Episode Seven: "Give Them the Business"

Heather Darney (VP of Community Relations/Executive Director Ravens Foundation), Patti Holtery (Sr. Payroll Specialist), and Deandra Duggans (Director, Advertising & Branding) share their experiences and insights on working on the business side of the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome back to the Purple Chair podcast. We're giving you
an inside look at the Ravens organization from a fresh perspective.
I'm your host, Cassie Calvert, and I'm back with three
fantastic women who know the Ravens organization better than anyone.
Heather Darney, vice president and Community Relations and the executive
director of the Ravens Foundation. Patty Holtery, senior payroll specialist

(00:28):
who's been with the team for both Super Bowls. And
Deandrew Duggan's director of advertising and branding for the Baltimore Ravens. So,
Dean Drew, let's start with you. When I say that
you're the director of advertising and branding for the Baltimore Ravens,
not everyone knows what that means. So branding an NFL organization,
what does that look like? What does that entail? Oh?
I don't the press. It entails a lot. Honestly, I

(00:53):
don't even know what I do sometimes, but generally it's
just you know, creating the marketing plans and advertising plans
for for the team. So all of our initiatives, like
mostly ticket office um for sure, So getting people in
the building is important to obviously retail our community events
when when needed. Also our fan engagement events, all of
our fan facing events, so youth football, draft events, purple evening,

(01:16):
all of those events that fans come to. I am
responsible for advertising for So how do you advertise for them?
A lot of it is just kind of knowing who
our target audiences and every event m Mostly I asked
you could say that our events are for everybody, but
some of them have a little bit of a target
so most some of them are targeted more for families,
some are more targeted for women obviously, some are more

(01:38):
targeted for avid fans. So I'm just understanding who our
target audience is and trying to meet them where they are.
So we use radio, TV, print ads, digital ads, social
adsum anything you can think of we are advertising on.
So that's how we reach them, the fans. You've probably
seen Deandra on TV promoting all of our fantastic events.

(01:58):
And another big project blood here is helping to shape
the look of the organization, so across graphics, billboards, everything
where you see the Ravens out in the community or
on your phone, like creating that consistent look across the organization.
So what was your team trying to achieve there. That's
probably the most fun part of my job, and every
year we have to kind of go through what that

(02:20):
look and field is. So back in twenty I say,
twenty seventeen, we kind of knew that we were we
needed to kind of start to look ahead at where
our organization was going. Understanding that we had some players
who were you know, getting older, would probably not be
around for the next or in the next five years,
and that we kind of, um, you know, saw that
we would have this ushering of of a youthful team,

(02:40):
so we wanted to kind of get ahead of it.
And this was right before we drafted a little mark,
so I think we had some psychic powers. Um, So
we you know, we wanted to do a full brand
study and understand who we were, who our fans said
we were, who we thought we were, and who we
wanted to be, and how we can find a way
to kind of meet in the middle and drive the
perception of our brand and come up with a messaging

(03:01):
platform that everybody could use from corporate partnerships to community
relations to social media. We didn't really have anything that
was you know, in totality, so we were it was
just all over the place, so we wanted to really
kind of reel it in, get it organized, and come
up with a creative looking field that would you know,
drive us forward. So we went with always More Nevertheless,
and that really kind of held us for about I'd say,

(03:25):
what was twenty twenty one now, so I guess three
or four years, and now we're kind of replacing all
of that and really brightening things up and people start
to see a lot more white, a lot more purple,
a lot more gold, things that people probably don't notice,
you know, you know, on first sight, but it's something
that we really kind of we really noticed and we

(03:45):
really pay attention too, and it really kind of helps
us tell the story. So it's a really fun project
and a really fun thing to work on. It's so
interesting to me because I don't think fans realize, like
you see these things, you don't realize the work that
goes into them, because it's not just what's happening on
the football field, like you guys really looked at the
city like our fan base. Encompassing all of those things
into one look like is really really impressive to me.

