Unapologetically Breaking Down Barriers

Christine Simmons is the President and COO of the WNBA's LA Sparks and is HERE with me in the interview seat and you do NOT want to miss this champion share her incredible story on how she was able to fight adversity to become a top-level executive in one of the worlds most respected organizations. As a 2018 EBONY POWER LIST Hero, being listed amongst the great MVPs including Steph Curry, James Hardin, and Venus Williams, failure, fear, and intimidation never stopped Christine from dominating the sports world and being a trailblazer for other women in business. This interview reveals TOP LEVEL BUSINESS STRATEGIES on the art of communication, the best strategies for growing your brand and how to command a room. Find out straight from the source what its like to win a WNBA championship and maintain a ferocious work ethic! We get very REAL about the issues that minorities and women face in the business space. Christine breaks down head-on exactly HOW to navigate these waters and STILL find TREMENDOUS success in business and all other areas of her life. All while being a single mother! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Ed Mylett?

  I hear so many small business owners say the exact same thing. They just never have enough time in the day. Well, I measure time differently. I've compressed, condensed, heck, I've bent time. My first day is 6:00 a.m. to noon. My second day starts at noon and goes till 6:00 P.M. And my third day, 6:00 P.M. to midnight. I now get 21 days a week. Stack that up over a month, over a year, over five years, and my life's completely different than it would have been otherwise. And if you want to win as an entrepreneur, you have to compress your time, too. And you definitely can't afford to waste it. Waiting weeks on a big bank for capital? Your best bet's to work with my friends at Cardiff. They know how to compress time for entrepreneurs. They get your business approved in minutes and funded the very same day. They're America's favorite small business lender, and for good reason.

• 0:45Ed Mylett?

  Over 20 years in business, over $12 billion deployed to small business across America. Stop letting bank delays slow down your momentum. Head to cardiff.co/ed. That's cardiff.co/ed. Cardiff.co. Real growth, fast funding. Cardiff. Borrow better.

• 1:01Speaker 01

  Mr. President, my company, for me, of the explosion on our rig. On October 2nd. Causing massive water displacement and triggering a tsunami. They all heap the blame on me. Tom Cruise is.

• 1:12Speaker 02

  Digger got us into this mess.

• 1:14Speaker 01

  And Digger's gonna dig us up. From the director of Birdman and the Revenant.

• 1:18Ed Mylett?

  What would happen if I stopped drilling? You stop, you freeze to death, that's what.

• 1:22Speaker 01

  With great power comes great deniability.

• 1:25Ed Mylett?

  I'm not the first nanny.

• 1:27Speaker 01

  Digger. See the trailer online. Only in theaters October 2nd. Rated R. Under 17. Not a minute without parent.

• 1:37Speaker 02

  Welcome to the Ed Mylett Show. The place for leaders, dreams, and champions.

• 1:45Ed Mylett?

  Welcome back to Max Out, everybody. I'm Ed Mylett. I am super pumped about today's interview because I have a very unique and special woman sitting here with me today. This lady, by the way, she's funny, too. This is why this is gonna be good. But this lady is the president and chief operating officer of the WNBA's L.A. Sparks. And her name is Christine Simmons. So thank you for being here.

• 2:06Speaker 03

  Thank you for having me. This is exciting.

• 2:08Ed Mylett?

  It's already been good off camera.

• 2:09Speaker 03

  I know, I know.

• 2:10Ed Mylett?

  So. Obviously, you're an executive of one of the biggest sports franchises in the world. That's a pretty unbelievable achievement you've had in your life. And we're gonna get to that part, but I wanna go back a little bit.

• 2:21Speaker 03

  Sure.

• 2:22Ed Mylett?

  So, because I want people to have the background, I started the show and I wanna feature prominent people that are maxing out, obviously, different areas of their life. And in your case, obviously, all of your achievements are impressive. But also, those of you that aren't watching this but listen to the audio, you're an African-American woman too.

• 2:38Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 2:38Ed Mylett?

  And that brings with it a set of dynamics that I wanna discuss today too.

• 2:43Speaker 03

  I love that, yeah.

• 2:43Ed Mylett?

  And so, but let's go back a little bit, because you've always been an African-American woman, or girl. So that part's been permanent, right?

• 2:49Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 2:50Ed Mylett?

  But if we go back, you grew up, are you the first person to graduate college in your family?

• 2:53Speaker 03

  I am, the first to graduate. One of my sisters did begin college, but I, so, and the craziest part about it is that my mom is a skinny white girl from Oregon. My dad is a black man from Pensacola, Florida. In fact, he ex-marine and ex-Pomona PD. We were talking about 909, right? With Empire.

• 3:10Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 3:10Speaker 03

  So he pulls my mom over to get her number. That's how I got here today.

• 3:14Ed Mylett?

  You gotta be kidding me.

• 3:14Speaker 03

  No, dead serious, dead serious.

• 3:16Ed Mylett?

  Are you kidding me, really?

• 3:17Speaker 03

  True story, true story. I don't know, that might get him in trouble. But no, nonetheless, he was a very honorable cop.

• 3:22Ed Mylett?

  I'm sure.

• 3:23Speaker 03

  But, and then, but my mom's first husband was Mexican. So I have three older half-sisters that are white and Mexican.

• 3:29Ed Mylett?

  Oh my goodness.

• 3:29Speaker 03

  Then, my mom married my dad, then they divorced when I was seven, so she raised four of us on her own. And then, it just goes on.

• 3:36Ed Mylett?

  Can I ask you, so does your dad was gone altogether, or was he still in your life?

• 3:39Speaker 03

  He was like, he was here and there, you know? And we didn't have a very close relationship as I grew up. So really, it was a stunned mom with these four crazy chicks that she was trying to raise. My dad and I have since reconnected, and it's been amazing. And I'm so grateful to have him back in my life. Once I got to college, we kinda reconnected again. But, so, talk about United Colors of Benetton, like, it is my family. Like, we don't know if we're doing tamales or gumbo at Christmas, you know?

• 4:06Ed Mylett?

  That is unbelievable. So your mom's a pretty big figure in your life, then, huh?

• 4:09Speaker 03

  She is everything. She's everything. She, you know, it's those people that you just watch them work, and they don't have to teach you what discipline is, or what work ethic is, or... And like, my mom, we never sat down and talked about... Working hard, you know, she raised four very strong women and and so she is she is everything.

• 4:28Ed Mylett?

  She's so she was your model in that sense from the work standpoint.

• 4:30Speaker 03

  Hands down.

• 4:31Ed Mylett?

  We're talking off camera about how intense you are. By the way, you have a seven year old son.

• 4:34Speaker 03

  I do, Christian.

• 4:35Ed Mylett?

  Christian.

• 4:36Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 4:36Ed Mylett?

  And we're talking about how intense you are sometimes with your sports. I'm just curious how personalities are made up because

• 4:41Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 4:41Ed Mylett?

  to become as successful as you become, you have exemplary traits about you, which we're gonna talk about some of them today. But you're pretty intense.

• 4:47Speaker 03

  I am, but I mean, you were athlete, right?

• 4:49Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 4:49Speaker 03

  So and you went far farther in your athletic career than I did. I was a three letter athlete in high school. So volleyball, basketball and track.

• 4:56Ed Mylett?

  Good athlete.

• 4:57Speaker 03

  And I think that anytime you are in athletics, then that gives you an intensity. It's a drive. It's an internal competition. Like, I don't even care what you're doing. I need to be better for me, right? And so for my intensity with my son, and again, I mentioned I'm on the board of Positive Coaching Alliance. So we're all about making sure that they have great experiences. And so I knew that I needed to kind of take myself out. I want to make sure he had a really great experience. He has coaches to coach him. So I'll let them do that. But but I want him to be his best him.

• 5:25Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 5:25Speaker 03

  I want him to max out, right?

• 5:27Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, of course. I know.

• 5:28Speaker 03

  Um, you know, and as you talk about like reinvention, right? So I was an athlete. I had two knee surgeries in high school.

• 5:34Ed Mylett?

  In high school?

• 5:35Speaker 03

  In high school, ACL and MCL. Um, so blew my knees out. So I was being scouted for volleyball. That didn't work out. My grades were decent enough to get me in. So I did go to UCLA. So I was pre-med there.

