May 22, 2023 • 39 mins
In this episode of “Inside the Oval” presented by Dignity Health, Myka Bell shared her journey to the sports industry, how she's been able to foster community through her work with the 49ers ERG B.U.I.L.D. and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to the Inside the Oval podcast presented by Dignity Health.
I'm Patti Kwan and I'm Haley Jones, and today we
are joined by forty nine Ers Associate Council Micah Bellnica.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Thank you so much for joining the podcast. Thank you
for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Can you tell us about your role? What is what
does it entail being the Associate council of the forty
nine Ers.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Well, to put it very broadly, I am legal counsel
for the stadium all things stadium related, So I work
very closely with stadium operations. So I handle a lot
of the maintenance and other service contracts. We have construction
coming up, so I'll be assisting with a lot of
(00:52):
that work. I handle a lot of the private event
and larger ticketed event agreements, and pretty much anything that
affects the stadium in any form or fashion.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I serve as legal counsel for that.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Have you ever taken one of those reading speed quizzes,
Like I just feel like you'd be a really good
speed reader.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Actually, funny story, when I was younger, I was actually
a slow reader. It just took me a longer time
than most people to read through the things. When I
tried to speed read, I would have to reread it anyway.
So that's actually really funny.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Can you take us through your path through the forty
nine ers, Like, what are the experiences that got you
here today?
Speaker 4 (01:37):
So my journey to the forty nine ers has been
very non traditional in comparison to a lot of my
colleagues in the sports industry. This is actually my first
role in sports. It's been a journey of maybe ten
years from the start of law school when I started
in twenty ten until I graduated. I wanted to go
into sports, So trying to get different internships was always
(02:01):
a challenge for me, just because of the money component,
not because I couldn't get those internships or I wasn't
interested in what they were asking for, but mainly because
you know, it was either at the time free, you know,
you had to work for free before they changed all
the rules related to that, and or it was across
(02:21):
the country and I just could not afford to get
to where I needed to be for those internships.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So I had to turn a lot of things down, unfortunately.
But when I got.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Started, I did some document review just to kind of
get get my feet wet in the legal industry, and
then I went straight in house, so I worked for
this company called Commonwealth Edison, which is the major light
company electric company in the Midwest. So I worked there
for about two and a half years, and then after
that I did some government jobs, so I got a
(02:53):
lot of experience working, you know, firsthand with a lot
of those clients. And then most recently before I came here,
I worked for the City of Chicago Law Department, and
my biggest client was actually the Department of Aviation, so
I was handling pretty much everything that I do here.
I did for Chicago Midway and Chicago O'Hare airports, so
(03:14):
I've had to work with a lot of the concessionaires
that you see whenever you're going through the airports, all
of the airlines. You know, there's so many complex contracts
that I had to work with in order for them
to even have flights that come through Chicago O'Hare and Midway.
So it was really interesting, very fast paced. So I
(03:35):
was able to gain a lot of procurement experience, which
is what I like to tell people, a really fancy
word for pure like purchasing and securing different things for
your business. And it was actually that experience that the
legal team here was in search of because we had
a couple of things come up with the City of
(03:57):
Santa Clara that required a really strong procurement knowledge, and
that was kind of like my opening to getting into
the sports industry. So I'm grateful that that was something
that I didn't even think would translate over into the
sports world, but very grateful.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
What was your interview process like here?
Speaker 4 (04:19):
It was very interesting because I applied maybe a day
after my birthday in twenty twenty, which was March twenty second,
and you know, the pandemic had just started. Everyone was
working from home. I was very depressed because I had
to cancel my birthday plans and come to find out
I was actually going to get proposed to on my birthday.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
So thank you.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
So it was like a really funky time and I
just so happened to be like scrolling through LinkedIn and
I saw this role pop up. So I just sent
off an application, and maybe two months later I get
an email from my now supervisor, Jahee Beachman, and he's
just like, Hey, we really liked your profile. I'd like
to set up a call with you. We set up
(05:03):
a call, we talked for maybe about an hour. Then
after that, maybe two weeks later, I had a one
on one conversation with Hannah that was really fun.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
You know, she was nothing like.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
I had pictured her to be because she was like
in her backyard and she's just like very just relaxed,
and she'll I'm like, you're the general counsel for the
forty nine ers. This is insane, Like this is you know,
You're just so cool. And then after that I had
a follow up with Jahad. That one lasted a little
bit longer. We got more in depth with our conversation,
and I'm on pins and needles by this time. It's June,
(05:36):
and I got a phone call while I was at
my dad's house actually, and you know, he starts off like,
you know, I really hate giving these calls, you know,
when I have to tell people that they didn't get
the job.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
But fortunately for you, we don't have to have that
conversation because I'd like to offer you the role.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
And it was so so wonderful because my dad, who
passed away maybe a few months after I got the job,
he was the first person that I was able to
share the information with, So that was like a really
special moment for me.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
But yeah, I started.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
I was very excited to start, so July twenty twenty,
I was like, I will start as soon as you
will have me.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So it was really interesting. That's a great story.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I think. Also on that, I remember when I did
my interview with who would have been my manager, when
I got here and she was in an airport and
we were like on a FaceTime and they're like people
walking behind her. I think it does definitely break down
like house like intimidated or of like how like it's
(06:39):
a really interesting interview process to have someone out of
their element, yes, like it humanizes them so quickly.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
So when I had my follow up call with a Jahad,
he was actually in his house sitting at the computer.
You see his dog like walking back and forth in
the in the video. So it was definitely something that
really brought down the the the jitters and just the
fear of you know, being face to face with the
future that you've been looking to become a part of
(07:08):
for so many years.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
I think that's funny because mine was like the opposite.
Like I had my intro with Johnny like over zoom,
but then my in person I talked to like ten
different people in person. I was just like in a
conference room and I was just sitting in there for
like an hour, and every you know, ten to fifteen minutes,
(07:30):
someone new would come in. And so I talked to
like people from graphic design, people from website, email digital,
eventually talking to my bosses who would be my bosses.
And I was a wreck, so like, I don't know,
maybe like you guys had it like I don't know,
I was it was like a part time job too,
and I was just like, this is really intense for
like this part time job.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Yeah, I mean that was kind of my my thought
process going in. I thought this was going to be
you know, like I had like a full panel to
sit in front of, and I would have to talk
to other people on the legal team and you know,
maybe some people from like executive leadership. I had no
idea because this was my first experience really getting into
the sports industry. And I have family members that have
(08:13):
been working in sports for twenty twenty five years and
they always tell me like, yeah, I have to have
a phone call with this many people, and they fly
me in and I have a panel of ten fifteen
people that I have to speak to and spend the
entire day with them and come up with projects and
all these things. So I was like really intimidating when
I first got started, but you know, my I would
(08:34):
like to say that my process was quite seamless.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
So since you got here, do you have a favorite
project you've worked on?
Speaker 4 (08:44):
I would have to say just being a part of
like all of the FIFA work, even though I did
come in towards the tail end, like Hannah handled most,
if not all, of the upfront legal work in conjunction
with Patricia Arnstrom, but just being a part of that
entire process and then hosting them in you know, October
of twenty one, that was so exciting for me, and
(09:08):
I think just getting an opportunity to be in the
same room with a lot of the executive leadership team
that I wouldn't ordinarily, you know, just communicate with or
just really engage with on any other basis, and really
getting to know out and just having conversations with him
and just kind of like watching him as he did
his like presidential things. So it actually gave me an
(09:31):
insight to that world and just a little bit of
what that entails. So as far as like career aspirations.