(04:07):
It's just really cool concept. Yeah, Yeah, we try to
tell make sure we're telling a story. So it's not
just us, you know, putting up pretty graphics for no reason. Like,
we really try to tell a story and try to
bring in everything that you know, people love about the Ravens,
from the community to our history. Even though it's a
very it's a short history as far as the Baltimore
Ravens are concerned, but we have a very storied history.
I mean, you know, two championships in twenty five years,

(04:30):
so that's a big deal, and our fans love us,
so we wanted to make sure that we told that
story and everything that we do really pulls all of
that together. Love that you mentioned the community, So Heather,
I'll pivot to you. All Ravens fans know how dedicated
this organization is the community, and you and your team
really help guide those efforts as well as assisting players
with their own foundations. So how do you kind of

(04:50):
help players shape their community impact here? Yeah, I mean
we try to do that in a lot of different ways.
I think, you know, the most important thing is that
we're listening to our community and so whether that's stuff
that the Ravens organization is driving in terms of programs
or grants or events, or it's something that the player
comes to us and says, hey, I'm very passionate about,

(05:11):
you know, single parent households, I'm very passionate about the military,
or children of parents in the military, or whatever it
may be. We can then help to drive the events,
drive programs, drive connections based off of that. So I
think it just kind of it's listening to the community
for us in our roles and community relations, that's a

(05:33):
big part of what we do. And then it's also
listening to the players, you know. I mean, our job
is to make sure that we get them out into
the community, but also if they want to be doing
something in the community that we help to facilitate that too.
You mentioned kind of helping you put them in the
right positions with like the things that they're passionate about.
And if fans listening to the podcasts have heard from

(05:53):
Martha andrews Now and Nikki Boseman who you work really
closely with to kind of help guide their specific players
community effort. So what kind of goes into that when
you're really working closely with someone to establish their like
foundation here? Sure, and I think it's dependent upon the player,
you know, different guys are comfortable with different levels of things,
you know, and so that's one of the things that

(06:14):
we tell them right off the bat is, you know,
if you want to run a foundation and have your
own five oh one c three and really make that
big impact, you are welcome to and will help with
all the resources that we can and we have here.
But there's a lot of work and responsibility that comes
with that too. So some guys might like to be
more of a spokesperson for a cause, which is a

(06:35):
lot of what Mark Andrews does with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation,
and so he works closely with JDRF all over the
country and you know, doing various things to kind of
show the children in that program and in that organization
that diabetes doesn't have to hold you back. You know.
Other guys like that role and don't have to kind
of recreate their own thing. So it really kind of

(06:57):
depends on the guys. Some guys just like to say, hey, Heather,
tell me where I need to be on Monday, and
I'll be there. They just don't even want to have
to do the planning, but just want to show up
and be involved. So I think that that's again just
part of our relationship building with the guys to know
which ones like a Bradley Bozeman who are all in
and you know, ready to go out each and every
week and do wonderful things, and other guys that are

(07:19):
just like Heather tell me when aware to show up
and I will. But you know, us and our relationships
with the guys helps to really kind of strategically plan
that sure, and they're also important. Is there an event
or outreach program that's really touched you personally? I'm sure
there's a lot, but as one really likes stick out
to you, Yeah, I mean I do. I love a
lot of what we do, which is why I love
my job. I think, you know, in terms of impact

(07:42):
that the work we do in our social justice realm
is is really important. So I am very proud of that,
and I'm so proud of all of the player input
and voices we've had in that work because that's really important.
I mean, anytime we can help families during the holidays,
we know it's annually important. It's something that our players
step up each year four because there's always a need

(08:03):
and so you know, being able to you know, provide
a Thanksgiving meal or gifts at Christmas time. That's that's
always pretty cool. UM, just to see the impact that
we can have on such a just diving deeper during
a really kind of hard time for a lot of families. UM. So,
so those touch points are great. UM. I also I
really love UM. A couple of years ago we launched

(08:24):
our Raven's Bookmobile program with the Maryland Book Bank and
it's just such a unique program which I love. We
actually have two bookmobiles out and about now. UM COVID
kind of put a little bit of a damper on
their schedules and ability to get out to all the schools,
but it's just we've gotten so much feedback, positive feedback
about those programs and the fact that kids show up

(08:46):
at a bottom or city school, kids get to come
on it. They get to pick out the books that
they want. So it's not a teacher saying you know, oh, well,
you know, go read this one and this is what
you need. It's it's their choice, which gives them some
ownership to it. And then they get to keep the
books for free and build up there at home library
and it comes back around when it can and the

(09:07):
kids are excited. Every time we had to help launch
a second one just because of the demand. So that's
a great partnership with our friends at the Maryland Book Bank.
But you know, I think that when we can leverage
partnerships with great nonprofit organizations like that, that's great. And
same type of thing. Yesterday we were out and about
with the United Way and Call to Action, and that's
just an awesome event where we can sit there and say,