• 5:46Ed Mylett?

  I know. So

• 5:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 5:47Ed Mylett?

  So this whole thing.

• 5:48Speaker 03

  I know.

• 5:49Ed Mylett?

  This is This is important, though, because there's a lot of people listening to this that at one point in time were chasing one dream or one path in their life.

• 5:56Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 5:56Ed Mylett?

  And then new paths have revealed themselves. So you go in there pre-med, tell me about that.

• 5:59Speaker 03

  I go in pre-med and then there was this like thing where I thought I was gonna model for a hot second. Like, I even did that. That wasn't working out. They were like, they wanted me to be so skinny. I was like, no, I like to eat too much. I didn't, it didn't work out. And so that wasn't for me. So pre-med, I wanted to help people. Um, but when we talk about like exposure and just, I didn't have a lot of exposure to what the possibilities were. So I knew doctor, lawyer.

• 6:21Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 6:21Speaker 03

  Right?

• 6:22Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 6:22Speaker 03

  I knew at that time, I remember I had this figure in my head. If you're a doctor, you'll make a hundred thousand dollars and you'll be wealthy and you're good to go. And there's a path to get there.

• 6:30Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 6:31Speaker 03

  Right? And I was like, done. And I get to help people? Cool.

• 6:33Ed Mylett?

  Cool.

• 6:33Speaker 03

  All in. So in my undergraduate career at UCLA, I found myself helping people a bit too much. I was in the community. I was mentoring. I was tutoring. I was doing hypertension screenings on Crenshaw Boulevard. I was leading all of these student organizations. I was protesting and shutting down Wilshire and Westwood around propositions at the time. And I always joke that had I maybe been studying a little bit more, I might be Dr. Simmons today instead of organizing because I didn't get into medical school.

• 7:03Ed Mylett?

  Got it. This is great to hear.

• 7:05Speaker 03

  Did I fail again, quote unquote.

• 7:08Ed Mylett?

  Thank you for being so honest about that.

• 7:10Speaker 03

  And it took a while for me to be able to say that publicly. Like, I'd be like, oh, I changed paths.

• 7:17Speaker 03

  You didn't get in, chick. Like, come on, let's be real. You didn't get in.

• 7:20Ed Mylett?

  That is, I did not know that. And all the research is done on you too. So that's really, that's awesome that you're willing to share that. So all of this monster success comes out of you not essentially getting good enough grades to get into medical school.

• 7:30Speaker 03

  But at the time, I was also working at UCLA after I graduated. And it's in a building that happens to have a basketball court in it. Back in the day, we called it the men's gym. They changed the name now. I'm old. But the guys, the NBA guys would come in the offseason and play pickup ball.

• 7:47Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 7:48Speaker 03

  Well, one of those guys happened to be Ervin Magic Johnson. And so at the time, he had all of his clinics across the country focusing on HIV and AIDS. And so I said, okay, go talk to him. You want to start clinics? Here's Magic. Go talk to him. So I got the balls up to do it. And I went up and I said hello and I introduced myself. I told him what I wanted to do. And we ended up, he let me pick his brain and...

• 8:15Ed Mylett?

  It's a life-altering decision you made there.

• 8:17Speaker 03

  It's kind of how I'm here now.

• 8:19Ed Mylett?

  My goodness.

• 8:20Speaker 03

  Literally, that one decision, that one, that one piece.

• 8:23Ed Mylett?

  That's the whole thing, isn't it? Like, in your life, there's these moments.

• 8:27Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 8:27Ed Mylett?

  And you get a handful of them, I think, in your life.

• 8:29Speaker 03

  Yeah, I agree. There's not just one. You get a handful.

• 8:31Ed Mylett?

  You get a handful. And you better make your move when you have that opportunity. The whole... I mean, see, the whole direction of your, the trajectory of your entire life is altered by that decision to walk over there. And that had to be pretty damn scary, too.

• 8:41Speaker 03

  It was so scary. Imagine, like, I'm walking through, there's all these dudes, like, you, you, half of it, you know what it's gonna be. And like, oh, here we go. But I was like, deal with it, let's go. You want this, let's go. Like, you're gonna have to do it. It was scary.

• 8:54Ed Mylett?

  So this starts sort of a, just an ongoing relationship that you maintain over time.

• 8:58Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 8:59Ed Mylett?

  You've always, though, I'm just listening to your story, and I got a really weird question, and I had no idea I was gonna ask you, but I want to, you've always been kind of a leader, though, it sounds like to me. Like, if you organize a protest, you're, you're taking it, so you're a leader.

• 9:10Speaker 03

  I am. It's just, it's, it's my default. It's what I go to. It's if I see a problem, I need to fix it. I can't just sit there and watch it not be fixed. Or, and then the more you do that, as I'm sure you know, then they tag you to do more, and then you keep doing more, and, so, yeah.

• 9:23Ed Mylett?

  This is the question I didn't know I was gonna ask you, but I'm just listening to you, so I have to ask you this. You ever, do you think in your life, get into politics?

• 9:29Speaker 03

  No.

• 9:29Ed Mylett?

  Never?

• 9:30Speaker 03

  No.

• 9:30Ed Mylett?

  Wouldn't be something you do. So you, cause you're cause oriented, you're a leader, you're an unbelievable communicator, you got a total background now. It's something you don't think you would ever do.

• 9:37Speaker 03

  No, you know, I love, um, I like the, I like the power, not the fame. And the power allows you to make the impact. And I think we, we separate so much with, like, nonprofits, politics, and business.

• 9:52Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 9:53Speaker 03

  And we don't have to do that anymore, right?

• 9:56Ed Mylett?

  So true.

• 9:56Speaker 03

  You can make a ridiculous impact without having to be in politics. Your business can make a ridiculous social impact without having to be a 501(c)(3). I really, I, the way I've led the Sparks is as more of a social entrepreneurship. We can't compete, I can't compete against the Lakers, I can't compete against the Clippers. So I'm like, well, I need to stop trying to go after sports marketing dollars. Let's talk about diversity and inclusion. Let's talk about employee retention, right? And experiences for employees. Let's talk about women's empowerment. Let me be your partner in the community, because we have such a great presence in the community. We're doing financial literacy programs for hundreds of kids alone with our partner, EcoTrust.

• 10:34Ed Mylett?

  Oh, really?

• 10:35Speaker 03

  Yeah. It has nothing to do with basketball.

• 10:37Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 10:37Speaker 03

  Right?

• 10:38Ed Mylett?

  That's brilliant.

• 10:38Speaker 03

  But we're partners in the community, because we have been there for so long. And especially in this... Time of the woman that everybody's talking about, which is fantastic that women are finding their voices. But a lot of entities are like, well, how do we, how do we do it? We've been doing it for 22, 23 years now, right? So now we can give you a more authentic and organic way to engage women and that's meaningful. And it's not just about basketball on the court.

• 11:03Ed Mylett?

  How come you don't think, maybe they have and I don't know it, but that is, that has seemed to me to be a little bit. Sports are usually copycat.

• 11:09Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 11:10Ed Mylett?

  Right? So, you know, the Warriors, for example, go small ball. Now everybody tried to go small ball, right?

• 11:14Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 11:15Ed Mylett?

  The big leagues, if you got, you know, guys that can throw 100 miles an hour in the bullpen, everyone's gonna have a few of those people. Am I wrong that the spark, and I don't mean this critically of the league at all, but why aren't, why isn't every team expanding their brand like that in the league?

• 11:27Speaker 03

  They're trying. They are. I think, you know, we have, we don't quite have the budget, so people don't quite know of the work that's being done. But more and more at the team level, it's community first. And it's, it's, we're finally, the league, and I think it's a little routed in traditionalism, right? Because, you know, sports is hardcore tradition.

• 11:47Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 11:48Speaker 03

  And there are your basketball traditionalists. It's like, it's be about the basketball. It's only about the basketball. Because these are ridiculously talented athletes, right? And I think you can do both. I think you can win championships.

• 12:00Ed Mylett?

  Look at this ring. Everybody watching the YouTube are flipping kidding me.

• 12:03Speaker 03

  Hello, I don't know.

• 12:04Ed Mylett?

  You guys, I wore that ring earlier. This league is legit. I like the, I told you, sometimes the championship rings in women's sports, they go with the little, like, that is like, we won a damn championship, right? Like, there's no doubt what that is. That's why I love that.

