680
Speaker 1: and I could see his mind like like what, huh what.

17
00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,520
Speaker 1: But for me, it was like the best moment because

18
00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:43,800
Speaker 1: I was changing the perception of what a senior level

19
00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:45,839
Speaker 1: executive looks like for an NBA.

20
00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:46,519
Speaker 2: Team, for that person.

21
00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:48,680
Speaker 1: And I think every time that I'm in a room,

22
00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,480
Speaker 1: or I'm able to let my skills or my work speak,

23
00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:53,840
Speaker 1: or i am presenting and speaking, I think it changes

24
00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,440
Speaker 1: the mentality of like, oh oh she knows.

25
00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:58,160
Speaker 2: Okay, she's good, she got it.

26
00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,080
Speaker 3: Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of butter Nomics. I'm

27
00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:05,520
Speaker 3: your host, Brandon Butler, founder and CEO of Butter atl

28
00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,440
Speaker 3: and Today we got the biggest M in the building.

29
00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:13,280
Speaker 3: The biggest, not the little, the biggest M, Miss Melissa Procter.

30
00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:15,640
Speaker 2: How you doing about hilarious? I'm going well, thank you

31
00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:16,240
Speaker 2: for having me.

32
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:18,440
Speaker 3: Oh always always, you know, you're one of my favorite

33
00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:19,000
Speaker 3: people out here.

34
00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:20,959
Speaker 2: You know, out homie, always stay one.

35
00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:23,880
Speaker 3: You know, I remember when when a certain person who

36
00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:25,800
Speaker 3: won't be named, said we need to connect, and you know,

37
00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:27,840
Speaker 3: we had a little breakfast one more and you know,

38
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,640
Speaker 3: and talked about some stuff. And ever since then, you know,

39
00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:32,720
Speaker 3: we've been we've been building together, so one.

40
00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:35,840
Speaker 2: Hundred one hundred. I recall that vividly.

41
00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,559
Speaker 3: Actually, you know, time flies look at that, it really does.

42
00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:40,640
Speaker 3: It's crazy. That was probably like what four or five

43
00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:42,039
Speaker 3: years ago. Almost I looked up.

44
00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,840
Speaker 1: But I just celebrated ten years with the Atlanta Hawks

45
00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:46,840
Speaker 1: last month and I could not believe it.

46
00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:48,880
Speaker 3: That's crazy. Congratulations, Thank you.

47
00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:49,440
Speaker 1: Now.

48
00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, for those that don't know, Melissa is the CMO

49
00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,320
Speaker 3: of the Atlanta Hawks and also State Farm Arena. Correct, Yes, correct,

50
00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:58,120
Speaker 3: So a lot of people don't understand that, right, A

51
00:01:58,120 --> 00:01:59,960
Speaker 3: lot of people don't understand that. You know, in your role,

52
00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,120
Speaker 3: you both oversee stuff for the Hawks and the arena,

53
00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:03,720
Speaker 3: So just give them a little context. It's not just

54
00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:05,960
Speaker 3: the games, but it's the concerts, the events, everything that

55
00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:07,160
Speaker 3: happens at the State Farm, right.

56
00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:07,440
Speaker 2: Yeah.

57
00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,760
Speaker 1: So, I mean every marketing officer role in the NBA

58
00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:12,799
Speaker 1: is different, so they are not at all app even

59
00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,080
Speaker 1: may go to another team and their title may be

60
00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:16,720
Speaker 1: the same, but their role is completely different.

61
00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:17,840
Speaker 2: So ad my role.

62
00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:23,560
Speaker 1: Marketing really encapsulates all of our media general marketing, traditional,

63
00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,080
Speaker 1: non traditional social. It also incorporates all of our retail,

64
00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,080
Speaker 1: so we have a brand merchandizing team. We do all

65
00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,280
Speaker 1: of our retail in house, our eCOM. All of that

66
00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,200
Speaker 1: we call have Hawk Studios, which is our internal agency.

67
00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:36,200
Speaker 1: So people always ask what agencies you work with? That

68
00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:38,639
Speaker 1: open was so great, and I'm like, we may partner

69
00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:40,640
Speaker 1: with production companies, but all of the other work is

70
00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:42,680
Speaker 1: done internally, so we don't have an agency record.

71
00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,080
Speaker 2: Hawk Studios is our internal which is so dope.

72
00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,600
Speaker 1: We have our live entertainment and production team, which is

73
00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:53,000
Speaker 1: really game operations, and so that's everybody from Harry the Hawk,

74
00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,120
Speaker 1: to the dance team, to the engineers that are helping

75
00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:57,079
Speaker 1: make sure all of our boards and our center hung

76
00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,120
Speaker 1: are working great, all of our production Big Tigger, the

77
00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,359
Speaker 1: whole team, and so that's a really really great team.

78
00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,720
Speaker 1: Our community impact groups, all of our community work and

79
00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,720
Speaker 1: basketball programs, so camps, clinics, all that good stuff is

80
00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:11,560
Speaker 1: in that world. We created a new department recently called

81
00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,840
Speaker 1: the Entertainment Industry Relations, So it's all around how we work.

82
00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:17,359
Speaker 1: Especially being in Atlanta with the home of entertainment, we

83
00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,639
Speaker 1: found the need. There were so many you know, requests

84
00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,680
Speaker 1: and things and not just people coming to games, but

85
00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:24,160
Speaker 1: really what we do behind the scenes. So all of

86
00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:27,640
Speaker 1: that really makes up marketing in addition to looking at

87
00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:29,240
Speaker 1: the future of fandom and all the rest.

88
00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,040
Speaker 2: And so we have not just.

89
00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,520
Speaker 1: The Hawks but also the College Park Skyhawks, which is

90
00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:35,080
Speaker 1: another part of our business, as well as our two

91
00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,000
Speaker 1: K league. But within that people like, oh, see work

92
00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:39,240
Speaker 1: for the Hawks, and I'm like, we know over the

93
00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,880
Speaker 1: Hawks and stay for Marena. While the building is you know,

94
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:44,880
Speaker 1: for the most part of rental space. So if you

95
00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:46,320
Speaker 1: are a promoter. You want to Hey, I want to

96
00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:47,760
Speaker 1: do a show there you come in. But we have

97
00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:50,560
Speaker 1: a marketing team that also supports our promoters, so they're

98
00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,120
Speaker 1: helping with you know, when WWE is here and they

99
00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,080
Speaker 1: have oh we want wrestling, how do we cross promotes? Well,

100
00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,160
Speaker 1: we'll see cool promotions between you know, the Hawks and

101
00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:00,560
Speaker 1: you know Trey Young doing something. And then how do

102
00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,520
Speaker 1: we also reciprocate to help push ticket sales. It's all

103
00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:05,839
Speaker 1: of that all together, which is cool. It just makes

104
00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:07,160
Speaker 1: it whether there's never a dull day.

105
00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:09,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, it sounds like it's low. How many how many

106
00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:11,520
Speaker 3: events in between events and games? How many you think

107
00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:12,440
Speaker 3: you all handle a year?

108
00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:14,760
Speaker 1: I want to say the last count for this year

109
00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,640
Speaker 1: was one hundred and sixty, one hundred and seventy something

110
00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,160
Speaker 1: like that. Goodness across the board and that I mean

111
00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:23,320
Speaker 1: that doesn't count people who want to have meetings and

112
00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:25,680
Speaker 1: there or when we have sales events where they're coasting

113
00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:27,400
Speaker 1: you know, potential season ticket members.

114
00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,880
Speaker 2: And stuff like that. That's games or you know, big shows.

115
00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:33,599
Speaker 3: Yeah, So as a CMO for the Hawks and State

116
00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:35,480
Speaker 3: from Marino, like, what are what are some of your

117
00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:37,760
Speaker 3: overall remits? Like what don't you set goals. How do

118
00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,800
Speaker 3: you set goals? Is around attendance? Is it around you know,

119
00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:42,840
Speaker 3: revenue streams? Like what are some of the things that

120
00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:44,760
Speaker 3: you get measured on as a CMO at that level?

121
00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:46,760
Speaker 1: I mean a number of things, and I think because

122
00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:48,760
Speaker 1: the role is so varied, it just depends on which

123
00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,800
Speaker 1: department overall across the board. Our ownership team day one

124
00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:53,440
Speaker 1: where they came on board, said we exist to be

125
00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,039
Speaker 1: a civic asset before we are a basketball team, and

126
00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:57,560
Speaker 1: so we look a lot at our work. We have

127
00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,919
Speaker 1: a community Impact Report we put together every year that

128
00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,680
Speaker 1: highlights all the work across the organization that we do

129
00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,360
Speaker 1: for the community and through our Hawks Foundation, and so

130
00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,240
Speaker 1: that's kind of like part one. Obviously, revenue for any

131
00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,000
Speaker 1: business is important, so keep yeah for.

132
00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:11,360
Speaker 2: The most part.

133
00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:13,279
Speaker 1: So most people say, oh, CMOS, your job is butts

134
00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:17,080
Speaker 1: and seats, and so obviously ticket sales is important. You know,

135
00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,280
Speaker 1: how we work with our corporate partners My team is

136
00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:21,520
Speaker 1: sitting with our corporate partnership team when they're looking at

137
00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,640
Speaker 1: different sponsors that are coming in, designing the pitches that

138
00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,159
Speaker 1: we're going out with, and so executing out all of

139
00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:29,720
Speaker 1: that flawlessly is a big part of our agreement, but

140
00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:31,400
Speaker 1: it's how do we keep the brand relevant?

141
00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:33,080
Speaker 2: You know, in the city of Atlanta, there's so much

142
00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:34,960
Speaker 2: to do. So people look at like, oh, who are

143
00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:35,599
Speaker 2: your competitors?

144
00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:37,120
Speaker 1: You know, it's at the Praise at the Falcons, and

145
00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:39,680
Speaker 1: I'm like, no, it's Netflix, it's your couch, it's every

146
00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,880
Speaker 1: restaurant in the city of Atlanta. Because ultimately we're a

147
00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:44,760
Speaker 1: basketball team, we're also a great night out. You know,

148
00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,960
Speaker 1: we really strive to keep our experience top nots when

149
00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,279
Speaker 1: you're coming into the building, regardless win or lose. I

150
00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:50,960
Speaker 1: don't control that.

151
00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:51,359
Speaker 2: You know.

152
00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:53,720
Speaker 1: I talk with other cmos all the time, and I'm like,

153
00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:55,920
Speaker 1: the difference in being a CMO of a sports team

154
00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:57,080
Speaker 1: is I don't control my product.

155
00:05:57,520 --> 00:05:59,320
Speaker 2: If I worked at you know, Pizza Hut.

156
00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,560
Speaker 1: I can say, hey, this ingredient is in right now,

157
00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:03,760
Speaker 1: let's you know, we can do taste tests and focus

158
00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:05,760
Speaker 1: groups and decide what the product would be best in

159
00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:09,080
Speaker 1: order to sell basketball operations. And I are good friends,

160
00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,359
Speaker 1: but I make no I have no claim. People like

161
00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:13,400
Speaker 1: who we signed. I'm like, I am not the one

162
00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,440
Speaker 1: that's not me. And so because of those reasons, we

163
00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:18,359
Speaker 1: can really focus on the brand and the experience, and

164
00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:18,839
Speaker 1: that's what we do.

