June 4, 2025 • 30 mins
On this episode of Her Playbook, Madelyn Burke sits down with the Chief of Staff of FIFA World Cup 26 New York New Jersey, Carly Gruenberg. As the start of FIFA Club approaches and we are a year away from the start of the World Cup, Carly discusses how she got into sports business, everything that goes into planning the World Cup, and how the committee is bringing he World Cup experience outside of the stadium.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of her Playbook, brought to you
by Kendra Scott, her playbook of podcast highlighting inspiring stories
of women in sports and business. My name is Madeline Burke,
and I'm thrilled to be joined by the chief of
staff of the twenty twenty six FIFA World Cup hosted
at MetLife Stadium, Carly Gruenberg. Carly, thank you so much
for coming on the show.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Thank you, thanks for having me. I'm super pumped to
be here.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I am super pumped to have you, especially with the
World Cup coming in just over a year. Really, that's
a huge thing for MetLife Stadium, for the New York,
New Jersey area, and for you being a chief of
staff of the event, one that's hosted in the town
essentially where you grew up.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
How big is this moment? This is massive, kind of
beyond my own comprehension, I feel like half the time.
Just for a little context, for those who don't know,
the twenty twenty six World Cup is and will be
the biggest event that we have ever seen in this
region in North America as well. It is hosted by
(01:04):
sixteen cities across North America, eleven in the US, two
in Canada and three in Mexico. So us as at
MetLife in the New York New Jersey region is one
of these sixteen host cities. It's also an expanded format
for the World Cup this year or for next year,
(01:24):
so it's actually now it's a format of forty eight
teams and one hundred and four matches, which is increased
from previous World Cups of thirty two teams and sixty
four matches. So it's bigger in every sense of the word.
And also just another tidbit I think as we're here
talking about American football, viewership for the last World Cup
(01:47):
in Guitar was one point five billion for that final match,
which outdraws viewership from the last ten plus Super Bowls combined.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So it's just absolutely massive, and it is on a
global scale that I think we're not used to seeing here.
But it's so excited and we're ready to welcome the
world and make this the best and most unforgettable World Cup.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, that's in history, and I mean such a global game.
Of course soccer is, and as reflected in the viewership
and the numbers, but also the passion behind the sport.
As a chief of staff for the World Cup here
in New York, New Jersey area. What is your job entail?
What's the process been like building up to the main event.
(02:39):
I'm sure there's a lot of things that people might
expect and some that people might not understand about what
goes into putting this together.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah, so the short answer is no, obviously no two
days in the same It is craziness. But I think
just a little background on my role and us as
the New York New Jersey Host Committee, you know, back
to what I was talking about, how there's sixteen other
host cities. Each city has their own local organizing body
(03:08):
called the you know, the host committee. And so for us,
we are basically that on the ground body that liais
is with FIFA, which is the international the international body
that governs football around the world, and that it is
they put on the actual tournament itself here. So with FIFA,
all of our governmental partners across New Jersey and New
(03:30):
York City as well as of course the stadium in Medlife.
So we are that lays on between all these different
entities and we are basically in charge of everything almost
outside of the stadium. SOFIFA comes in and they put
on the matches. We in this region are hosting eight matches,
(03:52):
including the final, which is huge. I should have mentioned
that upfront. But FIFA will come in and they really
can control and put on the actual programming around the matches.
Us as the host Committee, are involved in basically everything
outside in terms of the fan engagement, the marketing, the
making sure transportation security goes off goes as well as
(04:15):
possible liaising with our tourism, our business communities, chambers of commerces,
different communities to make sure our whole region, the state
of New Jersey and the five boroughs of New York
all feel like they're a part of this experience. So
it is a very very tall order and me as
(04:37):
chief of staff, I'm basically that right hand to our
principles of the organization, product managing, making sure everything is
in line, working across the organization, which is right now.
We are small. We're not where this is a surprise
as we are not a big organization. We're about twelve
people full time right now. So we and it's going
(05:02):
to be great, But I think it's people aren't realizing
that we're not this giant entity coming in from FIFA.
We are a small almost startup responsible for just a
massive project. It's exciting and it's exciting to get up
to be a part of everything. It's also admittedly super overwhelming,
(05:22):
but in the best way possible.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I feel like do there's so
many similarities. I look at your trajectory and your career
and you started in politics working with Governor Phil Murphy,
and I feel like it's as similar. The way you
describe this role leading into the World Cup is similar
to leading into an election or kind of building towards
that crescendo moment of something. Did that time in politics
(05:49):
kind of help you with this role you've currently got totally?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I think in multiple ways. One it connects did me
to the person who ultimately helped me get this job?
So what a little unknown fact about the process for
bidding for World Cup matches is it is a insanely
lengthy process. This was coming out of New York City
(06:18):
Hall and the State of New Jersey, the Governor's office.
This has been a process since about twenty seventeen just
to actually put the documents together and get that process
to even bid to bring matches at all to a region.
And then there's almost another bidding process to determine how
many matches each whost city is getting, including the final obviously,
(06:39):
which is landing here. So there's so much of these
like different campaign moments as part of this. And I
think secondly it's also a big part of campaigns and
mega events in general, is there is an end date, right.
It's what you said, this big crescendo moment and being
(07:01):
able to be really nimble and adapt and adapt to
so many curve balls and hurdles that kind of get
thrown your way just to put on these massive whether
it's winning an election or hosting or succeeding in a
massive event. It's just being able to be in that
fast paced environment with you know, not so much structure
(07:26):
that I think has prepared me well for this type
of role this environment. Yeah, of course I would not
have been here without previously working in government and politics
because it really spins out of that lane. Yeah, and
it is so interesting.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
I think when we look in hindsight a our career
paths or our life paths, it all kind of makes sense,
but in the moment, it feels like what is happening
here and where am I going?
