September 11, 2025 • 28 mins
Constance Schwartz-Morini, CEO of SMAC Entertainment, has turned sports talent across sports into household names along with her partner and client Michael Strahan. She shares how she helped Strahan become a media mogul, why Deion Sanders is the ultimate CMO, and how she’s shaping the future in women’s sports with clients including Emma Hayes, Brie and Nikki Garcia, and Erin Andrews. They dig into what it takes to build athlete-led content, how to expand careers beyond the game, and why the women’s side of sports is ready for a bigger stage.
00:31 Introduction
01:50 Constance Schwartz-Morini's Early Life and Career
06:28 Building SMAC Entertainment with Michael Strahan
08:40 Developing Athlete Brands: The Case of Deion Sanders
12:48 Empowering Women in Sports
15:16 Challenges and Strategies in Women's Sports Management
20:10 Future Directions and Final Thoughts
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
There's no such thing as a failure if you can
learn from it. And it's so hard to teach that
or to explain it until you experience it.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
The big one for me, which is where Smack.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Was birth because I got fired and my whole life,
my whole career, I was the teacher's pet. So for
that to happen, I fell apart and I was literally like,
how could this happen to me?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
But then after I was in that sort of dark.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Tunnel and I started seeing the light, I was like,
hold on a minute, I'm going to bet on myself.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Welcome back to Courtside, where we get into the business
of women's sports with the people building what's next. I'm
your host, Laura Karrenti. Today we're talking about the blueprint
behind some of the biggest athlete transformations and sports and entertainment.
My guest is Constance Schwartz Marini, co founder and CEO
of Smack Entertainment. With our OG partner Michael Strahan, Constance
has helped athletes, entertainers, and creators expand into television, production,
(01:00):
business and philanthropy. It's a playbook that started with Michael's
pivot out of the NFL and now shapes how Dion Sanders,
Aaron Andrews, Emma Hayes, and Moore are thinking about their
own multi hyphenic careers. In this episode, we talk about
how she built the systems that make those transitions repeatable,
what she looks for in talent who want to grow
beyond their sport, and how athlete led content is rewriting
(01:20):
the rules of sports media.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Today. Let's get into it with Conston Schwartz Marini.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Welcome back to courtside, where I am joined by partner
and co founder of Smack Entertainment, one of the coolest
people in the business, Constin Schwartz Marini.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Welcome to court side.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Thank you, Laura, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
I'm so pumped to have you.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
A number of things I want to get into today,
but most importantly what you have built at Smack and
just been such an inspiration as a female executive. First
and foremost, I have to say thank you such an
absolute trailblazer and I can only imagine your story to
get to where you are today.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
So with that, I'd love to lock in where.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Does the Constant story begin and how does the journey
evolve into found this business.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
It's so funny because I really appreciate the inspiration part.
And it's so interesting because my spirit is still my
thirty year old self, but the body clearly isn't. And
it's truly like an honor to have gone through all
the bullshit I've gone through, because I want to make
sure that the generations that are coming behind me don't
(02:22):
have to put up with at least as much as
we have and unfortunately still continue to do. But the
story starts in Yonkers, New York, WIO for life Michael
Strahan hates when I say that's so wild for life straight,
that's for you. My mom was a Southern Greek bell
who married a Jew from the Bronx and ended up
moving to Yonkers, and I'm the byproduct of that. Went
(02:43):
to Kathak High School with the last name Schwartz, but
wasn't raised Jewish. So you put me in any situation
and I can adapt, and that that's why I tell
that story.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
My parents split when I was young.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
My dad had really serious mental disease, bipolar disorder, and
so it's just my mom and I and we just
really crushed it and locked it and rocked it. And
I went to college a year early. I went to
suney Asuigo, so I would say I'm a blue collar kid,
which I'm so proud of because I think that work
ethic that my mom put in and even my dad
before it got a little you know, bumpy with him,
(03:14):
just really was always for me, like I'm never going
to depend on anybody. I'm gonna lead by example, and
I'm just going to figure this out. And I just saw,
like all of us, we get down the rabbit hole
of the Instagram memes and stuff, and one of them
was just I need people to work with me that
just can figure it out, Like that's what life's about,
Like just figure it out, get shit done. We're all
(03:35):
in this journey together and we just need to figure
it out.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So went to Suni as.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Suigo graduated thirty five fucking years ago, and I'll say
that now because I was asked to go back and
do the commencement speech in May, and I knew I
couldn't cuss during the commencement speech, so I kept saying
thirty five bleeping years ago, which goes by so fast.
And I received an honorary doctorate, which people like, could
you ever imagined? And I'm like, no, like, I was
(04:02):
so happy to graduate and get a job starting as
like a secretary. That's what you did. You just pounded
the pavement and you figured it out. So that's where
it all started. My very first job was working for
a holding company because I didn't know how to type.
So my employment agent knew of a job at the
NFL that I just couldn't type. I mean that was
the bottom line, and I had no problem typing, I
(04:22):
just didn't know how. So I learned to get office experience.
Eight months later, went back to the NFL and landed
a job as the assistant to the director and vpiece
of corporate sponsorship.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
And that's right, all began.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
I can so empathize and relate to the pounding the pavement,
the blue collar kid. I think when I look at
and inspired by so many women in this business, it
is the fact that there are no shortcuts.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
So much of this has been earned.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
And just talking about your journey from Yonkers to the NFL,
what were some of the things as you look back
over the last thirty five years that you can point
to and say, these weren't, you know, necessary failures, They
were growth moments that led me to.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
The pinnacle of where I am.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Today, because I think sometimes it's easy to get caught
up in the negative. But as I grow and get
older now leading the deep blue business, it's like, no, no,
all of that shit had to happen in order for
me to be comfortable in my skin and where I
am today.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
You nailed it.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
There's no such thing as a failure if you can
learn from it. And it's so hard to teach that
or to explain it until you experience it. And there
was a whole bunch of those, but the big one
for me, which is where smack was birth because I
got fired and my whole life, my whole career, I
was the teacher's pet. So for that to happen, I
fell apart and I was literally like, how could this
(05:41):
happen to me? But then after I was in that
sort of dark tunnel and I started seeing the light,
I was like, hold on a minute, I'm going to
bet on myself. You know, we always joke like, never
go against betting on twenty one black Dion, And that's
the thing. Always bet on yourself because if you fail,
at least you're failing for yourself and you're going to
go down swinging. And after it happened, I went and
(06:02):
interviewed at other companies and they're all huge, great companies,
but they saw me in one box and I was like, no, no,
Like I didn't know the word entrepreneur, I didn't know
the word multi hyphen it, but I was it. I
embodied it, but you just we didn't learn that. And
so that's how SMACK started. It was originally a different company.