(09:29):
as the Baltimore Ravens, we know it's important to give
back and make a difference in our community, why don't
you come join us, fans, you know, come alongside us,
because we can make an even bigger impact. So that
that's a great thing too. So yeah, it's a long
winded answer for lots of things that I enjoy, but
it's it's good stuff. I love Caught Action because it's
so funny to me to see like all these guys

(09:50):
out there, like in the garden, in the soil the
day after a game. They're out there, like I don't
think I think people think like, oh, you know, it's
just the photo oplic No, they're out there volunteering, giving
their time. I love that you mentioned the social justice initiatives,
and I really want to I want to touch on
that before we move on. A big part has been
the organization's social justice work over the last couple of years,
and the players really drove that. So how is that accomplished? Yeah,

(10:14):
I mean we I think we were always doing stuff
in that realm, but of course everything got a big
spotlight on it in recent years, and the NFL has
put a spotlight with their Inspired Change campaign. So you know, players,
we really just want them to be the voice behind it.
You know, we don't want while we're certainly involved in
financially supporting things or trying to bring awareness to various organizations,

(10:37):
it's a lot of discussion with the guys to ensure
that that's what they want us to be doing. So
I think, you know, we've had various meetings where we
would talk about, you know, what we could do to help,
what that looks like, and you know, we've done various
I know one time it was in a meeting and
a discussion that we had a player step up and say,
I read this article in the newspaper and I can't

(10:58):
believe that kids or wearing their coats to school because
there's no heat in school, Like, how is that possible,
and so you know it was like, oh, well, first
of all, you know, it's not all schools, but there's
definitely some Baltimore City schools and let's see what we
can do to help. And so we had players donate money.
You know, our owner Steve Bishatti has been a huge
supporter of all of our efforts, but especially our social

(11:19):
justice efforts. He donated money, The Ravens put in money,
and we were able to install a new HVAC system
to a couple of different elementary schools in the city
now and that's just been something that came about from
a conversation that we were able to bring to life
and the players could have, you know, m ownership of
the fact knowing that they've been able to make that change.

(11:39):
So again back to just the relationships and conversations that
need to be had. We don't want to just assume
that this is what they want to do. But you know,
a perfect example is last year our owner Steve Bishotti,
you know, he was really distraught and upset about everything
that happened, you know, in the summer of twenty twenty

(12:00):
with with George Floyd, and he went to the players
and we said, what can we do to help and
he said, I, you know, I have a million dollars.
Where should go and what should it do? And how
do we help organizations? And I mean it was their
call on it, which I think is extremely impressive, and
you know, just shows that this is something that we're
all working on and we all feel passionate about. So

(12:20):
we were able to make you know, several donations last year,
and I know that we're just continuing to do stuff.
I got chills in your time about that. I think
it's really cool that it really comes from the top
down with Steve, especially like him being willing to take
such a public stand at that time and make a video.
You know that we were able to share in our
social platforms that no other NFL owner did anything like that,
and so it's really you know, being willing to take

(12:42):
that public stand can sometimes be the harder thing than
the donation. Totally, Patty. Let's I want to jump to you.
I joked with you before when I say your title
senior payroll Specialists. I always think of the clip from
Jerry Maguire and he's like, show me the money, um,
and I love that. Have you ever had any funny
mishaps with like play or checks when you're distributing all
of those and everything. Um, so yes, I I don't

(13:05):
believe I've ever had anybody say showed me the money.
But I did have a player when we were still
at our former training facility on Owens Moost Bullivard years
and years ago, when I walked on the practice field,
he said, Patty, who is this FIKA guy and why
is he taking all my money? And I've had a player.
I had another player that locked a three million dollar
signing bonus check and is safe and left it there

(13:25):
and so then it went stale, and so that we
had to go through the process of, you know, going
to the bank to reissue the check. We have our
players now are a lot more technologically savvy than they
might have been back in the day because I've been
here a while and I had a lot of players
in the former days that didn't want to do direct
deposit because they didn't trust the banks that was there.

(13:48):
They I want my money, I want to take it
and put it where I want it, and we just couldn't.
There was just a couple that I just couldn't say enough.
But it works. It's like it's it's not going to disappear.
It's so M. We've come a long way since since
those days. I feel like there's been this big emphasis
from like the NFLPA, especially on education kind of around

(14:08):
you know, financial literacy with players. Have you seen that
really evolve in your time with the organization, Yes, I
would definitely agree. Are they the NFLPA and our player
Engagement program with Jamie McLean UM, they have regular meetings
with especially the rookies UM to go over all of that,
and they kind of I almost feel like it's a

(14:28):
class you could take in high school to teach you
how to balance your checkbook. UM. And they're really big
on UM, like teaching them about the four one K
program to put your money away and here's you their
scraps and spreadsheets of here's how that money could grow
if you start when you're a rookie and you leave it,
you know until UM past your retirement age. So UM.

