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SBJ/October 10-16, 2011/Game Changers
Game Changers: Sue Rodin
Published October 10, 2011, Page 39A
Rodin says a Mets game with granddaughter Claire is a grand-slam day.
Sue Rodin
WISE, FounderStars & Strategies, President
Sue Rodin said there was a time at the beginning of her career in sports that she had a business question and was in search of a group of women executives specifically in the sports industry who she hoped could help provide an answer. Upon learning no such group existed, Rodin set out to start one, and in October 1993, at Mickey Mantle’s in New York City, the first meeting of Women in Sports and Events was held. Rodin was expecting about five people to attend; 60 women came together to share stories and advice.
Since then, WISE has grown as a nonprofit group to have 10 chapters around the country and more than 1,000 members, in turn leading to thousands of networking relationships and jobs for women in sports. In 1996, Rodin started her second venture in sports, Stars & Strategies. The agency both at its launch and continuing today aims to specialize in women’s sports marketing and management.
Since then, WISE has grown as a nonprofit group to have 10 chapters around the country and more than 1,000 members, in turn leading to thousands of networking relationships and jobs for women in sports. In 1996, Rodin started her second venture in sports, Stars & Strategies. The agency both at its launch and continuing today aims to specialize in women’s sports marketing and management.
- First job: I was trained to teach history at the secondary level, but after graduate school there were no jobs, so I was a fifth-grade teacher at a public school in Queens, N.Y.
- What is the best advice you’ve ever received?: “Shift happens.” The only given is change; the best we can do is control how we manage it.
- In 10 words or less, how would you describe your management style?: Collaborative (more “we” than “me”) and focused on solutions.
- Woman in sports business you’d most like to meet: Melinda Witmer, Time Warner Cable. I would like to hear about her career path, her business challenges and her goals.
- If I had to do it all over again, I would …: Have started in business earlier.
- Ten years from now, I hope to be …: Having fun with the grandkids, traveling and celebrating the Mets’ World Series victory.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
“I admire her ability to galvanize an incredibly large group of women to organize chapters to help other women professionally network. … She found a need far greater than her own and it has blossomed to a sustainable association.”
- Buffy Filippell, TeamWork Consulting president