165
00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:20,720
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, y'all do a lot of work and

166
00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,080
Speaker 3: like tying into culture, especially in Atlanta, And we always

167
00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,680
Speaker 3: kind of talk about, you know, brands that tap into culture,

168
00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:27,960
Speaker 3: you know, are always more authentic. They make stuff happen.

169
00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,400
Speaker 3: But to your point, since you all can't control the

170
00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:32,960
Speaker 3: product on the field or on the court, like what

171
00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:35,640
Speaker 3: kind of do you use for inspiration around those different

172
00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,360
Speaker 3: ideas and activations, you know, beyond just what's happening at

173
00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:38,719
Speaker 3: the game.

174
00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, our brand, Mantra, has been true to Atlanta.

175
00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:43,720
Speaker 1: And when I started ten years ago, I came in

176
00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,120
Speaker 1: as a VP of Branch Strategy to help really define that,

177
00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:47,280
Speaker 1: like who do we stand for?

178
00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:48,280
Speaker 2: What do we exist for?

179
00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,919
Speaker 1: And we defined our target audience's next generation Atlantans. And

180
00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:54,919
Speaker 1: so we recognize that since nineteen ninety four there was

181
00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,200
Speaker 1: a little bit of a drop off in Hawk's relevance

182
00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,160
Speaker 1: to the city. Everyone said, what happened in ninety four

183
00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,800
Speaker 1: we traded Dominique, and there's literally generations of people.

184
00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,920
Speaker 2: Who are like, oh man, the Hawks, what are y'all doing?

185
00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,279
Speaker 1: And so when we came on board, myself, Steve Coohan,

186
00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:11,160
Speaker 1: our CEO, came on board and brought me on board

187
00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,480
Speaker 1: to help with the brand strategy. That a ton of research,

188
00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:15,280
Speaker 1: we says, you know what, we realized that we missed

189
00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,760
Speaker 1: generations after that happened, and so now it's all about

190
00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:21,360
Speaker 1: generational fan building. How do we look at building the

191
00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:23,440
Speaker 1: team for the next generation. So if I say that

192
00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,000
Speaker 1: you know you came from New York, does no matter

193
00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:27,440
Speaker 1: what I do, I can't make you a Hawks fan.

194
00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:31,240
Speaker 1: You go either love the Knicks, clean orange and blue,

195
00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:32,960
Speaker 1: and that's just what it is. However, if you moved

196
00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,000
Speaker 1: to Atlanta leol, which a lot of people have now

197
00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:36,560
Speaker 1: at it ten times, you're going to settle here, You'll

198
00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:38,440
Speaker 1: have a kid here. I want to be the team

199
00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:40,840
Speaker 1: for your kid. We first started how do we do that?

200
00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,240
Speaker 1: It was when we had those feather patterns, when olddidas jerseys.

201
00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:45,600
Speaker 2: How do we become the coolest team?

202
00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,200
Speaker 1: If you're playing NBA two K, so like, oh wow,

203
00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:49,520
Speaker 1: they got a feather pattern on their court.

204
00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:51,400
Speaker 2: That looks cool. I might not even be a Hawks fan.

205
00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:53,720
Speaker 1: But I like what they're doing getting all the dope

206
00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,120
Speaker 1: artists that are just coming out, like Who's Next?

207
00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:58,400
Speaker 2: And so for us, it was super intentional.

208
00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,960
Speaker 1: I remember when we launched it Jersey people over thirty

209
00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:03,280
Speaker 1: were like, oh, this is garbage.

210
00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:04,880
Speaker 2: You don't like it. I'm like, great, it wasn't for you.

211
00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:05,440
Speaker 3: Wasn't for you.

212
00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:07,160
Speaker 2: We intentionally made this not for you.

213
00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,040
Speaker 1: Obviously we've evolved a ton since then and gone, you know,

214
00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:12,400
Speaker 1: to a look that I think is really classic but

215
00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:14,480
Speaker 1: can work both ways, as well as Nike designing their

216
00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,480
Speaker 1: city Edition program that allows us to be flexible every year.

217
00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,600
Speaker 1: But for us, it's all around really engaging that next generation.

218
00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,200
Speaker 1: So the connection to the culture is really through that

219
00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:25,720
Speaker 1: looking at what's happening. When we did Tender Night back

220
00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:27,600
Speaker 1: in the day, it was like, what's relevant today?

221
00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:28,800
Speaker 2: Tender all right?

222
00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,040
Speaker 1: Hod we bring that experience into the real world, and

223
00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:33,000
Speaker 1: so we're constantly looking at ways to do that. Last

224
00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,120
Speaker 1: year it was only fans we had to talk about

225
00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:36,000
Speaker 1: the NCAS and tournament.

226
00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:37,560
Speaker 2: We made this only.

227
00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:39,320
Speaker 1: Fans spot with Harry the Hawks, and I'll tell everybody,

228
00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:41,600
Speaker 1: I got fired two hundred times and re hired two

229
00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,280
Speaker 1: hundred and one times that day after it hit TMZ.

230
00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:46,920
Speaker 2: It was a whole situation. But that's really what we

231
00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:47,480
Speaker 2: strive to do.

232
00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:49,400
Speaker 3: I mean, and when you're doing stuff like that. It's

233
00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,080
Speaker 3: always interesting because I think, you know, I see it

234
00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:54,040
Speaker 3: on the gency side a lot, right. It's like, you

235
00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:56,160
Speaker 3: come up with these big ideas, you want to get

236
00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,240
Speaker 3: it done, but there's always people sometimes on the inside

237
00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:00,319
Speaker 3: of the organization that don't get it and maybe a

238
00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,320
Speaker 3: little hesitant to it right, And so I always say

239
00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:04,959
Speaker 3: it's really important to have good advocates on the other

240
00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,120
Speaker 3: side of the table that understand what you're doing, to

241
00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:08,520
Speaker 3: kind of see the bigger picture, like how do you

242
00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:10,360
Speaker 3: work through those kinds of situations again, how do you

243
00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,000
Speaker 3: get people, you know, not to freak out too much?

244
00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:16,400
Speaker 3: We say I got this idea about OnlyFans, Well they definitely.

245
00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,120
Speaker 1: First of all, some people didn't know what only fans was,

246
00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:20,560
Speaker 1: so let's start there. But you know, I think it

247
00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,760
Speaker 1: really starts at the top and having a leader on

248
00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:25,360
Speaker 1: Steve Cooden that is creative and visionary but is also

249
00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,760
Speaker 1: understanding of culture and how to how to get things done.

250
00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,560
Speaker 1: And so that as that as an example, the brief

251
00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,560
Speaker 1: was the n Season Tournament has now been created by

252
00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:36,400
Speaker 1: the NBA. No one knows what that means, and there

253
00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:38,240
Speaker 1: are all these interviews with players Tyber like.

254
00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:39,760
Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know what that is? Are you excited

255
00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:40,520
Speaker 2: for it? What is it?

256
00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:42,200
Speaker 1: You know? And so we said, well, how do we

257
00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:43,840
Speaker 1: cut through the clutter? So the league was doing their

258
00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,640
Speaker 1: own marketing, which they do nationally, and so the brief

259
00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:48,760
Speaker 1: was cut through the clutter to let fans know that

260
00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:51,160
Speaker 1: the NCAS and tournament is coming and then get them

261
00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:52,720
Speaker 1: to learn about it and sell some ticket.

262
00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:55,040
Speaker 2: Cool. So when I gave that to talk.

263
00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,800
Speaker 1: Studios and our creative team, the only fans idea came out,

264
00:09:57,840 --> 00:09:59,600
Speaker 1: and that was the one idea that everyone was like, oh,

265
00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,000
Speaker 1: this is crazy, like this cuts through the club that

266
00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,560
Speaker 1: does exactly what the brief stated. So they came up

267
00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,360
Speaker 1: with the idea, you know, shot something and I had

268
00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,880
Speaker 1: to be the one to deliver it, obviously representing from

269
00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,079
Speaker 1: my team, and I was like, all right, so you

270
00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:13,200
Speaker 1: got to know how to pitch it.

271
00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,440
Speaker 2: And the very first time we watched it, it was like.

272
00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:22,079
Speaker 1: Okay, huh, don't know how this will land. And it

273
00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,000
Speaker 1: was great because at the same time it was this

274
00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,480
Speaker 1: is definitely cutting through the clutter in a very different way.

275
00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:30,880
Speaker 1: And so we had conversations internally and kudos to Steve.

276
00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:32,480
Speaker 1: It was like, let me make sure that we can

277
00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,120
Speaker 1: bring everybody along with us. So we shared with ownership,

278
00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:37,640
Speaker 1: we shared with our entire executive leadership team, and had

279
00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,640
Speaker 1: conversations about it. How people felt understanding. Some people don't

280
00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:43,080
Speaker 1: find the humor. Some people were like, what's only fans?

281
00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,640
Speaker 1: You know, it was a different thing ultimately, even going

282
00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,120
Speaker 1: to Adam Silver because the irony is when we dropped

283
00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,439
Speaker 1: that video, the team was playing in Mexico City and

284
00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:54,240
Speaker 1: our CEO was sitting next to Adam Silver and so

285
00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,560
Speaker 1: the people are asking him about this video. So we

286
00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,000
Speaker 1: needed to make sure that everyone was aware. But when

287
00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,320
Speaker 1: we had those conversations, were like, you know what, we're

288
00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:03,000
Speaker 1: going to do it. And the one thing that I

289
00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:04,679
Speaker 1: was very proud of is I said, you know, if

290
00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:06,440
Speaker 1: we don't do it, we're going to hurt our culture

291
00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,040
Speaker 1: because we have a team of really young creatives who

292
00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:12,079
Speaker 1: have big ideas and to what you said, it can

293
00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:13,599
Speaker 1: be disheartening, like you're not going to come with the

294
00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:15,440
Speaker 1: big ideas over and over again if it gets killed

295
00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:17,320
Speaker 1: every time, right, And so I said, you know, if

296
00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,720
Speaker 1: we don't at least put it out there, it's going

297
00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:22,120
Speaker 1: to hurt the culture because they fulfill the brief and

298
00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:24,360
Speaker 1: that was the ask and I think kind of the

299
00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,600
Speaker 1: combination of just understanding internally and being willing to take risks,

300
00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:29,640
Speaker 1: which a lot of people are not willing to do.

301
00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:31,920
Speaker 1: I had other CMO from NBA teams and like, how

302
00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,000
Speaker 1: did y'all how did you get that through? Like what

303
00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:36,800
Speaker 1: did you how did that work? We could never and

304
00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:38,679
Speaker 1: that really made me proud to know that we're working

305
00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:40,760
Speaker 1: for an organization that's willing to say, hey, you know what,

306
00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:44,640
Speaker 1: we'll try it. And it was great, then it wasn't,

307
00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:46,960
Speaker 1: then it was and it wasn't. But overall, I think

308
00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:48,640
Speaker 1: for us, it was probably one of the biggest lessons

309
00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:51,720
Speaker 1: and like things that our team like congratulates us on,

310
00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,880
Speaker 1: like thank you for being willing to support us and

311
00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:56,240
Speaker 1: doing something that was different.