• 12:17Speaker 03

  And I very deliberately put it on a certain finger.

• 12:21Ed Mylett?

  Do you ever think like if you're on an airplane, you like scratch the back of your head, you're like, yeah.

• 12:24Speaker 03

  But like all the haters out there, I'm like, have you seen my ring? I'm sorry, it's a little irreverent.

• 12:31Ed Mylett?

  Winning is awesome.

• 12:32Speaker 03

  Winning. I'm waiting for the second one so I can put it on this finger. So, anyway, I digress.

• 12:37Ed Mylett?

  That thing is so heavy. You do need one on the other side just to throw off your balance.

• 12:40Speaker 03

  It's amazing.

• 12:41Ed Mylett?

  My wife wasn't impressed you walking in those heels down her street.

• 12:43Speaker 03

  Yeah, the heels, the ring, it's, it's a lot. But it's, you know, and I'm so proud of the ring. I got to help design it. But I wanted it big because it becomes a conversation piece.

• 12:53Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 12:53Speaker 03

  And then I get people to, and like, it's funny, in the airport yesterday, I was coming back from a UC region meeting and the TSA, she was like, is that a Super Bowl ring? I was like, well, kind of. Kind of, it's my super bowl ring, but it gets me to be able to start talking about the league.

• 13:08Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 13:08Speaker 03

  But to your point, the teams are beginning to do it, the league is finally, I think, in a point comfortable with saying, we're okay with being a cause. It doesn't take away from the basketball. We can do both.

• 13:20Ed Mylett?

  Wow, that's awesome.

• 13:20Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 13:21Ed Mylett?

  So you end up, I want to go back and then we're gonna, because we're getting into the league and your team here in a second too. But you fascinate me, so you end up getting, you had some pretty good jobs before this too. So you went to NBC, Disney.

• 13:31Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 13:31Ed Mylett?

  You worked in Irvin and Magic's company as well.

• 13:34Speaker 03

  I did, yeah.

• 13:34Ed Mylett?

  And so how do you end up, I doubt you saw yourself as a sports executive, right? So how, take us through the journey, how do you end up becoming the president of, you know, and arguably, you know, one of the biggest franchises in sports, but also in your league, I think, in my opinion, maybe it's because I live here, the most well-known and successful one in your sport too, so how do you end up there?

• 13:55Speaker 03

  You know, it's, business is business, right? And so whether it's the business of entertainment, whether it's the business of joint ventures and strategic alliances, as I worked in Irvin's offices, doing those types of things, or the business of sports, I'm running a business, and so you look at each one, you analyze what the need is, where, you know, and how you, how you operate it most effectively, where the demand is, how do you create the demand? And you, you work to grow the business. So, you know, there's always been this thread of advocacy in all that I do, and that's what aligned me so well with working for Irvin. So when I was at Disney and NBC Universal, my role was to increase spend with diverse business owners, whether they were women-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses, veteran-owned

• 14:37Speaker 03

  businesses, LGBT-owned businesses, because if we look at the pie of money that these corporations are spending, there's only 10% pretty much, that's the goal, for all of those categories of businesses. So the running joke is like, okay, so you, basically you're a straight white man who's able-bodied and never served in the military, and you're getting 90% of the money, right? And so there's lots, and it's not a, just a pie, there's tons of opportunity for everybody. But most importantly, you're missing out on innovation, right? If the same person is coming up with the same idea because they came up from the same place that you and I did, we're not gonna, you know, I'm gonna have a different opportunity, I'm gonna have a different lens, and so we're gonna get there faster, we're gonna get there

• 15:21Speaker 03

  better, we're gonna have a different product. And, and you're leaving money on the table, so that's, yeah, it's the right thing to do, but we're talking dollars, right? It's dollars.

• 15:30Ed Mylett?

  I like how you said that at a different lens. I've never heard someone say it to me that way. That's, let's talk about those couple of things. So you end up, you're, how has being, let's start with a woman first.

• 15:40Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 15:41Ed Mylett?

  Being a woman. How has, what are the unique things, all the ladies that are listening today and the men listening to it.

• 15:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 15:48Ed Mylett?

  Who interact with women, because we do every single day.

• 15:50Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 15:50Ed Mylett?

  Right? So how has being a woman, are there, are there issues that I don't know about as I'm a male? I'm a white male too. I'm a straight white male. So, um, is that something, do you carry that with you? Are you cognizant of it? Like, how's that, how's that operating in your mind?

• 16:06Speaker 03

  You know, I think each woman is going to be different and each leader is different. Um, I, I do. I do carry it with me because I know, it's funny, I joke, I speak fluent chick and half fluent dude. So I can translate pretty well. But, you know, I think that, one, because I may be the first in something.

• 16:23Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 16:24Speaker 03

  I'm, I am so aware of that. Because I don't want to be the last. And it's bigger than me. Now, there are some women that just say, no, I'm just doing my job. I'm here. And that's, that's great too. But for me as a woman, and specifically as a woman of color.

• 16:39Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 16:39Speaker 03

  Um, I know that the scrutiny is even more. They're just waiting. Unfortunately, the reality is they are waiting. And I don't, I don't get, I don't get the mulligan, right?

• 16:49Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 16:49Speaker 03

  I don't get the mulligan. Or, or the woman behind me doesn't get that mulligan. Um, because that will be taken into account. Um, so I think that, that is something that I, I take with me. But there are, there are strengths on both sides, you know? Um, I think we as women are a bit more detail oriented, right? We want to dot every I, we want to cross every T. Um, we have, um, an EQ that can be a little more, um, softer to your point. Although I've had to learn to like tone down my intensity, because it was funny when you're like, you're not intimidating. I'm like, wow, well, there's some people that might disagree, but.

• 17:22Ed Mylett?

  But why does a woman need to do something? Let's stay on that. Like, this is where it's going to get cool.

• 17:26Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 17:26Ed Mylett?

  Because I want to ask you stuff that people are afraid to ask. Like, why should a woman have to dial it down or dial it up? Or, but that is something a woman thinks about in business. Like, you walk in and you're like, hey, because I'm a woman or because I'm also a minority woman.

• 17:39Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah. Every room, know your effect on a room. Now, that can be used in any business scenario. It's just a matter of what is that effect and why is it there? And why should they have to? No, we shouldn't have to think about that. The reality is that we do. And until we get to the point where we don't, then I can just think of it as just a business person.

• 17:57Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 17:58Speaker 03

  Until then, I do have to think of it as a businesswoman, as an African-American businesswoman, as sometimes the youngest in the room, although that's starting not to happen anymore. I'm like, I'll be 44 in December, so that's okay. I like it. I like the age.

• 18:10Ed Mylett?

  I'm being really honest with you. I'm not, because I do all my research for the interviews.

• 18:14Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 18:15Ed Mylett?

  I'm not exaggerating when I tell you something. I thought you were about 15 years younger than that.

• 18:18Speaker 03

  I'll take it.

• 18:19Ed Mylett?

  No, I'm not kidding. Your presence is that of somebody probably beyond that age, obviously. But honestly, that's what I thought.

• 18:24Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 18:25Ed Mylett?

  I thought you were around 29 or 30. Wow.

• 18:27Speaker 03

  I'll pay you later.

• 18:27Ed Mylett?

  No, it's a fact. I did. That's what I thought.

• 18:29Speaker 03

  But no, and so you have to know your effect on a room. So when I am in a room where it's all men, then there is a different version of Christine that I'm going to bring to the table. When I'm in a room of all women, I want, especially with the women, we have to make sure I feel the need to make them feel as confident as I feel, as brilliant as I feel, as beautiful as I feel that day. And maybe I don't feel beautiful that day, but I want them to feel beautiful.

• 18:57Ed Mylett?

  How do you do that? What's one way of doing that?

• 18:59Speaker 03

  It's just, it's being present with them.

• 19:02Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, you're excellent at that, by the way.

• 19:03Speaker 03

  Well, I mean, and you learn, right? And I'm learning about you and understanding you and who are you and what you're starting from. And I'm going to get another learning that I may not have gotten. And just when people feel like someone cares, then...

• 19:19Ed Mylett?

  I agree with you.

• 19:20Speaker 03

  You know?

• 19:21Ed Mylett?

  So there's different versions.

