When I was in college at the University of South Carolina, I thought I wanted to work in media, but I didn’t really know what that meant or how someone like me was supposed to get there.
I’m from a small town in South Carolina. I didn’t have family connections in corporate America or the entertainment industry. What I did have was curiosity, ambition, and a love of sports. Every morning before class, I watched SportsCenter. I loved the spirit of ESPN and the way sports could bring people together.
But loving something and imagining yourself building a career there are two different things.
Access and advocacy
One of the biggest turning points for me came through the T. Howard Foundation. I first learned about it at a journalism job fair at Howard University. I remember representatives from the foundation approaching me and explaining that they could help connect students with opportunities at companies like ESPN, MTV, and BET.
That got my attention.
The T. Howard Foundation helped me land my first industry internship at Turner and later connected me to ESPN for what became a life-changing internship opportunity. Looking back now, I realize how important access and advocacy can be early in a career. Sometimes talent just needs an open door.
Culture counts
My first role at ESPN was as an intern in affiliate sales and marketing, specifically in a group called Special Markets. The team managed distribution for such places as hotels, college dorms, and apartment buildings. It may not sound glamorous, but I loved it immediately.
What I remember most about those early days wasn’t just the work—it was the culture.
People worked hard, but they also genuinely enjoyed being around one another. We talked sports constantly. We laughed. We debated teams in the hallway. It felt collaborative, energetic, and alive. For someone right out of college, it felt less like entering a corporation and more like joining a team.
And I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t want to leave.
Shooting her shot
There’s one moment from that internship that I still laugh about today.
At the time, Steve Bornstein was president of ESPN, and every summer he hosted a lunch with interns. During my internship, I had a business trip scheduled for the exact same day as the lunch. I was disappointed to miss it, so I typed a formal letter explaining my absence and asked our HR representative to deliver it to Steve directly.
She looked at me like I was out of my mind.
But in my head, I was thinking: I don’t want the president of the company to think I skipped this because I had something better to do. I wanted him to know I was representing ESPN on company business and that I still wanted the chance to meet him.
A few days later, his assistant called and said Steve wanted to meet with me. During that conversation, he told me he liked my energy and asked what I planned to do after graduation.
Without hesitation, I said, “I’m going to work here at ESPN.”
The funny part is, I didn’t actually have a job offer yet.
But I believed it.
And part of the reason I believed it was because of what I saw around me during that internship. I saw women in leadership positions. I saw people of color succeeding. I saw younger leaders being trusted with meaningful responsibility. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted my future to look like, but I knew I could envision myself there.
It’s said that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. That may be true, but that moment with Steve taught me that magic sometimes happens when an open door meets audacious expectation. When you get a chance—take it.
Supported, seen, and connected
Representation matters in ways both big and small. Sometimes it’s simply being able to look around a room and think: There’s space for me here too.
After graduation, I returned to ESPN full-time as a marketing coordinator. Over the years, I grew up alongside many of the people I started with. We celebrated promotions, weddings, children, career milestones, and life moments together. It taught me that culture matters just as much as opportunity.
Today, as a leader, one of the lessons I carry most from those early years is the importance of creating environments where people feel supported, seen, and connected—not just professionally, but personally. Great work happens when people trust one another and feel like they belong.
That’s also why I’ve stayed deeply involved with the T. Howard Foundation over the years, currently serving as chair of the board. I know firsthand what those opportunities can mean for someone who may not otherwise have access to this industry.
My goal now is simple: to help open doors for the next generation in the same way others opened doors for me.
My First Job is a recurring series in which prominent business leaders share what their first job was and what they learned from it.