I had a partner who was also trying to figure
(06:23):
out what to do, and that's how it started. And
then it was a year into that that Strahan became
the partner.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
So you bet on yourself, but you will also bet
on some incredibly big names in the industry. How does
the Michael Strahan partnership come to be? And then I
certainly want to get into primetime.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
So when this started, Michael was big on the field.
He just retired, he had the job at Fox, but
he wasn't the you know, media mogul, entrepreneur, investor like
all the things producer you see now. So he was
trying to figure it out and that that's how it
And he calls me one day and I give him
so much credit to Tony Gonzalez and Michael Stray, and
(07:05):
I have to shout them out because when I left
the NFL, I wasn't useful to people anymore. Let's just
be honest. For a decade I worked there and was
the entertainment person in Super Bowl tickets or events and
being able to get guys gigs that paid the money.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
You were the plug.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
So when I'm unplugged, you know who your real friends are.
And to their credit, Michael and TONI specifically always reached out,
always stayed in touch, and when Stray retired, he said, hey,
I have this potential opportunity to be in a sitcom.
You know, what do you think? And I was giving
him my advice and everything and shout out to Deborah
Goldfarb who put him in that show. But I said,
(07:41):
I'll just manage you, and he said, you can't manage me.
He said, you have Snoop Dogg Like I'm not big.
I'm not big like Snoop.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
What are you going to do?
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And I was like, you're not today, but you will be.
Like even though I wasn't managing Stray when I worked
at the NFL. Tracy Pelman, who's EVP at the NFL
to this day. We saw in him what everyone says today,
so we would put him in everything off field that
just really made sense, from NFL jams and NFL country
CDs to helping us dust off the Lineman Challenge. He
(08:12):
literally hosted an event because Tracy and I didn't have
a boss at the time, and we knew this is
the nineties that all the sponsors didn't want to hear
from the two twenty something year old females who were
actually in charge. But we said, straight, here's a script,
get on stage. So we saw all that in him then.
So fast forward now mid two thousands, right after you retired,
(08:33):
and says like, let's just do this, and that's how
we started working together. And he's as brilliant as you
think he is.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
He really is. What you see is what you get.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
It's amazing when I look at Michael, when I look
at Dion, these incredible athletes. You hit the nail on
head earlier saying multi hyphen it. Deon Sanders has to
be one of the best cmos that I would never
call a CMO, and I'm sure a lot of that
has to do with you and the team. In as
much as it's intentional and it's clearly strategic. It's also
very authentic. Can you talk about what it takes to
(09:04):
build a brand that is Prime? Take us behind the
scenes of developing a character, a brand, a personality, business
person that is Coach Prime.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I have to give him all the credit in the
world because he came up with Primetime Neon Dion when
he was in college, so he was ahead of the
game more than anybody. If you think about the late
eighties early nineties, it was Dion and it was Bo
Jackson who were able to take culture and put it
on Madison Avenue and they were able to show the
(09:36):
brands you didn't have to be afraid of this personality
larger than life and the jewelry and doing things his way.
So I just came along at the right time, and
we're like peanut, Butter and Jelly with a perfect fit.
So we reconnected. I helped Snoop Dogg start the Snoop
Youth Football League, which is celebrating its twentieth year right now. Wow,
(09:56):
that's one of those things when people say, like, what
do you want to be remembered for? And that's my
that's legacy, Like helping the future generations to come. But
when we reconnected, it was at a Snooper Bowl, which
his team would play Dion's Truth team at the Super
Bowl every year, and he just called me out of
the blue and he said, hey, I'm looking for a
new team who handles all the snoops, this and this
(10:17):
and we're going through it. I said, well, I do
what's up? And he said I need a new team
And I said, why can't I be that person? And
Smack was probably a year old at this point, so
it's pretty early for us too. And he took a
chance on me, and I took a chance on him
because he hadn't been in the brand spotlight for a
while and we needed to do a little diamond dusting
as we call it, just on his brand. And that's
(10:39):
one of the lessons I try to instill in everybody
is don't burn bridges. Like you can fight for what's right,
you could stand up for yourself, but you have to
treat people with respect. Because of that, I was able
to call some friends at the agencies and say, I
know people had the greatest experiences with him at commercials,
but you have my word, like it's a new day.
(11:01):
And I have to shut out Frankie maher Genesco. He
gave us a shot put Dionne in a Verizon commercial
and we haven't looked back since. What year was that,
probably twenty ten, two thousand and nine. I don't need
somewhere around there because that was maybe two years before
he went into the Hall of Fame. So everything was
just set up perfectly because he got with us at
(11:21):
the right time and then we were able to start
building and then his Hall of Fame literally shut down Canton.
He partnered with Marshall Fack going in together. So we
had Snoop Dogg and Nelly performing. We had Popeye's Chicken
for catering, And that goes back to the CMO of
a brand, is that's the CMO of himself. Like ice Cube,
who's his friend, was there. He loves Popeye's Chicken. He's authentic.
(11:44):
I mean, if you say, what's your superpower, it's authenticity
because he won't take a deal for the money ever,
He's got to want to use the brand for free,
as we say, and that's something I think consumers can
sniff out in a second, and I'm not giving any secrets.
So he announced that he had bladder cancer. It's been
(12:04):
a hell of a few months, but he takes things
on only as he can do, and he's bringing the
problems that men go through that they don't talk about,
whether it's the prostate or bladder cancer with leakage. And
during the press conference he talked about he's sharing some
same issues as his grandson snow and we partnered with
depend So who does that like, who is one of
(12:25):
the greatest athletes of our generation can literally look you
in the face and go on camera and tell everybody
what's going on. And the amount of phone calls we've
received from people saying thank you is remarkable.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
The authenticity factor.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I had a longtime mentor that used to be the
vice shared ge Beth Comstock, and she always say, you know, Laura,
if you see a better way, you have an obligation
to do it. And I think he is just the
epitome of that in using his platform not just for
the sake of football. Football clearly is his vehicle, but
it's not the endgame. And it's just been remarkable to
see what he's done both on and off the field.
But I want to pivot the conversation to the women's side.
(13:14):
And I know you've got some great athletes, including the
Garcia sisters, Nicky, Ambrie Garcia, Diana Flores, who I absolutely.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Adore I know back in the day early days.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Fun fact, I found out at a Super Bowl a
couple of years ago that you were Sue's agent. So
you've been in the game, not just obviously building these
dominant forces on the men's side, but navigating the women's
side when arguably at that time when you were first
with Sue, I mean we're not talking about the contracts
and sizes of returns we are today. How have you
seen that world of the women's side evolve and how
are you thinking about it strategically at SMACK.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
The Sue's story is so awesome, and I'm so happy
that we've reconnected and that she's partnered with you, and
anything we can do with you guys, we jump at it.
