Episode 3- Val Ackerman on Reinventing Your Career

From serving as the first President of the WNBA to heading up the Big East Conference, Val Ackerman has made her mark on the sports…

Episode 3- Val Ackerman on Reinventing Your Career

From serving as the first President of the WNBA to heading up the Big East Conference, Val Ackerman has made her mark on the sports…

From serving as the first President of the WNBA to heading up the Big East Conference, Val Ackerman has made her mark on the sports industry. On this episode, Val talks about the importance of women in leadership and why you shouldn’t be afraid to reinvent your career.

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“Life isn’t always a straight line. Don’t be afraid to zig and zag.”

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Show Notes

How she approached coming aboard the Big East (2:01)
How she’s leading through the changing landscape of college sports (4:22)
The way she creates structure to help move things forward amid such a fast-paced business (7:00)
The hardest part of her job (9:25)
What some of the proudest moments and toughest challenges in her career have been (11:20)
Her crusade to better women’s leadership in sports, especially internationally (14:27)
The biggest gaps that need to be closed for women’s sports to be where she wants them to be (15:03)
How to close the revenue gap between men’s and women’s professional sport (16:24)
Things she learned from David Stern (17:53)
Her words to describe David Stern as a leader (20:05)
Advice for people who are afraid to make a change (21:38)
What it was like leaving her position as president of the WNBA (25:17)
How she juggled work and family (26:54)
Life isn’t always a straight line…don’t be afraid to zig and zag (28:04)
Biggest fear (30:12)
Her life motto (30:55)

Resources / People Mentioned

WNBA
David Stern
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

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