312
00:11:56,679 --> 00:11:59,439
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I mean, you know, it's also interesting because

313
00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,680
Speaker 3: it takes building that culture up. I mean, my guess

314
00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:04,760
Speaker 3: is the San Antonio Spurs probably wouldn't jump into a

315
00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:05,920
Speaker 3: only fans night, right.

316
00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:06,920
Speaker 2: And every market is different.

317
00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,200
Speaker 1: So it's also when a send in your market, you know,

318
00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,840
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, we have a lot of creativity, flexibility.

319
00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:15,000
Speaker 3: What's been some of your other favorite you know, events

320
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,120
Speaker 3: or promotions that y'all have done, Like I know that

321
00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,960
Speaker 3: one sticks out, But has it been your favoriteor has

322
00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:21,360
Speaker 3: it been another one? You just think it's just been

323
00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:22,440
Speaker 3: amazing from end to end.

324
00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,400
Speaker 1: I mean, I always say my absolute favorite was what

325
00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,560
Speaker 1: we did with Doctor King for our City Edition uniforms,

326
00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:32,040
Speaker 1: And for me, it was personally my favorite because I'd

327
00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,040
Speaker 1: been with the Hawks maybe three or four years and

328
00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,040
Speaker 1: I got promoted to CMO and the first meeting that

329
00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,360
Speaker 1: I had was with Nike because they were talking about

330
00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:41,240
Speaker 1: the City Edition program and they're like, hey, how do

331
00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:43,559
Speaker 1: we You know, we're about three or four years out

332
00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,040
Speaker 1: from the time that the uniform drops when they're having

333
00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:48,440
Speaker 1: these meetings, so it has to be something evergreen, can't

334
00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,760
Speaker 1: be trendy, can't be something that's you know, hot today

335
00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,000
Speaker 1: because by the time you go to production and timelines

336
00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,920
Speaker 1: at Nike and delivery, three years would have passed. And

337
00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,920
Speaker 1: so you know, my idea said, you know, we do

338
00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:02,760
Speaker 1: something great every year for Mlkday to honor the legacy

339
00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,400
Speaker 1: of Doctor King, but I love to do it for

340
00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:06,680
Speaker 1: more than a day, So is there any way that

341
00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:08,200
Speaker 1: we could do that? And they're like, well, you know

342
00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,840
Speaker 1: they work with the King of State every year around MLKDA.

343
00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:13,880
Speaker 2: They said, well, you'd have to get the estate on board.

344
00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,960
Speaker 1: So I built a relationship with the head of attorney

345
00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,080
Speaker 1: for the estate, who we are now great friends. So

346
00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:21,800
Speaker 1: we worked a lot together in that, and then we

347
00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:23,400
Speaker 1: had to get the NBA on board. We had to

348
00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,160
Speaker 1: get the Players Association on board. And so by getting

349
00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,160
Speaker 1: all those parties together on the line and Nike working

350
00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,360
Speaker 1: with us on the design, by the time we finished it,

351
00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,600
Speaker 1: it was like we knew we had something special. Even

352
00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:36,280
Speaker 1: our ownership was like, whatever we need to do, like.

353
00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:37,400
Speaker 2: We'd love this idea.

354
00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,960
Speaker 1: And so when we designed it, we had no idea

355
00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:42,800
Speaker 1: what was going to happen in the summer of twenty twenty.

356
00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:44,560
Speaker 2: So it was also a lot on just timing. So

357
00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:45,520
Speaker 2: it was like, oh, it's coming out.

358
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,800
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty twenty one, Like oh, okay, you know, it's

359
00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,320
Speaker 1: a couple of years covid on nobody's mind. So the

360
00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:53,880
Speaker 1: fact that it was George Ford Covid all these things

361
00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:57,120
Speaker 1: at one time, Black Lives Matter signs everywhere. And then

362
00:13:57,679 --> 00:13:59,920
Speaker 1: the teams were in the bubble. The Hawks were in

363
00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:01,600
Speaker 1: the bubble, but the NBA was playing in the bubble,

364
00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:03,160
Speaker 1: and that's when we launched it on with T and

365
00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:08,200
Speaker 1: T on air, it became so galvanizing, like people who

366
00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:11,440
Speaker 1: aren't even Hawks fans were like, I love that jersey

367
00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:12,000
Speaker 1: so much.

368
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,520
Speaker 2: So I got a call from the Pope who ushed.

369
00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:16,400
Speaker 1: Out and they were like, hey, like, you know, the

370
00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:18,520
Speaker 1: Pope is really inspired by the Doctor King one of

371
00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:21,600
Speaker 1: his one of his inspirations. He loves what the NBA

372
00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,360
Speaker 1: has been doing. Would you be willing to send him

373
00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:25,920
Speaker 1: a jerky? Absolutely?

374
00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:26,600
Speaker 2: What can we do?

375
00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:29,800
Speaker 1: So, working with our partners at UPS, we were able

376
00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,440
Speaker 1: to send him one and even the images of that.

377
00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:34,480
Speaker 1: This looks so crazy to me, but to know that

378
00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:36,720
Speaker 1: an idea that came out of your head of like,

379
00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,120
Speaker 1: oh this could be cool, could end up becoming that,

380
00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:40,600
Speaker 1: And I think what took it a step further, which

381
00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:42,840
Speaker 1: is probably why I'm most proud of it, is we

382
00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,120
Speaker 1: also decided at the time we did a lot of

383
00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,320
Speaker 1: work with Doctor King with the family, and it was

384
00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:50,560
Speaker 1: their desire was to help educate the next generation of Atlantans,

385
00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,760
Speaker 1: our target audience on the legacy of Doctor King. Makes sense,

386
00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:56,320
Speaker 1: This is a perfect partnership, and so because of what

387
00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:57,640
Speaker 1: we said, you know, the last work that he was

388
00:14:57,640 --> 00:14:59,400
Speaker 1: doing was kind of the Poor People's Movement. How do

389
00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,760
Speaker 1: we look at comic parody and empowerment for people of color.

390
00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,840
Speaker 1: So we decided that every single jersey that we sold,

391
00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:07,760
Speaker 1: we were going to donate one hundred percent of our

392
00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,880
Speaker 1: profit to entrepreneurs, and it ended up being the Women's

393
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,040
Speaker 1: Entrepreneurship Initiative of Atlanta. So I love the idea that,

394
00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:17,920
Speaker 1: you know, professional men's basketball team is donating money to

395
00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,040
Speaker 1: women entrepreneurs to help create the next generation of business

396
00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:23,920
Speaker 1: people to drive our community forward. And we did that

397
00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,640
Speaker 1: and then fortunately the team played the best it ever

398
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,320
Speaker 1: had since it's been in Atlanta in them Eastern Conference finals.

399
00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:32,560
Speaker 1: And so now we keep the center court in the

400
00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,320
Speaker 1: arena on permanent display right by our hawkshop. You have

401
00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:37,320
Speaker 1: a frame jersey there along with a picture of the

402
00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:39,880
Speaker 1: pope and kind of the story of all that happened,

403
00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:45,120
Speaker 1: but the combination of like community and culture and religion

404
00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:46,720
Speaker 1: if we're gonna bring the pope in and all of that,

405
00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:50,160
Speaker 1: as well as winning because team performance matters, Like I

406
00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,280
Speaker 1: don't think we could have crafted a better story, and

407
00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,960
Speaker 1: it was something that was it was written well before

408
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:55,520
Speaker 1: we got here.

409
00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:57,920
Speaker 3: No, it's interesting because I mean I haven't done a

410
00:15:57,960 --> 00:15:59,960
Speaker 3: ton of researching since some of the other city dation,

411
00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:02,040
Speaker 3: you know, jerseys and stuff like that. But I do

412
00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,480
Speaker 3: think Atlanta, especially with our history of culture and just

413
00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:06,760
Speaker 3: all these things like that, was a perfect moment in

414
00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:08,160
Speaker 3: the court, like the maze and I remember had to

415
00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,200
Speaker 3: stain glass element to it, and you know, the black jerseys.

416
00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:13,560
Speaker 3: But at the same time, you know, kind of one

417
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:15,720
Speaker 3: of my definitions of culture is kind of the tension

418
00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:18,000
Speaker 3: between what's old and what's new. And I think, you know,

419
00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:19,720
Speaker 3: y'all did a really good balance with it right there.

420
00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:22,640
Speaker 3: But I got to be honest, the more we do stuff,

421
00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:25,240
Speaker 3: I do love those old red you know, Hawks retro

422
00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:28,000
Speaker 3: jerseys sometimes, Like how do y'all balance that, especially knowing

423
00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,640
Speaker 3: that you know, even though you're going after this younger

424
00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,000
Speaker 3: audience and you know, the kids of like, you know,

425
00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,600
Speaker 3: these next generation fans, Like, how do you kind of

426
00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:37,640
Speaker 3: give those subtle nods back to you know, the old

427
00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,600
Speaker 3: Atlanta or you know, again, those retro jerseys that people

428
00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:42,560
Speaker 3: I think it's really come back in style now too.

429
00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:44,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, we always sell them, so they're always available

430
00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,400
Speaker 1: in the arena, and the NBA actually has restrictions on

431
00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:49,280
Speaker 1: when teams can bring them back, so it has to

432
00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,960
Speaker 1: be all a big anniversary, either a zero or a

433
00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,240
Speaker 1: ten year or a five year or something like that.

434
00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:58,160
Speaker 1: So if you're retiring a players jersey or something like that,

435
00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:00,160
Speaker 1: you're able to bring it back for those reasons. So

436
00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,560
Speaker 1: it's not so much hey, we really like that, let's

437
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,560
Speaker 1: just do it this year, and the same thing. It

438
00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:06,320
Speaker 1: has to be thought out well in advance, and so

439
00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:08,840
Speaker 1: we're fans of it too, even so much we're looking

440
00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:10,639
Speaker 1: at ways that we can incorporate some of that into

441
00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:12,879
Speaker 1: our design language as we move forward.

442
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:14,280
Speaker 2: But we never abandoned it.

443
00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:16,480
Speaker 1: And to be honest, even from talking about those feather

444
00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:19,600
Speaker 1: pattern jerseys that we had five years after we launched it,

445
00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:21,720
Speaker 1: we were like, we want to go back closer to

446
00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,320
Speaker 1: the core. So even the colors of our core uniforms

447
00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,119
Speaker 1: now that we have kind of that golden ride red,

448
00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:29,840
Speaker 1: it was very focused on that Niak era of.

449
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:31,040
Speaker 2: Hawks that a lot of people love.

450
00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:32,640
Speaker 1: So it is a little bit of blending the old

451
00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:35,199
Speaker 1: with the new, but designing something that's classic. When we

452
00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:37,960
Speaker 1: look back at our history of our uniforms, we changed

453
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,760
Speaker 1: a lot, like do different ownership teams through different eras.

454
00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,120
Speaker 1: Before the team was in Saint Louis and it came here,

455
00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:45,760
Speaker 1: we had that bright green pistol picher like we've gone.