And seeing Sue and Megan have their moment right now,
that's what it's about. And they're such fearless leaders for this.
You know you mentioned Diana Flores, She's another one that
I just have so much respect for. You know, these
T shirts have been great, Like everybody watches women's sports
(14:06):
and the fact that the ratings are happening and more
and more of us are doing the women's brackets and
not even the men's brackets for a final four, like
those are all moments, but we have so much more
work to do, and there are so many brands that
are stepping up, but we need even more to step up,
because at the end of the day, the brands are
what drive the advertising. The advertisings what bumps the numbers
(14:27):
up in the ratings, And it's like a big circle.
And you know my frustration. Sue and I were coep's
on a project regarding women's basketball and the Olympics, and
nobody picked it up. So for me, it's like our
work is far from over and I will scream from
the mountaintops. And that's one of the things that we're
trying really hard to do is align with the right
brand so we can self finance the documentaries to get
(14:50):
more and more of these shows that are out there.
Diana Razi's doc just came out. I can't wait to
see that one. Serena, Who's the Goat of Goats? She
had an eight parter on ESPN that was so happy,
but had to wait week by week by week, But
we need more of that. We just need more and more.
And obviously I know you're good friends with coach Emma Hayes.
That's truly an honor to start working with her and
(15:10):
getting a front row seat to watching her navigate the
women's football soccer space here, you know, as they go
on getting ready for a World Cup and in other Olympics.
So there's just a lot of work we need to do.
And the fact that we have champions like you, and
the fact that you started this female driven agency. My
hat's off to you because I don't think you can
get enough credit for what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Oh no, I appreciate that you know it's a team sport.
Until we get to where we need to be, we're
going to keep hustling. But you're talking a lot about
the entertainment piece. I would love your perspective from an
agent management perspective. The on field contracts are still not enough,
so we need to build the off field, offcore, off pitch,
brand building and end business. How do you see it
different from the men's and the women's side and sort
(15:49):
of the over indexing it for a brand. Nikki four
and Emma in terms of hey, We've got to think
smarter and harder about the strategic nature of your story
or narrative versus just the skill set you're producing on
the field. For example, you're one thousand percent right. I
hope it changes.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
And I think seeing David and Haley Adelman, who were
part owners of the seventy six ers, really have been
fighting to get this WA expansion team, and they are
and you need more people like that. We all know
how big of a champion Michelle Kang has been, but
when it comes to the athletes or the coaches that
are in this space, what I'm very cautious of with
them is I don't want to over expose them too soon.
(16:30):
And what I mean by that is, of course we
all want to follow and see how coach Ema pulled
off an Olympic gold medal with two months to go.
But she's just getting started, So I'm okay with documenting
this journey and waiting four years. Same thing with Deana,
Like we're on the road to the Olympics. I mean,
flag's going to be an Olympic sport for the first time.
How exciting is that? So we're keeping her front and
(16:52):
center as coach Prime says you keep the main thing
the main thing, so her playing career, but we're also
working with brands very strategically on how can we highlight
what she's doing. It's been awesome seeing Nicki Bella Garcia back.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
In the ring.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
I mean this is phenomenal, Like she's the OG and
she's being welcomed back with open arms and the Bella
Armies going crazy and those are all the things. So
for us, it's like, Okay, how do we leverage this
and get her that mabeling campaign she's been wanting for
so many years? Or do we go back to the
previous network partners and say, okay, she and her sister
(17:28):
and a bunch of the other Bellas are on I
mean Devas were on fire. Is there a way to
maybe it's not that version of the show, but maybe
there's something else that we can do.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
When you talk about because obviously Briton Nikki they have
an incredible entrepreneurial spirit in developing their wine business Bonita
Bonita and a number of other products, another area that
you've had a ton of success and is the actual
brand development side, right, Can you talk about how you've
seen that evolve on the women's side, in particular and
where you think there's room to grow and maybe just
think differently about it.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah, Aaron Andrews is the prime example. Super Bowl San Francisco.
I forget how many years ago that was, but Aaron
was doing something with the NFL for fashion and she
had a higher stylist to tweak some of the gear
because we just realized, like, there's really not enough options
for women, Like there was a lot of great oversized
jerseys and big logos and trinket and pinket and some bedazzling.
(18:19):
But what if you're just a fan like us who
wants to represent our team, but we don't want to
be a walking billboard for it. And that's how that started.
And it took us a few years, and we fought
and we hustled and we never gave up. And literally
it was Super Bowl I think in Houston and Gary Gertzog,
who I knew from the NFL, was now Reuben's general counsel.
(18:40):
I was like, I need an audience with him, and
he said, bring her to the party. I said it
was she was covering. I'm like, we can't party. He's like,
just get her here. And we went flying in and
we literally pitched Reuben for five minutes and he's like,
I get approached by so many celebrities or whatever that
want to do something, but I'm going to give you
guys a chance. And here we are, like seven years later,
and we're still crushing it. We've got an NBA MLB
(19:02):
MLS and we're finally NWSL WNBA thirty five teams in
the NCAA. And she's a leader, and she is the
true definition of a multi hyphen and an entrepreneur. And
one of the hardest work with people. I know has
a two year old son now, so juggling that you know,
on the road during the football season, and it's a
(19:22):
lot of fucking work. But we can't imagine not doing
it any other way. And everybody feels so invested in it.
And every time somebody tries to say, oh, there's so
many competitors popping up, like great, that means more and
more women are sports fans.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
There's not a shortage of spending power, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah. No, Like that's one of the things that frustrates
me too about this business is I never think it's
the women who are shading each other. It's the men
creating it, and I don't know why. I think it's
because we're stronger united than we are divided. And that's
why going back to your company, anytime we get the call,
like if we can do it, we're doing it like
(20:02):
there's no questions asked. And that's the same thing with Aaron.
If she's asked to do something, she's there.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
Likewise, I agree with that sentiment.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
The gatekeeping has finally been unlocked, and I think that's
really important for the growth overall women's space.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
How do you stay fresh?
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Let's be real, the market is evolving on a daily basis.
You've got the whole new world of nil that's been
introduced right, new brands coming into the space, people that
are looking to challenge the status quo. How to smack
stay in the mix and continue to push the bar
through your existing clients, but also future proofing the business
young talent.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
I can't be everywhere. I don't need to be everywhere.