It did shift what my future would look like if
I had my way, and I'm like, you know, there
might be something to this being a president of an
organization type thing.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
So you know, it's a few.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Years away, obviously, but you know that's something to definitely
look forward to down the line, hopefully along the lines
of soccer.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
The National Woman's Soccer League just announced today that a
women's pro team is coming to the Bay starting twenty
twenty four, which I think is really exciting and I
think kind of ties into the work that we're doing
and bringing soccer to the Bay Area. I know you
also had a hand in some of the flag football
initiatives that we have here at the forty nine ers.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Can you just talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yeah, So I've really just been more so a like
supporter ambassador status as it relates to our flag football
because I myself am a player and I've been playing
for almost ten years and just the work that we're doing,
I was like, I have to be a part of
this some some form some fashion, Like, I absolutely have
to be a part of all of the initiatives that
(10:41):
we're doing as far as like educating the local area.
We're communicating with all of the high schools out here,
giving them information to train, refs, rules and regulations.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
We're hosting clinics.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Ryan Dillard and his team Nizam like they're doing a
fantastic job really engaging with themmunity and putting on all
of these programs so that young girls especially are really
getting the information and the technique and training that they
need in order to be successful.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
In school and in community programs.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
So I am really excited now to hear that there's
a pro team coming. You know, I go way back
with soccer. I don't know a lot about soccer, but
my favorite player growing up was Mia Ham and I
think that she was phenomenal and just completely electrifying. So
I think that that's going to be really exciting when
they get here.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
What position did you play or do you still play? No,
So I in flag football.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
I am pretty much an all purpose player for the
women's team for co ed, And you know, whenever I
play with my husband on his guys team, I'm usually
like a wide receiver. Sometimes I play center and I
snap the ball. I'm just you know, corner.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Wherever they need me. Really, I just enjoy the game.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
To be perfectly honest with you, I used to QB
many many years ago, and I attest my playing softball
for so many years that have really helped me with
that skill. But I have since retired from the QB
position because I was tired of running all over the
field trying to get away from a rusher.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Speeding at me at full speed. So it's fair.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Yeah, did you know you always wanted to be a lawyer.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
No, I grew up wanting to be a sports psychiatrist.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
That's really specific.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Since I was seven years old. My great grandmother was
a nanny to a wealthy family in like a northern
suburb in Chicago, and both of the parents were psychiatrists,
and I remember her talking about what they did for
a living, and we actually visited them once, you know,
(12:44):
the kids were fully grown and everything, and just talking
to them and I was just really fascinated by the
human brain. And I'm like, what can I do with
this fascination as a career, And they're just like, well,
we're psychiatrists and this is what we do.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
And all of that.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
And I wanted to take that at with my passion
for sports and kind of bring them together and work
as a psychiatrist in the sports industry. And then it
wasn't until I got to college where I took all
of these science courses and I did like kind of
like a I guess you could say, like a walkthrough
with a psychiatrist just to kind of see. Obviously, I
(13:18):
didn't sit in any any of their client meetings, but
just kind of talking with them and like, what does
your day to day look like. I'm like, oh, this
is kind of boring. I don't I don't know if
I really want to do this. So midway through I
asked my grandmother. I'm like, I have always wanted to
be a psychiatrist since I was seven. I have no
idea what to do with my life now, Like what
should I do? And she's like, well, you like to
(13:39):
talk and you like to debate a lot. Why don't
you just be a lawyer? And a lawyer.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I became just like that, just like like.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
You weren't even like daunted like law school all that
the bar.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
No. I did my research as with anything, and I
pretty much had it mapped out all the things that
I needed to do. Schools that had strong sports entertainment
law program areas of the country that I could potentially
move to to really make this reality, and all throughout
the remainder of my college years on forward, it's been
(14:11):
a ride in a road to get here.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
This is a total patty question, But how close are
shows about lawyers. I'm thinking like Suits, Partner Track, Ali mcbeil,
How close are those to real life?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Hmm?
Speaker 4 (14:29):
I think all of those they really go into specifics
on trial.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Most lawyers don't even go to trial.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Most of what I've done, like in the past, whenever
I did have to go into court, was like pre
trial motions. You would file all this paperwork and different things,
and you're trying to get things thrown out. And at
the end of the day, like going to trial is
very expensive for everyone and it's very time consuming. So
it's in everyone's best interest to not go to trial, obviously,
(15:01):
except for the actual law firm because they want the
money obviously, But you know, most of us don't go
to trial.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
We don't want to get there. But funny that you
bring up Partner Track.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Netflix needs to renew that show because it's absolutely fantastic.
I binge watched it like a few weeks ago, and
I think it's great. Especially like the Asian American female
that's the main character of it. I thought it was
great for like representation, and the fact that they canceled
it after that first season is completely ridiculous and we
(15:33):
can get into a whole nother conversation about that. But Netflix,
if you hear this, please renew Partner Track today.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
What are your thoughts. I know you were saying like,
no one wants to go to trial.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I feel like people are very conflicted about like jury duty,
Like some people love it, like my dad is like,
I think it's cool to see the process play out,
and then other people are like, I got to take
off work, I gotta sit in and wait around, Like
what is your take on jury duty?
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Well, fortunately I have never been called they don't like
lawyers in injury that would make sense, so we would
probably complicate the entire process.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
So once they find out you're a lawyer, they're like, no,
we don't want you things.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
But I think that if people have to take off
work and they're forced to be there, then you should
pay them better. I'm not sure what it is here
in like the state of California, but I know in
Chicago it's really really low and it does not fairly
compensate people for the time that they take to do this.
(16:30):
But I guess they can say, oh, it's your civic duty,
is it? Like if I'm an hourly employee and you know,
if your company does not have it in their policy
where they'll still pay you your hourly wage while you're
in jury duty, Like I'm essentially losing money to be here,
and most of America is not in a position to
lose money that they need in order to feed their family,
(16:53):
so right, something to look into.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
I also think a jury like hopefully knock on wood.
I am never in a jury trial, but it kind
of like, I don't know if I have enough trust
in people to put my life into like twelve people's hands,
Like I've seen twelve angry men. It scarred me for life.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
I mean I have mixed feelings, and I know some
people will likely disagree with me. But when it comes
to jury trials and just watching juries, especially the ones
that you see like on television or the ones that
you're able to see play out on like the news
or whatever that they'll allow you to see, it's really
about like who is the better actor, which of these
(17:36):
attorneys sells it the best because let's be real, most
of the people that sit on juries, they're not really
paying that close of attention because people are like, I
don't want to be here. This is so long, this
is so boring, Like I have no idea what they're
talking about. All these objections, like what is really going on?
Speaker 2 (17:54):
People are doodling on.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Papers like it's it's all over the place. So it
does not really really really really make sense to me.
As far as like jury trials, it's just like all
these are you know, there's so many things historically that
have been very uncomfortable to watch and uncomfortable to read
(18:19):
about as far as individuals not having a fair trial
process because they're quote unquote peers that are on this
jury are not.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Really reflective of the defendant.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
So I think that's really why I have like mixed
feelings about the entire process.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Have you followed at all the Gwyneth Paltrow trial?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
No?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
I didn't even know she was. What's going on with that?