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And how do I find this direction. When you made
the decision to.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Kind of pivot your career a new direction, how did
you do that? How did that come to you? And
how did you say, Okay, hey, you know what I
want to I want to take my talent a different way.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah. So, I think, first of all, I've always been
a lifelong sports fan athlete. I played basketball in college.
It's always been super important to me that aspect. In
undergrad and college, I graduated and majored in art history
and international politics, which is just like a classic liberal
(08:25):
arts major. So, you know, after, as Madeline just said,
I worked in politics and government for right after college
for a little while, and I had a moment where,
you know what, I'm not sure this is exactly what
I want to do, and I want to pivot. I
want to learn some more hard skills that I didn't
get with that the majors I chose in undergrad and
(08:46):
I decided I wanted to go back to school and
went to business school. I got my MBA at NYU,
which really helped me kind of gather some of those
hard skills. I will say it was ultimately COVID, So
that's another story in itself, right, But.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
COVID, I think for a lot of us had to sing,
all right, what am I going to do now?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yes? Yeah. So I was in you know, business school
during COVID and was applying to a bunch of things
in sports and media and tech, trying to transition into
the private sector because I knew that was my goal.
So got an MBA, which was awesome, went and worked
at a startup in the micromobility e scooter space, which
(09:29):
was a great job right after school. But ultimately tech
layoffs COVID et cetera. The company laid off like twenty
five percent of their workforce. I was one of them.
But it also gave me this moment where I was able,
like you said, to reassess, like, Okay, what do I
really want to be doing. At the same time, I
(09:53):
was living in New York and getting very involved in
some women's pickup basketball league in the city and some
other types of you know, grassroots leagues like that, hanging
out with people that were in soccer. I had some
closest friends who they have a league also in Brooklyn.
So getting to meet people in this space, and so
(10:13):
many of them had these awesome jobs in media, in
sports and I was like, you know what, I really
want to do that. So ultimately it was just like
by the people I was surrounded with, I was able
to decide, this is what I want, was able to
just really network with my personal friendships and then my
friend groups, was able to reach back out see what
(10:37):
people are up to, and through that landed another role
in breaking into sports more formally and in the women's
basketball space. So I worked at a startup that was
making women's basketball sneakers and really really successful. They would
be partnership but Dick with Dick's Stores. Again, it was
(10:57):
a small, small startup, but learned a lot clearly startups
and campaigns or the theme of my of my life,
which has been interesting.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
But it's such a different path too because I think,
you know, a lot of people will go and look
for the you know, the job they find on the
job board that you know, you clock in at this hour,
clock out of that hour, which is a fully respectable
path as well, But the startup path is kind of
a different, a little bit more volatility, yes, like a
high risk, high reward path. Is that something in you
(11:30):
that's kind of always been, you know, something that that
motivates you in a way.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I think that's an interesting question because I keep falling
back into it, right, even each time I'm like, okay,
no more, Yeah, but I keep falling back into it.
And I think because, like you said, it is this
non traditional path a bit, and I think that's what
kind of draws me in, not the super structured corporate
(11:57):
nine to five experience, which candidly are also a bit
harder to break into. A lot of these startups, these
types of environments are a lot through your connections making
really you know, establishing those connections early on in your career,
reaching back out, reaching out to current friends, acquaintances, people
(12:17):
from school, et cetera, and tapping into the you know,
tapping into those networks. And I feel like that's how
I was able to break into these types of more
non traditional roles and startup girls. It's just a little
less rigid and there's less struck, a little less structure
around the recruitment process and all of that. So I
feel like that's that's how it's happened. More or less,
(12:41):
I'm not sure. Again, this is like each time I
each time I go through a startup or campaign or something,
I'm like, that is it I want a stable nine
to five job, and I'm still saying that now, like
after World Cup, just go, you know, it'll be fine. Fine, Yeah,
but I keep getting drawn to it and I don't
know why. So that's a great question.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
You like a moss to the flame, Charley's just like,
this is my type of role, exactly can they keep
finding me?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Now? It's not your fault, it's I can't blame you
for it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
It is kind of fascinating too, though, when you look
at the way, like we talk about building towards this
World Cup, it feels like, you know, for a sports
fan who might be excited to watch it, Okay, that's
so far out, that's twenty twenty six, that's you know,
we got so many things that are going to happen
between now and then. But for yous in the mix,
in the weeds and building towards this, this is kind
(13:33):
of really coming down to it and the details are
getting put into place. What are some of the biggest
challenges in your role and in this job and in
this kind of path building towards a huge event like
this that's not only big for a local region but
also on a global scale.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
All eyes are going to be on this. Yeah, that
is the question we ask ourselves every day. But right
it's we can officially say now it's next year, which
is crazy because we've been I've been working on this
for two years now since the host Committee formally formed
as a separate organization outside of government, and a lot
of it was we were in this planning mode working
(14:11):
through our all you know, across all verticals, marketing, transportation, security, events,
fan engagement. You know, we were in this planning mode
and now this switch has to happen where Okay, now
we need to deliver. So we're in this next phase.
We're beginning to be in this next phase, which is
really interesting and also challenging because we are a small team,
(14:32):
limited resources, which we're working through. But for us, it's
exciting because we have some cool milestones coming up. I
think for us, we're really targeting that one year out mark,
which is June eleventh, which is the one year out
till the first match is played in the Most Cup,
and that's kind of where we want to be out
(14:52):
in our communities letting people know, hey, this is coming
in a year. This is a huge deal. We want
everyone to fill in, which is an exciting opportunity and
also has its challenges because everyone does want to be
involved in a part of it. Yeah, and as much
as you know, we want, we want to be everything
(15:14):
to everyone, it's it's really challenging and yeah, that's that's
probably one of the bigger challenges, and we want to
make sure we are pulling off that mission of igniting
the entire region.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
How does a host committee get formed? I mean, I
think you know, oftentimes when we hear these big events,
whether it's an Olympics, a World Cup, but what have
you we hear about the host committee and their role
in putting it on. But how does that come together?
