Throughout the month of March, Hornets.com will be featuring different female employees across multiple departments in the organization in conjunction with Women’s History Month.
Describe what you do with the Charlotte Hornets organization.
“As the Senior Social Media Manager of the Hornets, I help serve as a digital bridge between the organization and our fans. I make sure that each of our departments is well represented and everyone in our fanbase knows what’s going on whether it’s a community event, a theme night, a game night, the players, coaching staff, the front office, etc. We want to make sure all the messages being relayed are accurate, but also engaging and fun for the fans.”
What experiences have had the most significant impact on your professional career?
“My experiences in college at Elon University really helped me. My professors were always big proponents of getting out into the field and that there’s more than just being inside the classroom. I did two internships at ESPN and that was the first experience I had being a female while working in sports. I first began understanding what the industry was like and also as a female, I learned what I could expect if I chose to pursue this after college.”
What does Women’s History Month mean to you?
“As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it’s about recognizing equality. It’s about the social, political, economic and cultural achievements by women. It’s about celebrating how far we’ve come since the 1920’s when we finally received suffrage. There’s still a lot more to be done, but I think right now, it’s the celebration and the push to make it known that we’re just as capable of doing everything that males are.”
How do you see yourself as a role model amongst women in sports?
“The last couple of years, I started seeing myself as more of a role model than I did when I first got into the industry. We have fans that are young girls and girls in high school that have come up to me and said, ‘What did you do to get to where you are now?’ It wasn’t until a couple years ago that I realized people kind of look up to me. I need to make sure that what I’m doing and everything that I’m saying is giving others the motivation to go and pursue what they want to do.”
Who are the most influential female role models in your life (personal or non-personal)?
“From a family perspective, I would say my grandmother who came over from Zambales, Philippines. She went right into the work force when she got here. My grandfather was in the Navy, so my grandmother had a job working in the textile industry and also raised three children. There were a lot of things that went against her and a lot of times when people wouldn’t necessarily be in her favor. To this date, learning English by listening to music and watching television shows is still very inspiring. She dealt with a huge culture change and that was a really big thing. She’s 90 years old now and I still look up to her so much.”
“As far as the industry goes, there’s not really one in particular, but I think the thing that really makes me happy to be working as a female in the NBA is everyone around the league is very supportive of one another. I’m very close with all my counterparts on the other teams in the league, even the reporters in some way, shape or form. I know them and I talk to them on a daily basis. We compare things that are going on in their world and mine. We all come together to support each other and make sure we’re all happy.”