I mean that's a successful leader is the team that
you hire and whether they stay with you or they
move on. Like I'm the most proud of the people
that did decide this wasn't the right lane for them.
And you know, one of them is running the commercials
division at UTA and other one's a lead country agent
in Nashville for w ME, so we nurture I think
(20:57):
last count was five interns or now executives at the company.
One of them has been with me for almost twenty years,
so that's for us. I like getting them out of
school a year out of school and teaching and like
you're the one that should be out and about. Like
if it was music, you go see the bands, figuring
out who the next NL student athletes are.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
That's on them. You know.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
At this point my role is strategy and putting up fires.
Like you don't need me at a speaking engagement and
you don't need me at a commercial shoot unless we're
producing it or something to that effect.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
That's what the goal is.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Like you build and your team are the ones that
you know, the students become the teacher totally.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
You talked earlier about not burning bridges, and obviously this
being a very relationship driven industry. As much as the
industry does evolve, there are a lot of things I'm
sure that have to be consistent that speak to the
character and integrity of what you've built and continue to build.
As I think about young people that might be listening
to this show that are either trying to break in
find their lane, especially on the women's side, where the
(21:54):
resources and infrastructure still early days and it's tough, and
I think people trying to figure out where they live.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
What would you advise.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Those young female executives that look to you as a
role model and somebody they say, Hey, I want to
be in the room where it happens.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
You got to earn it. You have to earn your
seat at that table. Once you can understand the amount
of work and the sleepless nights and the travel and
all of that, then come to me in that sense.
Don't come to me and tell me like I've been
doing this for a year and I don't want to
hear that.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
I really don't.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I will give everyone a shot, but you got to
put the work in. Once you put that work in,
you have to lose your ego. I mean, there are
still rooms that I'm not welcome in, and damn it
does it hurt. But at the same time, I'm now
of a place where I don't want to be in
the rooms I'm not wanted in. I'm just going to
go get the building and invite everybody that wasn't in
(22:47):
that room either.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
I love that, but it's tough.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
It's your ego. It's absolutely your ego.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
So you have to just temper that and look to
all the good that's going on and the people that
are around you and supporting you, and how you can
and give back and just have a network. You know,
I'm sure you can relate to this as the owner
of the company. It does get lonely because you can't really,
I mean you can, but you shouldn't go to your
team to then or complain in that sense.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
So who do you go to?
Speaker 1 (23:15):
So you have to find those people that you can
surround yourself with just say hey, like, how would you've
handled this or what do you need to do? So
find your tribe and nurture That is another big thing.
And you can't just when you get that first no,
you can't just take it at face value. And look,
there are some ideas that I will go down swinging
(23:35):
on and the no is going to be the no.
But let me tell you, I'm going to try every
which way, Like it's not just an A to B.
It's going to be like a zigzag. And if I
still get to the end and I can't get it done,
then it just wasn't meant to be.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
I love your note. I'm buying the whole damn building.
I'm a big believer in that. So what buildings are
we buying? As you look at the horizon over the
next two to five years for Smack and just you
as an executive and continuing to develop your brand.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
And portfolio, where are you looking next?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Are there new parts of the industry, maybe things completely
outside it, like what's the next frontier?
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Honestly, the next frontier is just really building a lot
of the existing brands, for example. So we feel like
with where we still have so much growth, there's so
many retailers that are now waking up to the fact
that women like sports and I'll see new sports brands
popping up in those stores. So that's something that we're
really focused on. We've pivoted with Stranghands business. We're going
(24:29):
direct to consumer for all of his brands. We work
closely with Snoop Dogg, his wife Chantey, and their daughter
Corey on a headscarf line and it's Lupus Awareness one,
so it's just and again that's an authentic product. They're headscarves.
Corey has lupas she was losing her hair as a
little girl six years old, so the whole family started
wearing headscarves. So those things matter because there's a reason
(24:51):
behind it and that's what it's about. And then how
can we finally infiltrate this telling more stories for not
just female athletes, but female sports in general. We just
launched a commercial's division, so we're shooting national campaigns now,
which is really exciting. So that's a big, big focus
for us. And then just expanding and building.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Any dream brand partners for those listening to the show
that we might put a plug in on things like
the commercial's division.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Oh my gosh, every big ad agency out there, just
give us a shot. That's all we ask for is
give us a shot.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Totally give us some parting words constants in terms of
when you think about that journey you've shared so much
today the girl from Yonkers sits Mac and everywhere in between,
what are you most proud of as you reflect on
what you've navigated to get to where you are today.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Being asked to come on a podcast like yours, No, seriously,
because I don't take for granted one minute when I
meet a young executive like yourself who says, you know, like,
thanks for putting up with the bullshit all these years
to hopefully make it a little bit easier for these
next generations. And that's what it's about. Now I'm on
the back nine, like I've proven myself, you know. So
for me, it's like all the lists that we all
(26:01):
hear about that we don't make. I don't want to
be on them anymore. I want my team to be
on them. Like there was just a list that they
came to me about to be on and I said,
I don't want to be on it. Put this executive
on it. They were like, no, they want you on it.
I'm like, he's the one that deserves to be on it,
so take me off and put them on it. And
of course they came back and said they want you both.
So that's what it's about right now, is just really
(26:22):
helping make it an easier place for the next few
generations to have success and have fun. Like you know what,
I know, I work my ass off, but I love
it and that's what's the best part about it. And
that's the environment you try to create not just for
our clients, but for our team, Like we're in the
office four days a week. Those four days a week,
I want everyone to come in and be so excited
(26:43):
to be there. And you know, look like you. Sports
is seven days a week, so they have to work
those seven days. So it's like you want to just
make everything is seamless as possible given the crazy world
we live in.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Totally, well, I have to give you your flowers and
no bullshit. The first time I actually got to interact
with you in real life was our summit and I
was so grateful for your participation and you walked in.
I'm like, this woman is such a badass, like from
your glasses to your aura, like just the way you moved,
which you know figured it out and at the same time,
I'm sure it's still figuring out. And so I know
(27:15):
you didn't exactly say this, but I'm taking as an
open line to give you a call to get guidance from.
But I appreciate what you dropped on this show and
just congratulations on everything you're building and continue to build.
And I'm gonna also consider an open invite to stand
next to you on Colorado's sideline.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
By the way anytime.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Ah, thank you. I appreciate that well. Constant swarts Marini,
You're an absolute gem. I appreciate everything you're doing for
the industry, and thank you for joining us today on
court Side.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Oh thanks, Laurie the best.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
I'm your host, Laura Crenti, founder and CEO of Deep
Blue Sports and Entertainment. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz,
and this show is produced by Ryan Martz along with
associate producers Meredith Barnes and Rachel Zuckerman. Court Side is
an Iheartwomen's Sports production partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Listen on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
Want more, follow, rate and.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Review court Side wherever you get your podcasts, and stay
in the game by following us on social media at
Iheartwomen's Sports, and don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter.