And then how does that dissolve as the as the event?
You know, is it similar to a political campaign or
(15:46):
how would you describe to people who are unfamiliar with
that A little bit?
Speaker 2 (15:50):
A little bit similar to a political campaign in terms
of headquarters are set up and they're taken down after
the campaign, but it's a bit different in terms of
the host committee is really formed out of a contractual
agreement between in this case it was the State of
New Jersey and New York City Hall as a joint
agreement with FIFA and MetLife Stadium to put to host
(16:13):
matches in our region, so contractually obligated to fulfill a
lot of different requests and items from these bodies. So
that is our that is our goal, and so that's
how we were formed. It was originally formed we had
two representatives from one from the State of New Jersey,
one from New York City Tourism, so from the tourism
(16:34):
angle orm they were basically working on this as part
of their They were in their side jobs in their
respective offices working through this more legal process. In twenty
twenty three were well. We were announced as a host
city officially in twenty twenty two. In twenty twenty three,
(16:55):
it was when the Host Committee formed as a separate organization.
It was incorporated as we are an independent nonprofit organization
if I have a one C six and we were
stood up in twenty three when my two bosses left
their roles and I was the third hire. So it
(17:15):
was really building something completely from scratch. Luckily, we have
awesome partners in FIFA, in our in our governmental agencies,
in our tourism agencies, at the stadium, at our professional
teams and clubs like this. That's bade it you know,
we're not alone in this process. But that's more or
(17:35):
less how it's stood up from that more governmental legal side.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
So it's more like for people out there who are
going to watch or listen to this, who think, wow,
that's a cool job. That's something I would want to
do at some point. You know, a lot of it is,
you know, the connections that you've built through life and
through your past vocations.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
But also.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
It feels like it's like the people that you know
in the connections that you've made, have said, Hey, do
you want to come be a part of this. Let's
let's pull this off, Let's pull this together.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
I will also add a part of it is being
persistent absolutely, because they did not just come to me
and say, yeah, he here's a job. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
It's not like in the TV shows, Hey you want
to be here?
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah? Yeah, I wish because then I would not have
to have to do any work there. But you know,
my what I had probably been reaching out to my
boss for about it, knowing she was working on this
in the New Jersey Governor's office. I'd probably been reaching
out to her for about a year prior, being like, hey,
let me know if you need help. This sounds really awesome.
I would love to be a part of it, and
(18:35):
kind of kept checking in and manitating that relationship until
finally she was like, Okay, we're ready. The host committee's forming,
we're leaving our jobs in government, we need help. We're ready.
So that's basically how it happened. Is just it's so
much about being persistent and timing is so huge, and
(18:55):
I always wish I could give people a better answer,
and it's just like, it's so much about time being
in luck, which is not fair, but it's I just
feel like that's when things happen.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
But I think that is actually really great advice because
it's not just timing in luck, but also the persistence. Right,
A lot of people will say, oh, I sent an
email and I'm waiting for reply and instead of and
there's persistence, and there's pleasant persistence versus you know, and
the skill of timing it out and following up and
staying in touch and touching base. That takes a lot
(19:29):
of effort and that does set someone apart. And I think,
especially as women, sometimes we try too hard to be like, Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
I don't want to bother you.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I don't want to this or that, and there's that
perfect balance of staying on someone's radar and being persistent
in a way that's authentic to you. Was that something
that comes naturally to you or is that something that
you've ever struggled with.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
I've absolutely struggled with that. I think I overthink and rethink,
especially as a woman, just being totally that exact mindset.
I don't want to be annoying. I feel like I'm
being annoying by reaching out or saying XYZ. But I
think striking that balance of right where it is pleasant,
like as you said, in terms of you're checking and
(20:10):
you're doing your homework, you're not just blindly reaching out
to people without much context or anything like that, but
also knowing people are really busy. I'm sure if people
watch this, they will know that I need, like especially
now in my current role, just with the amount of
emails and texts at all of this I need. I
(20:31):
need like multiple reminders texts, And.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
How many of us are like I responded in my head,
so it's a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
They're so busy. It's it's not actually a it's not
being annoying, it's actually being helpful because I need so many.
I need so many things, and so I think that's
the biggest thing. It's just being a being. You might
think you're being annoying, et cetera, but a lot of
times people need need those nudgets and it helps you
(21:00):
stay on top of mind of other people.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, it's a very helpful advice in any
field and any vocation. And it's kind of fascinating. It
helps you get a dream job right here. I mean this,
I know this is this is fantastic and so exciting.