This is news to me. They also have not followed it.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
It was like a ski accident in twenty nineteen, Like
the guys accusing her of not paying attention and running
into him.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
She claims it was his fault.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
It's kind of one of those type of things he's
suing for, you know, three hundred k.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
She's countersuing for like a dollar.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Just to make a point, like I didn't do this,
so I know, like social media was having a frenzy
with it. I didn't pay super close attention, but I
was just like, this is really weird that this is
like a real criminal case.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Also, after you said that it's really expensive to take
people to trial, just the amount of money that must
have gotten into that is crazy.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
I know, like trial can cost upwards of like millions
of dollars, millions of dollars, Like that is really really expensive,
which is why so many people settle because it's it's faster,
it's cheaper, and we just want to get this done
so that we can, you know, stop having to pay
all of these really high prices for our attorney. But
even with that, like with jewelry trials, now we have
(19:50):
something that's a little bit more than complicated things. Even
more is the fact that like social media and the
access to it, and everyone has their opinions and everyone
thinks they're you know, lawyer or a jurist or you know,
the other officers of the court and the judge, and
they have like all these think pieces that can really
cloud your judgment as a juror. You know, it's it's
(20:12):
no longer at least I don't think it's no longer
those days where they kind of like lock you away
like they did with the OJ trial, where people were
locked away for months and they couldn't communicate with the outside,
They couldn't watch television, they couldn't do anything, like there
were no cell phones really with immediate access to the internet.
But nowadays there's so much that could possibly impact your
(20:34):
case one way or the other.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So I don't know, it's tough circling back back to you.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Sorry, we got like sidetracked with like all this like
stuff that's happening in the news. Can you take us
through your higher education experience starting from your bachelor's and
pre law sociology all the way to your master's check
your LinkedIn.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Oh wow, yeah, so I have four degrees. So, as
you mentioned, I have my bachelor's degree in pre law sociology. Again,
that was one of those things where I really enjoyed
the study of people and you know, just the mind
and everything like that. Took lots of psychology courses. The
love for that never went away, so I wanted to
make sure that I did that. After that, I wanted
(21:19):
to go to a media arts school in Chicago, Colombia.
It's our version of Columbia in like music management. But
then when I thought about it, I was like, you know,
I really don't want to limit myself to just music.
I wanted to, you know, really keep my focus on sports.
(21:39):
So I did away with that, And you know, I
was afraid that if I just worked for a few
years because I wasn't quite ready to go to law
school after getting my bachelor's degree, so I wanted to
work a little bit. And having a conversation with my mom,
she was just like, well, here are some programs that
I think that you would be interested in. As you
can tell, like I was definitely a grandma and Mama's
(22:02):
girl for sure. Like I went to them for counsel
for everything in my life. And I ended up going
to Governor State University and they had like a policy
program where I was able to really get into policy
research and government and different things like that. So it
kind of gave me a different view of what could
(22:24):
come up in the law and just kind of like
the political aspect of it, the policy aspect of it,
and I got involved in that. I served as a
TA on a couple of my research courses because coming
from u of II and Champagne, it's a really large
research based school, so everything that we did, we had
to do all these research papers. It was like ridiculously long.
(22:46):
So went there and then after that went to law school.
The school was called John Marshall Law School. It has
now merged with the University of Illinois system, so it's
the University of Illinois Chicago John Marshall Law School.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Went there, was.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Heavily involved throughout that, and then after graduating, one of
those situations where I'm like, not really sure how this
job search is going. I really want to get into sports,
but in the meantime, let me look into this Master
of Laws degree also known as like the LLM, and
I ended up getting my LM in Intellectual property law.
(23:23):
So I have like a really deep investment in all
things IP. So I don't use it much in my
in my current role unfortunately, but if ever called upon,
I'd be able to really step in on that.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
So you also chair our Black Employee Resource group BUILD,
and you sit on the Woman Connect Leadership board. Can
you tell us about your roles in each of those
and just why it's been important for you to get involved.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Yeah, So when I first started, we were still in
you know, pre pandemic, well mid pandemic, and Hannah reached
out to me and was like, you know, they are
opening up the applications for board positions for Women Connect.
I think it'd be a great opportunity for you one
to meet new people and to just really immerse yourself
(24:12):
within the fabric of this organization. So, you know, I
did some research and I was like, sure, why not?
And this was my opportunity to really connect with a
lot of the women here and just.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Really get involved.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
So I'm really grateful for that experience and really just
learning and connecting with the women of the organization in
that way.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
As with BUILT, it was a little group that was.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Started May of twenty twenty, I believe, so literally months
before I started, and at the time it was virtual only.
We would kind of connect and you know, there would
be a lot of sessions where we're talking and having
those conversations about all of the things that were going
on in the world and how they were impacting each
(24:56):
of us as black employees and just black people in America.
So that was really really beneficial for me personally getting
to know other African American employees here, as well as
creating a space for all of us to just connect
with one another as we are working through the issues
(25:18):
that we face on a day to day basis, and
as my involvement increased, which was like a gradual process
I think over maybe like the last year and half
after Todd left the organization, it was kind of a
toss up, like what is built going to do because
he's like one of the founders, Like everyone who founded
(25:39):
this group has now moved on to other opportunities, and
everyone else's like, oh my god, like we can't just
let it go, Like what's going to happen?
Speaker 2 (25:47):
What are we going to do?
Speaker 4 (25:49):
So I just decided to step up in that moment,
and I'm like, well, we're getting back.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Into the office.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
This is the prime, perfect opportunity for us to be
able to connect in person and really start to force
those relationships. And that's something that I've been really focused
on for the past now year and a half that
I've been the chairperson for BUILD is just really forming
relationship and focusing on fellowship and bonding and just building
that community among us to be able to connect and
(26:18):
see one another because you know, as Patty is like
a personal col like you understand, Like it's something to
see when you are surrounded by people who look like you,
who understand like some of the challenges that your community
has like really been a part of and like really
has really affected them over the years, and it's something
(26:40):
to be able to have that bond with other people,
other like people. So that's something that we've really been
focusing on over the past couple of years. It's just
making sure that we have that community and it's strong,
it's solid, and employees new, old, and in between are
able to reach out to Build and you know, really
(27:00):
find themselves and see themselves with reflected within that organization.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yeah, and you do a great job. Thank you. I
love the bill events. Thank you. We talked about it
with CJ. The Juneteenth event.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
Oh you guys, it's going to be even better and
even bigger this year. Family will be invited, so everyone
will be able to so to be able to enjoy.
But that was something Nigel McWilliams he was it was
his brain like his baby, his brain child, and he
was just like, you know, everyone knows that he's from
the South and he is very proud about that fact.
(27:36):
And I love that about him and the fact that
he's like, I just want to throw a fish fire
like I you know, just like we do back at
home where we get the family together. There's music, there's love,
there's positive energy. Everyone is just happy. And we were like, well,
you know, we can't just send you to the lake
or the ocean and like go fishing, but here's something
(27:56):
else that we can do. And it just kind of
grew from that very casual conversation and I unfortunately was
not able to go because I was at a conference,
but just seeing the videos and everything posting on social media,
it was like the epitome of black joy and that
was something that I was very excited about because so
much of the media constantly puts out the negative side
(28:20):
of being black in America. All you hear are about
like the murders and like the police brutality and like
all of these other things, even though they still happen.
That is not the only thing that black people want
to be associated with. We have fun, we love, we party,
we have a good time, We love our family, we
(28:42):
enjoy bringing others into the fold, and just really having
a larger sense of family and connection with people in general,
and sharing a little bit of our culture with those
that genuinely want to be a part of it. So
having the juneteen celebration was our chance and our ability
to be able to do that and share it with
so many employees, Like, it's something that I am now
(29:04):
looking forward to every single year.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
You mentioned Black Joy and I know you've had a
part in the I think Black Excellence Collection retail collection.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Yes, can you tell us a little bit about that?