In the show notes, thanks for listening. We'll see you
next time. Court Side
There's no such thing as a failure if you can
learn from it. And it's so hard to teach that
or to explain it until you experience it.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
The big one for me, which is where Smack.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Was birth because I got fired and my whole life,
my whole career, I was the teacher's pet. So for
that to happen, I fell apart and I was literally like,
how could this happen to me?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
But then after I was in that sort of dark.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Tunnel and I started seeing the light, I was like,
hold on a minute, I'm going to bet on myself.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Welcome back to Courtside, where we get into the business
of women's sports with the people building what's next. I'm
your host, Laura Karrenti. Today we're talking about the blueprint
behind some of the biggest athlete transformations and sports and entertainment.
My guest is Constance Schwartz Marini, co founder and CEO
of Smack Entertainment. With our OG partner Michael Strahan, Constance
has helped athletes, entertainers, and creators expand into television, production,
(01:00):
business and philanthropy. It's a playbook that started with Michael's
pivot out of the NFL and now shapes how Dion Sanders,
Aaron Andrews, Emma Hayes, and Moore are thinking about their
own multi hyphenic careers. In this episode, we talk about
how she built the systems that make those transitions repeatable,
what she looks for in talent who want to grow
beyond their sport, and how athlete led content is rewriting
(01:20):
the rules of sports media.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Today. Let's get into it with Conston Schwartz Marini.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Welcome back to courtside, where I am joined by partner
and co founder of Smack Entertainment, one of the coolest
people in the business, Constin Schwartz Marini.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Welcome to court side.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Thank you, Laura, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
I'm so pumped to have you.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
A number of things I want to get into today,
but most importantly what you have built at Smack and
just been such an inspiration as a female executive. First
and foremost, I have to say thank you such an
absolute trailblazer and I can only imagine your story to
get to where you are today.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
So with that, I'd love to lock in where.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Does the Constant story begin and how does the journey
evolve into found this business.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
It's so funny because I really appreciate the inspiration part.
And it's so interesting because my spirit is still my
thirty year old self, but the body clearly isn't. And
it's truly like an honor to have gone through all
the bullshit I've gone through, because I want to make
sure that the generations that are coming behind me don't
(02:22):
have to put up with at least as much as
we have and unfortunately still continue to do. But the
story starts in Yonkers, New York, WIO for life Michael
Strahan hates when I say that's so wild for life straight,
that's for you. My mom was a Southern Greek bell
who married a Jew from the Bronx and ended up
moving to Yonkers, and I'm the byproduct of that. Went
(02:43):
to Kathak High School with the last name Schwartz, but
wasn't raised Jewish. So you put me in any situation
and I can adapt, and that that's why I tell
that story.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
My parents split when I was young.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
My dad had really serious mental disease, bipolar disorder, and
so it's just my mom and I and we just
really crushed it and locked it and rocked it. And
I went to college a year early. I went to
suney Asuigo, so I would say I'm a blue collar kid,
which I'm so proud of because I think that work
ethic that my mom put in and even my dad
before it got a little you know, bumpy with him,
(03:14):
just really was always for me, like I'm never going
to depend on anybody. I'm gonna lead by example, and
I'm just going to figure this out. And I just saw,
like all of us, we get down the rabbit hole
of the Instagram memes and stuff, and one of them
was just I need people to work with me that
just can figure it out, Like that's what life's about,
Like just figure it out, get shit done. We're all
(03:35):
in this journey together and we just need to figure
it out.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So went to Suni as.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Suigo graduated thirty five fucking years ago, and I'll say
that now because I was asked to go back and
do the commencement speech in May, and I knew I
couldn't cuss during the commencement speech, so I kept saying
thirty five bleeping years ago, which goes by so fast.
And I received an honorary doctorate, which people like, could
you ever imagined? And I'm like, no, like, I was
(04:02):
so happy to graduate and get a job starting as
like a secretary. That's what you did. You just pounded
the pavement and you figured it out. So that's where
it all started. My very first job was working for
a holding company because I didn't know how to type.
So my employment agent knew of a job at the
NFL that I just couldn't type. I mean that was
the bottom line, and I had no problem typing, I
(04:22):
just didn't know how. So I learned to get office experience.
Eight months later, went back to the NFL and landed
a job as the assistant to the director and vpiece
of corporate sponsorship.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
And that's right, all began.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
I can so empathize and relate to the pounding the pavement,
the blue collar kid. I think when I look at
and inspired by so many women in this business, it
is the fact that there are no shortcuts.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
So much of this has been earned.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
And just talking about your journey from Yonkers to the NFL,
what were some of the things as you look back
over the last thirty five years that you can point
to and say, these weren't, you know, necessary failures, They
were growth moments that led me to.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
The pinnacle of where I am.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Today, because I think sometimes it's easy to get caught
up in the negative. But as I grow and get
older now leading the deep blue business, it's like, no, no,
all of that shit had to happen in order for
me to be comfortable in my skin and where I
am today.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
You nailed it.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
There's no such thing as a failure if you can
learn from it. And it's so hard to teach that
or to explain it until you experience it. And there
was a whole bunch of those, but the big one
for me, which is where smack was birth because I
got fired and my whole life, my whole career, I
was the teacher's pet. So for that to happen, I
fell apart and I was literally like, how could this
(05:41):
happen to me? But then after I was in that
sort of dark tunnel and I started seeing the light,
I was like, hold on a minute, I'm going to
bet on myself. You know, we always joke like, never
go against betting on twenty one black Dion, And that's
the thing. Always bet on yourself because if you fail,
at least you're failing for yourself and you're going to
go down swinging. And after it happened, I went and
(06:02):
interviewed at other companies and they're all huge, great companies,
but they saw me in one box and I was like, no, no,
Like I didn't know the word entrepreneur, I didn't know
the word multi hyphen it, but I was it. I
embodied it, but you just we didn't learn that. And
so that's how SMACK started. It was originally a different company.
I had a partner who was also trying to figure
(06:23):
out what to do, and that's how it started. And
then it was a year into that that Strahan became
the partner.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
So you bet on yourself, but you will also bet
on some incredibly big names in the industry. How does
the Michael Strahan partnership come to be? And then I
certainly want to get into primetime.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
So when this started, Michael was big on the field.