And I know that from my perspective. Knowing that the
Giants play at MetLife, the venue that is hosting the
(21:22):
World Cup, I've had people come.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Out of the woodworks.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Ass. I can imagine how many people ask you for
tickets on a daily basis.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
It's I don't control tickets. The host commade has a
control ticket. Yeah that's all.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
But yeah, all right, you mentioned too working with some
of the local teams and the venue of course, MetLife Stadium,
the home of the Giants and the Jets. What's it
been like coordinating or how much collaboration is there with
the Giants, with the Jets, with the local affiliates here.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah, No, they've been great partners. We work really closely,
you know, primarily with the stadium, with the staff at
MetLife Stadium. Through that they've helped facilitate a lot of
relationships with the Jets and the Giants, and I think
that is only increasing, especially now. It's actually funny, I
think I have a meeting with some of the staff
(22:12):
next week on the marketing side. So it's only increasing
now that it's officially officially about a year out. So
these conversations are picking up, which is super exciting, and
we want to collaborate and have these kind of crossover
moments between different sports, bring soccer to new audiences and
(22:32):
ignite you know, every different fan in our region. And
you know, the Giants Jets are just such giant icons
in New York and New Jersey, so for us to
do any type of partnership is huge and I think
more to come on that soon. But we also work
super closely with our professional soccer clubs like Gotham who
(22:56):
play just over the river and or I'm not sure
what river that is, but there's a river. There's a river,
but over in Harrison, New Jersey, not far Red Bull
Stadium are now Sports Illustrated stadium, So the Gotham team
is awesome. Red bull the New York Red Bulls who
play over there as well, been awesome partners. And then
(23:18):
actually over the Hudson River is NYCFC New York City
Football Club, who we also work with a lot. So
those three entities as the professional soccer clubs here are
crucial to all of our marketing operations, legacy programming, all
(23:39):
of that, and that again is only going to continue
throughout and hopefully we're making some headway and some to
the other sports too, like you know Nick's Nets, Devils, Rangers,
all of those. Liberty, liberty. I'm a giant liberty fan,
so it's ideally liberty soon. So we are. We're the
sports capital of the world too, so it's it's there's
(24:00):
no better place it is to be.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
It's fascinating to think that a World Cup, an event
that is like a crescendo in the world of soccer,
in the world of FIFA, would need any marketing, right,
It's like people know that it exists. People know, but
you also want to drive some sort of a fanfare
around that. How do you kind of what kind of
initiative or how do you build that.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
So I think for us, a main mission of the
host committee is to how are we engaging everyday residents here,
you know, in New York and New Jersey. And also
we're expecting over a million visitors from all over to
come in during twenty twenty six. It's going to be
a really busy time and only a small percentage of
(24:44):
that of those visitors will actually have tickets to a match.
So for us, it's really important to bring that experience
outside the stadium. So for US, we are developing a
whole regional fan engagement plan that we want to bring
to life, and there will be of massive what's called
a FIFA Fan Festival, which is basically a giant watch party,
(25:06):
entertainment center, food center that is ideally open throughout the
duration of the tournament, which is thirty nine days. So
we're nailing that process down. But that's something that serves
the region, serves international visitors, people who are just following
their teams around as well, and bringing that World Cup
experience outside of the stadium. So that is one key moment.
(25:30):
And then we want to also make sure we're reaching
out into north south Central Jersey, the five Borough you know,
the other four boroughs outside Manhattan in New York City
and getting out and being able to bring bring the
World Cup to them in a little bit. Yeah, and
make it as accessible as possible. That's one of our
goals is to make it as accessible and inclusive as possible.
(25:53):
And we have what makes our agent special is we
have almost every country represented here. I'm sure you could
go out and find any bar or restaurant that represents
some club or some you know, national team that's playing
in the World Cup. So that is so unique to
our region and that's you know, we want to we
(26:15):
want to bring those stories and bring those you know,
bring those ideas to life. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Now, when you look back at not just your career trajectory,
but your life trajectory from you know, the college basketball
player to the young professional uh to where you are now,
is there something that you think that I wish I
knew this? Then? What is something that a piece of
advice or a piece of wisdom that you've accrued over
(26:43):
time that you wish you could tell your younger self
or perhaps some people listening out there that might say, oh,
that's you know what had I known that when I
was younger?
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I think it's things work out, and I am one
to get very oh you know, I can get very
overwhelmed or you know, overthink something that goes wrong or
something doesn't happen. I've been I've been unemployed for a
long stince. I've been you know, being in jobs that
(27:15):
I was not happy with. It's challenging, and things feel
like they're you know, things at times feel pretty hopeless.
But my advice is things do do tend to work
out when you stick through it. It's also taking that
nonlinear path. I have a few as we're talking sports,
(27:35):
I have a very untraditional line to sports. So it's
kind of saying yes to those, to those opportunities that
maybe don't align exactly with maybe the ultimate goal, but
just trying to work them to your advantage exactly exist.
So I think that's my advice is just taking a
(27:57):
step back, being like, Okay, things will work out, You'll
be where you're meant to be, which is obviously always
easier said than done. Sure, but yeah, that is my
that is my I mean, little me could not imagine
I would be here right now sitting in a Giants
podcast room as a lifelong Giants fan. So you know
that's pretty amazing.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
That is incredible, and I mean the fact that you've
gone through so many incredible accomplishments so far in your career,
and I'm sure there are so many more to come to.
I'm thrilled to have you here talking about your journey
and your Giants fandom. I got to say, you know,
from living in New York, from New York New Jersey area,
is there a Giants moment that sticks out to you
(28:38):
that kind of quantifies this is one of the moments
that said I love this team.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Oh god, I know, right, it's on the spots. I mean,
I will say that there's there's so many, but I
can just like vividly remember finding out that Tiki Barber
had retired. I remember what I was, I think I was.
I was down in Florida visiting my grandma with my family.
(29:05):
I remember there was actual tiers that were shed when
Tiki barb I retired. But that's probably that's the main one.
But it keeps going from there, you know. Then I
had to replace my running back. I got a mod
Bradshaw jersey which was kind of a deep cup. But
that was you know, so and obviously the Super Bowl
(29:25):
wins and we're coming back. Yeah, oh absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
And I think too that the highs and lows of
sports fandom especially translates in so many different ways, and
you know, building towards a World Cup, building towards anything
working in sport in general, there's so many highs and lows,
and being along for the ride is what kind of makes.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
It special, right, totally. I love that analogy because that is, yeah,
so true, especially in career life, those ups and downs
are very real.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
So absolutely well, Carly Gruenberg, thank you so much for
taking the time to chat with us about the upcoming
World Cup and all of the wonderful career trajectories that
have brought you to where you are right now. This
has been an episode of her Playbook, brought to you
by Kendra Scott, the jewelry company that's shining bright and
doing good. Shop jewelry styles designed for every day and
(30:12):
every occasion at your local Kendrascott store or at Kendrascott
dot com.