• 19:23Speaker 03

  There's different versions. If there's couples, you want to make sure. Like, I want to make sure that I am paying my respect to your wife as I walk in this house. And this is, you know, this is her home. And she is the woman that's, you know, making you the man. And you're the man that makes another woman. So how does that dynamic work? So, and I think everybody has different versions of themselves, you know, depending on who they are. But it's still me.

• 19:44Ed Mylett?

  It's still you. How do you do the... So here's some hard stuff. Because I hear these things often. I have a lot, my company, I think we're probably 50% women or more. And I would guess, I'm guessing we're more than 50% minority in the company. I think. I don't have the exact stats, but... How do you have that balance between, you said earlier, like they're waiting for me to slip? So, how do you have a balance between, sort of in the back of your mind, it's probably not some strategy they have, let's catch her doing something. It's a bias or a lack of understanding or an unconscious thing that people have. I want you to talk to people that are in the minority community here for a second.

• 20:23Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 20:24Ed Mylett?

  I'm wondering how you navigate the balance, and this is something no one ever asks people, knowing that that's probably a truth that you're gonna deal with. Yeah, this is a hard question, but yet, not being so obsessed or focused on it that perhaps you begin to create some potential scenarios that may not have existed if you weren't in that. That's a really difficult thing, I would imagine.

• 20:48Speaker 03

  It is, it is, because you, you, I think really what it is, is bring your best work to the table. Bring your A-game.

• 20:56Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 20:56Speaker 03

  Right? If you're bringing your A-game, and then we know as just overachievers that wanna max out on everything, then you're gonna over-prepare.

• 21:04Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 21:04Speaker 03

  Regardless of your background, you're gonna over-prepare, you're gonna over-research, you're gonna... Irvin used to be like, "You, okay, you're prepared, you got it." Like, he used to joke about how much, because I always want to, I may not always be the smartest person in the room, but no one's gonna outwork me.

• 21:19Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 21:20Speaker 03

  Right? So, if I'm doing that, and I'm bringing my best, my best game to the table, then I can just be confident that I know I let it all, all out on the table, and, and I can be aware and know that I can't do a half-assed job.

• 21:35Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 21:36Speaker 03

  Right? So if you're just aware that you cannot do a half-assed job, you can't coast. But then again, you, then you quickly become the person who doesn't want to anyway.

• 21:44Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 21:45Speaker 03

  Right?

• 21:45Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 21:46Speaker 03

  And, and then that just breeds winners regardless.

• 21:49Ed Mylett?

  Really good. That's really, really good, because some of the business people I coach, obviously, are minority business people, and I tell them about those opportunities that come along. I know, I know for sure this, you're gonna have fewer.

• 22:00Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 22:00Ed Mylett?

  So you better take advantage of the ones that come your way. Any other dynamics you would say, if you're giving advice to somebody right now who's in the business community, who's a, like, let's just go all the way.

• 22:09Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 22:09Ed Mylett?

  I was watching an interview yesterday with Serena Williams.

• 22:11Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 22:12Ed Mylett?

  And she recently had that issue at the US Open that you saw, where she was upset with the official...

• 22:16Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 22:17Ed Mylett?

  I thought the official overreached in how he penalized her. Some people thought that her behavior was totally inappropriate. The first time I heard Serena talk about it, I was interested because she said, "I don't get the same leeway, if you will, as a man would being a woman."

• 22:32Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 22:33Ed Mylett?

  That's the first thing she said. She said that several times. The interview I saw yesterday, she took it a step further. And she said, "I don't get the same leeway as a woman, and I really don't get the same leeway as an African-American woman in that regard too." If you were speaking to the women that are listening to this, that are Asian-Americans, African-Americans, Latino-Americans, whatever it might be, what would you, what would advice would you give them for navigating that landscape?

• 22:56Speaker 03

  You know, I think it's a matter of, one, building allies. You have to build allies, both in your communities and in these intersectionalities that we have, right? I mean, we're talking gender, we're talking ethnic background, we could be talking sexuality, we could be talking socioeconomic level, right? But wherever that is, so build those allies there, so you have a safe space. To help figure out these problems and people that understand them. There is going to be things that we can help navigate, because I've been there, and kind of help you through and translate, right? Because if I'm going to be the only chick in the room of all these dudes, and I'm the one at the cigar club all the time, like, I can, I can translate.

• 23:38Speaker 03

  I'm like, "Okay, ladies, this is what's happened, this is what they meant, let me translate." And then they're like, "Oh, okay, got it." And same thing with the dudes. I'm like, "This is what she said, and this is why she said it, and this is because she was feeling this," you know what I mean? So, one, build those allies within your community, but within, also externally as well, outside of your communities, and also externally from the company too.

• 23:59Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 24:00Speaker 03

  You want to have just as many allies inside as you do outside. You know, you want to make sure that people outside understand your work. We as women tend not to brag. About what we do.

• 24:11Ed Mylett?

  That's true.

• 24:12Speaker 03

  We don't. We're not gonna be like, oh, look what I did, look what I did.

• 24:14Ed Mylett?

  It's true.

• 24:15Speaker 03

  Right? We, we expect if I put in the work that you're gonna recognize it.

• 24:18Ed Mylett?

  Are you cognizant of being great at relating, I know there are different versions of you, but I've already observed you. So, you're great at, you're great at interacting, people that we both know have told me this, and then you're great at interacting with men, you're great at interacting with women, you're good. So, is that something you're very conscious of, is almost, um, I guess, knowing who you're with when you communicate? Really, everything to me is sales. And to some extent, you're selling yourself, you're selling them on taking a particular action, you're selling the franchise.

• 24:43Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 24:43Ed Mylett?

  So, are you cognizant of that version, but also just meeting them where they are, I guess is the way I'd say it.

• 24:48Speaker 03

  I think it's the meeting them where they are. And cause I, um, it's funny, one of my, my dear friends and mentors was like, I was telling him, I don't like sales. But I've been in business development roles like most of my career, right? And, but hate sales. And he's like, what are you talking about? You're selling all the time, to your point.

• 25:04Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 25:04Speaker 03

  And so when I've, when I can be authentic and when I can speak passionately about something.

• 25:10Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 25:11Speaker 03

  And then meet someone where they are and understand who they are and what their goal is, then I can relate. Then I got, okay, now I got it. Okay. But like if I don't know you, I don't do my research on you, I'm not passionate about what we're talking about.

• 25:24Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 25:24Speaker 03

  It's, and I, and I don't think it's gonna be a win-win for either of us. If I've researched and I'm like, you know, this isn't even a good deal for you, let's not, then, then I cannot do that. So, so yeah, I am, that is one of, it's, see, uncomfortable, that's one of my strengths.

• 25:38Ed Mylett?

  It is, and you got uncomfortable saying it was one of your strengths. You did it earlier too.

• 25:40Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 25:41Ed Mylett?

  The other thing you do is, and I know this, this isn't a Magic Johnson thing, but you both seem to do it a lot, you smile a lot. No, no, I'm serious.

• 25:48Speaker 03

  How could you not smile? Look at this gorgeous view on a Friday afternoon with great people.

• 25:53Ed Mylett?

  Is that because you're here, or is that something you do a lot? I'm serious. Is that something you do?

• 25:56Speaker 03

  I do a lot.

• 25:57Ed Mylett?

  Okay. And I think that that's, that may seem like a really small thing.

• 26:00Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 26:01Ed Mylett?

  But for people, listen to this, like, I have some deficiencies too. They're different than obviously what you would deal with. My deficiencies are. I have a look about me that's really intense. I've got this really deep voice. I would consider myself to be an acquired taste unless you know me, right? After a while, like, oh, he actually is a decent person.

• 26:19Speaker 03

  And you know, and your build is so like waif-like and I mean so neat.

• 26:23Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 26:24Speaker 03

  That's not intimidating at all.

• 26:25Ed Mylett?

  Right, and but so one of the things that some of my mentors told me early that I forget often, this may seem like a really basic thing.

• 26:32Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 26:32Ed Mylett?

  But like, dude, smile.

• 26:33Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 26:34Ed Mylett?

  Like, smile, like, tell your face you're excited to be here.

• 26:36Speaker 03

  Right, right.

• 26:37Ed Mylett?