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Yes, So that's another thing I was thinking about in
just how we would be able to immerse ourselves even
more within the fabric of this organization. And you know,
just looking through the legalities and actually having a conversation
with another attorney I believe with the Minnesota Vikings and
(29:38):
she told me, you know, like here's all of the
you know, the licensing procedures that we have to go
through in order to have merched in the stores online,
different things like that. She's like, but there may be
an opportunity to do smaller capsule collections within your organization.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
And so I'm hm hmm, that sounds like a novel idea.
Maybe that's something that we can do.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
And I brought it to CJ, who I absolutely love
because she's like, you bring me something, I will help
you figure it out and make it a reality. And
so we had this conversation and she's like, well, if
this is something that you want to do, let's do it.
And initially we were thinking about partnering with some third
party artists, someone you know, maybe from like the Oakland area,
(30:20):
that would be able to do all of the designs
and working with fanatics and other other groups like that.
But one of our BUILD members, Jonathan Carroll, was like,
do you mind if I submit some stuff because I
have some ideas, and then thinking about it and seeing
some of the designs that he put forward and just
the thought process behind everything that he brought to the table,
(30:44):
like there was a story connected to every single design
that he brought and I was looking at this stuff
and I'm like, this is amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
We don't need to go to a third party artist.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
We have one right here, and I think it would
be just impactful, if not more if this is completely
employee led. So just over the past six months, we've
been working with Mike and at the time Umesh and
a few others from like Fanatics and michell Lines to
(31:17):
really bring this collection to life. And you know, just
everything is going to be centered around black excellence on
and off the fields. We're paying paying homage to like
Jerry Rice and Jonathan Taylor and other black players that
have come through these doors that have not only displayed
(31:37):
excellence on the field but also in their respective communities,
and we really just wanted to, you know, pay them
these legends. We wanted to just like give them something back, like, hey,
we really want to bring you all into the fold
of this collection. And hopefully, if all goals according to plan,
everyone will be able to see the collection this December,
(31:57):
just in time for the holidays.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Love it.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
I mean, it's so inspiring, especially how early you got
involved in ERGS and like just in this organization. Another
thing you did, if we're listing them off. Last night,
you moderated a panel of five sea levels for a
Women Connect event. What do you get out of an
event like that being able to kind of ask questions
(32:22):
for like as the spokesperson for a group of women
who were there.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
I love that type of stuff.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
It actually helps me get over any fears of talking
to those individuals in those positions and just being in
the role of advocating for others. I think that eliminates
any fear that I have knowing what the purpose was
and knowing that I had to speak on behalf of
other women in the organization and really ask those hard questions.
(32:52):
I actually told Peter when we left, I'm like, I'm
so sorry for pivoting and going off script because they
had received some of the questions beforehand, but there were
some things that I'm like, I really want to ask
these hot button issue questions because I'm pretty sure that
there are some other women in the audience that want
to know, like, what are you doing in your current
position to you know, create access and opportunity for other
(33:14):
women to come through the pipeline. And you know, it
was really, really, really inspiring for me. I'm really happy
that they all decided to stick around after the event
and to mingle with the women that were participating and
just being a part of those type of opportunities to
speak on behalf of or advocate for other individuals. It's
(33:35):
a part of my life's purpose and I absolutely love
every minute of it.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
What advice do.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
You have to anyone who wants to get into the industry.
And then on top of that, we've talked about just
how important representation is and like seeing it. It's just
kind of, you know, believing that you can be there.
And I think, I don't know how many you know,
African American lawyers there are across the NFL, but I
think just the trend that we're going to, I think
(34:00):
it will steadily increase. I think just advice to anyone
who wants to get in the industry, and then maybe
like a message of encouragement to those who you know
relate to you.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
For anyone that's trying to get into the sports industry,
I think that manifestation is the best thing, not losing
that grit. Disappointment will come. It is a part of
the game. You might not get every opportunity that you
seek out, but if you will it, you will have it.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
And don't give up.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
My journey was almost ten years long trying to get
to this point, and there were many times where I
wanted to just give up, maybe change directions go into
different industries, maybe state government. But I just knew this
is what I wanted to do. This is where I
wanted to be, and I'm going to get there somehow.
And you know, just not being afraid to talk to people,
(34:52):
not being afraid to cold email LinkedIn, go to different symposiums,
conferences that you are able to to go to, and
just not being afraid. You have to be fearless because
you never know who might hold your future in their hands.
You know, somebody that you might not want to talk
to because you think that they're above you or just
(35:12):
above being a mentor. There are so many of us
out here that are like, where are all the people?
Please come talk to me, here's my email address. Let's
go out for coffee. Let's do you know a fifteen
minute zoom call. I host zoom calls like every other
Friday with collegiates that email me from you know, when
(35:33):
they saw me on a panel, or that reach out
to me on LinkedIn, and I'm like, hey, I have
some time on Friday. Let's connect for fifteen minutes. Love
to hear more about you, how I can help you.
I have so many mentors now mentees. Now where I'm
able to like, if I see jobs that I know
that there will be qualified for, I send it to them. Now,
might let me know, I'll send off your resume whatever.
(35:55):
There's a lot of people that are willing to help you.
But as the old saying goes, like closed mounds don't
get fed, So open your mouth, reach out to people,
and literally just do it. And as far as anyone
who looks like me black women specifically, there are I
believe six of us in the NFL, and we actually
(36:16):
meet quarterly where we're able to just kind of support
each other and just talk and catch up. But that
doesn't mean that it will always be just the six
of us.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
We're going to grow.
Speaker 4 (36:26):
There's room for all of us at the table and
every last one of us across the board. Not just
in the NFL, but those that I know in the
NFL are really at the NBA, are all doing what
they can in order to create more opportunities and really
just lifting as we climb. Like these are all really
cliche sayings, but they are so meaningful and it's very true.
(36:47):
There are so many people that really really want to
do the work to help bring more people, bring more diversity,
not just how we look as far as the diversity,
but where we come from, the socio economic status and
all of that. It only makes our organizations better the
more diverse we are. So diversity in thought, diversity and location,
(37:10):
diversity in our ethnic backgrounds. It all matters, and there
is hope and you will have a seat at the table.
If not, take what you can, get the skills that
you can and build your own table.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
I love that. That's the quote graphic. Yeah, so good.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Final question. We've ended every podcast with this. Every job
description the very bottom says other duties as assigned. Have
you done something with the forty nine ers that wasn't
necessarily on that job description that would be classified as
in other duties as assigned?
Speaker 4 (37:50):
Yes, but they were certain things that I didn't shy
away from because they weren't really things that I thought
were like beneath me or whatever. But you know, having
to now take on administrative task or like booking conferences
and doing all of those things that we would ordinarily
have like an admin do, or uploading my own contracts
(38:12):
like I come from government. I was my own admin,
so it was no big deal for me. But I
would say the larger project that I have since undertaken
since coming here is working with CJ to build out
a supplier diversity program. It is still very much so
at its infancy stages because it is a large undertaking
(38:33):
and it's going to take a lot of sweat equity
in order to get it across the board, but we
are hoping to have something by the end of this
fiscal year.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
More to come amazing. Micah, thank you so much for
joining the podcast. It was really fun to hear a
little bit about yourself and what you do. Thank you
for having me. This was fun.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
A
Welcome to the Inside the Oval podcast presented by Dignity Health.