He just retired, he had the job at Fox, but
he wasn't the you know, media mogul, entrepreneur, investor like
all the things producer you see now. So he was
trying to figure it out and that that's how it
And he calls me one day and I give him
so much credit to Tony Gonzalez and Michael Stray, and
(07:05):
I have to shout them out because when I left
the NFL, I wasn't useful to people anymore. Let's just
be honest. For a decade I worked there and was
the entertainment person in Super Bowl tickets or events and
being able to get guys gigs that paid the money.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
You were the plug.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
So when I'm unplugged, you know who your real friends are.
And to their credit, Michael and TONI specifically always reached out,
always stayed in touch, and when Stray retired, he said, hey,
I have this potential opportunity to be in a sitcom.
You know, what do you think? And I was giving
him my advice and everything and shout out to Deborah
Goldfarb who put him in that show. But I said,
(07:41):
I'll just manage you, and he said, you can't manage me.
He said, you have Snoop Dogg Like I'm not big.
I'm not big like Snoop.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
What are you going to do?
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And I was like, you're not today, but you will be.
Like even though I wasn't managing Stray when I worked
at the NFL. Tracy Pelman, who's EVP at the NFL
to this day. We saw in him what everyone says today,
so we would put him in everything off field that
just really made sense, from NFL jams and NFL country
CDs to helping us dust off the Lineman Challenge. He
(08:12):
literally hosted an event because Tracy and I didn't have
a boss at the time, and we knew this is
the nineties that all the sponsors didn't want to hear
from the two twenty something year old females who were
actually in charge. But we said, straight, here's a script,
get on stage. So we saw all that in him then.
So fast forward now mid two thousands, right after you retired,
(08:33):
and says like, let's just do this, and that's how
we started working together. And he's as brilliant as you
think he is.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
He really is. What you see is what you get.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
It's amazing when I look at Michael, when I look
at Dion, these incredible athletes. You hit the nail on
head earlier saying multi hyphen it. Deon Sanders has to
be one of the best cmos that I would never
call a CMO, and I'm sure a lot of that
has to do with you and the team. In as
much as it's intentional and it's clearly strategic. It's also
very authentic. Can you talk about what it takes to
(09:04):
build a brand that is Prime? Take us behind the
scenes of developing a character, a brand, a personality, business
person that is Coach Prime.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I have to give him all the credit in the
world because he came up with Primetime Neon Dion when
he was in college, so he was ahead of the
game more than anybody. If you think about the late
eighties early nineties, it was Dion and it was Bo
Jackson who were able to take culture and put it
on Madison Avenue and they were able to show the
(09:36):
brands you didn't have to be afraid of this personality
larger than life and the jewelry and doing things his way.
So I just came along at the right time, and
we're like peanut, Butter and Jelly with a perfect fit.
So we reconnected. I helped Snoop Dogg start the Snoop
Youth Football League, which is celebrating its twentieth year right now. Wow,
(09:56):
that's one of those things when people say, like, what
do you want to be remembered for? And that's my
that's legacy, Like helping the future generations to come. But
when we reconnected, it was at a Snooper Bowl, which
his team would play Dion's Truth team at the Super
Bowl every year, and he just called me out of
the blue and he said, hey, I'm looking for a
new team who handles all the snoops, this and this
(10:17):
and we're going through it. I said, well, I do
what's up? And he said I need a new team
And I said, why can't I be that person? And
Smack was probably a year old at this point, so
it's pretty early for us too. And he took a
chance on me, and I took a chance on him
because he hadn't been in the brand spotlight for a
while and we needed to do a little diamond dusting
as we call it, just on his brand. And that's
(10:39):
one of the lessons I try to instill in everybody
is don't burn bridges. Like you can fight for what's right,
you could stand up for yourself, but you have to
treat people with respect. Because of that, I was able
to call some friends at the agencies and say, I
know people had the greatest experiences with him at commercials,
but you have my word, like it's a new day.
(11:01):
And I have to shut out Frankie maher Genesco. He
gave us a shot put Dionne in a Verizon commercial
and we haven't looked back since. What year was that,
probably twenty ten, two thousand and nine. I don't need
somewhere around there because that was maybe two years before
he went into the Hall of Fame. So everything was
just set up perfectly because he got with us at
(11:21):
the right time and then we were able to start
building and then his Hall of Fame literally shut down Canton.
He partnered with Marshall Fack going in together. So we
had Snoop Dogg and Nelly performing. We had Popeye's Chicken
for catering, And that goes back to the CMO of
a brand, is that's the CMO of himself. Like ice Cube,
who's his friend, was there. He loves Popeye's Chicken. He's authentic.
(11:44):
I mean, if you say, what's your superpower, it's authenticity
because he won't take a deal for the money ever,
He's got to want to use the brand for free,
as we say, and that's something I think consumers can
sniff out in a second, and I'm not giving any secrets.
So he announced that he had bladder cancer. It's been
(12:04):
a hell of a few months, but he takes things
on only as he can do, and he's bringing the
problems that men go through that they don't talk about,
whether it's the prostate or bladder cancer with leakage. And
during the press conference he talked about he's sharing some
same issues as his grandson snow and we partnered with
depend So who does that like, who is one of
(12:25):
the greatest athletes of our generation can literally look you
in the face and go on camera and tell everybody
what's going on. And the amount of phone calls we've
received from people saying thank you is remarkable.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
The authenticity factor.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I had a longtime mentor that used to be the
vice shared ge Beth Comstock, and she always say, you know, Laura,
if you see a better way, you have an obligation
to do it. And I think he is just the
epitome of that in using his platform not just for
the sake of football. Football clearly is his vehicle, but
it's not the endgame. And it's just been remarkable to
see what he's done both on and off the field.
But I want to pivot the conversation to the women's side.
(13:14):
And I know you've got some great athletes, including the
Garcia sisters, Nicky, Ambrie Garcia, Diana Flores, who I absolutely.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Adore I know back in the day early days.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Fun fact, I found out at a Super Bowl a
couple of years ago that you were Sue's agent. So
you've been in the game, not just obviously building these
dominant forces on the men's side, but navigating the women's
side when arguably at that time when you were first
with Sue, I mean we're not talking about the contracts
and sizes of returns we are today. How have you
seen that world of the women's side evolve and how
are you thinking about it strategically at SMACK.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
The Sue's story is so awesome, and I'm so happy
that we've reconnected and that she's partnered with you, and
anything we can do with you guys, we jump at it.
And seeing Sue and Megan have their moment right now,
that's what it's about. And they're such fearless leaders for this.