  And that's just, that's like a really small thing, that's what I, right when I met you, I'm like, hi! I'm like, why am I smiling so much? Because she's smiling so much.

• 26:43Speaker 03

  It just changes everything.

• 26:45Ed Mylett?

  I'm dead serious.

• 26:46Speaker 03

  It does, you know, it's funny, like, I, there was, there used to be times, and of course, you know, in your boss, when you're with bosses, you, there's sometimes you don't see eye to eye. And Erwin would have been in a bad mood, and I was like, you know what? And most people, because he can, when he's, when, you know, when we're intense and we're bosses and we have to make big decisions and, you know, you're not happy about it.

• 27:04Ed Mylett?

  Sure.

• 27:04Speaker 03

  And a lot of other, you know, peers and colleagues would go in and they're like, oh, he's in a bad mood.

• 27:09Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 27:10Speaker 03

  I, every time, I go in, same way, hey, Erwin!

• 27:13Ed Mylett?

  There it is!

• 27:14Speaker 03

  Hey, sir! How, no, no, bring it in, okay, yep, I know, we gotta talk about this. And then everybody just like...

• 27:21Ed Mylett?

  Changes.

• 27:21Speaker 03

  He just, I mean, why not?

• 27:23Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, yeah, that, by the way, for the video, for people, you're all seeing this, like, she lights the room up. What have you learned from working with Magic Johnson?

• 27:30Speaker 03

  Oh, never stop learning, never stop pushing.

• 27:33Ed Mylett?

  What's a skill he has that most people would not know about behind the scenes, something?

• 27:38Speaker 03

  Oh, behind the scenes.

• 27:40Ed Mylett?

  Good question.

• 27:40Speaker 03

  Just, yeah, I mean, because, because he's, he shares a lot about, about his process, but the, um, discipline. Like, he works out every morning still to this day, four or five o'clock in the morning. Um, just the discipline with which he researches everything that he's doing and, and, and, um, gets his key people to provide that information. He dives deep, you know, in the beginning and just really make sure that he understands that deal. Um, and just... is just really intense in his preparation and his studying of it. Yeah, he is, he is.

• 28:15Ed Mylett?

  Are you, he's a mentor then?

• 28:17Speaker 03

  He is, for sure. Kind of still a boss, too.

• 28:20Ed Mylett?

  Still boss, boss less mentor.

• 28:21Speaker 03

  One of the bosses.

• 28:22Ed Mylett?

  Obviously, you know, those of you, Magic's speaking to my company in a few weeks. And one of the reasons I asked him to come in was because, I don't care if you add math, just the math, he's one of the most successful men in the country.

• 28:34Speaker 03

  He is.

• 28:34Ed Mylett?

  And so you getting mentored have been up close to one of the most successful men in the country.

• 28:37Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 28:38Ed Mylett?

  And the thing is that I love about him is he's relentless. In other words, you can't buy his will to win. You couldn't buy him with championships. You couldn't buy his will to win when he got sick. You couldn't buy his will to win with a bunch of money. You can't buy his will to win with accolades.

• 28:50Speaker 03

  No.

• 28:50Ed Mylett?

  The Dodgers, the Sparks, the Lakers. It's like, he just keeps going. He's relentless. And I admire that. So let's talk about the job for him.

• 28:56Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 28:57Ed Mylett?

  Because this is a big job. And your partner, I guess I call her your partner, the CEO of the team, is also an African-American woman, correct?

• 29:04Speaker 03

  The GM, yes.

• 29:05Ed Mylett?

  The GM, correct? And so she handles more of the player stuff?

• 29:07Speaker 03

  She's everything on the court. She's EVP and GM. And then I'm everything off the court, all business operations.

• 29:13Ed Mylett?

  And her name is?

• 29:13Speaker 03

  Penny Toller.

• 29:14Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 29:14Speaker 03

  And not only is she a basketball genius as it relates to putting a team together, she was the first woman to ever score a basket when the league started as a spark.

• 29:22Ed Mylett?

  Get out.

• 29:23Speaker 03

  So talk about legacy.

• 29:24Ed Mylett?

  Get out, really?

• 29:25Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, she's phenomenal.

• 29:26Ed Mylett?

  So, that's awesome. So the two of you are sort of the duo on both sides of the operation here.

• 29:31Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 29:31Ed Mylett?

  And so your job is to grow the brand to some extent, correct? So let's talk about some of the things you did, because this applies to all other businesses. We talked a little bit on it as well, but one of the things you focus on is women's empowerment, too. So that's actually on the other side of your ring, on the inside of that thing, is the logo.

• 29:47Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's our "We Are Women" logo.

• 29:49Ed Mylett?

  That is so cool. And so tell us about that a little bit.

• 29:51Speaker 03

  Yeah, so it's a funny story. So go back to Irvin's Will to Win and the people he hires. So a gentleman whom I also report to here, Colm Eas, I'm an board of governors. I, first season, I was an executive on loan. And so I was just kind of helping out. And then, then I guess I thought I did, I guess I did okay job again.

• 30:10Ed Mylett?

  There you go again.

• 30:11Speaker 03

  Congratulations, you got the job. Now go break an attendance record. I was like, holy. I just got the job. Like, are you kidding me? Like, we barely have an office. We were working the first season out of Irvin's conference room.

• 30:22Ed Mylett?

  OK.

• 30:23Speaker 03

  The entire organization. But anyway, so we knew it had to be bigger than basketball. And so a woman on my team at the time, she and I just kept putting our heads together. And right around that time, there was some instances of domestic violence in sports. That was when a lot of it started to happen.

• 30:39Ed Mylett?

  OK.

• 30:39Speaker 03

  And so we were like, OK, let's really just kind of just bring it around women's empowerment in general. And but not just around sports. You know, there was some fantastic things that women are doing in the greater L.A. area that we can highlight along the way. But really, it came down to economic empowerment and the power of a woman's dollar, right? And the power of products and services and a league geared and powered by women.

• 31:05Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 31:05Speaker 03

  Right?

• 31:06Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 31:06Speaker 03

  So how do I fill Staples Center? Not just because I'm giving out tickets for free. No, I want people to pay the dollar, the 10 whole dollars that it takes to get a nosebleed seat.

• 31:16Ed Mylett?

  Did anybody hear that, by the way? It's such a great value, this league. All the seats are. But go ahead.

• 31:20Speaker 03

  They are. Like, we're really, like, you can take a family of four in the hundreds in the lower bowl and still eat.

• 31:27Ed Mylett?

  And see some amazing flipping athletes, everybody.

• 31:31Speaker 03

  Ridiculous.

• 31:31Ed Mylett?

  Like, amazing, ridiculous athletes.

• 31:33Speaker 03

  Every, every guy is like, dang, these girls can ball.

• 31:36Ed Mylett?

  Well, here's the thing for me, not to interrupt you, but I can say, I actually think the brand of basketball is more interesting because it's not just like ISO ball. And I don't think they're critical of the NBA. I love the NBA.

• 31:46Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's exciting.

• 31:47Ed Mylett?

  These ladies share the basketball.

• 31:48Speaker 03

  They do.

• 31:48Ed Mylett?

  They can shoot, they can score, their handles are unbelievable.

• 31:52Speaker 03

  Ridiculous. The defense is like, it's fundamental basketball.

• 31:55Ed Mylett?

  That's right.

• 31:56Speaker 03

  At its best.

• 31:56Ed Mylett?

  That's exactly right.

• 31:57Speaker 03

  Team ball.

• 31:58Ed Mylett?

  That's exactly, that's, it's such a great brand of basket. In fact, if you have a young person who wants to learn to play basketball, I would argue watching the WNBA fundamentally would be the better league for them to be studying at close.

• 32:11Speaker 03

  Totally agree. So many of our coaches bring their teams for that reason, boys and girls.

• 32:14Ed Mylett?

  Do they?

• 32:14Speaker 03

  Yeah. So, so back to We Are Women. So we created the We Are Women campaign. We launch it every year, and the goal is to sell at Staples Center. But it's also to highlight the great work that women are doing in the community. One woman, she, in fact, English was her second language, but she served the seniors in her community and would go and provide meals for them in Maywood. And so she was nominated. So we got to go and tell the story of the work that she's doing. So there were all of these different pieces that women are doing in the community that are just lifting all of us up. And so we get to tell their stories and celebrate them on court. And then we do a Woman of the Year. And then last year, we did a Man of the Year. Because it's important. We gotta, it's not just about empowering women. It's also about enlightening men as to what women can do too.

