My junior year, I took a philosophy class that opened my eyes to an entirely new way of thinking. On the first day of class, the professor walked in the room and simply asked, “What is the color orange?” For the next hour, every student debated on the definition.  We were all 20-something college students from similar backgrounds at a similar place in our lives, and we all had a slightly different version of what the color orange is. That class taught me to question, explore, and ultimately understand that there are always multiple ways to look at everything.

Chicago has a rich history of free festivals and every summer growing up, I remember attending Taste of Chicago and a number of other music festivals along Lake Michigan. Those festivals are some of my fondest childhood memories and helped set the stage for a career in events.

When I was in high school, it was a tradition to ditch school on St. Patrick’s Day, jump on the train, and watch the parade in downtown Chicago. The very last vehicle in the parade was a convertible with a woman sitting in the back seat waving to the crowd. I asked who she was and found out she was in charge of the entire parade. I looked back at the convertible and thought to myself, “I want to be her someday.”

Be willing to try anything. Just because a particular task is not in your job description doesn’t mean you’re not expected to do it. I started at the Tribune as a part-time coordinator and did everything from hawking newspaper subscriptions at festivals to judging an ice cream eating contest to loading passengers on boats on the Chicago River for an event the Tribune was sponsoring. You have the ability to make yourself extremely valuable to those around you when you’re willing to step out of your comfort zone and willing to help. By doing this, you also gain an amazing skillset that makes you indispensable.

I always wanted to work in the live event industry. “Giving the world reason to cheer,” is the motto of my parent company, AEG, and I truly believe in the power of live events. Before StubHub Center, I worked for the Dodgers, which was my first official job in sports. Baseball is my first love and when I landed a job with a team with such a rich history, I was elated. The pomp and ceremony surrounding sporting events is a magical feeling, and I love being part of the team that brings that feeling to life.  

Last year, the Vatican hosted the First World Conference of Faith and Sports, which was a two-day conference with theologians, professional athletes, academics, [and] international and national sport representatives. The group discussed the role of sports in society and the benefit it serves the community, cross-cultural mutual understanding, promoting tolerance, and bringing down racial and gender barriers. I am blessed to work in an industry that can have such a profound effect on people.

When I get to work on a game day, the first thing I check is ticket sales. The number of guests attending an event sets the pace for the day and dictates everything from how many parking attendants we have to how many hot dogs to cook. I check in with my team and ensure they have all the necessary tools to put on a successful event and for all the operations to run smoothly. Then I walk the stadium. I’m a complete clean freak and slightly OCD when it comes to trash and the overall appearance of the stadium. I want every guest to walk in the doors and think that the StubHub Center is the nicest, cleanest stadium they’ve ever been to. If there’s a piece of trash on the ground, I will automatically pick it up and my entire staff is challenged to do the same thing. I may not be able to affect the outcome of the game on the field, but I definitely have a hand in our guest’s impression of the stadium.

The Chargers made a very difficult decision when the NFL presented [them] the option to move to Los Angeles. Finding the right temporary home while the Hollywood Park stadium is being built was critical to making a successful move into this market. The StubHub Center presented an opportunity for the Chargers to move to LA while still holding on to aspects that made San Diego so special. StubHub Center is an intimate stadium (to NFL standards) without a single bad seat in the entire building. The furthest seat from the field is still closer [to the field] than over half the seats were in their old stadium, which will give football fans an experience like they’ve had before. The location, the intimacy, and the level of service we give our guests had a huge impact on the decision to play at the StubHub Center.

The Chargers have presented a new set of challenges, but ones I look forward to tackling (no pun intended). Changing over our natural grass field from soccer to football and back again is an unnerving task, but I have an amazing staff who can pull off anything and do their best work under pressure.

Biggest misconception is that I know all the players. And that couldn’t be further from the truth. I stay as far away from the athletes as possible and leave the player communications up to the team administrators. Another big misconception is that I actually get to watch the games or concert or boxing match or whatever event we’re hosting. If I get to catch 10 full minutes of any event, I’d call myself lucky that night.

I believe in face-to-face communication, delegation, and lists. I appreciate technology and all the ways it’s helped make life easier, but I still believe the best way to communicate is in person. Face-to-face meetings always solve problems quicker, get results faster, and rarely ever lead to miscommunications that so often happen when using email/text/social media.  

The ability to delegate is an essential skill to stay organized and ensure success. You must empower the people who work for you to make good decisions. And I am definitely a list person. Making them is therapeutic, but crossing items off is even more gratifying. It’s the simplest form of accomplishment and on some days, even those little things count!

The most stressful moment I’ve ever had a work was when the power went out during a nationally televised Galaxy playoff game with 25,000 guests in the building. The stadium lights take 18 minutes to restrike and get to game-ready brightness and that was the longest 18 minutes of my life.

Or so I thought. I was on the phone with Southern California Edison and they told me that we were going to experience a second power dip in 30 minutes and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Sure enough, another dip, and then came the second longest 18 minutes of my life. On a positive note, the Galaxy were down by a goal before the lights went out, but both delays managed to shift the momentum of the game, and the Galaxy ended up winning and went on to win MLS Cup that year.

It is essential to make yourself a priority. After I had my two children, I definitely struggled to find enough hours in the day. I knew that finding time to exercise would be the best thing for me both mentally and physically, but I didn’t want to give up what little time I had at home with my kids. So I decided that every day at 4:00pm, I would leave my desk and go for a walk, or quick run, or just something to get moving. Day after day, I had more and more people from my office join me until nearly the entire office was out being active at 4:00pm. That was eight years ago and now the 4:00pm workouts at StubHub Center are just a regular part of the work day. Some people do yoga, others go to the gym, and even more play soccer, tennis, or basketball. When you give your employees an hour of time to take care of themselves, it’s amazing the productivity you get out of the other seven.

I have been fortunate in my career to be surrounded by supportive managers and coworkers who have never made me feel like gender or age play a role in my ability.  Being a woman in the sports industry gives me a very unique perspective. Forbes wrote an article [called] “Top 10 Things Everyone Should Know About Women Consumers” and concluded that women drive 70 to 80 percent of all consumer purchasing, through a combination of their buying power and their influence. Same goes for spending household discretionary income, and sporting event tickets fall into that category.

Be confident, be innovative, and be willing to take any job at the organization of your dreams just to get your foot in the door.

I drive to work every day thinking of ways to improve the experience at the stadium for guests, athletes, staff, and the community. There is always room for improvement in everything we do—you just have to look for it and act on it. If you’re constantly looking for the next best thing, you’ll never learn to appreciate what you have.