I'm Patti Kwan and I'm Haley Jones, and today we
are joined by forty nine Ers Associate Council Micah Bellnica.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Thank you so much for joining the podcast. Thank you
for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Can you tell us about your role? What is what
does it entail being the Associate council of the forty
nine Ers.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Well, to put it very broadly, I am legal counsel
for the stadium all things stadium related, So I work
very closely with stadium operations. So I handle a lot
of the maintenance and other service contracts. We have construction
coming up, so I'll be assisting with a lot of
(00:52):
that work. I handle a lot of the private event
and larger ticketed event agreements, and pretty much anything that
affects the stadium in any form or fashion.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I serve as legal counsel for that.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Have you ever taken one of those reading speed quizzes,
Like I just feel like you'd be a really good
speed reader.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Actually, funny story, when I was younger, I was actually
a slow reader. It just took me a longer time
than most people to read through the things. When I
tried to speed read, I would have to reread it anyway.
So that's actually really funny.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Can you take us through your path through the forty
nine ers, Like, what are the experiences that got you
here today?
Speaker 4 (01:37):
So my journey to the forty nine ers has been
very non traditional in comparison to a lot of my
colleagues in the sports industry. This is actually my first
role in sports. It's been a journey of maybe ten
years from the start of law school when I started
in twenty ten until I graduated. I wanted to go
into sports, So trying to get different internships was always
(02:01):
a challenge for me, just because of the money component,
not because I couldn't get those internships or I wasn't
interested in what they were asking for, but mainly because
you know, it was either at the time free, you know,
you had to work for free before they changed all
the rules related to that, and or it was across
(02:21):
the country and I just could not afford to get
to where I needed to be for those internships.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So I had to turn a lot of things down, unfortunately.
But when I got.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Started, I did some document review just to kind of
get get my feet wet in the legal industry, and
then I went straight in house, so I worked for
this company called Commonwealth Edison, which is the major light
company electric company in the Midwest. So I worked there
for about two and a half years, and then after
that I did some government jobs, so I got a
(02:53):
lot of experience working, you know, firsthand with a lot
of those clients. And then most recently before I came here,
I worked for the City of Chicago Law Department, and
my biggest client was actually the Department of Aviation, so
I was handling pretty much everything that I do here.
I did for Chicago Midway and Chicago O'Hare airports, so
(03:14):
I've had to work with a lot of the concessionaires
that you see whenever you're going through the airports, all
of the airlines. You know, there's so many complex contracts
that I had to work with in order for them
to even have flights that come through Chicago O'Hare and Midway.
So it was really interesting, very fast paced. So I
(03:35):
was able to gain a lot of procurement experience, which
is what I like to tell people, a really fancy
word for pure like purchasing and securing different things for
your business. And it was actually that experience that the
legal team here was in search of because we had
a couple of things come up with the City of
(03:57):
Santa Clara that required a really strong procurement knowledge, and
that was kind of like my opening to getting into
the sports industry. So I'm grateful that that was something
that I didn't even think would translate over into the
sports world, but very grateful.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
What was your interview process like here?
Speaker 4 (04:19):
It was very interesting because I applied maybe a day
after my birthday in twenty twenty, which was March twenty second,
and you know, the pandemic had just started. Everyone was
working from home. I was very depressed because I had
to cancel my birthday plans and come to find out
I was actually going to get proposed to on my birthday.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
So thank you.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
So it was like a really funky time and I
just so happened to be like scrolling through LinkedIn and
I saw this role pop up. So I just sent
off an application, and maybe two months later I get
an email from my now supervisor, Jahee Beachman, and he's
just like, Hey, we really liked your profile. I'd like
to set up a call with you. We set up
(05:03):
a call, we talked for maybe about an hour. Then
after that, maybe two weeks later, I had a one
on one conversation with Hannah that was really fun.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
You know, she was nothing like.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
I had pictured her to be because she was like
in her backyard and she's just like very just relaxed,
and she'll I'm like, you're the general counsel for the
forty nine ers. This is insane, Like this is you know,
You're just so cool. And then after that I had
a follow up with Jahad. That one lasted a little
bit longer. We got more in depth with our conversation,
and I'm on pins and needles by this time. It's June,
(05:36):
and I got a phone call while I was at
my dad's house actually, and you know, he starts off like,
you know, I really hate giving these calls, you know,
when I have to tell people that they didn't get
the job.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
But fortunately for you, we don't have to have that
conversation because I'd like to offer you the role.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
And it was so so wonderful because my dad, who
passed away maybe a few months after I got the job,
he was the first person that I was able to
share the information with, So that was like a really
special moment for me.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
But yeah, I started.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
I was very excited to start, so July twenty twenty,
I was like, I will start as soon as you
will have me.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So it was really interesting. That's a great story.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
I think. Also on that, I remember when I did
my interview with who would have been my manager, when
I got here and she was in an airport and
we were like on a FaceTime and they're like people
walking behind her. I think it does definitely break down
like house like intimidated or of like how like it's
(06:39):
a really interesting interview process to have someone out of
their element, yes, like it humanizes them so quickly.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
So when I had my follow up call with a Jahad,
he was actually in his house sitting at the computer.
You see his dog like walking back and forth in
the in the video. So it was definitely something that
really brought down the the the jitters and just the
fear of you know, being face to face with the
future that you've been looking to become a part of
(07:08):
for so many years.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
I think that's funny because mine was like the opposite.
Like I had my intro with Johnny like over zoom,
but then my in person I talked to like ten
different people in person. I was just like in a
conference room and I was just sitting in there for
like an hour, and every you know, ten to fifteen minutes,
(07:30):
someone new would come in. And so I talked to
like people from graphic design, people from website, email digital,
eventually talking to my bosses who would be my bosses.
And I was a wreck, so like, I don't know,
maybe like you guys had it like I don't know,
I was it was like a part time job too,
and I was just like, this is really intense for
like this part time job.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Yeah, I mean that was kind of my my thought
process going in. I thought this was going to be
you know, like I had like a full panel to
sit in front of, and I would have to talk
to other people on the legal team and you know,
maybe some people from like executive leadership. I had no
idea because this was my first experience really getting into
the sports industry. And I have family members that have
(08:13):
been working in sports for twenty twenty five years and
they always tell me like, yeah, I have to have
a phone call with this many people, and they fly
me in and I have a panel of ten fifteen
people that I have to speak to and spend the
entire day with them and come up with projects and
all these things. So I was like really intimidating when
I first got started, but you know, my I would
(08:34):
like to say that my process was quite seamless.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
So since you got here, do you have a favorite
project you've worked on?
Speaker 4 (08:44):
I would have to say just being a part of
like all of the FIFA work, even though I did
come in towards the tail end, like Hannah handled most,
if not all, of the upfront legal work in conjunction
with Patricia Arnstrom, but just being a part of that
entire process and then hosting them in you know, October
of twenty one, that was so exciting for me, and
(09:08):
I think just getting an opportunity to be in the
same room with a lot of the executive leadership team
that I wouldn't ordinarily, you know, just communicate with or
just really engage with on any other basis, and really
getting to know out and just having conversations with him
and just kind of like watching him as he did
his like presidential things. So it actually gave me an
(09:31):
insight to that world and just a little bit of
what that entails. So as far as like career aspirations.