Welcome to another episode of her Playbook, brought to you
by Kendra Scott, her playbook of podcast highlighting inspiring stories
of women in sports and business. My name is Madeline Burke,
and I'm thrilled to be joined by the chief of
staff of the twenty twenty six FIFA World Cup hosted
at MetLife Stadium, Carly Gruenberg. Carly, thank you so much
for coming on the show.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Thank you, thanks for having me. I'm super pumped to
be here.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I am super pumped to have you, especially with the
World Cup coming in just over a year. Really, that's
a huge thing for MetLife Stadium, for the New York,
New Jersey area, and for you being a chief of
staff of the event, one that's hosted in the town
essentially where you grew up.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
How big is this moment? This is massive, kind of
beyond my own comprehension, I feel like half the time.
Just for a little context, for those who don't know,
the twenty twenty six World Cup is and will be
the biggest event that we have ever seen in this
region in North America as well. It is hosted by
(01:04):
sixteen cities across North America, eleven in the US, two
in Canada and three in Mexico. So us as at
MetLife in the New York New Jersey region is one
of these sixteen host cities. It's also an expanded format
for the World Cup this year or for next year,
(01:24):
so it's actually now it's a format of forty eight
teams and one hundred and four matches, which is increased
from previous World Cups of thirty two teams and sixty
four matches. So it's bigger in every sense of the word.
And also just another tidbit I think as we're here
talking about American football, viewership for the last World Cup
(01:47):
in Guitar was one point five billion for that final match,
which outdraws viewership from the last ten plus Super Bowls combined.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So it's just absolutely massive, and it is on a
global scale that I think we're not used to seeing here.
But it's so excited and we're ready to welcome the
world and make this the best and most unforgettable World Cup.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, that's in history, and I mean such a global game.
Of course soccer is, and as reflected in the viewership
and the numbers, but also the passion behind the sport.
As a chief of staff for the World Cup here
in New York, New Jersey area. What is your job entail?
What's the process been like building up to the main event.
(02:39):
I'm sure there's a lot of things that people might
expect and some that people might not understand about what
goes into putting this together.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah, so the short answer is no, obviously no two
days in the same It is craziness. But I think
just a little background on my role and us as
the New York New Jersey Host Committee, you know, back
to what I was talking about, how there's sixteen other
host cities. Each city has their own local organizing body
(03:08):
called the you know, the host committee. And so for us,
we are basically that on the ground body that liais
is with FIFA, which is the international the international body
that governs football around the world, and that it is
they put on the actual tournament itself here. So with FIFA,
all of our governmental partners across New Jersey and New
(03:30):
York City as well as of course the stadium in Medlife.
So we are that lays on between all these different
entities and we are basically in charge of everything almost
outside of the stadium. SOFIFA comes in and they put
on the matches. We in this region are hosting eight matches,
(03:52):
including the final, which is huge. I should have mentioned
that upfront. But FIFA will come in and they really
can control and put on the actual programming around the matches.
Us as the host Committee, are involved in basically everything
outside in terms of the fan engagement, the marketing, the
making sure transportation security goes off goes as well as
(04:15):
possible liaising with our tourism, our business communities, chambers of commerces,
different communities to make sure our whole region, the state
of New Jersey and the five boroughs of New York
all feel like they're a part of this experience. So
it is a very very tall order and me as
(04:37):
chief of staff, I'm basically that right hand to our
principles of the organization, product managing, making sure everything is
in line, working across the organization, which is right now.
We are small. We're not where this is a surprise
as we are not a big organization. We're about twelve
people full time right now. So we and it's going
(05:02):
to be great, But I think it's people aren't realizing
that we're not this giant entity coming in from FIFA.
We are a small almost startup responsible for just a
massive project. It's exciting and it's exciting to get up
to be a part of everything. It's also admittedly super overwhelming,
(05:22):
but in the best way possible.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I feel like do there's so
many similarities. I look at your trajectory and your career
and you started in politics working with Governor Phil Murphy,
and I feel like it's as similar. The way you
describe this role leading into the World Cup is similar
to leading into an election or kind of building towards
that crescendo moment of something. Did that time in politics
(05:49):
kind of help you with this role you've currently got totally?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I think in multiple ways. One it connects did me
to the person who ultimately helped me get this job?
So what a little unknown fact about the process for
bidding for World Cup matches is it is a insanely
lengthy process. This was coming out of New York City
(06:18):
Hall and the State of New Jersey, the Governor's office.
This has been a process since about twenty seventeen just
to actually put the documents together and get that process
to even bid to bring matches at all to a region.
And then there's almost another bidding process to determine how
many matches each whost city is getting, including the final obviously,
(06:39):
which is landing here. So there's so much of these
like different campaign moments as part of this. And I
think secondly it's also a big part of campaigns and
mega events in general, is there is an end date, right.
It's what you said, this big crescendo moment and being
(07:01):
able to be really nimble and adapt and adapt to
so many curve balls and hurdles that kind of get
thrown your way just to put on these massive whether
it's winning an election or hosting or succeeding in a
massive event. It's just being able to be in that
fast paced environment with you know, not so much structure
(07:26):
that I think has prepared me well for this type
of role this environment. Yeah, of course I would not
have been here without previously working in government and politics
because it really spins out of that lane. Yeah, and
it is so interesting.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
I think when we look in hindsight a our career
paths or our life paths, it all kind of makes sense,
but in the moment, it feels like what is happening
here and where am I going?
Speaker 2 (07:50):
And how do I find this direction. When you made
the decision to.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Kind of pivot your career a new direction, how did
you do that? How did that come to you? And
how did you say, Okay, hey, you know what I
want to I want to take my talent a different way.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah. So, I think, first of all, I've always been
a lifelong sports fan athlete. I played basketball in college.