456
00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:47,879
Speaker 1: When I look back that, I was like, wow, we

457
00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,359
Speaker 1: did a lot of different things. So when our current

458
00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:52,280
Speaker 1: ownership team came on board, we said, you know, we

459
00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:53,800
Speaker 1: want to design something that this team is going to

460
00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:56,359
Speaker 1: win a championship in from now in years to come,

461
00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:59,159
Speaker 1: because there are some teams that do have legacy brands

462
00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,000
Speaker 1: that don't change. Are one of them, I think the

463
00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,600
Speaker 1: next or one of the Lakers like and the Celtics. Yeah,

464
00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,199
Speaker 1: those uniforms are pretty much the same standard. They may

465
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,919
Speaker 1: make nuanced changes, and as an organization, historically we just

466
00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,359
Speaker 1: haven't been So what we've designed now is kind of

467
00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:13,960
Speaker 1: the blend of the old and the new in a

468
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,040
Speaker 1: classic timeless way that we believe we're going to keep,

469
00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:19,840
Speaker 1: you know, forever, so we no longer have that going

470
00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:32,359
Speaker 1: back and forth kind of look.

471
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,080
Speaker 3: One thing too, I always appreciate about you, Melissa, is

472
00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:36,920
Speaker 3: just kind of your intentionality and how you talk about

473
00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,000
Speaker 3: different things, and how you talk about marketing and branding.

474
00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,679
Speaker 3: But one thing I'd love to understand too, especially for

475
00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:44,719
Speaker 3: the folks that are listening, is how does a person

476
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,320
Speaker 3: or how did you kind of get to that CMO level.

477
00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:48,800
Speaker 3: I think for a lot of people that's kind of

478
00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:50,800
Speaker 3: there's like a glass ceiling you kind of hitting your career.

479
00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:52,200
Speaker 3: And I know I pumped in my head against it

480
00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:54,280
Speaker 3: a couple of times and was finally kind of able

481
00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:56,280
Speaker 3: to break through it through different means. But you know,

482
00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:57,800
Speaker 3: how did you kind of make that jump? Like what

483
00:18:57,840 --> 00:18:59,480
Speaker 3: was kind of the requirements of going from doing the

484
00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:01,639
Speaker 3: brand strat as you work to kind of making that

485
00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:03,400
Speaker 3: jump to actually getting into the C suite?

486
00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:03,640
Speaker 2: Man?

487
00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,080
Speaker 1: You know what the biggest jump I took was was

488
00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:09,720
Speaker 1: getting laid off, because real talk, if I didn't get

489
00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:11,399
Speaker 1: laid off, I don't know if I'd be here, you know.

490
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,600
Speaker 1: But to be honest, I've always been driven by passion,

491
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:15,840
Speaker 1: Like I don't I still don't know what I want

492
00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:17,359
Speaker 1: to be when I grow up, and I say it

493
00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:20,000
Speaker 1: all the time, but I genuinely never was like I'm

494
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:21,040
Speaker 1: going to be a CMO one day.

495
00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:22,360
Speaker 2: R I love marketing.

496
00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:24,960
Speaker 1: I liked brand strategy and I liked it as an

497
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:26,960
Speaker 1: intern at Turner, so I went to grad school in

498
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:28,560
Speaker 1: London to learn a little bit more about it. But

499
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:30,960
Speaker 1: I was like, I'll just do brand strategy. I'd be

500
00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:33,000
Speaker 1: a brand manager somewhere. I love the idea of building

501
00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:35,920
Speaker 1: a brand as a foundation and having other things come

502
00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:36,560
Speaker 1: on top of that.

503
00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:38,080
Speaker 2: And I remember when I was at T and T,

504
00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:39,560
Speaker 2: I was like, what does branding even mean?

505
00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:42,520
Speaker 1: And a woman Jennifer Dorian, who's one of my calling

506
00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,400
Speaker 1: my friend tour it's a friend of the mental still

507
00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:46,360
Speaker 1: she's a friends.

508
00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:46,520
Speaker 2: Too, are now?

509
00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:48,879
Speaker 1: She was like, you know, imagine T and T is

510
00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:50,680
Speaker 1: a television network, but we had to build a brand.

511
00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:52,359
Speaker 1: We know drama, and you have all these shows on

512
00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:54,159
Speaker 1: top of it, which are kind of the products. But

513
00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:55,639
Speaker 1: then imagine you want to take T and T and

514
00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:57,879
Speaker 1: put it in the Atlanta airport. What does a TNT

515
00:19:57,960 --> 00:19:58,680
Speaker 1: store look like?

516
00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:00,479
Speaker 2: What do you sell? What does this smell like? I

517
00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,159
Speaker 2: was like, my creative mind was like blown, Like that

518
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:03,800
Speaker 2: is cool.

519
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,000
Speaker 1: So the idea of being able to craft that creatively

520
00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,040
Speaker 1: for me, and I grew up as an artist, it

521
00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:11,159
Speaker 1: was another way to take my art creativity or ideas

522
00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:12,440
Speaker 1: and apply it in a different way.

523
00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:14,040
Speaker 2: And so that was it for me.

524
00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,440
Speaker 1: And so I ended up staying at Turner, got jobs

525
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:18,960
Speaker 1: and brand strategy. Soone's tapping, hey, you're interested in this

526
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:22,320
Speaker 1: business strategy, where with cartoon networking adult swims like, all right, cool,

527
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:24,280
Speaker 1: I'll take I'll learn about that too. Because I didn't

528
00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:26,360
Speaker 1: have a it has to be this And I think

529
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:28,600
Speaker 1: that's probably the biggest lesson cause I've talked to people

530
00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:29,600
Speaker 1: all the time and they're like, I want to be

531
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,280
Speaker 1: a CMO and I'm like why, And the why is

532
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,240
Speaker 1: always either the perception of power. I want to make decisions.

533
00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:37,440
Speaker 1: I want to decide what the strategy is. I was like,

534
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:39,920
Speaker 1: I have people who run brand strategy or marketing strategy.

535
00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:41,040
Speaker 2: I don't get to decide.

536
00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:41,199
Speaker 1: Now.

537
00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:42,920
Speaker 2: I have to manage the people who are doing the work.

538
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:44,200
Speaker 2: So it's a very different world.

539
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,119
Speaker 1: But ultimately the higher up that I got and I

540
00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:52,440
Speaker 1: think I was last VP of Communications and marketing and

541
00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:54,879
Speaker 1: content for a digital health and wellness startup that no

542
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,200
Speaker 1: one's ever heard of called Upwave while at Turner, and

543
00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:00,280
Speaker 1: I love that job because I got to learn about

544
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,960
Speaker 1: digital and you know, really working on building out an

545
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,439
Speaker 1: app from scratch and making content and putting on HLN.

546
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,160
Speaker 1: And then we were the last business started and when

547
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,600
Speaker 1: a new CEO came in, we were first business cut.

548
00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:12,680
Speaker 1: And I was eight months pregnant with my daughter and

549
00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,760
Speaker 1: I was like, hey, you started as an intern, We

550
00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:15,320
Speaker 1: all love you.

551
00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,119
Speaker 2: You ain't got no job, and I didn't.

552
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:19,800
Speaker 1: I couldn't worry about it because I had to have

553
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:21,600
Speaker 1: my daughter, so you know, I had a little bit

554
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,160
Speaker 1: of severance, but not enough to last for maternity League.

555
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:27,320
Speaker 1: But to be honest, I wasn't worried, but I didn't

556
00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,000
Speaker 1: know what I was going to do next. And I

557
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,119
Speaker 1: was a ballgirl for the Miami Heat in high school,

558
00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:34,359
Speaker 1: just mopping up sweat. When I moved to Atlanta as

559
00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:35,880
Speaker 1: an intern, I made no money, so I called them

560
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:37,720
Speaker 1: all Boston, the Heat, you know, anyone at the Hawks.

561
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:38,960
Speaker 1: So I ended up being a ball girl for the

562
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:40,960
Speaker 1: Hawks my first year in Atlanta. I think, oh two,

563
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:42,800
Speaker 1: the other All Star Game was here because I got

564
00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:44,679
Speaker 1: to work on the court for that. But I never

565
00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 1: imagine going back to basketball because in my mind I

566
00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:51,159
Speaker 1: had Evald that now was an entertainment. And literally a

567
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:52,959
Speaker 1: good friend of mine invited me to go with her

568
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,080
Speaker 1: to the draft party at the Arena after I had

569
00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:55,480
Speaker 1: my daughter.

570
00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:57,440
Speaker 2: She was like, you ain't got no job, it's free,

571
00:21:57,960 --> 00:21:59,960
Speaker 2: you know, why don't you come? And I'm like all right.

572
00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:02,320
Speaker 1: So I go to this draft party as a fan,

573
00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:04,919
Speaker 1: jeans and a T shirt. And I run into Steve Conan,

574
00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:07,920
Speaker 1: who was a mentor of sorts while I was a Turner,

575
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:09,760
Speaker 1: but I never worked for him before, I'd worked for

576
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,320
Speaker 1: like multiple people under him, and he saw me. He

577
00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:14,600
Speaker 1: knew that I mopped up sweat at those Hawks games

578
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:16,800
Speaker 1: because he was sitting courtside and would see me. We

579
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,080
Speaker 1: worked together on some big branch strategy projects while I

580
00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:22,480
Speaker 1: was at Turner. One was a rebrending Court TV to

581
00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,639
Speaker 1: True TV, and a couple of projects for Turner Classic

582
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,160
Speaker 1: movies and things. He's like, Hey, I know you love basketball,

583
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,280
Speaker 1: I know you love branding. You know I might need

584
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,000
Speaker 1: your help in building a brand. Would you mind sitting

585
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,720
Speaker 1: in on some meetings run the process of redesigning this jersey?

586
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:38,800
Speaker 1: And I was kind of like, heck, yeah, all day

587
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,800
Speaker 1: for free, like no issue. So he walks me around

588
00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:43,960
Speaker 1: that draft party and introduces me to every senior level

589
00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,840
Speaker 1: executor for the Hawks while I was there, and I

590
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:48,440
Speaker 1: was like, in my mind, I'm like, I'm not dressed

591
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,240
Speaker 1: for this, Like I have been a job interview.

592
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:51,639
Speaker 2: I just came, you know, to kick it at the

593
00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:52,200
Speaker 2: draft party.

594
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,040
Speaker 1: But every single one of them were like, we've heard

595
00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:57,120
Speaker 1: so much about you, we can't wait for you to start,

596
00:22:58,040 --> 00:22:59,160
Speaker 1: And I was so confused.

597
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:00,959
Speaker 2: I'm like, start, what what are we starting?

598
00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:02,959
Speaker 1: So when he asked me, I guess he had mentioned ow,

599
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:04,840
Speaker 1: you know someone who was in creative and can kind

600
00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:07,200
Speaker 1: of help us. They didn't have a perspective of a

601
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:09,480
Speaker 1: woman or a woman of color anywhere on that team.

602
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,040
Speaker 1: And so sitting with the then head of marketing and

603
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,320
Speaker 1: the agency they were working with on the design was

604
00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:15,280
Speaker 1: such a great process.

605
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:16,359
Speaker 2: I was just doing it.

606
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:18,639
Speaker 1: Then maybe ten meetings in, he was like, I think

607
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:20,719
Speaker 1: you should consult Would you mind consulting. I'd love your

608
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,440
Speaker 1: perspective on, you know, designing this brand strategy.

609
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,240
Speaker 2: And I was like, cool, yeah, I'm consulting.