It did shift what my future would look like if
I had my way, and I'm like, you know, there
might be something to this being a president of an
organization type thing.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
So you know, it's a few.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Years away, obviously, but you know that's something to definitely
look forward to down the line, hopefully along the lines
of soccer.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
The National Woman's Soccer League just announced today that a
women's pro team is coming to the Bay starting twenty
twenty four, which I think is really exciting and I
think kind of ties into the work that we're doing
and bringing soccer to the Bay Area. I know you
also had a hand in some of the flag football
initiatives that we have here at the forty nine ers.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Can you just talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yeah, So I've really just been more so a like
supporter ambassador status as it relates to our flag football
because I myself am a player and I've been playing
for almost ten years and just the work that we're doing,
I was like, I have to be a part of
this some some form some fashion, Like, I absolutely have
to be a part of all of the initiatives that
(10:41):
we're doing as far as like educating the local area.
We're communicating with all of the high schools out here,
giving them information to train, refs, rules and regulations.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
We're hosting clinics.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Ryan Dillard and his team Nizam like they're doing a
fantastic job really engaging with themmunity and putting on all
of these programs so that young girls especially are really
getting the information and the technique and training that they
need in order to be successful.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
In school and in community programs.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
So I am really excited now to hear that there's
a pro team coming. You know, I go way back
with soccer. I don't know a lot about soccer, but
my favorite player growing up was Mia Ham and I
think that she was phenomenal and just completely electrifying. So
I think that that's going to be really exciting when
they get here.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
What position did you play or do you still play? No,
So I in flag football.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
I am pretty much an all purpose player for the
women's team for co ed, And you know, whenever I
play with my husband on his guys team, I'm usually
like a wide receiver. Sometimes I play center and I
snap the ball. I'm just you know, corner.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Wherever they need me. Really, I just enjoy the game.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
To be perfectly honest with you, I used to QB
many many years ago, and I attest my playing softball
for so many years that have really helped me with
that skill. But I have since retired from the QB
position because I was tired of running all over the
field trying to get away from a rusher.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Speeding at me at full speed. So it's fair.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Yeah, did you know you always wanted to be a lawyer.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
No, I grew up wanting to be a sports psychiatrist.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
That's really specific.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Since I was seven years old. My great grandmother was
a nanny to a wealthy family in like a northern
suburb in Chicago, and both of the parents were psychiatrists,
and I remember her talking about what they did for
a living, and we actually visited them once, you know,
(12:44):
the kids were fully grown and everything, and just talking
to them and I was just really fascinated by the
human brain. And I'm like, what can I do with
this fascination as a career, And they're just like, well,
we're psychiatrists and this is what we do.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
And all of that.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
And I wanted to take that at with my passion
for sports and kind of bring them together and work
as a psychiatrist in the sports industry. And then it
wasn't until I got to college where I took all
of these science courses and I did like kind of
like a I guess you could say, like a walkthrough
with a psychiatrist just to kind of see. Obviously, I
(13:18):
didn't sit in any any of their client meetings, but
just kind of talking with them and like, what does
your day to day look like. I'm like, oh, this
is kind of boring. I don't I don't know if
I really want to do this. So midway through I
asked my grandmother. I'm like, I have always wanted to
be a psychiatrist since I was seven. I have no
idea what to do with my life now, Like what
should I do? And she's like, well, you like to
(13:39):
talk and you like to debate a lot. Why don't
you just be a lawyer? And a lawyer.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I became just like that, just like like.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
You weren't even like daunted like law school all that
the bar.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
No. I did my research as with anything, and I
pretty much had it mapped out all the things that
I needed to do. Schools that had strong sports entertainment
law program areas of the country that I could potentially
move to to really make this reality, and all throughout
the remainder of my college years on forward, it's been
(14:11):
a ride in a road to get here.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
This is a total patty question, But how close are
shows about lawyers. I'm thinking like Suits, Partner Track, Ali mcbeil,
How close are those to real life?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Hmm?
Speaker 4 (14:29):
I think all of those they really go into specifics
on trial.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Most lawyers don't even go to trial.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Most of what I've done, like in the past, whenever
I did have to go into court, was like pre
trial motions. You would file all this paperwork and different things,
and you're trying to get things thrown out. And at
the end of the day, like going to trial is
very expensive for everyone and it's very time consuming. So
it's in everyone's best interest to not go to trial, obviously,
(15:01):
except for the actual law firm because they want the
money obviously, But you know, most of us don't go
to trial.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
We don't want to get there. But funny that you
bring up Partner Track.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Netflix needs to renew that show because it's absolutely fantastic.
I binge watched it like a few weeks ago, and
I think it's great. Especially like the Asian American female
that's the main character of it. I thought it was
great for like representation, and the fact that they canceled
it after that first season is completely ridiculous and we
(15:33):
can get into a whole nother conversation about that. But Netflix,
if you hear this, please renew Partner Track today.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
What are your thoughts. I know you were saying like,
no one wants to go to trial.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I feel like people are very conflicted about like jury duty,
Like some people love it, like my dad is like,
I think it's cool to see the process play out,
and then other people are like, I got to take
off work, I gotta sit in and wait around, Like
what is your take on jury duty?
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Well, fortunately I have never been called they don't like
lawyers in injury that would make sense, so we would
probably complicate the entire process.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
So once they find out you're a lawyer, they're like, no,
we don't want you things.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
But I think that if people have to take off
work and they're forced to be there, then you should
pay them better. I'm not sure what it is here
in like the state of California, but I know in
Chicago it's really really low and it does not fairly
compensate people for the time that they take to do this.
(16:30):
But I guess they can say, oh, it's your civic duty,
is it? Like if I'm an hourly employee and you know,
if your company does not have it in their policy
where they'll still pay you your hourly wage while you're
in jury duty, Like I'm essentially losing money to be here,
and most of America is not in a position to
lose money that they need in order to feed their family,
(16:53):
so right, something to look into.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
I also think a jury like hopefully knock on wood.
I am never in a jury trial, but it kind
of like, I don't know if I have enough trust
in people to put my life into like twelve people's hands,
Like I've seen twelve angry men. It scarred me for life.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
I mean I have mixed feelings, and I know some
people will likely disagree with me. But when it comes
to jury trials and just watching juries, especially the ones
that you see like on television or the ones that
you're able to see play out on like the news
or whatever that they'll allow you to see, it's really
about like who is the better actor, which of these
(17:36):
attorneys sells it the best because let's be real, most
of the people that sit on juries, they're not really
paying that close of attention because people are like, I
don't want to be here. This is so long, this
is so boring, Like I have no idea what they're
talking about. All these objections, like what is really going on?
Speaker 2 (17:54):
People are doodling on.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Papers like it's it's all over the place. So it
does not really really really really make sense to me.
As far as like jury trials, it's just like all
these are you know, there's so many things historically that
have been very uncomfortable to watch and uncomfortable to read
(18:19):
about as far as individuals not having a fair trial
process because they're quote unquote peers that are on this
jury are not.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Really reflective of the defendant.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
So I think that's really why I have like mixed
feelings about the entire process.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Have you followed at all the Gwyneth Paltrow trial?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
No?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
I didn't even know she was. What's going on with that?