It's always been super important to me that aspect. In
undergrad and college, I graduated and majored in art history
and international politics, which is just like a classic liberal
(08:25):
arts major. So, you know, after, as Madeline just said,
I worked in politics and government for right after college
for a little while, and I had a moment where,
you know what, I'm not sure this is exactly what
I want to do, and I want to pivot. I
want to learn some more hard skills that I didn't
get with that the majors I chose in undergrad and
(08:46):
I decided I wanted to go back to school and
went to business school. I got my MBA at NYU,
which really helped me kind of gather some of those
hard skills. I will say it was ultimately COVID, So
that's another story in itself, right, But.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
COVID, I think for a lot of us had to sing,
all right, what am I going to do now?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yes? Yeah. So I was in you know, business school
during COVID and was applying to a bunch of things
in sports and media and tech, trying to transition into
the private sector because I knew that was my goal.
So got an MBA, which was awesome, went and worked
at a startup in the micromobility e scooter space, which
(09:29):
was a great job right after school. But ultimately tech
layoffs COVID et cetera. The company laid off like twenty
five percent of their workforce. I was one of them.
But it also gave me this moment where I was able,
like you said, to reassess, like, Okay, what do I
really want to be doing. At the same time, I
(09:53):
was living in New York and getting very involved in
some women's pickup basketball league in the city and some
other types of you know, grassroots leagues like that, hanging
out with people that were in soccer. I had some
closest friends who they have a league also in Brooklyn.
So getting to meet people in this space, and so
(10:13):
many of them had these awesome jobs in media, in
sports and I was like, you know what, I really
want to do that. So ultimately it was just like
by the people I was surrounded with, I was able
to decide, this is what I want, was able to
just really network with my personal friendships and then my
friend groups, was able to reach back out see what
(10:37):
people are up to, and through that landed another role
in breaking into sports more formally and in the women's
basketball space. So I worked at a startup that was
making women's basketball sneakers and really really successful. They would
be partnership but Dick with Dick's Stores. Again, it was
(10:57):
a small, small startup, but learned a lot clearly startups
and campaigns or the theme of my of my life,
which has been interesting.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
But it's such a different path too because I think,
you know, a lot of people will go and look
for the you know, the job they find on the
job board that you know, you clock in at this hour,
clock out of that hour, which is a fully respectable
path as well, But the startup path is kind of
a different, a little bit more volatility, yes, like a
high risk, high reward path. Is that something in you
(11:30):
that's kind of always been, you know, something that that
motivates you in a way.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
I think that's an interesting question because I keep falling
back into it, right, even each time I'm like, okay,
no more, Yeah, but I keep falling back into it.
And I think because, like you said, it is this
non traditional path a bit, and I think that's what
kind of draws me in, not the super structured corporate
(11:57):
nine to five experience, which candidly are also a bit
harder to break into. A lot of these startups, these
types of environments are a lot through your connections making
really you know, establishing those connections early on in your career,
reaching back out, reaching out to current friends, acquaintances, people
(12:17):
from school, et cetera, and tapping into the you know,
tapping into those networks. And I feel like that's how
I was able to break into these types of more
non traditional roles and startup girls. It's just a little
less rigid and there's less struck, a little less structure
around the recruitment process and all of that. So I
feel like that's that's how it's happened. More or less,
(12:41):
I'm not sure. Again, this is like each time I
each time I go through a startup or campaign or something,
I'm like, that is it I want a stable nine
to five job, and I'm still saying that now, like
after World Cup, just go, you know, it'll be fine. Fine, Yeah,
but I keep getting drawn to it and I don't
know why. So that's a great question.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
You like a moss to the flame, Charley's just like,
this is my type of role, exactly can they keep
finding me?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Now? It's not your fault, it's I can't blame you
for it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
It is kind of fascinating too, though, when you look
at the way, like we talk about building towards this
World Cup, it feels like, you know, for a sports
fan who might be excited to watch it, Okay, that's
so far out, that's twenty twenty six, that's you know,
we got so many things that are going to happen
between now and then. But for yous in the mix,
in the weeds and building towards this, this is kind
(13:33):
of really coming down to it and the details are
getting put into place. What are some of the biggest
challenges in your role and in this job and in
this kind of path building towards a huge event like
this that's not only big for a local region but
also on a global scale.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
All eyes are going to be on this. Yeah, that
is the question we ask ourselves every day. But right
it's we can officially say now it's next year, which
is crazy because we've been I've been working on this
for two years now since the host Committee formally formed
as a separate organization outside of government, and a lot
of it was we were in this planning mode working
(14:11):
through our all you know, across all verticals, marketing, transportation, security, events,
fan engagement. You know, we were in this planning mode
and now this switch has to happen where Okay, now
we need to deliver. So we're in this next phase.
We're beginning to be in this next phase, which is
really interesting and also challenging because we are a small team,
(14:32):
limited resources, which we're working through. But for us, it's
exciting because we have some cool milestones coming up. I
think for us, we're really targeting that one year out mark,
which is June eleventh, which is the one year out
till the first match is played in the Most Cup,
and that's kind of where we want to be out
(14:52):
in our communities letting people know, hey, this is coming
in a year. This is a huge deal. We want
everyone to fill in, which is an exciting opportunity and
also has its challenges because everyone does want to be
involved in a part of it. Yeah, and as much
as you know, we want, we want to be everything
(15:14):
to everyone, it's it's really challenging and yeah, that's that's
probably one of the bigger challenges, and we want to
make sure we are pulling off that mission of igniting
the entire region.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
How does a host committee get formed? I mean, I
think you know, oftentimes when we hear these big events,
whether it's an Olympics, a World Cup, but what have
you we hear about the host committee and their role
in putting it on. But how does that come together?