610
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:26,520
Speaker 1: Why not?

611
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:27,760
Speaker 3: I got time?

612
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:30,000
Speaker 2: I got nothing but time.

613
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:32,480
Speaker 1: And then you know, by September of that year, I

614
00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:34,560
Speaker 1: came on board as a VP of brand Strategy, and

615
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:38,200
Speaker 1: so very quickly we had our major racial crisis. We

616
00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:40,879
Speaker 1: remember back in the day with previous ownership, we had

617
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,399
Speaker 1: to onboard a new ownership team. We'll go through the

618
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:45,600
Speaker 1: process of selling the team onboarding a new team. No

619
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:47,919
Speaker 1: one knew how to do that, so I figured it out.

620
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,280
Speaker 1: So I ended up becoming the SVP of business strategy.

621
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,159
Speaker 1: Just in doing filling gaps. It was like I was

622
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:55,040
Speaker 1: kind of a chief of staff. I was writing speeches,

623
00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:58,600
Speaker 1: I was helping manage digital agencies, whatever was needed. I'm like, hey,

624
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,359
Speaker 1: I got it Swiss army knife and partnered with the

625
00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:05,520
Speaker 1: whole organization. And then the reality was one day he

626
00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:07,480
Speaker 1: was like, hey, I want you to be CMO. You

627
00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,360
Speaker 1: know we had we had worked and got new ownership

628
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,000
Speaker 1: on board. We're about to open up. We were about

629
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,639
Speaker 1: to start working with Emry on a practice facility and

630
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,200
Speaker 1: start talking about redoing the arena. And so our head

631
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:19,480
Speaker 1: of marketing was also the head of a creative and

632
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:21,520
Speaker 1: he was pulled in different directions on those two things.

633
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,680
Speaker 1: So the day to day tactic of marketing was kind

634
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:26,080
Speaker 1: of it needed some love. And he was like, I

635
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:27,879
Speaker 1: love you to step in. You've worked in marketing, can

636
00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:31,639
Speaker 1: you support And I was like, CMO. I was like

637
00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:33,920
Speaker 1: me and I was like no, thank you, And I

638
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 1: turned it down actually multiple times, really because I loved

639
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:38,120
Speaker 1: doing brand strategy.

640
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:39,160
Speaker 2: I was a team of one.

641
00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,879
Speaker 1: It was really like being an internal consultant beginning to

642
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:42,960
Speaker 1: work on all the cool stuff.

643
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:45,560
Speaker 2: And he asked again and I was like, nah, I

644
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:46,040
Speaker 2: think I'm good.

645
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:47,119
Speaker 1: And then it got to a point where he's like,

646
00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:50,600
Speaker 1: all right, Melissa, look, this is the job that we

647
00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,600
Speaker 1: need right now. And it was positioned in a way

648
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,440
Speaker 1: where I love I'm very organized and detailed and also

649
00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,600
Speaker 1: very creative, and so they needed some operational help and

650
00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:00,840
Speaker 1: it was campaign management tools and I.

651
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:02,840
Speaker 2: Was like, oh, that's cool, I can do that. He

652
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:04,359
Speaker 2: was like, all right, well you'll be CMO and do

653
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,520
Speaker 2: that and I was like, ah, you got me, gotcha.

654
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 2: And I was like, well, why me? And it was

655
00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:11,119
Speaker 2: the one question I asked, and he's like, you know what,

656
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:13,639
Speaker 2: my mantra has always been like I just want to

657
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:14,000
Speaker 2: make dope.

658
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:14,200
Speaker 3: Shit.

659
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:15,800
Speaker 2: I'm here to make though. That's what I'm that's what

660
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,080
Speaker 2: we do. And he was like, it's because of that.

661
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,680
Speaker 1: You aren't driven by most things that people are driven

662
00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:23,040
Speaker 1: by that want this role.

663
00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:24,520
Speaker 2: It was a perception of power.

664
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,800
Speaker 1: It's understanding that you know, in sports doesn't pay historically

665
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:30,639
Speaker 1: as well as you know other Fortune five hundred companies,

666
00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:32,200
Speaker 1: So you're not not just about money.

667
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:34,720
Speaker 2: Like the reasons why you are great at what you

668
00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:35,240
Speaker 2: do is for this.

669
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:37,879
Speaker 1: You're great with people, You're great at leading teams and

670
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:40,480
Speaker 1: I want that energy in this role. And I was

671
00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,159
Speaker 1: kind of like, Okay, I could never have imagined that

672
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:46,919
Speaker 1: seven years I'd still be in the position.

673
00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,000
Speaker 2: And the role has grown and evolved.

674
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:50,840
Speaker 1: Tremendously since then, because I was taking over a really

675
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:53,760
Speaker 1: small piece of the team. But for people who are

676
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:55,280
Speaker 1: looking to get in that role, I think it's so

677
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:57,920
Speaker 1: much more around the curiosity of looking at how to

678
00:25:57,960 --> 00:25:59,959
Speaker 1: fill those gaps. If I didn't take that business strategy

679
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:02,240
Speaker 1: year role with Cartoon Network in Adult Swim, I don't

680
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 1: know if I would have had the P and L

681
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,639
Speaker 1: inside of knowledge to help lead parts of this organization.

682
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:08,120
Speaker 2: You know, creative.

683
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:10,520
Speaker 1: There's some people that come up through creative, some are finance.

684
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,080
Speaker 1: There's all different ways, you know, to get to this seat.

685
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:15,480
Speaker 1: But starting out as an artist, I was, you know,

686
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,040
Speaker 1: an art school in Miami, growing up drawing, painting, went

687
00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:20,480
Speaker 1: to Wake Force, had an art scholarship. It's very rare

688
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,520
Speaker 1: that you find someone who's in creative that has the

689
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,520
Speaker 1: ability to kind of I call it the superpowers, but

690
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:28,840
Speaker 1: being both creative and strategic, right, and that is incredibly

691
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 1: necessary in this job because there are no two days

692
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,480
Speaker 1: that are the same and so I'm always questioning when

693
00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:36,040
Speaker 1: people say I want to be a Samle, I'm like why,

694
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:38,920
Speaker 1: because now why really matters because if it's about getting

695
00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:41,680
Speaker 1: the title, if I came into it trying to become

696
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:43,800
Speaker 1: a CEMO, I probably would have made very different decisions

697
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,000
Speaker 1: within my career. I would have taken on jobs that

698
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:47,760
Speaker 1: I thought I'd have to take in order to get there.

699
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,200
Speaker 1: And the reality was I had it was have like

700
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 1: a ladder. Career path of mine was a jungle gym

701
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:55,600
Speaker 1: all day long. I was going left, right, back front,

702
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:56,960
Speaker 1: different places didn't matter to me.

703
00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:58,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you know you can always connect the dots

704
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:00,680
Speaker 3: looking backwards is what I can say, right, And like

705
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,639
Speaker 3: when you look at it, you nah, And when you do,

706
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:06,480
Speaker 3: you look at it like, you know what if I

707
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:08,320
Speaker 3: wouldn't been together, if I wouldn't have done this thing,

708
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:09,920
Speaker 3: then maybe this thing wouldn't have happened. And like you,

709
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:12,000
Speaker 3: it makes sense when you look backwards at it until

710
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,080
Speaker 3: your point, you can't always you know, forecast it.

711
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:14,560
Speaker 2: You can't.

712
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,159
Speaker 1: And the irony was I remember when I was a

713
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,879
Speaker 1: turner thinking about taking that digital startup job. I went

714
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:20,679
Speaker 1: to all my mentors and I talked to Steve, who

715
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:22,720
Speaker 1: was like a mentor to me, and he said, don't

716
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: take that job. And I was like every mentor I

717
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:27,360
Speaker 1: had said, don't take that job, and I took the job,

718
00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:29,160
Speaker 1: and ultimately.

719
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 2: I got hired. I did it, I loved it. I

720
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:32,239
Speaker 2: got laid off.

721
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,280
Speaker 1: And I later learned that Steve, when he left Turner,

722
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,600
Speaker 1: because he was there as well, had a policy where

723
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,040
Speaker 1: he couldn't take talent from Turner with him. So if

724
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:41,560
Speaker 1: I didn't get laid off from the job that he

725
00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,639
Speaker 1: told me not to take, not to take, I probably

726
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:46,919
Speaker 1: couldn't even physically could not be in the role at

727
00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:49,280
Speaker 1: the Hawks. And so, like I truly am a believe that,

728
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:51,680
Speaker 1: you know, women of faith, everything happens for a reason,

729
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:53,119
Speaker 1: but that was like a major one to me.

730
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I mean even kind of going back, I

731
00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:57,360
Speaker 3: mean over the last ten years. I mean, we won't

732
00:27:57,359 --> 00:27:59,720
Speaker 3: get into but I remember when that whole transition with

733
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:01,760
Speaker 3: lead Ship happened, I was actually working at the Agency

734
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:03,040
Speaker 3: and we were doing a lot of work, you know,

735
00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:05,640
Speaker 3: with the Hawks of that whole situation, and I got

736
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:07,439
Speaker 3: a chance to kind of work with Steve Cohan directly

737
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:09,520
Speaker 3: on that and saw the kind of leader he was,

738
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:11,480
Speaker 3: and I could I was definitely appreciative of just, you know,

739
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:13,920
Speaker 3: his approach to everything. I think that was the first

740
00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,159
Speaker 3: time I really worked with somebody at his level that

741
00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:18,840
Speaker 3: kind of saw things in a very holistic way and

742
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:20,679
Speaker 3: kind of understood you know, culture, but had a lot

743
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:22,760
Speaker 3: of intentionality behind it too. So I can totally see

744
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:24,880
Speaker 3: how he could evolve you into that kind of role.

745
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:27,240
Speaker 1: Well yep, yep, yeah, he also has a vision for

746
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:28,879
Speaker 1: what he wants and he were like, oh, yeah, you

747
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,560
Speaker 1: didn't know. I already knew, he knew from the from

748
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:34,800
Speaker 1: the beginning. But what I what I also appreciate about

749
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,440
Speaker 1: working with him is like he's also not afraid to

750
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:40,120
Speaker 1: say he doesn't know what he doesn't know, and a

751
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,400
Speaker 1: lot of times at c CEO level people never want

752
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:44,080
Speaker 1: to say I don't know, and I'd be the main one.

753
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:45,640
Speaker 1: I'm like, look, you know who helped build me a

754
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:47,760
Speaker 1: sead of brains around this, like how do we do

755
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:50,680
Speaker 1: this better? Or sometimes it even comes to like can

756
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,240
Speaker 1: you be my cultural advisor? Like I say, this is

757
00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,360
Speaker 1: that the right thing to say? Some people don't want

758
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,520
Speaker 1: to have those conversations, but an appreciative that I can

759
00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 1: be and it's also trust, you know, built over years.

760
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 1: Did are things that I will say to him and

761
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:06,680
Speaker 1: he'll be like, Okay, all right, got it? You know

762
00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:09,120
Speaker 1: check where I think it's just based on our relationship

763
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 1: over time and so having that sort of leadership and

764
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,280
Speaker 1: you know, that's rare, and I try to have the

765
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 1: same with my team where I'm like, please give me feedback,

766
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:17,440
Speaker 1: because ain't nobody perfect.