You know you mentioned Diana Flores, She's another one that
I just have so much respect for. You know, these
T shirts have been great, Like everybody watches women's sports
(14:06):
and the fact that the ratings are happening and more
and more of us are doing the women's brackets and
not even the men's brackets for a final four, like
those are all moments, but we have so much more
work to do, and there are so many brands that
are stepping up, but we need even more to step up,
because at the end of the day, the brands are
what drive the advertising. The advertisings what bumps the numbers
(14:27):
up in the ratings, And it's like a big circle.
And you know my frustration. Sue and I were coep's
on a project regarding women's basketball and the Olympics, and
nobody picked it up. So for me, it's like our
work is far from over and I will scream from
the mountaintops. And that's one of the things that we're
trying really hard to do is align with the right
brand so we can self finance the documentaries to get
(14:50):
more and more of these shows that are out there.
Diana Razi's doc just came out. I can't wait to
see that one. Serena, Who's the Goat of Goats? She
had an eight parter on ESPN that was so happy,
but had to wait week by week by week, But
we need more of that. We just need more and more.
And obviously I know you're good friends with coach Emma Hayes.
That's truly an honor to start working with her and
(15:10):
getting a front row seat to watching her navigate the
women's football soccer space here, you know, as they go
on getting ready for a World Cup and in other Olympics.
So there's just a lot of work we need to do.
And the fact that we have champions like you, and
the fact that you started this female driven agency. My
hat's off to you because I don't think you can
get enough credit for what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Oh no, I appreciate that you know it's a team sport.
Until we get to where we need to be, we're
going to keep hustling. But you're talking a lot about
the entertainment piece. I would love your perspective from an
agent management perspective. The on field contracts are still not enough,
so we need to build the off field, offcore, off pitch,
brand building and end business. How do you see it
different from the men's and the women's side and sort
(15:49):
of the over indexing it for a brand. Nikki four
and Emma in terms of hey, We've got to think
smarter and harder about the strategic nature of your story
or narrative versus just the skill set you're producing on
the field. For example, you're one thousand percent right. I
hope it changes.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
And I think seeing David and Haley Adelman, who were
part owners of the seventy six ers, really have been
fighting to get this WA expansion team, and they are
and you need more people like that. We all know
how big of a champion Michelle Kang has been, but
when it comes to the athletes or the coaches that
are in this space, what I'm very cautious of with
them is I don't want to over expose them too soon.
(16:30):
And what I mean by that is, of course we
all want to follow and see how coach Ema pulled
off an Olympic gold medal with two months to go.
But she's just getting started, So I'm okay with documenting
this journey and waiting four years. Same thing with Deana,
Like we're on the road to the Olympics. I mean,
flag's going to be an Olympic sport for the first time.
How exciting is that? So we're keeping her front and
(16:52):
center as coach Prime says you keep the main thing
the main thing, so her playing career, but we're also
working with brands very strategically on how can we highlight
what she's doing. It's been awesome seeing Nicki Bella Garcia back.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
In the ring.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
I mean this is phenomenal, Like she's the OG and
she's being welcomed back with open arms and the Bella
Armies going crazy and those are all the things. So
for us, it's like, Okay, how do we leverage this
and get her that mabeling campaign she's been wanting for
so many years? Or do we go back to the
previous network partners and say, okay, she and her sister
(17:28):
and a bunch of the other Bellas are on I
mean Devas were on fire. Is there a way to
maybe it's not that version of the show, but maybe
there's something else that we can do.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
When you talk about because obviously Briton Nikki they have
an incredible entrepreneurial spirit in developing their wine business Bonita
Bonita and a number of other products, another area that
you've had a ton of success and is the actual
brand development side, right, Can you talk about how you've
seen that evolve on the women's side, in particular and
where you think there's room to grow and maybe just
think differently about it.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah, Aaron Andrews is the prime example. Super Bowl San Francisco.
I forget how many years ago that was, but Aaron
was doing something with the NFL for fashion and she
had a higher stylist to tweak some of the gear
because we just realized, like, there's really not enough options
for women, Like there was a lot of great oversized
jerseys and big logos and trinket and pinket and some bedazzling.
(18:19):
But what if you're just a fan like us who
wants to represent our team, but we don't want to
be a walking billboard for it. And that's how that started.
And it took us a few years, and we fought
and we hustled and we never gave up. And literally
it was Super Bowl I think in Houston and Gary Gertzog,
who I knew from the NFL, was now Reuben's general counsel.
(18:40):
I was like, I need an audience with him, and
he said, bring her to the party. I said it
was she was covering. I'm like, we can't party. He's like,
just get her here. And we went flying in and
we literally pitched Reuben for five minutes and he's like,
I get approached by so many celebrities or whatever that
want to do something, but I'm going to give you
guys a chance. And here we are, like seven years later,
and we're still crushing it. We've got an NBA MLB
(19:02):
MLS and we're finally NWSL WNBA thirty five teams in
the NCAA. And she's a leader, and she is the
true definition of a multi hyphen and an entrepreneur. And
one of the hardest work with people. I know has
a two year old son now, so juggling that you know,
on the road during the football season, and it's a
(19:22):
lot of fucking work. But we can't imagine not doing
it any other way. And everybody feels so invested in it.
And every time somebody tries to say, oh, there's so
many competitors popping up, like great, that means more and
more women are sports fans.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
There's not a shortage of spending power, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah. No, Like that's one of the things that frustrates
me too about this business is I never think it's
the women who are shading each other. It's the men
creating it, and I don't know why. I think it's
because we're stronger united than we are divided. And that's
why going back to your company, anytime we get the call,
like if we can do it, we're doing it like
(20:02):
there's no questions asked. And that's the same thing with Aaron.
If she's asked to do something, she's there.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
Likewise, I agree with that sentiment.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
The gatekeeping has finally been unlocked, and I think that's
really important for the growth overall women's space.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
How do you stay fresh?
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Let's be real, the market is evolving on a daily basis.
You've got the whole new world of nil that's been
introduced right, new brands coming into the space, people that
are looking to challenge the status quo. How to smack
stay in the mix and continue to push the bar
through your existing clients, but also future proofing the business
young talent.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
I can't be everywhere. I don't need to be everywhere.
I mean that's a successful leader is the team that
you hire and whether they stay with you or they
move on. Like I'm the most proud of the people
that did decide this wasn't the right lane for them.
And you know, one of them is running the commercials
division at UTA and other one's a lead country agent
in Nashville for w ME, so we nurture I think
(20:57):
last count was five interns or now executives at the company.