And then how does that dissolve as the as the event?
You know, is it similar to a political campaign or
(15:46):
how would you describe to people who are unfamiliar with
that A little bit?
Speaker 2 (15:50):
A little bit similar to a political campaign in terms
of headquarters are set up and they're taken down after
the campaign, but it's a bit different in terms of
the host committee is really formed out of a contractual
agreement between in this case it was the State of
New Jersey and New York City Hall as a joint
agreement with FIFA and MetLife Stadium to put to host
(16:13):
matches in our region, so contractually obligated to fulfill a
lot of different requests and items from these bodies. So
that is our that is our goal, and so that's
how we were formed. It was originally formed we had
two representatives from one from the State of New Jersey,
one from New York City Tourism, so from the tourism
(16:34):
angle orm they were basically working on this as part
of their They were in their side jobs in their
respective offices working through this more legal process. In twenty
twenty three were well. We were announced as a host
city officially in twenty twenty two. In twenty twenty three,
(16:55):
it was when the Host Committee formed as a separate organization.
It was incorporated as we are an independent nonprofit organization
if I have a one C six and we were
stood up in twenty three when my two bosses left
their roles and I was the third hire. So it
(17:15):
was really building something completely from scratch. Luckily, we have
awesome partners in FIFA, in our in our governmental agencies,
in our tourism agencies, at the stadium, at our professional
teams and clubs like this. That's bade it you know,
we're not alone in this process. But that's more or
(17:35):
less how it's stood up from that more governmental legal side.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
So it's more like for people out there who are
going to watch or listen to this, who think, wow,
that's a cool job. That's something I would want to
do at some point. You know, a lot of it is,
you know, the connections that you've built through life and
through your past vocations.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
But also.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
It feels like it's like the people that you know
in the connections that you've made, have said, Hey, do
you want to come be a part of this. Let's
let's pull this off, Let's pull this together.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
I will also add a part of it is being
persistent absolutely, because they did not just come to me
and say, yeah, he here's a job. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
It's not like in the TV shows, Hey you want
to be here?
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah? Yeah, I wish because then I would not have
to have to do any work there. But you know,
my what I had probably been reaching out to my
boss for about it, knowing she was working on this
in the New Jersey Governor's office. I'd probably been reaching
out to her for about a year prior, being like, hey,
let me know if you need help. This sounds really awesome.
I would love to be a part of it, and
(18:35):
kind of kept checking in and manitating that relationship until
finally she was like, Okay, we're ready. The host committee's forming,
we're leaving our jobs in government, we need help. We're ready.
So that's basically how it happened. Is just it's so
much about being persistent and timing is so huge, and
(18:55):
I always wish I could give people a better answer,
and it's just like, it's so much about time being
in luck, which is not fair, but it's I just
feel like that's when things happen.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
But I think that is actually really great advice because
it's not just timing in luck, but also the persistence. Right,
A lot of people will say, oh, I sent an
email and I'm waiting for reply and instead of and
there's persistence, and there's pleasant persistence versus you know, and
the skill of timing it out and following up and
staying in touch and touching base. That takes a lot
(19:29):
of effort and that does set someone apart. And I think,
especially as women, sometimes we try too hard to be like, Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
I don't want to bother you.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I don't want to this or that, and there's that
perfect balance of staying on someone's radar and being persistent
in a way that's authentic to you. Was that something
that comes naturally to you or is that something that
you've ever struggled with.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
I've absolutely struggled with that. I think I overthink and rethink,
especially as a woman, just being totally that exact mindset.
I don't want to be annoying. I feel like I'm
being annoying by reaching out or saying XYZ. But I
think striking that balance of right where it is pleasant,
like as you said, in terms of you're checking and
(20:10):
you're doing your homework, you're not just blindly reaching out
to people without much context or anything like that, but
also knowing people are really busy. I'm sure if people
watch this, they will know that I need, like especially
now in my current role, just with the amount of
emails and texts at all of this I need. I
(20:31):
need like multiple reminders texts, And.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
How many of us are like I responded in my head,
so it's a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
They're so busy. It's it's not actually a it's not
being annoying, it's actually being helpful because I need so many.
I need so many things, and so I think that's
the biggest thing. It's just being a being. You might
think you're being annoying, et cetera, but a lot of
times people need need those nudgets and it helps you
(21:00):
stay on top of mind of other people.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, it's a very helpful advice in any
field and any vocation. And it's kind of fascinating. It
helps you get a dream job right here. I mean this,
I know this is this is fantastic and so exciting.