• 33:00Ed Mylett?

  Empowering women, enlightening men. Hopefully, that's what we're doing today.

• 33:03Speaker 03

  Yeah, exactly.

• 33:04Ed Mylett?

  Hopefully, what we're doing today. And so, you know, you're, by the way, what you've really done is you've just expanded what the brand is. And everybody listens that has any business, I don't care if you're a trainer in a gym, you own a dry cleaners.

• 33:14Speaker 03

  Yep.

• 33:14Ed Mylett?

  These same business principles apply to you too. How can you get more involved in the community? How can you expand the brand? How can you begin to affect people in ways that seem not directed to profit, but inevitably do drive profit?

• 33:25Speaker 03

  It is my go-to-market strategy. I am gaining market share, period. So the time and money and resources spent on converting a hardcore NBA fan versus the time and money to create new Sparks fans. I don't have to create a basketball fan, but I can create a Sparks fan. So a woman who may not, or even a man who may not necessarily be a fan of basketball, can come and enjoy themselves and have fantastic experience. And now they're a Sparks fan, right? That mom, like me, is if I have to watch Pokemon one more time, I'm gonna lose my mind. But me and my son can have a great time at the game, right?

• 34:02Ed Mylett?

  Gosh.

• 34:02Speaker 03

  Socially conscious millennials who wanna, want a deeper reason for the money they're spending while they're looking really, really cool courtside, right?

• 34:10Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 34:10Speaker 03

  Those are the folks I'm focused on. So we've increased market share. We're leading the league in ticket sales. We're leading the league in attendance.

• 34:16Ed Mylett?

  Congratulations.

• 34:17Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 34:17Ed Mylett?

  That's brilliant. And it's like, one of the things I wanted to have you on here was this point right here. I think that compared to the other teams I know in the league, and I know we're not doing that, you can't speak to this. You've expanded what the brand is and what it means to people.

• 34:32Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 34:32Ed Mylett?

  And that's not easy to do when something is new. Even though the league's been around a while, it's not like the Lakers brand that's been around forever. So what's the hardest part of your job?

• 34:42Speaker 03

  There's lots. I think when you still run into those that you have to sell on what women can do and what they should be doing and like right now, there's a big debate about lowering the rim so women can dunk better or whatever.

• 34:59Ed Mylett?

  Oh, is there?

• 34:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, and it's really the fan who doesn't really understand our game, right? We talked about it being more elegant, it's a different style of basketball and it's phenomenal. We don't have to lower the rim to appease you. We're not trying to be the female NBA. That's not who we are, who we want to be. We have our own sport, we have our own game. It's globally recognized. You'll be okay.

• 35:24Ed Mylett?

  What's the best part of your job?

• 35:26Speaker 03

  The impact. The young girl who now knows that she could either be a professional athlete on the biggest stage in the biggest city. She could run a team. Hell, she could own a team if she wanted to. And because I didn't have that. I didn't know that. So as you talk about going back to your childhood and then how those pieces, like just that one conversation I may have with that one young lady who said, "Wow, I didn't know that this was a job or that women could do that" or whatever. And then the other part is being able to see these women live out their dreams. These beautiful humans that they are, these complex global athletes.

• 36:08Speaker 03

  They are MVPs, they are champions, they are Olympians. They are all of this and they're still having to fight to live their dream here domestically. And they're at the top of their game. And so when we won this championship, it was the first time that anyone on the team had won. But for Penny, she was the only one. She has two previously, so now she has three. And to be able to see the players and the exuberance and just that, I still get goosebumps.

• 36:39Ed Mylett?

  You can see it on your face.

• 36:41Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 36:41Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, the stories of these ladies is remarkable. I feel like the league itself and your team, particularly if it was a stock, it's a buy. I just feel like there's this major growth that can come to the league, that can come to people as they become more aware of. And I think part of it is the stories of the ladies as well. And I wanted you here today for something that you just said too. There's somebody watching this, there's a young woman somewhere, who is seeing someone who looks like her.

• 37:09Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 37:10Ed Mylett?

  Who's achieving. One of the great things about social media, and what could be one of the great things in society today, if we could finally find a way to come together as a society, is to begin to show the diversity of all the people that are winning, that all the people are successful. I pray for a day that when my granddaughter's coming up, that she, it's a foregone conclusion in people's minds if that's the case. And so, you're very humble about it, but you are, you're pioneering a path that's really of this generation, one of the first people doing it, right? Hopefully someday that'll be different. But one of the other paths that you navigate, I want to ask you about, this has been so good, by the way, because I've gotten so many good things. But one of the other things that you do is you're balancing being a single mother.

• 37:49Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 37:50Ed Mylett?

  And an executive, and being busy. What is your, how do you do that? And what is a, is there a typical day? And like, like given I, so people go, well, I want to be the president of a big organization, or I want to run something. Do you?

• 38:02Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 38:02Ed Mylett?

  Because this is what the schedule will look like. This is what you'll be doing every single day. So give someone a flavor. Because the glamour is, I'm the president. The glamour is, I have this reign. I have this influence. I get to work with magic. I have this incredible prestige and title. All this influence, all that. And then there's like, the stuff.

• 38:17Speaker 03

  The grind, right?

• 38:18Ed Mylett?

  Right, so what's that look like? What's the grind look like?

• 38:20Speaker 03

  You know, and it's funny because you, you have to, I think, highly competitive people and those whom have achieved some success, aren't in love with the glamour. They're in love with the grind, right? And I think it's like, you know, I love crunching out, like creating that new partnership deck that I, where I'm going to come. And I'm like, okay, this is why we need to partner together. Because I'm going to create this, and a custom thing for that. And we're going to activate this, and we're going to end that part. So I am literally the one putting together, coming up, there's, I have a fantastic team as well. But we create these opportunities for holistic partnership that touch every aspect of our department. So whether, you know, your name is in lights and Staples Center for your company, whether your employees are coming with, as ticket holders, whether we're activating in the community, whether we're doing something on social,

• 39:05Speaker 03

  whether we have a player representing your organization, but all of those ideas have to come, so we have to come in and create those. And you got to create the deck to be able to, you know, sell that. Then you got to go to the meeting and sell it. And then, and then I got to, you know, come and do fantastic interviews so I can spread the word, and then... You know, and then there's the audits and the payroll and the so, you know, I am the president, but operating officer means I have literally been doing budgets and payroll and we've finished an audit, gonna start another one and all of that kind of stuff. So it's, it is a grind. And it, but again, I love it.

• 39:40Ed Mylett?

  You do?

• 39:40Speaker 03

  I do.

• 39:41Ed Mylett?

  So are you, are you a wake up early person? Are you a?

• 39:45Speaker 03

  I'm a stay up really late person.

• 39:48Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 39:49Speaker 03

  And then I get up somewhat early.

• 39:51Ed Mylett?

  You do. How much sleep do you get?

• 39:52Speaker 03

  Probably about four hours.

• 39:54Ed Mylett?

  Wha- what?

• 39:55Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 39:55Ed Mylett?

  Okay. So you just said it like it's normal.

• 39:57Speaker 03

  That's not, that's not.

• 39:58Ed Mylett?

  Well, for you and I, it is.

• 39:59Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 40:00Ed Mylett?

  But I wrote this in my book as a matter of fact.

• 40:02Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 40:02Ed Mylett?

  And I have this theory that it's, we probably both should get more sleep.

• 40:05Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 40:05Ed Mylett?

  But I do have this theory that it is the quality of the sleep you get beyond just the time.

• 40:08Speaker 03

  Agreed.

• 40:09Ed Mylett?

  But there's a line, but did you just hear what she did? You just, it's so mega achievers. It'd be like, it's like they take for granted how kind of psycho they are sometimes.

• 40:17Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 40:18Ed Mylett?

  So like, and you're like, how much you sleep? Four hours? What, what?

• 40:21Speaker 03

  It's not, everybody does?

• 40:22Ed Mylett?

  No, not everybody does that, right?

• 40:24Speaker 03

  No, I know. I do hibernate though. Like I'll go two or three days every now and then. I'm like, nope, I'm not getting out of bed.

