• Attendance and viewership are skyrocketing domestically and globally: In 2023, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), and collegiate sports leagues smashed attendance records with no sign of slowing down given the increasingly strong pipeline of sports, teams, and leagues for girls and women.

The 2023 U.S. Open women’s final drew the largest crowd ESPN has ever had for a women’s final since taking over broadcasting rights, attracting 3.4 million fans. Last summer’s Women’s World Cup smashed records during the group stages, with an average attendance of 31,000 per game and a total of 2 billion globally who tuned in.

• Sponsorship and valuation are also on the rise: U.S. professional sponsorship growth is up more than 20% year over year, and women’s sports league valuations are climbing. While exact sponsorship increases are sport- and country-specific, the global trend is clear: up!

3. You believe that we need a collective reframing in order to give women in sports the respect they deserve. Talk more about that.

We should frame women’s sports as sports, not women’s sports. I’d like to challenge the default assumption that sports are for men unless clarified. Until the default is challenged, women’s sports will continue to be secondary, an add-on, and an afterthought.

While the assumption (that sports cover male teams/games) makes sense because historically, 95% of U.S. sports coverage has gone to male athletes, we’ve never labeled what we see and watch as “male sports coverage.” Only after the growth of women’s sports leagues/teams have we started to add the subcategory of women’s sports. It’s ESPN and then ESPNW – there’s no ESPNM.

To be clear, we absolutely need spaces and organizations built specifically for women’s sports because it’s an emerging industry that should be nurtured. Broadly speaking, women’s sports will never be equal until we challenge how we frame the default. With media coverage for women athletes up to 15% in the past three years, we are on our way, but we still have a long way to go. It starts with how we talk about who is playing.

I have three values I aspire to live by: curiosity, trust, and fearlessness.

• Curiosity: I believe many of us have lost our curiosity about people who are different from ourselves. I aspire to surround myself with people who think differently than I do and to be curious about our differences instead of offended by them.

With the athletes I work with, I seek to be curious about their views and challenges and am careful not to overlay my assumptions. With my family and friends, I try to be curious about their jobs, passions, and relationships, especially when I come from a different background or community.

• Trust: If I say I will do something, I do it. Full stop.

• Fearlessness: I seek to approach my work and personal life from a mindset of possibility, not letting my fears get in the way. Fearlessness doesn’t mean not having fears. It means naming challenges or scary opportunities and not allowing them to consume me.

Instead, I focus on what can be and run at what I want, especially when it terrifies me. I’ve applied to “Survivor” three times (still waiting on that call), started my own company, and moved to Bangladesh because I aspire to make the most of every day.

I’d like to acknowledge that prioritizing this value is a privilege because my everyday existence has not been shaped by avoiding pitfalls. My successes have been defined by my seeking out scary opportunities that align with my vision of the future.

5. What advice would you give your younger self?

The very thing you hate about yourself is also your superpower. I would say to myself: You have something called OCD that you’ll need to figure out how to manage (after you identify it).

And yes, while it’s annoying for you to hide as you’re figuring it out, it will become one of your greatest separators in the workforce and in your relationships. OCD allows you to be painstakingly focused and lets you cut through the noise in both the workplace and social situations.

Don’t beat yourself up or be embarrassed by what you have – harness it, and use it to your advantage.