And I know that from my perspective. Knowing that the
Giants play at MetLife, the venue that is hosting the
(21:22):
World Cup, I've had people come.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Out of the woodworks.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Ass. I can imagine how many people ask you for
tickets on a daily basis.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
It's I don't control tickets. The host commade has a
control ticket. Yeah that's all.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
But yeah, all right, you mentioned too working with some
of the local teams and the venue of course, MetLife Stadium,
the home of the Giants and the Jets. What's it
been like coordinating or how much collaboration is there with
the Giants, with the Jets, with the local affiliates here.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah, No, they've been great partners. We work really closely,
you know, primarily with the stadium, with the staff at
MetLife Stadium. Through that they've helped facilitate a lot of
relationships with the Jets and the Giants, and I think
that is only increasing, especially now. It's actually funny, I
think I have a meeting with some of the staff
(22:12):
next week on the marketing side. So it's only increasing
now that it's officially officially about a year out. So
these conversations are picking up, which is super exciting, and
we want to collaborate and have these kind of crossover
moments between different sports, bring soccer to new audiences and
(22:32):
ignite you know, every different fan in our region. And
you know, the Giants Jets are just such giant icons
in New York and New Jersey, so for us to
do any type of partnership is huge and I think
more to come on that soon. But we also work
super closely with our professional soccer clubs like Gotham who
(22:56):
play just over the river and or I'm not sure
what river that is, but there's a river. There's a river,
but over in Harrison, New Jersey, not far Red Bull
Stadium are now Sports Illustrated stadium, So the Gotham team
is awesome. Red bull the New York Red Bulls who
play over there as well, been awesome partners. And then
(23:18):
actually over the Hudson River is NYCFC New York City
Football Club, who we also work with a lot. So
those three entities as the professional soccer clubs here are
crucial to all of our marketing operations, legacy programming, all
(23:39):
of that, and that again is only going to continue
throughout and hopefully we're making some headway and some to
the other sports too, like you know Nick's Nets, Devils, Rangers,
all of those. Liberty, liberty. I'm a giant liberty fan,
so it's ideally liberty soon. So we are. We're the
sports capital of the world too, so it's it's there's
(24:00):
no better place it is to be.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
It's fascinating to think that a World Cup, an event
that is like a crescendo in the world of soccer,
in the world of FIFA, would need any marketing, right,
It's like people know that it exists. People know, but
you also want to drive some sort of a fanfare
around that. How do you kind of what kind of
initiative or how do you build that.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
So I think for us, a main mission of the
host committee is to how are we engaging everyday residents here,
you know, in New York and New Jersey. And also
we're expecting over a million visitors from all over to
come in during twenty twenty six. It's going to be
a really busy time and only a small percentage of
(24:44):
that of those visitors will actually have tickets to a match.
So for us, it's really important to bring that experience
outside the stadium. So for US, we are developing a
whole regional fan engagement plan that we want to bring
to life, and there will be of massive what's called
a FIFA Fan Festival, which is basically a giant watch party,
(25:06):
entertainment center, food center that is ideally open throughout the
duration of the tournament, which is thirty nine days. So
we're nailing that process down. But that's something that serves
the region, serves international visitors, people who are just following
their teams around as well, and bringing that World Cup
experience outside of the stadium. So that is one key moment.
(25:30):
And then we want to also make sure we're reaching
out into north south Central Jersey, the five Borough you know,
the other four boroughs outside Manhattan in New York City
and getting out and being able to bring bring the
World Cup to them in a little bit. Yeah, and
make it as accessible as possible. That's one of our
goals is to make it as accessible and inclusive as possible.
(25:53):
And we have what makes our agent special is we
have almost every country represented here. I'm sure you could
go out and find any bar or restaurant that represents
some club or some you know, national team that's playing
in the World Cup. So that is so unique to
our region and that's you know, we want to we
(26:15):
want to bring those stories and bring those you know,
bring those ideas to life. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Now, when you look back at not just your career trajectory,
but your life trajectory from you know, the college basketball
player to the young professional uh to where you are now,
is there something that you think that I wish I
knew this? Then? What is something that a piece of
advice or a piece of wisdom that you've accrued over
(26:43):
time that you wish you could tell your younger self
or perhaps some people listening out there that might say, oh,
that's you know what had I known that when I
was younger?
Speaker 2 (26:54):
I think it's things work out, and I am one
to get very oh you know, I can get very
overwhelmed or you know, overthink something that goes wrong or
something doesn't happen. I've been I've been unemployed for a
long stince. I've been you know, being in jobs that
(27:15):
I was not happy with. It's challenging, and things feel
like they're you know, things at times feel pretty hopeless.
But my advice is things do do tend to work
out when you stick through it. It's also taking that
nonlinear path. I have a few as we're talking sports,
(27:35):
I have a very untraditional line to sports. So it's
kind of saying yes to those, to those opportunities that
maybe don't align exactly with maybe the ultimate goal, but
just trying to work them to your advantage exactly exist.
So I think that's my advice is just taking a
(27:57):
step back, being like, Okay, things will work out, You'll
be where you're meant to be, which is obviously always
easier said than done. Sure, but yeah, that is my
that is my I mean, little me could not imagine
I would be here right now sitting in a Giants
podcast room as a lifelong Giants fan. So you know
that's pretty amazing.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
That is incredible, and I mean the fact that you've
gone through so many incredible accomplishments so far in your career,
and I'm sure there are so many more to come to.
I'm thrilled to have you here talking about your journey
and your Giants fandom. I got to say, you know,
from living in New York, from New York New Jersey area,
is there a Giants moment that sticks out to you
(28:38):
that kind of quantifies this is one of the moments
that said I love this team.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Oh god, I know, right, it's on the spots. I mean,
I will say that there's there's so many, but I
can just like vividly remember finding out that Tiki Barber
had retired. I remember what I was, I think I was.
I was down in Florida visiting my grandma with my family.
(29:05):
I remember there was actual tiers that were shed when
Tiki barb I retired. But that's probably that's the main one.
But it keeps going from there, you know. Then I
had to replace my running back. I got a mod
Bradshaw jersey which was kind of a deep cup. But
that was you know, so and obviously the Super Bowl
(29:25):
wins and we're coming back. Yeah, oh absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
And I think too that the highs and lows of
sports fandom especially translates in so many different ways, and
you know, building towards a World Cup, building towards anything
working in sport in general, there's so many highs and lows,
and being along for the ride is what kind of makes.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
It special, right, totally. I love that analogy because that is, yeah,
so true, especially in career life, those ups and downs
are very real.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
So absolutely well, Carly Gruenberg, thank you so much for
taking the time to chat with us about the upcoming
World Cup and all of the wonderful career trajectories that
have brought you to where you are right now. This
has been an episode of her Playbook, brought to you
by Kendra Scott, the jewelry company that's shining bright and
doing good. Shop jewelry styles designed for every day and
(30:12):
every occasion at your local Kendrascott store or at Kendrascott
dot com.
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