This is news to me. They also have not followed it.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
It was like a ski accident in twenty nineteen, Like
the guys accusing her of not paying attention and running
into him.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
She claims it was his fault.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
It's kind of one of those type of things he's
suing for, you know, three hundred k.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
She's countersuing for like a dollar.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Just to make a point, like I didn't do this,
so I know, like social media was having a frenzy
with it. I didn't pay super close attention, but I
was just like, this is really weird that this is
like a real criminal case.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Also, after you said that it's really expensive to take
people to trial, just the amount of money that must
have gotten into that is crazy.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
I know, like trial can cost upwards of like millions
of dollars, millions of dollars, Like that is really really expensive,
which is why so many people settle because it's it's faster,
it's cheaper, and we just want to get this done
so that we can, you know, stop having to pay
all of these really high prices for our attorney. But
even with that, like with jewelry trials, now we have
(19:50):
something that's a little bit more than complicated things. Even
more is the fact that like social media and the
access to it, and everyone has their opinions and everyone
thinks they're you know, lawyer or a jurist or you know,
the other officers of the court and the judge, and
they have like all these think pieces that can really
cloud your judgment as a juror. You know, it's it's
(20:12):
no longer at least I don't think it's no longer
those days where they kind of like lock you away
like they did with the OJ trial, where people were
locked away for months and they couldn't communicate with the outside,
They couldn't watch television, they couldn't do anything, like there
were no cell phones really with immediate access to the internet.
But nowadays there's so much that could possibly impact your
(20:34):
case one way or the other.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So I don't know, it's tough circling back back to you.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Sorry, we got like sidetracked with like all this like
stuff that's happening in the news. Can you take us
through your higher education experience starting from your bachelor's and
pre law sociology all the way to your master's check
your LinkedIn.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Oh wow, yeah, so I have four degrees. So, as
you mentioned, I have my bachelor's degree in pre law sociology. Again,
that was one of those things where I really enjoyed
the study of people and you know, just the mind
and everything like that. Took lots of psychology courses. The
love for that never went away, so I wanted to
make sure that I did that. After that, I wanted
(21:19):
to go to a media arts school in Chicago, Colombia.
It's our version of Columbia in like music management. But
then when I thought about it, I was like, you know,
I really don't want to limit myself to just music.
I wanted to, you know, really keep my focus on sports.
(21:39):
So I did away with that, And you know, I
was afraid that if I just worked for a few
years because I wasn't quite ready to go to law
school after getting my bachelor's degree, so I wanted to
work a little bit. And having a conversation with my mom,
she was just like, well, here are some programs that
I think that you would be interested in. As you
can tell, like I was definitely a grandma and Mama's
(22:02):
girl for sure. Like I went to them for counsel
for everything in my life. And I ended up going
to Governor State University and they had like a policy
program where I was able to really get into policy
research and government and different things like that. So it
kind of gave me a different view of what could
(22:24):
come up in the law and just kind of like
the political aspect of it, the policy aspect of it,
and I got involved in that. I served as a
TA on a couple of my research courses because coming
from u of II and Champagne, it's a really large
research based school, so everything that we did, we had
to do all these research papers. It was like ridiculously long.
(22:46):
So went there and then after that went to law school.
The school was called John Marshall Law School. It has
now merged with the University of Illinois system, so it's
the University of Illinois Chicago John Marshall Law School.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Went there, was.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Heavily involved throughout that, and then after graduating, one of
those situations where I'm like, not really sure how this
job search is going. I really want to get into sports,
but in the meantime, let me look into this Master
of Laws degree also known as like the LLM, and
I ended up getting my LM in Intellectual property law.
(23:23):
So I have like a really deep investment in all
things IP. So I don't use it much in my
in my current role unfortunately, but if ever called upon,
I'd be able to really step in on that.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
So you also chair our Black Employee Resource group BUILD,
and you sit on the Woman Connect Leadership board. Can
you tell us about your roles in each of those
and just why it's been important for you to get involved.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Yeah, So when I first started, we were still in
you know, pre pandemic, well mid pandemic, and Hannah reached
out to me and was like, you know, they are
opening up the applications for board positions for Women Connect.
I think it'd be a great opportunity for you one
to meet new people and to just really immerse yourself
(24:12):
within the fabric of this organization. So, you know, I
did some research and I was like, sure, why not?
And this was my opportunity to really connect with a
lot of the women here and just.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Really get involved.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
So I'm really grateful for that experience and really just
learning and connecting with the women of the organization in
that way.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
As with BUILT, it was a little group that was.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Started May of twenty twenty, I believe, so literally months
before I started, and at the time it was virtual only.
We would kind of connect and you know, there would
be a lot of sessions where we're talking and having
those conversations about all of the things that were going
on in the world and how they were impacting each
(24:56):
of us as black employees and just black people in America.
So that was really really beneficial for me personally getting
to know other African American employees here, as well as
creating a space for all of us to just connect
with one another as we are working through the issues
(25:18):
that we face on a day to day basis, and
as my involvement increased, which was like a gradual process
I think over maybe like the last year and half
after Todd left the organization, it was kind of a
toss up, like what is built going to do because
he's like one of the founders, Like everyone who founded
(25:39):
this group has now moved on to other opportunities, and
everyone else's like, oh my god, like we can't just
let it go, Like what's going to happen?
Speaker 2 (25:47):
What are we going to do?
Speaker 4 (25:49):
So I just decided to step up in that moment,
and I'm like, well, we're getting back.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Into the office.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
This is the prime, perfect opportunity for us to be
able to connect in person and really start to force
those relationships. And that's something that I've been really focused
on for the past now year and a half that
I've been the chairperson for BUILD is just really forming
relationship and focusing on fellowship and bonding and just building
that community among us to be able to connect and
(26:18):
see one another because you know, as Patty is like
a personal col like you understand, Like it's something to
see when you are surrounded by people who look like you,
who understand like some of the challenges that your community
has like really been a part of and like really
has really affected them over the years, and it's something
(26:40):
to be able to have that bond with other people,
other like people. So that's something that we've really been
focusing on over the past couple of years. It's just
making sure that we have that community and it's strong,
it's solid, and employees new, old, and in between are
able to reach out to Build and you know, really
(27:00):
find themselves and see themselves with reflected within that organization.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yeah, and you do a great job. Thank you. I
love the bill events. Thank you. We talked about it
with CJ. The Juneteenth event.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
Oh you guys, it's going to be even better and
even bigger this year. Family will be invited, so everyone
will be able to so to be able to enjoy.
But that was something Nigel McWilliams he was it was
his brain like his baby, his brain child, and he
was just like, you know, everyone knows that he's from
the South and he is very proud about that fact.
(27:36):
And I love that about him and the fact that
he's like, I just want to throw a fish fire
like I you know, just like we do back at
home where we get the family together. There's music, there's love,
there's positive energy. Everyone is just happy. And we were like, well,
you know, we can't just send you to the lake
or the ocean and like go fishing, but here's something
(27:56):
else that we can do. And it just kind of
grew from that very casual conversation and I unfortunately was
not able to go because I was at a conference,
but just seeing the videos and everything posting on social media,
it was like the epitome of black joy and that
was something that I was very excited about because so
much of the media constantly puts out the negative side
(28:20):
of being black in America. All you hear are about
like the murders and like the police brutality and like
all of these other things, even though they still happen.
That is not the only thing that black people want
to be associated with. We have fun, we love, we party,
we have a good time, We love our family, we
(28:42):
enjoy bringing others into the fold, and just really having
a larger sense of family and connection with people in general,
and sharing a little bit of our culture with those
that genuinely want to be a part of it. So
having the juneteen celebration was our chance and our ability
to be able to do that and share it with
so many employees, Like, it's something that I am now
(29:04):
looking forward to every single year.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
You mentioned Black Joy and I know you've had a
part in the I think Black Excellence Collection retail collection.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Yes, can you tell us a little bit about that?