One of them has been with me for almost twenty years,
so that's for us. I like getting them out of
school a year out of school and teaching and like
you're the one that should be out and about. Like
if it was music, you go see the bands, figuring
out who the next NL student athletes are.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
That's on them. You know.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
At this point my role is strategy and putting up fires.
Like you don't need me at a speaking engagement and
you don't need me at a commercial shoot unless we're
producing it or something to that effect.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
That's what the goal is.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Like you build and your team are the ones that
you know, the students become the teacher totally.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
You talked earlier about not burning bridges, and obviously this
being a very relationship driven industry. As much as the
industry does evolve, there are a lot of things I'm
sure that have to be consistent that speak to the
character and integrity of what you've built and continue to build.
As I think about young people that might be listening
to this show that are either trying to break in
find their lane, especially on the women's side, where the
(21:54):
resources and infrastructure still early days and it's tough, and
I think people trying to figure out where they live.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
What would you advise.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Those young female executives that look to you as a
role model and somebody they say, Hey, I want to
be in the room where it happens.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
You got to earn it. You have to earn your
seat at that table. Once you can understand the amount
of work and the sleepless nights and the travel and
all of that, then come to me in that sense.
Don't come to me and tell me like I've been
doing this for a year and I don't want to
hear that.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
I really don't.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I will give everyone a shot, but you got to
put the work in. Once you put that work in,
you have to lose your ego. I mean, there are
still rooms that I'm not welcome in, and damn it
does it hurt. But at the same time, I'm now
of a place where I don't want to be in
the rooms I'm not wanted in. I'm just going to
go get the building and invite everybody that wasn't in
(22:47):
that room either.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
I love that, but it's tough.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
It's your ego. It's absolutely your ego.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
So you have to just temper that and look to
all the good that's going on and the people that
are around you and supporting you, and how you can
and give back and just have a network. You know,
I'm sure you can relate to this as the owner
of the company. It does get lonely because you can't really,
I mean you can, but you shouldn't go to your
team to then or complain in that sense.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
So who do you go to?
Speaker 1 (23:15):
So you have to find those people that you can
surround yourself with just say hey, like, how would you've
handled this or what do you need to do? So
find your tribe and nurture That is another big thing.
And you can't just when you get that first no,
you can't just take it at face value. And look,
there are some ideas that I will go down swinging
(23:35):
on and the no is going to be the no.
But let me tell you, I'm going to try every
which way, Like it's not just an A to B.
It's going to be like a zigzag. And if I
still get to the end and I can't get it done,
then it just wasn't meant to be.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
I love your note. I'm buying the whole damn building.
I'm a big believer in that. So what buildings are
we buying? As you look at the horizon over the
next two to five years for Smack and just you
as an executive and continuing to develop your brand.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
And portfolio, where are you looking next?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
Are there new parts of the industry, maybe things completely
outside it, like what's the next frontier?
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Honestly, the next frontier is just really building a lot
of the existing brands, for example. So we feel like
with where we still have so much growth, there's so
many retailers that are now waking up to the fact
that women like sports and I'll see new sports brands
popping up in those stores. So that's something that we're
really focused on. We've pivoted with Stranghands business. We're going
(24:29):
direct to consumer for all of his brands. We work
closely with Snoop Dogg, his wife Chantey, and their daughter
Corey on a headscarf line and it's Lupus Awareness one,
so it's just and again that's an authentic product. They're headscarves.
Corey has lupas she was losing her hair as a
little girl six years old, so the whole family started
wearing headscarves. So those things matter because there's a reason
(24:51):
behind it and that's what it's about. And then how
can we finally infiltrate this telling more stories for not
just female athletes, but female sports in general. We just
launched a commercial's division, so we're shooting national campaigns now,
which is really exciting. So that's a big, big focus
for us. And then just expanding and building.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Any dream brand partners for those listening to the show
that we might put a plug in on things like
the commercial's division.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Oh my gosh, every big ad agency out there, just
give us a shot. That's all we ask for is
give us a shot.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Totally give us some parting words constants in terms of
when you think about that journey you've shared so much
today the girl from Yonkers sits Mac and everywhere in between,
what are you most proud of as you reflect on
what you've navigated to get to where you are today.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Being asked to come on a podcast like yours, No, seriously,
because I don't take for granted one minute when I
meet a young executive like yourself who says, you know, like,
thanks for putting up with the bullshit all these years
to hopefully make it a little bit easier for these
next generations. And that's what it's about. Now I'm on
the back nine, like I've proven myself, you know. So
for me, it's like all the lists that we all
(26:01):
hear about that we don't make. I don't want to
be on them anymore. I want my team to be
on them. Like there was just a list that they
came to me about to be on and I said,
I don't want to be on it. Put this executive
on it. They were like, no, they want you on it.
I'm like, he's the one that deserves to be on it,
so take me off and put them on it. And
of course they came back and said they want you both.
So that's what it's about right now, is just really
(26:22):
helping make it an easier place for the next few
generations to have success and have fun. Like you know what,
I know, I work my ass off, but I love
it and that's what's the best part about it. And
that's the environment you try to create not just for
our clients, but for our team, Like we're in the
office four days a week. Those four days a week,
I want everyone to come in and be so excited
(26:43):
to be there. And you know, look like you. Sports
is seven days a week, so they have to work
those seven days. So it's like you want to just
make everything is seamless as possible given the crazy world
we live in.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Totally, well, I have to give you your flowers and
no bullshit. The first time I actually got to interact
with you in real life was our summit and I
was so grateful for your participation and you walked in.
I'm like, this woman is such a badass, like from
your glasses to your aura, like just the way you moved,
which you know figured it out and at the same time,
I'm sure it's still figuring out. And so I know
(27:15):
you didn't exactly say this, but I'm taking as an
open line to give you a call to get guidance from.
But I appreciate what you dropped on this show and
just congratulations on everything you're building and continue to build.
And I'm gonna also consider an open invite to stand
next to you on Colorado's sideline.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
By the way anytime.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Ah, thank you. I appreciate that well. Constant swarts Marini,
You're an absolute gem. I appreciate everything you're doing for
the industry, and thank you for joining us today on
court Side.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Oh thanks, Laurie the best.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
I'm your host, Laura Crenti, founder and CEO of Deep
Blue Sports and Entertainment. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz,
and this show is produced by Ryan Martz along with
associate producers Meredith Barnes and Rachel Zuckerman. Court Side is
an Iheartwomen's Sports production partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Listen on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
Want more, follow, rate and.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Review court Side wherever you get your podcasts, and stay
in the game by following us on social media at
Iheartwomen's Sports, and don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter.
In the show notes, thanks for listening. We'll see you
next time. Court Side
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