767
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,000
Speaker 3: As a woman in leadership too? Like what's it been like?

768
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,120
Speaker 3: Just as you've kind of navigated different elements of it?

769
00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:24,400
Speaker 3: My assumption is that a lot of this sports stuff

770
00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:26,360
Speaker 3: is kind of an old boys club in certain areas.

771
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,200
Speaker 3: You know, I don't know how much basketball is compared

772
00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:30,840
Speaker 3: to you know, I really feel like football is probably

773
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:32,920
Speaker 3: the way more, but I mean maybe they're equal. But

774
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,040
Speaker 3: just especially as a black woman too, Like, what's that

775
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:37,160
Speaker 3: process been like as you've had that role and had

776
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,760
Speaker 3: to kind of institute some of these changes and ideas?

777
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,120
Speaker 3: Is it you know it is there been friction? Has

778
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:43,760
Speaker 3: there been challenges? And how does you kind of work

779
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:44,280
Speaker 3: through those things?

780
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:45,800
Speaker 2: You know, I've seen it evolve.

781
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:47,520
Speaker 1: I remember when I was working for the Heat when

782
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,120
Speaker 1: I was in high school, and I remember every summer

783
00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:51,960
Speaker 1: in college I would go back and volunteer with the

784
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,240
Speaker 1: Heat helping out draft free agency, and they're like a family,

785
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:55,960
Speaker 1: Like I love them, I love their ownership.

786
00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:57,560
Speaker 2: They're a really really great organization.

787
00:29:58,080 --> 00:29:59,800
Speaker 1: There's a person working in scouting and I was putting

788
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,160
Speaker 1: together there's kyting reports, and I was doing something but

789
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:03,760
Speaker 1: it wasn't efficient, and I was like, there's a better

790
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:05,360
Speaker 1: way to do this, and so I made a suggestion.

791
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:07,480
Speaker 2: And I was told, you don't get paid to think.

792
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:08,800
Speaker 2: You get paid to do what I tell you to do.

793
00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:14,000
Speaker 2: And I was like, huh, all right, check that ain't

794
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,240
Speaker 2: gonna work. But I got it.

795
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,280
Speaker 1: But there were areas kind of like that where you know,

796
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,360
Speaker 1: it wasn't overt just in terms of like, oh, you

797
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,440
Speaker 1: know you're a woman, just sit down, shut up. It

798
00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:27,560
Speaker 1: was never that, but I felt the energy. It's different

799
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:29,240
Speaker 1: on the basketball operation side than it is on the

800
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:31,160
Speaker 1: business side. And I think the NBA has done a

801
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:33,479
Speaker 1: tremendous job over even the ten years that I've been

802
00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,320
Speaker 1: with the Hawks of just make seeing that change and

803
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:40,320
Speaker 1: evolving that business like from team presidents to you know, coaches,

804
00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:42,960
Speaker 1: assistant coaches. Obviously with the w and all the great

805
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,360
Speaker 1: things happening there, I definitely think there's an evolution happening,

806
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:49,240
Speaker 1: and it's coming quickly in a way that's super positive.

807
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:51,760
Speaker 2: But for me, I've always seen being a woman.

808
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:53,680
Speaker 1: To see a black woman working in sports is my

809
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,400
Speaker 1: superpower because the one thing you can't tell me about

810
00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,520
Speaker 1: is what's relevant to women or people of color. So,

811
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:04,240
Speaker 1: especially in the leadership role with the Hawks, I do

812
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,560
Speaker 1: think there's being in Atlanta's unfair to ask that question

813
00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:10,320
Speaker 1: because I do think there's a different perspective for people

814
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,000
Speaker 1: that live here and understand who's coming to our games,

815
00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,360
Speaker 1: what's happening, what's relative. They don't They're not listening to

816
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,360
Speaker 1: what's happening. They're not on Instagram, they're not going outside

817
00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:20,320
Speaker 1: like I see you outside. I want to also live

818
00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:21,800
Speaker 1: in the world. So I do think that helps with

819
00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:26,960
Speaker 1: that authenticity and being relevant, and so I've always really

820
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,360
Speaker 1: proud of myself on that. Now when I got promoted

821
00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:31,960
Speaker 1: to be a CMO until the story and is so

822
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,480
Speaker 1: interesting to me. But you're able to park in the

823
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,240
Speaker 1: reserve parking area at the arena, which is a big deal.

824
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:41,400
Speaker 2: If anybody goes, you know, parking at arena, it's it's

825
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:41,640
Speaker 2: a thing.

826
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:42,880
Speaker 3: I've seen them, you see it.

827
00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 1: So you can park in a reserve spot. And during

828
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:47,000
Speaker 1: the day, I was heading over there to a meeting.

829
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,640
Speaker 1: I had just gotten promoted, and I parked my car.

830
00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:51,960
Speaker 1: I was walking into the building at a security guard

831
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:53,760
Speaker 1: stop and he's like, I'm sorry, man, you can't park there.

832
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:57,200
Speaker 1: That's reserve for executives. And I was just like okay,

833
00:31:58,040 --> 00:31:59,560
Speaker 1: and I kept walking and he was like, man, I'm

834
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 1: not so to my badge, I was like, I say,

835
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:04,200
Speaker 1: like most of party literally says executive underneath it. And

836
00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:06,080
Speaker 1: he looked so confused. And I was wearing maybe some

837
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:08,760
Speaker 1: Jordan some sweats and sneakers, and I could see his

838
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:12,160
Speaker 1: mind like like what, huh what? But for me, it

839
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:14,600
Speaker 1: was like the best moment because I was changing the

840
00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:17,440
Speaker 1: perception of what a senior level executive looks like for

841
00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:20,440
Speaker 1: an NBA team, for that person. And I think every

842
00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:22,080
Speaker 1: time that I'm in a room where I'm able to

843
00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:24,920
Speaker 1: let my skills or my work speak, or I am

844
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:27,520
Speaker 1: presenting and speaking, I think it changes the mentality of.

845
00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:31,000
Speaker 2: Like, oh oh, she knows, okay, she's good, she got it.

846
00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:34,080
Speaker 1: And so as a woman, I'm always trying to represent

847
00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:36,280
Speaker 1: not just for me, but everybody else on my team

848
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:38,239
Speaker 1: and so when I first started with the Hawks, had

849
00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:41,120
Speaker 1: just had my daughter, there were no lactation rooms. It

850
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,640
Speaker 1: was not a very female friendly environment. They're actually women

851
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:46,800
Speaker 1: that came to me when I first started and said,

852
00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:48,400
Speaker 1: thank you so much for being here. We've never seen

853
00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,280
Speaker 1: a woman in a VP or senior level role because

854
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:53,120
Speaker 1: a lot of times women get promoted if they have

855
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,880
Speaker 1: a kid, they either get demoted or they leave based

856
00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:59,720
Speaker 1: on the rigor of working in sport. And so I always,

857
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:01,600
Speaker 1: you know, give props to Steve because he was like, nope,

858
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:02,800
Speaker 1: I want you to be here. I want you to

859
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:04,880
Speaker 1: be able to use a family room to take your

860
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:06,240
Speaker 1: daughter if you have to work a game and you

861
00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:06,760
Speaker 1: don't have child.

862
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:07,240
Speaker 2: Whatever.

863
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,040
Speaker 1: It is like, we wanted to make that environment. So

864
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:11,120
Speaker 1: now that is our culture. But I think he had

865
00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:14,040
Speaker 1: to come in and really instill it. But I had

866
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:17,960
Speaker 1: to check myself because sometimes I'm so chill, laid back, cool,

867
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:21,760
Speaker 1: easy going that I forget that people don't just see me.

868
00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, you're a list. Like no, you're a

869
00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:26,520
Speaker 1: woman in the senior role. And as an example, I

870
00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:29,200
Speaker 1: had gotten a promotion and I had a really small

871
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,880
Speaker 1: office that I loved because it's facing my house and

872
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,520
Speaker 1: I can see traffic on the way home, and Atlanta

873
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:36,960
Speaker 1: traffic is no joke. And so I didn't want to move.

874
00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:39,960
Speaker 1: And they had a big corner office available. They're like, hey,

875
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:41,680
Speaker 1: you can move into that office if you want, and

876
00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:45,400
Speaker 1: I turned it down like twice, and I have a history.

877
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:48,480
Speaker 2: Of doing that. I'm like, no, I'm good, all right,

878
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,200
Speaker 2: it's fine, But I really liked my Space.

879
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,320
Speaker 1: And I remember having a conversation with someone or like,

880
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:56,920
Speaker 1: you know, there's no women in corner offices, and it

881
00:33:57,560 --> 00:33:59,920
Speaker 1: hit me and I was like, wow, by not taking

882
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,200
Speaker 1: get you're sending a signal that that is not what

883
00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:06,320
Speaker 1: women And so it just really changed my perspective.

884
00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:08,080
Speaker 2: I'm like, no, I will not take notes in that meeting.

885
00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:09,600
Speaker 1: Yes, I want to sit in the middle of the

886
00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,040
Speaker 1: boardroom and the table and not kind of shrink back.

887
00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:15,440
Speaker 1: But I think when you're more junior, it's really the

888
00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:17,800
Speaker 1: experience that kind of helps you get there. And so

889
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,000
Speaker 1: for me, I've been able to grow and see that

890
00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:22,359
Speaker 1: over time. So now I'm telling my team, I'm like, hey,

891
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:24,560
Speaker 1: young lady, you sit right here, don't sit back there

892
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:26,839
Speaker 1: like you you come up, And I want to help

893
00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:29,239
Speaker 1: give people the same knowledge that I had to get,

894
00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:33,359
Speaker 1: you know, kind of overtime myself asking asking questions. Times

895
00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:35,040
Speaker 1: are I needed help and I'm like everyone else has

896
00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,400
Speaker 1: an admin or you know, help, why don't.

897
00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:38,600
Speaker 2: I have one?

898
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:40,600
Speaker 1: And once my boss I'm like, hey, is it possible?

899
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:43,719
Speaker 1: He was like, sure, you never asked, and I was like, man,

900
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:45,240
Speaker 1: this is crazy.

901
00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:47,080
Speaker 2: But now I understand.

902
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:49,719
Speaker 3: You know, a big part of luck, and you know,

903
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,600
Speaker 3: success is always say it's asking the right combination of

904
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:57,400
Speaker 3: really smart questions, stupid questions, and obvious questions. Yeah, you

905
00:34:57,480 --> 00:34:59,319
Speaker 3: know you gotta have you you can't have you let

906
00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:00,680
Speaker 3: your ego get in the way of that. Like you

907
00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:02,799
Speaker 3: know what, I'm asking a stupid question or maybe it's

908
00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:04,239
Speaker 3: just stupid to y'all, but I'm gonna get it because

909
00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:05,520
Speaker 3: I just needn't know right.

910
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:08,960
Speaker 1: And most times people are like, oh wow, you know

911
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:10,960
Speaker 1: that should come with I'm like, people don't know what

912
00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:12,640
Speaker 1: you mean until you tell them, you know, I mean,

913
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 1: And it's not about being annoying or repetitive.

914
00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:16,680
Speaker 2: It's like sometimes it's just saying it.

