Name: Chris Gargano
Position: NFL Jets VP & Exec Producer
Age: 48
Where I’m from: S.F.
Where I call home: Mountain Lakes, N.J.
Focusing on right now: Engaging fans via social media, with an emphasis on Instagram.
Best advice: Always be yourself. If you truly dive into who you are and be your best self, you will thrive because you are being authentic, you are being open and you’re portraying yourself naturally in an authentic manner.
A must for a new hire: Humility. I love people to come in and be open to learning and open to absorbing as much information as they can, to listening well, to having self-initiative. If you’re humble, you can do all of those things. People think that if you’re humble, you can’t have confidence, but I disagree with that.
Exec I admire: I admire STEVE JOBS for his tenacity, his innovation and his commitment to believing what he thought was right. If you examine his life, which I have, the message that he has is consistent with the way I view the world. Be who you are, embrace your thoughts, your ideas, your individualism.
Best book I’ve read this year: I have 30 leadership books in my office at home because I am less than three months away from graduating and getting my Master’s in leadership studies from my alma mater, St. Mary’s College. One of the authors that I really like is RONALD HEIFETZ. “LEADERSHIP ON THE LINE” and “ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP” are the two that stand out. They’re fascinating, rich books about ways in which we understand our human nature.
First thing in the morning: I wake up, and I’m all Jets. I am checking in with the office, checking in with my personal schedule, making sure it’s working toward that day. I’m reading our clips, which are various ways in which we’re portrayed around the country. Then it’s off to the gym, into the office.
Talking tech: Virtual reality is something that fans will enjoy because it’s that next level of access. If you’ve experienced virtual reality, you feel like you’re there. You get to see, feel, hear all that is going on inside of the tunnel when the team is taking the field, or on the practice field as a quarterback is throwing the ball to the receiver.
Must-have music: I love anything country and anything ‘80s. TOM PETTY and THE EAGLES are some of my favorites. TOBY KEITH and KENNY CHESNEY are some of my country guys, as well as ALAN JACKSON. I’m open-minded to all music.
Food for thought: I love Mexican food. Any place, any time. I will never pass up trying it in whatever town I’m in. I’m extremely spoiled having lived a lot of my life in the Bay Area and now out here in the Northeast, it’s very strong cuisine on both coasts.
How I unwind: My 8-year-old son, my wife, our dog, we love to be together. We love to go for walks. We have a Sunday morning ritual where we walk the dog around the neighborhood. I also love visiting my family in the Bay Area. That’s going to become a nice activity for us as we put our roots down on the East Coast.
Day in the life: I joined the Jets in January, and I oversee all the video production content, which includes television shows, digital content, social content, as well as branding. If a sponsor comes to us, I’m helping them define their brand and their association with the Jets. So it’s all of the content, plus editorial, the written word on NewYorkJets.com. I’m very excited about the people that I have here and the people that are on the team working to produce content. Every day is fun, every day is challenging.