• 40:29Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 40:29Speaker 03

  I'm not, you know, I might brush my teeth if you're lucky.

• 40:34Speaker 03

  I might, you know, so I, I know when I gotta shut it down. I know when I gotta shut it down.

• 40:39Ed Mylett?

  Okay, so but, but let's just be real here. You don't get where you are by hoping and dreaming these things. You can hope and dream them, but you've just flat out busted your tail. And let's just be real, everybody, okay? That's the schedule you're heard about. Plus, she's a mother.

• 40:53Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 40:54Ed Mylett?

  Right? And listen to me on this. If you are in one of these categories we're describing, you're going to have to even do more of this than everybody else. It's another level, right? So accept it. It's just, it's a fact. You need to hear this message. All of the things you've achieved, this is where it gets really good for me because it's like, well, what really separates you? Okay. It's obviously you're brilliant. You're an unbelievable communicator. For someone who doesn't like sales, you said the word sell four times in that last sentence. I'll go back and play, but I think it was four plus percent.

• 41:22Speaker 03

  It could be like a drinking game.

• 41:23Ed Mylett?

  Right? That's selling. So, so you definitely are selling. The interview is selling too.

• 41:26Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 41:27Ed Mylett?

  But it's like, the schedule's freaky though.

• 41:29Speaker 03

  It's freaky, it's intense. And I think it's a matter too, and to your point about me being a mom, I had to rethink how I'm a mom. When I first started this, I was ashamed that I had to bring him with me from time to time. And I serve on a number of boards as well. I was a president of the UCLA Alumni Association. So I represent all 500,000 Bruins that ever graduated from UCLA. I just finished that term, but while I'm still on that board, I'm now a regent designate for the UC region. So the UC region is the governing board of all 10 of the UC campuses. And then I'll be a voting regent next year. I do charity work. So, but I bring him with me. And now he's learning presence.

• 42:13Speaker 03

  He's learning authority. He's learning, he belongs, right? I'm still, I am still convincing myself, and we're being real, that I belong. There's still times in my mind where I have imposter syndrome and all that other kind of stuff. And, you know, and you gotta remember, no, you, you belong, girl. You, you earned this, like, you got this.

• 42:34Ed Mylett?

  I'm glad you said that.

• 42:35Speaker 03

  But it's real. And because society tells you otherwise a lot of times. And people are quick to point out the failures. And I, I've recently adapted to that and said, you know what? I may have failed a task, but that does not make me a failure.

• 42:49Ed Mylett?

  Oh, God.

• 42:50Speaker 03

  It does not. That's a task, and maybe I didn't meet that goal, and you better believe I'm gonna meet it next time. Doesn't make me a failure. I'm still pretty awesome.

• 42:58Ed Mylett?

  Oh, that was so good.

• 42:59Speaker 03

  You have to believe that.

• 43:00Ed Mylett?

  So good. Oh, because, because you just said something. No one's used that phrase on my show before either too, but I, I suffer from it sometimes. So, you mean, you said imposter syndrome. There's this part of, I think, a lot of us, as we're doing well or we're winning, especially those of you that are starting to achieve, you actually think it's a fluke.

• 43:16Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 43:17Ed Mylett?

  Or they don't really know who you really are. And the fact is, I just gave this talk to where I went to college. I went to University of Pacific, I played baseball there. And I said, I wish I could have gone back there and someone would have told me, hey, you're really good.

• 43:26Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 43:27Ed Mylett?

  You're special, you're awesome. I just, because I didn't know it. I, to this day, I'm 47, life's gone pretty good. I still, once in a while, get that imposter syndrome. I'll be driving to a speech, and for some reason, that one, I'm like, why do they wanna hear from me?

• 43:41Speaker 03

  I swear to God. Wait, that happened on the way here today. I was like, hey, that's not really, did he really want me? I don't know. Someone talked him into it, I don't know.

• 43:52Ed Mylett?

  I'm 100% sure. So, by the way, not only she's not only not an imposter, not only does she belong, but she's achieving. She's part of the 2018 Ebony Power List. So you're on that list with Steph Curry and Venus Williams. And so like, this is so awesome, right? Like, tell them what category you're in too. This is pretty cool.

• 44:11Speaker 03

  It's crazy. It's the MVP category and they're mostly athletes. And I was like, what? This is insane. Like typically I'm in the woman category because I'm in a women's business. And okay, fine, that's cool. I'm just, if that helps me get the word out, then that's fantastic. And really, I'm just, I'm beyond, you see I'm stuttering, right? I'm a very good presenter until I'm talking about me.

• 44:32Ed Mylett?

  It's true.

• 44:33Speaker 03

  I, I am so humbled at this and it really is a testament to the Sparks Organization, our ownership group, to their commitment to making sure that we have a platform. And now it's being nationally recognized on a number of different, you know, in different ways. And so.

• 44:52Ed Mylett?

  It's a testament to you. So you keep, you do this, what you said earlier, you said all women do. But you deflect, you deflect achievement, you deflect the compliment, you deflect your unbelievable impact you're making. And so it is a, it is a reflection on them. It's a reflection on you.

• 45:09Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 45:09Ed Mylett?

  They named you, right? And so it's unreal that you've done it. And speaking of that, we only have a few more minutes left. I'm like, I'm enjoying this so much.

• 45:16Speaker 03

  We're here all day.

• 45:18Ed Mylett?

  I wish we were because there's, there is so much that you do unconsciously well that I'd like to bring out of you. So I'm gonna make you do this for a second.

• 45:26Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 45:26Ed Mylett?

  So, let's take, right now, is there a player on the Sparks? I think I know who you would say, and I know you don't have a favorite player. But who is sort of the go-to scorer on the team right now?

• 45:36Speaker 03

  You know, we have a few. And because they're, again, it's a team, right? It's team ball, right? So you have Candace Parker, who's a very versatile player. You have Nekka Gomakay, who's like, she's like a female James Worthy, right? She's a slicer, but with ridiculous efficiency, right? You have Chelsea Gray that can create a shot out of. Like when you think there's no play left, Chelsea Gray creates that shot. And then you have Elena Beard, who was Defensive Player of the Year. So, so it's, you can't pick a player.

• 46:04Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 46:04Speaker 03

  Because we play team ball on purpose. So we have to move that ball around. It just depends on the play and the, you know.

• 46:11Ed Mylett?

  So let's take those four particular players.

• 46:13Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 46:13Ed Mylett?

  And I want to, we're going to put six people in a room.

• 46:16Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 46:17Ed Mylett?

  Magic Johnson.

• 46:17Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 46:18Ed Mylett?

  You.

• 46:19Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 46:19Ed Mylett?

  And the, and the four players.

• 46:20Speaker 03

  And the fourth.

• 46:21Ed Mylett?

  Okay. What do you have in common? So you're all mega achievers. What are some of the common traits amongst these people?

• 46:26Speaker 03

  Um, drive, competitiveness. Everybody wants, and not against each other, just, okay, what, true story. We'll rewind a little championship. So me, Penny, Irvin, we're on the floor, won the championship. It was insane. Um, Minnesota Lynx had been dominant for quite some time. We dethroned them, everybody's going crazy to say Minnesota. And we won, we're on the floor. We hadn't even got the trophy yet. Irvin's like, look at me and Penny, you ready to do it again next year?

• 46:57Ed Mylett?

  Right away.

• 46:58Speaker 03

  Right away, immediately. And I was like, dang, can I get some champagne in my hair first? Like, no, okay? And then we paused and we were like, yeah, let's do it, let's do it. And we got to the finals, but we didn't win. Um, game five, we have a series of five. And so, um, and so it's that competitiveness, that drive that, okay, how can I beat myself? Okay, what can I learn today? What's the new thing I can do today? And no one will outwork me. All of us are work, are workhorses.

• 47:27Ed Mylett?

  I love that.

• 47:28Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 47:29Ed Mylett?

  That is, by the way, if I were asked that question, that would be my answer. My answer would be some freakish drive.

• 47:36Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 47:36Ed Mylett?

  And which I put competitiveness all the no there. And then you just outwork everybody.

• 47:40Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 47:41Ed Mylett?