915
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:30,520
Speaker 3: How do you feel about all this amazing stuff that's

916
00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:32,239
Speaker 3: happening in the w NBA. Now, I mean, you know,

917
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,440
Speaker 3: we had an amazing college of you know, Women's tournament

918
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,600
Speaker 3: a couple of year ago. W NBA season. W NBA

919
00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:40,880
Speaker 3: is getting so much you know, credit and visibility now,

920
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:42,319
Speaker 3: like things are starting to happen, and I can really

921
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,800
Speaker 3: see that starting to trend and uptick. Like, how excited

922
00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,040
Speaker 3: are you about that in comparison with the stuff what

923
00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:48,000
Speaker 3: you're working on right now too?

924
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:49,920
Speaker 1: I mean, I love it. You know, I know that

925
00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:52,080
Speaker 1: there's some NBA teams that own their w team. We

926
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:53,959
Speaker 1: are not one of those teams. To me, that's super

927
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,360
Speaker 1: exciting when you can blend it too. I was talking

928
00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:58,480
Speaker 1: with the young lady that's the head of the Valkyries,

929
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,720
Speaker 1: Georgia Golden State's new WNA team they're launching next season,

930
00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:04,920
Speaker 1: but because they're owned by the same team, they're doing

931
00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:07,200
Speaker 1: such amazing things like their camps and clinics. They're giving

932
00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:11,200
Speaker 1: boys WNBA jerseys and girls NBA jerseys because it shouldn't matter,

933
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:14,000
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And I love that just

934
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:18,360
Speaker 1: in the idea of taking the perceptions way because I

935
00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:20,759
Speaker 1: think before it was like, oh, that's just this, that's

936
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,560
Speaker 1: just that, and so having it being elevated on a

937
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:27,200
Speaker 1: national scale is awesome. I'm all about parody, and so

938
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:31,200
Speaker 1: I look at salaries, I look at what executives are making,

939
00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:33,920
Speaker 1: and that still is not where it needs to be.

940
00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:36,359
Speaker 1: But I think obviously they're taking large steps forward having

941
00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:38,920
Speaker 1: teams be able to fly on charters. I think for

942
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,279
Speaker 1: the w like, that's a big deal, you know, But

943
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:45,400
Speaker 1: I think the more people can support, and that's literally

944
00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:48,000
Speaker 1: buy a ticket, watch a game on TV because a

945
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:49,680
Speaker 1: lot of people are like, oh, yeah, that's great, but

946
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,160
Speaker 1: it won't grow until they get the eyeballs because that's

947
00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:53,840
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, it's all about the revenue,

948
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:56,160
Speaker 1: and so that's really important. While they got a bigger

949
00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:59,239
Speaker 1: TV deal, the NBA's TV got it even bigger, and

950
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:01,600
Speaker 1: so I love it and I don't want it to

951
00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:03,879
Speaker 1: be a blip because of Caitlin Clark. I don't want

952
00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:05,520
Speaker 1: it to be like, Okay, well it's going to write.

953
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:07,520
Speaker 1: I don't think that's the case at all. But in

954
00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:10,759
Speaker 1: order for that to continue growth, I'm like, hey, my ticket,

955
00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:12,560
Speaker 1: come out to a game, watch a game, because that's

956
00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 1: that's how it's going to keep growing.

957
00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:15,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's got we got to support that thing.

958
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,640
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, the Dreams sold out some games

959
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:20,760
Speaker 3: that they sold out season tickets this year, which was amazing.

960
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:22,839
Speaker 3: So you can kind of see the trend starting to happen,

961
00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:24,840
Speaker 3: and yeah, my hope is that it continues to just

962
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,080
Speaker 3: makes the game even more exciting. Like, what are some

963
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:29,000
Speaker 3: other trends that you kind of noticed or you're you know,

964
00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:30,440
Speaker 3: you're kind of being like, you know what, let's keep

965
00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:32,440
Speaker 3: down on the radar some other things that you know,

966
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:34,919
Speaker 3: helped the Hawks and stay from Marina, kind of stay

967
00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:37,400
Speaker 3: ahead of the culture and be innovative.

968
00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:41,080
Speaker 2: I mean, there's so many things for us.

969
00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:44,359
Speaker 1: We talked like and asking about the state from arena side,

970
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:48,680
Speaker 1: we thought in COVID, when the touring industry went from

971
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:53,919
Speaker 1: popping too disappeared, that you know, okay, people may start

972
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:55,600
Speaker 1: coming back to events, but it came back with a

973
00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:57,799
Speaker 1: vengeance and which we were just talking about in one

974
00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:00,239
Speaker 1: music fest like the idea of festivals like people will

975
00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:03,040
Speaker 1: want to be together and I mean, and COVID is

976
00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:05,040
Speaker 1: so far back removed now, but we always kind of

977
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:06,239
Speaker 1: look at that as the mark because it was like

978
00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:08,000
Speaker 1: we're up and then we're way down and then it's

979
00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:10,680
Speaker 1: shot straight up. And so currently, even with the Usher

980
00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:13,440
Speaker 1: residency that we have at the arena, you know, blocks

981
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:16,319
Speaker 1: of shows doing more of those things. While he did

982
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,719
Speaker 1: that in Vegas super successful, like oh can you do

983
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:21,000
Speaker 1: that on tour and arenas? Currently we're in the process

984
00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,080
Speaker 1: of doing that, Like that's a trend that like I

985
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:25,200
Speaker 1: never really saw that as a trend, and I'm like, oh, yeah,

986
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 1: but it is. So we're looking at what happens in

987
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:29,960
Speaker 1: three years from now, does it start to decline? You know,

988
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,800
Speaker 1: looking at the economy, looking at all these things, and

989
00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,920
Speaker 1: so for our business, consistently focused on what happens in

990
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:38,120
Speaker 1: that space. How do we get more creative with types

991
00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:40,439
Speaker 1: of shows and events you see big podcasts or major

992
00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:44,040
Speaker 1: podcasts being able to use you know, big venues like

993
00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:47,120
Speaker 1: arenas to draw crowds based on all of that. So

994
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:50,680
Speaker 1: I'm consistently looking at Influencers are a big one right

995
00:38:50,719 --> 00:38:53,640
Speaker 1: now and people have always obviously used influencers in multiple ways.

996
00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:55,839
Speaker 1: How do you sell a ticket or make it transactional?

997
00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:58,640
Speaker 1: But for us, it's about building relationship over time and

998
00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:02,440
Speaker 1: incorporating them in different ways within our game, presentation, within

999
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:05,480
Speaker 1: our show, within our business, a lot of different things.

1000
00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:07,760
Speaker 1: I'm always keeping my eyes and ears open. Obviously everyone's

1001
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,160
Speaker 1: talking about AI and I'm like, yep, sure, yep, that

1002
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:13,240
Speaker 1: too for all in all the ways, for all the things.

1003
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:15,359
Speaker 1: But I have a young lady on my team who's

1004
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:18,920
Speaker 1: focused on building the building out research to help us

1005
00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:21,680
Speaker 1: get smarter on the future of fans because we've learned

1006
00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:23,160
Speaker 1: a lot and that those are kind of the trends

1007
00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:25,640
Speaker 1: that we're focused on. Internally, the future of fandom is

1008
00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:28,000
Speaker 1: going to be very different. And one example we talk

1009
00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:31,239
Speaker 1: about is millennial parents. So when you were a kid,

1010
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:33,680
Speaker 1: if your parent was a fan of something, they made

1011
00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:35,239
Speaker 1: you a fan of it, like you didn't have a choice,

1012
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:36,920
Speaker 1: Like you're going to be a fan of the foul

1013
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:38,440
Speaker 1: because if you like my like football, this is what.

1014
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:38,920
Speaker 2: You're gonna do.

1015
00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:42,360
Speaker 1: Millennial parents grew up with the power of choice, so

1016
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:44,040
Speaker 1: now they're giving their kids like, oh, you know, my

1017
00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:45,920
Speaker 1: parents made me do that. You can be a fan

1018
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:48,480
Speaker 1: of whatever you want. You don't like it, it's okay,

1019
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,480
Speaker 1: we'll find something else for you. And that has changed

1020
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:53,120
Speaker 1: the number of kids. And there's also a lot of

1021
00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,560
Speaker 1: research that shows the number of kids that play a

1022
00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:58,440
Speaker 1: sport have a higher propensity of becoming fans of that

1023
00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:00,279
Speaker 1: sport down the line. But there's been a decline line

1024
00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:03,120
Speaker 1: and use sport participation. I think it's because you're up

1025
00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:06,640
Speaker 1: against an iPad and everything else. And so we're constantly

1026
00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:08,960
Speaker 1: looking at how do we grow our basketball camps and clinics.

1027
00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:11,359
Speaker 1: How do we find opportunities to do drop in at

1028
00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:13,839
Speaker 1: stem camps or art camps or whatever else to give

1029
00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:17,160
Speaker 1: them a basketball exposure experience so that we can ultimately

1030
00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:20,520
Speaker 1: build that next generation Hawks fan with those you know,

1031
00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:24,640
Speaker 1: the difference in youth now, I really wonder so much

1032
00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:27,359
Speaker 1: of what sports looks like ten fifteen years from now

1033
00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:29,959
Speaker 1: for our for our kids, because it's a different world

1034
00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:33,440
Speaker 1: and the desire isn't necessarily the same. So while there

1035
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:36,000
Speaker 1: are things like casem I don't know if you've seen it,

1036
00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:38,400
Speaker 1: or like the sphere you can go and watch games,

1037
00:40:38,719 --> 00:40:43,440
Speaker 1: these really amazing VENUESU experience, right, Yeah, that's fantastic, and

1038
00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:44,880
Speaker 1: some people may love that more than come in to

1039
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:46,520
Speaker 1: a game, you know, I suppose if you can get

1040
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:48,520
Speaker 1: it for cheap and whichever. And so it's looking at

1041
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:50,640
Speaker 1: how do we partner with some of those things, how

1042
00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:53,600
Speaker 1: do we get inspiration from it? But really looking at

1043
00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:56,200
Speaker 1: evolving what we do, because we can't just stay stagnant.

1044
00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:57,600
Speaker 2: Do the same thing over and over again.

1045
00:40:57,960 --> 00:40:59,799
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, you know, I have two kids.

1046
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:02,120
Speaker 3: I even watch my son. He plays baseball. He's started

1047
00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:03,719
Speaker 3: get into basketball and stuff like that. I put a

1048
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:06,279
Speaker 3: basketball goal up in the backyard, you know, two years ago,

1049
00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:08,359
Speaker 3: just to see what would happen. You know. He goes

1050
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:09,600
Speaker 3: up there every once in a while. She's a couple

1051
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,400
Speaker 3: of jump shots. But I think, yeah, there's just a

1052
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:13,440
Speaker 3: lot of challenges even as a parent, of trying to

1053
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:16,080
Speaker 3: you know, get the practices and get them over there.

1054
00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:17,920
Speaker 3: I think that's the part where I get it, you know,

1055
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:19,960
Speaker 3: frustrated a lot of times personally. Right, It's like I

1056
00:41:20,080 --> 00:41:22,480
Speaker 3: want him to do more things in sports. But between

1057
00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:24,640
Speaker 3: doing a million things myself and then trying to get

1058
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:26,000
Speaker 3: there and get him to practice.