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Yes, So that's another thing I was thinking about in
just how we would be able to immerse ourselves even
more within the fabric of this organization. And you know,
just looking through the legalities and actually having a conversation
with another attorney I believe with the Minnesota Vikings and
(29:38):
she told me, you know, like here's all of the
you know, the licensing procedures that we have to go
through in order to have merched in the stores online,
different things like that. She's like, but there may be
an opportunity to do smaller capsule collections within your organization.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
And so I'm hm hmm, that sounds like a novel idea.
Maybe that's something that we can do.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
And I brought it to CJ, who I absolutely love
because she's like, you bring me something, I will help
you figure it out and make it a reality. And
so we had this conversation and she's like, well, if
this is something that you want to do, let's do it.
And initially we were thinking about partnering with some third
party artists, someone you know, maybe from like the Oakland area,
(30:20):
that would be able to do all of the designs
and working with fanatics and other other groups like that.
But one of our BUILD members, Jonathan Carroll, was like,
do you mind if I submit some stuff because I
have some ideas, and then thinking about it and seeing
some of the designs that he put forward and just
the thought process behind everything that he brought to the table,
(30:44):
like there was a story connected to every single design
that he brought and I was looking at this stuff
and I'm like, this is amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
We don't need to go to a third party artist.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
We have one right here, and I think it would
be just impactful, if not more if this is completely
employee led. So just over the past six months, we've
been working with Mike and at the time Umesh and
a few others from like Fanatics and michell Lines to
(31:17):
really bring this collection to life. And you know, just
everything is going to be centered around black excellence on
and off the fields. We're paying paying homage to like
Jerry Rice and Jonathan Taylor and other black players that
have come through these doors that have not only displayed
(31:37):
excellence on the field but also in their respective communities,
and we really just wanted to, you know, pay them
these legends. We wanted to just like give them something back, like, hey,
we really want to bring you all into the fold
of this collection. And hopefully, if all goals according to plan,
everyone will be able to see the collection this December,
(31:57):
just in time for the holidays.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Love it.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
I mean, it's so inspiring, especially how early you got
involved in ERGS and like just in this organization. Another
thing you did, if we're listing them off. Last night,
you moderated a panel of five sea levels for a
Women Connect event. What do you get out of an
event like that being able to kind of ask questions
(32:22):
for like as the spokesperson for a group of women
who were there.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
I love that type of stuff.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
It actually helps me get over any fears of talking
to those individuals in those positions and just being in
the role of advocating for others. I think that eliminates
any fear that I have knowing what the purpose was
and knowing that I had to speak on behalf of
other women in the organization and really ask those hard questions.
(32:52):
I actually told Peter when we left, I'm like, I'm
so sorry for pivoting and going off script because they
had received some of the questions beforehand, but there were
some things that I'm like, I really want to ask
these hot button issue questions because I'm pretty sure that
there are some other women in the audience that want
to know, like, what are you doing in your current
position to you know, create access and opportunity for other
(33:14):
women to come through the pipeline. And you know, it
was really, really, really inspiring for me. I'm really happy
that they all decided to stick around after the event
and to mingle with the women that were participating and
just being a part of those type of opportunities to
speak on behalf of or advocate for other individuals. It's
(33:35):
a part of my life's purpose and I absolutely love
every minute of it.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
What advice do.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
You have to anyone who wants to get into the industry.
And then on top of that, we've talked about just
how important representation is and like seeing it. It's just
kind of, you know, believing that you can be there.
And I think, I don't know how many you know,
African American lawyers there are across the NFL, but I
think just the trend that we're going to, I think
(34:00):
it will steadily increase. I think just advice to anyone
who wants to get in the industry, and then maybe
like a message of encouragement to those who you know
relate to you.
Speaker 4 (34:09):
For anyone that's trying to get into the sports industry,
I think that manifestation is the best thing, not losing
that grit. Disappointment will come. It is a part of
the game. You might not get every opportunity that you
seek out, but if you will it, you will have it.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
And don't give up.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
My journey was almost ten years long trying to get
to this point, and there were many times where I
wanted to just give up, maybe change directions go into
different industries, maybe state government. But I just knew this
is what I wanted to do. This is where I
wanted to be, and I'm going to get there somehow.
And you know, just not being afraid to talk to people,
(34:52):
not being afraid to cold email LinkedIn, go to different symposiums,
conferences that you are able to to go to, and
just not being afraid. You have to be fearless because
you never know who might hold your future in their hands.
You know, somebody that you might not want to talk
to because you think that they're above you or just
(35:12):
above being a mentor. There are so many of us
out here that are like, where are all the people?
Please come talk to me, here's my email address. Let's
go out for coffee. Let's do you know a fifteen
minute zoom call. I host zoom calls like every other
Friday with collegiates that email me from you know, when
(35:33):
they saw me on a panel, or that reach out
to me on LinkedIn, and I'm like, hey, I have
some time on Friday. Let's connect for fifteen minutes. Love
to hear more about you, how I can help you.
I have so many mentors now mentees. Now where I'm
able to like, if I see jobs that I know
that there will be qualified for, I send it to them. Now,
might let me know, I'll send off your resume whatever.
(35:55):
There's a lot of people that are willing to help you.
But as the old saying goes, like closed mounds don't
get fed, So open your mouth, reach out to people,
and literally just do it. And as far as anyone
who looks like me black women specifically, there are I
believe six of us in the NFL, and we actually
(36:16):
meet quarterly where we're able to just kind of support
each other and just talk and catch up. But that
doesn't mean that it will always be just the six
of us.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
We're going to grow.
Speaker 4 (36:26):
There's room for all of us at the table and
every last one of us across the board. Not just
in the NFL, but those that I know in the
NFL are really at the NBA, are all doing what
they can in order to create more opportunities and really
just lifting as we climb. Like these are all really
cliche sayings, but they are so meaningful and it's very true.
(36:47):
There are so many people that really really want to
do the work to help bring more people, bring more diversity,
not just how we look as far as the diversity,
but where we come from, the socio economic status and
all of that. It only makes our organizations better the
more diverse we are. So diversity in thought, diversity and location,
(37:10):
diversity in our ethnic backgrounds. It all matters, and there
is hope and you will have a seat at the table.
If not, take what you can, get the skills that
you can and build your own table.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
I love that. That's the quote graphic. Yeah, so good.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Final question. We've ended every podcast with this. Every job
description the very bottom says other duties as assigned. Have
you done something with the forty nine ers that wasn't
necessarily on that job description that would be classified as
in other duties as assigned?
Speaker 4 (37:50):
Yes, but they were certain things that I didn't shy
away from because they weren't really things that I thought
were like beneath me or whatever. But you know, having
to now take on administrative task or like booking conferences
and doing all of those things that we would ordinarily
have like an admin do, or uploading my own contracts
(38:12):
like I come from government. I was my own admin,
so it was no big deal for me. But I
would say the larger project that I have since undertaken
since coming here is working with CJ to build out
a supplier diversity program. It is still very much so
at its infancy stages because it is a large undertaking
(38:33):
and it's going to take a lot of sweat equity
in order to get it across the board, but we
are hoping to have something by the end of this
fiscal year.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
More to come amazing. Micah, thank you so much for
joining the podcast. It was really fun to hear a
little bit about yourself and what you do. Thank you
for having me. This was fun.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
A
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com