  And that is the common line of the guests on my show that have maxed out. It's a common guest of the people that have mentored me. I always say, I think in businesses, you definitely, I mean, obviously the ideas you've created. Even to span the brand of the team, they're brilliant. So you've used your head to do that. But what has separated you is your heart. And you win, at the end of the day, you have to, you have to have the right strategies in business, but you win with your heart and not your head ultimately. It's just outworking everybody. It's your drive, it's your ambition. I think you're amazing. So, let's talk about the, let's talk about the team just for a second in the league. Just so everybody, I want people to go see the team.

• 48:11Speaker 03

  Yes, yes.

• 48:12Ed Mylett?

  And so, and by the way, so there's a lot of you that listen that are in Southern California. And if you're not, you're in other parts of the country, go see, go find out where your local team is and go see these incredible athletes play. And if you're around the world, just become engaged in this product. Because I think like all brands, this could become a global brand. I'm just gonna tell you right now. So, so why should somebody, it's inexpensive.

• 48:35Speaker 03

  Yep.

• 48:35Ed Mylett?

  And the athletes are incredible.

• 48:37Speaker 03

  Right.

• 48:37Ed Mylett?

  Give me one more reason why somebody should come see a WNBA game, particularly maybe the Sparks.

• 48:41Speaker 03

  The Sparks are unique. It's a party. We're, it's a different sporting environment. We have a DJ. We bring, and it's LA, right? So, so we bring in entertainment on timeouts. We have magic moments. We have people performing. So you have ridiculously amazing basketball, right? It's affordable. It's family friendly, but it's still fun. And literally, people have the greatest time when they come.

• 49:04Ed Mylett?

  You really believe this.

• 49:06Speaker 03

  I do.

• 49:06Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, you really do. And what I love about it is, as just a sports fan is, I'll just tell you it's straightforward. And not everybody listening to this is a sports fan. I just think the quality of the sport's unbelievable. I just really do.

• 49:16Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 49:17Ed Mylett?

  Okay, so I go all the way back.

• 49:18Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 49:19Ed Mylett?

  You were nine when your mom and dad split?

• 49:22Speaker 03

  Seven.

• 49:22Ed Mylett?

  Seven, okay. So you're seven years old. And so, I go back to that little girl. I just think it's fascinating, just for a second, just to have some perspective. Because you're in the middle of doing what you do.

• 49:32Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 49:33Ed Mylett?

  If you went back to that, that little girl at that time, there had to be some sense of turmoil going on in your life. All of a sudden, your daddy's not in the house and your mom's now got these four girls she's raising. And I'm just picturing this beautiful girl gonna going through her life and just thinking, man, if I could go back there and tell her,

• 49:52Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 49:53Ed Mylett?

  Do you know how amazing your life's gonna be?

• 49:54Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 49:56Ed Mylett?

  And there's a lot of people listening to this, so I'm proud of you, by the way.

• 49:59Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 50:00Ed Mylett?

  I'm really happy for you, too.

• 50:01Speaker 03

  That means a lot.

• 50:02Ed Mylett?

  And, um, but there's millions of people listening to this.

• 50:06Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 50:06Ed Mylett?

  Who, they're at a point in their life that like, look, another thing in my world has been perfect either. I don't come from the perfect family. I don't either, by the way. But I come from a perfect family. Everything in my life right now isn't perfect.

• 50:17Speaker 03

  Right.

• 50:18Ed Mylett?

  You know, I've made some mistakes. I've had a relationship that didn't work out. My business didn't work out. Maybe I didn't get my degree. Maybe I got my degree and I thought that was gonna change everything and I don't have my dream job.

• 50:27Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 50:28Ed Mylett?

  And so, I'm, I get a chance to sit down with Christine Simmons for a cup of coffee for just a couple minutes. And I get to ask her, what would your advice be to me to transform my life, to change my life? What would be the things you would tell that person if they could ask you?

• 50:41Speaker 03

  Um, be relentless about reinventing yourself. And know that you have the power already. No one has to give it to you. Um, I think women, we suffer from that a bit more, um, because we've been put in our place for so long. And, um, and so, giving someone an opportunity is phenomenal and we're grateful for every opportunity that you give us. And then watch us work, which is actually what the tagline's for, for the N W O B A. But, um, but it's true, watch us work. Watch what I'll do. You give me that opportunity, watch what I'll do. So, and adversity makes you better. When I have a candidate who comes

• 51:22Speaker 03

  in and I am, I'm looking to bring someone on, I need a creative solutioner, right? I need someone who's gonna figure it out. I need someone who's got thick skin, right? So as you achieve, and for those of you, again, back to the glamour versus the grind. It's not easy and it's you, your circle gets way smaller, right? And there's more scrutiny and there's more challenges and there's all of these things that you, but yet you have to be unseen. Hey, no, I didn't have a horrible day yesterday, you know what I mean? And, and so those are the things that, but it makes you better. And, and in turn that it's energy. Like we feel, I feel like, you know, it's, it's energy.

• 52:07Speaker 03

  And you have to, and it's hard when you're constantly being kicked and kicked. How do you turn that energy? It's almost like, it's almost like Black Panther when his suit, his suit kept hitting like they'd get bullets, it hit his bullet and then that kinetic energy would build up and it would just wow, right? So now I'm at the point where I'm like, oh, tell me no. Careful what you do when you tell me no, cause now I'm gonna come back with a force. Because, and, and you have your moment, don't get me wrong. You have your moments where you're disappointed or you're like, why? Why did this happen again or why did this not happen again? Get that, have your safe space. Now let's move on, let's go. How are we gonna, how are we gonna change it? You can't, you have to move forward.

• 52:48Speaker 03

  Constant forward movement relentless, I use that word relentless. All my emails, it says a relentless drive for excellence.

• 52:57Ed Mylett?

  Does it really?

• 52:58Speaker 03

  Yes, relentless and people are gonna call you crazy. People aren't gonna agree, they're not gonna understand. They're gonna think that you're a rating B or, you know, in too intense. And so you figure out the nuances of it, but stay relentless, keep reinventing yourself and change the energy.

• 53:15Ed Mylett?

  Oh my gosh, that's good. Cause I do think like, I just think energy is influence and I think it's infectious too. And that's the thing about you, like immediately, I'm talking about like within two seconds, your energy is, it's a, it's beautiful, it's attractive, right? It's, it's a, it's connecting. And so, and it is difficult to bring that energy when the world is kicking you, but you're absolutely right, you've got to turn that energy around, you've got to get up, you've got to be relentless. I love what you talked about reinventing yourself too. That version of you right now is producing the results you're getting. You've got to reinvent and get better. I think you are incredible.

• 53:53Speaker 03

  Oh, feeling is so mutual, it's so intense we are.

• 53:56Ed Mylett?

  I'm serious.

• 53:57Speaker 03

  Like you have been such a joy, like this is amazing.

• 54:00Ed Mylett?

  Thank you. So today was wonderful. It's so good, I already kinda know they're gonna be like, would you bring her back and do just like these? Business questions.

• 54:08Speaker 03

  I'd love it.

• 54:09Ed Mylett?

  But I'm so impressed and thank you for being you. Thank you for breaking down some of these barriers. Thank you for doing this today because I promise you, I know the impact this conversation's had on so many people. And I can't wait to hear about it. How do people find you though? Like we want to help you grow your social media and grow the Sparks too. So how can they best find you?

• 54:29Speaker 03

  So Sparks is LA underscore Sparks on all platforms. Unapologetically underscore Christine is on Instagram. CN Simmons on Twitter.

• 54:38Ed Mylett?

  Okay, so we need to go, you need to be connected with this woman because I feel like you, I think you probably feel like I do. I want to watch even what the future holds for you too.

• 54:46Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 54:46Ed Mylett?

  And it was really an honor to do this with you today. So thank you so much.

• 54:49Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 54:50Ed Mylett?

  Enjoy it so much. Hey everybody, we did it again. I brought you out somebody who's maxing out their life and her information today is really going to help so many of you max out your life as well. I hope you enjoyed the program. Spread the word. We're the number one growing program in the world. But more people need to know about this. You're following me on Instagram at EdMylett. Every day I do the two minute drill. So when I make a post, every day on my main feed, first two minutes, everybody makes a comment, you're in a drawing. You get coaching calls with my guests, me, gear, books, all kinds of stuff you get from doing that. And if you miss the first two minutes, just comment. Every day we pick a winner at the end of the week who commented every day. So please do that. God bless you and max out.