1059
00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:27,359
Speaker 1: And the world is in so much you can be like, hey,

1060
00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:28,680
Speaker 1: get on your bike and go to school and do

1061
00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:32,520
Speaker 1: that because you know safety, and it's it's a different generation. Yeah,

1062
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:35,120
Speaker 1: and we're always looking at like, all right, so because

1063
00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:36,640
Speaker 1: of that, what do we do differently?

1064
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:39,480
Speaker 3: Yeah? Actually, I ended up coaching his tee ball team

1065
00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:42,120
Speaker 3: last year because of that, and I was like, look y'all, like,

1066
00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:44,480
Speaker 3: look I'm just out here because I want him to

1067
00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 3: have a good experience.

1068
00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:47,520
Speaker 2: You know, that's wonderful.

1069
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:49,040
Speaker 3: So he's going to be the star player too, Just

1070
00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:52,480
Speaker 3: so y'all know. But if anybody else goss something to say,

1071
00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:55,279
Speaker 3: let me know, you meet y'all new star player. I'm

1072
00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:58,560
Speaker 3: the coach. It was, and we had a good season.

1073
00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:01,200
Speaker 3: You know, he enjoyed it whole story about he said, Man,

1074
00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:02,160
Speaker 3: that's some of my favorite memories.

1075
00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:04,160
Speaker 2: No, that's awesome.

1076
00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:07,279
Speaker 3: You go, so men, she didn't. How does as a parent?

1077
00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:07,400
Speaker 1: Then?

1078
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:09,319
Speaker 3: How do you balance with all this different stuff? I mean,

1079
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:11,319
Speaker 3: you got a million one thing's going on, You got

1080
00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,960
Speaker 3: a hundred plus events. You got basketball concerts, you know,

1081
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:18,640
Speaker 3: not just at the venue but at school probably other events.

1082
00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:20,200
Speaker 3: How do you manage on that?

1083
00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:22,160
Speaker 1: You know? I tell everybody you know, I love being

1084
00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:23,640
Speaker 1: the same of the Hawks, but being a mom is

1085
00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:24,480
Speaker 1: my number one job.

1086
00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:27,759
Speaker 2: And so you know, single mom. Daughter's ten years old.

1087
00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:31,799
Speaker 1: Marley is amazing, and she is super creative. I feel

1088
00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:33,759
Speaker 1: like I gave virtual a senior citizen because she's like

1089
00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:37,120
Speaker 1: really responsible and like cooks, and it's very into anime

1090
00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:39,320
Speaker 1: and art, which I was as well, So that that

1091
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:43,080
Speaker 1: brings me joy. But she hates basketball, has no desire

1092
00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:44,520
Speaker 1: to come to a game, and I'm like, you've been

1093
00:42:44,520 --> 00:42:46,840
Speaker 1: going into her two months old, like, you know, come on,

1094
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:49,760
Speaker 1: she just wants to eat then leave. So I find

1095
00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:54,520
Speaker 1: that I really pride myself on kind. I call it

1096
00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:56,719
Speaker 1: work life harmony. Sometimes you got to work a whole lot.

1097
00:42:56,840 --> 00:42:59,120
Speaker 1: Other times I'm like, hey, I took her to Japan

1098
00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:01,000
Speaker 1: this summer because she loves anime and wanted to really

1099
00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:03,279
Speaker 1: learn more about the culture. Having the ability to do

1100
00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:06,000
Speaker 1: that or taking the time to do that is where

1101
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:06,960
Speaker 1: I put my priority.

1102
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:09,839
Speaker 2: So I said it a year in advance. I'm like, hey, all,

1103
00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:11,520
Speaker 2: this is what's happening. Cool.

1104
00:43:11,719 --> 00:43:13,840
Speaker 1: And I find on a regular basis, like yesterday it

1105
00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:15,799
Speaker 1: was Halloween, she didn't have school. I was working from home,

1106
00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:17,880
Speaker 1: the whole trick or treat thing or talking about it

1107
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:19,680
Speaker 1: like that was what I was going to do. First,

1108
00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:21,760
Speaker 1: she comes to the office, hangs out with me. Everyone

1109
00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:23,560
Speaker 1: knows her because they feel like they've seen her grow up.

1110
00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:26,040
Speaker 1: But that was a big part of it. Even to

1111
00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:27,800
Speaker 1: the young lady that mentioned to me, like, oh, you know,

1112
00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:30,960
Speaker 1: when women have kids, they leave or get demoted. I'm like,

1113
00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:33,839
Speaker 1: I'm she coming with me, and we go and we're

1114
00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:37,200
Speaker 1: getting promoted, and so I want to show that so

1115
00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:39,759
Speaker 1: that others know that it's okay you're a mom, be

1116
00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:41,319
Speaker 1: a mom. And I think COVID kind of put down

1117
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:43,920
Speaker 1: a lot of those barriers, invisible barriers, and I think

1118
00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:46,879
Speaker 1: corporate some corporate people had like, oh, no, I can't

1119
00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:49,239
Speaker 1: show too much of my personal life, and I'm like,

1120
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:50,080
Speaker 1: go this, this is this.

1121
00:43:50,200 --> 00:43:52,040
Speaker 2: Is the biggest part of my it all.

1122
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:57,760
Speaker 1: So I'm I'm managing Girl Scouts and it was cross country,

1123
00:43:57,840 --> 00:43:59,239
Speaker 1: and you know, I want to be at every meet.

1124
00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:01,120
Speaker 1: Sometimes I can't make it. There has to be a

1125
00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:03,759
Speaker 1: big situation or reason why I can. But for the

1126
00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:06,480
Speaker 1: most part, I'm there and she knows that. And I

1127
00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:09,120
Speaker 1: think just having a strong relationship with her to me

1128
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:10,280
Speaker 1: is most important.

1129
00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:13,120
Speaker 3: That's dope. That's dope. Well, Melissa, this has been a

1130
00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:15,560
Speaker 3: great conversation. I appreciate you pulling up before we get

1131
00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:18,680
Speaker 3: out of here. I like to ask people if there

1132
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:23,000
Speaker 3: was a Melissa Proctor billboard somewhere in Atlanta and you

1133
00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:26,120
Speaker 3: could put any message you want to put on that billboard, Oh,

1134
00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:30,800
Speaker 3: what message would you put on your Melissa prouct the billboard?

1135
00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:32,759
Speaker 3: Bonus points if you know where you would want to put.

1136
00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:35,440
Speaker 2: It, but you can't just throw that at me.

1137
00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:37,400
Speaker 3: That's would you put on it? Would you put a

1138
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 3: piece of advice? You put a quote? Would you put

1139
00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:41,359
Speaker 3: who was it? Would you say? Make dope? Shit?

1140
00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:43,919
Speaker 1: Like that's so funny because that's where I was going.

1141
00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:46,319
Speaker 1: We actually have it up in our offices on the wall.

1142
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:48,040
Speaker 1: The creative team put it up there, and I don't

1143
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:49,560
Speaker 1: think they know where it came from. So I'm like,

1144
00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:54,920
Speaker 1: you probably can't curse on the billboard either, So huh, well,

1145
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:58,040
Speaker 1: I would want it on our corner board selfishly, because

1146
00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:00,160
Speaker 1: it's the biggest board in the southeast right there. To

1147
00:45:00,239 --> 00:45:02,799
Speaker 1: tell him at part driving Marietta, talk about that Hudson girl.

1148
00:45:03,080 --> 00:45:05,640
Speaker 1: Because it goes around around there. It does a lot

1149
00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:08,399
Speaker 1: of things, and so I would put it there for sure.

1150
00:45:09,120 --> 00:45:12,840
Speaker 2: What would it say? You know, I love fun and

1151
00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:13,439
Speaker 2: good energy.

1152
00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:15,040
Speaker 1: So when I was born, my name was Melissa Bree

1153
00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:18,960
Speaker 1: McGee mm hmmm, so in college everyone call me That's

1154
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:19,480
Speaker 1: what it would be.

1155
00:45:19,560 --> 00:45:22,719
Speaker 2: So I would probably have a picture of me my daughter.

1156
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:26,839
Speaker 2: It would just say mm m. And if people knew,

1157
00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:29,359
Speaker 2: they'd be like, oh, it's so crazy. All she got

1158
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:31,600
Speaker 2: it a little board. But I figured that would be

1159
00:45:31,719 --> 00:45:34,680
Speaker 2: like amazing and hilarious all at the same time.

1160
00:45:34,800 --> 00:45:36,840
Speaker 3: Well, that would cap it off perfectly. Those who know,

1161
00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:38,279
Speaker 3: it's like, if you know, you know, if you know

1162
00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:39,840
Speaker 3: you know, if you don't know, ask.

1163
00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:42,080
Speaker 2: It's right underneath it. I would probably put make dope.

1164
00:45:41,880 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 3: Shit for yo. Melissa, Thank you so much for pulling up.

1165
00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:45,680
Speaker 2: Thanks.

1166
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:48,560
Speaker 3: This has been an amazing conversation. Y'all. Make sure y'all

1167
00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:50,600
Speaker 3: go out there and support the Hawks. Y'all make sure

1168
00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:53,400
Speaker 3: y'all go out there to these events at State Farm Marina.

1169
00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:56,640
Speaker 3: And please y'all don't don't be calling her passing for tickets.

1170
00:45:56,680 --> 00:45:58,839
Speaker 2: Okay, oh yeah, don't don't don't. Oh and check out

1171
00:45:58,880 --> 00:45:59,879
Speaker 2: my book too, all girl.

1172
00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:02,640
Speaker 1: CMO almost forgot, but yeah, I wrote it for my daughter,

1173
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:05,120
Speaker 1: So that's that's that's a big one, anyone to all

1174
00:46:05,160 --> 00:46:05,560
Speaker 1: the jams.

1175
00:46:05,640 --> 00:46:07,399
Speaker 2: Everything that I learned, I wrote in there for her.

1176
00:46:08,080 --> 00:46:10,280
Speaker 2: So that was a good one. Starting as a ballgirls

1177
00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:10,680
Speaker 2: a CMO.

1178
00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:13,360
Speaker 3: Well let's do it, you know, congratulations and everything, and uh,

1179
00:46:13,440 --> 00:46:17,839
Speaker 3: thank you. That's the pot. Y'all We out peace. You've

1180
00:46:17,840 --> 00:46:19,799
Speaker 3: been listening to button Nomics and nom your hosts. Brandon

1181
00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:22,719
Speaker 3: Butler got comments feedback, want to be on the show.

1182
00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:25,799
Speaker 3: Send us an email today at Hello at butteronomics dot com.

1183
00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:29,359
Speaker 3: Butter Nomics is produced in Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia by

1184
00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:32,799
Speaker 3: Casey Pegram, with marketing support from Queen and Nikki. Music

1185
00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:35,480
Speaker 3: provided by mister Hanky. If you haven't already, hit that

1186
00:46:35,520 --> 00:46:37,960
Speaker 3: subscribe button and never missed an episode, and be sure

1187
00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:40,439
Speaker 3: to follow us on all our social platforms at butter

1188
00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:42,880
Speaker 3: dot a t L. Listen to better Nomics on the

1189
00:46:42,920 --> 00:46:46,239
Speaker 3: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.