(14:48):
And I think the players that come in again now
are just more prepared for that. And UM for instance,
I will say that like our the league or when
K plan for the players, it runs different than like
a most UM plans are on a calendar year basis,
there's just on a plan. Their plan year is mid

(15:09):
October to March thirty first, that's the only time they
can contribute. And then when they do sign up, a
lot of times the plan administrator encourages them, okay, sign
up for one hundred percent so that you can, you know,
get the match as soon as possible. But what they
don't always realize is that one hundred percent means you're
going to take as much of my all of my
check after my taxes is going to go to my

(15:29):
four own k until I meet the max, which for
this year's nineteen thousand, five hundred for instance. So I
reached out to start several of those rookies um last
week and said, I just want to make sure you
know your net pay is going to be zero. You're
going to go a week without a check at all
because we're paid their players are paid weekly here and
to a man, there were eight of them. They were
all like, I'm good with that, let it go. I

(15:50):
want to I want to put that money away and
I'll be okay. So I just think it definitely has
changed a lot over the years as to them being
more savvy with they're saving. They a lot of them
come in with financial advisors already or their parents. I
talked to a lot of parents, So yeah, I think

(16:10):
it's just evolved over the years and they're just more
prepared than I saw, you know, back in the beginning.
And it's always been so crazy to me, like when
you become an adult, you're just expected to know all
of these things that, like, I don't know why we
don't learn that, like in high school education. That especially
when you're coming as a rookie and you're getting these
paychecks that are a lot bigger than most people's, you know,
paid first paychecks out of college, and so I always

(16:32):
wondered why that isn't the case. But I think it's
really cool that they have done such a good job
of educating them since we don't get that in school. Absolutely,
that's a great point. So game days are obviously a
huge part of all of our job. Patty, you also
have one of the most unique game day roles I've
ever seen. COVID protocols have shifted everything a little bit
this year, but usually you're the one in the tunnel
queuing the players to come out from intros, and I'm
sure that doesn't always go according to plan. But do

(16:55):
you have a favorite moment from intros when you kind
of get to be there in the tunnel and you're
like you're sending guys out one by one, those really
special moments. UM. One of my all time favorite moments
would would be um Ray Lewis's last home game. UM.
Just his presence, uh, and his mental focus. UM, and
just that day. I mean I just that I still

(17:17):
get chills even thinking about it now and telling you
all about it. Just he is you know that he
always had such an intense look in his eye, but
just that day it was just more so. You know,
he was he was down on his uh you know,
UM crouched down in the back of the tunnel. He
was the last guy of course to be introduced, and
the fans, you know, we had the metal bleachers there
and they were just stopping. It was just hard to hear.

(17:38):
Which is it was one of those magical moments, you know,
just to get to send him out on his last
regular season home game. UM. Luckily we ended up going
to and winning the Super Bowl that year too. But UM,
And another one would be Terrell Suggs that the game
that he came out in the gladider mask because a
lot of times when this they had the smoke from
image engineering, I can't see beyond the player that's in

(18:01):
front of me, so and even then SOMETIMEE can't see
until he steps like right out. But um so I
had no idea that he was wearing that mask. So
when he stepped forward, he was last at that point
because Ray had retired at that point, and so he
stepped out in that mask, and it was just it
was one of those unbelievable moments that you're just like,

(18:21):
this guy is just he's so it was just such
a joke er anyway, but that was that sticks in
my mind. And we have the we've had instances where um,
not not many, but the players that we're supposed to
introduce as a starter, somebody's not there because he either
forgotten ran out with the team, or he was late
come out. They are late come in the locker room.
Sometimes we've had players that were late coming out and

(18:42):
are running out when we're trying to introduce our starters.
We used to introduce the visiting team from that tunnel too,
always as a team, but they used to come out
that same tunnel. So that was I mean I was
cursed at and yeah, it's not not not very nice things.
And they run into our band because the band and
used to be in that. So um, yeah, it's it's pretty.

(19:04):
It's very unique, and I'm very lucky and very blessed,
and I appreciate the opportunity. John Medell asked me to
do it years and years ago. Um, and so it's
I've continued again. COVID protocols don't allow it this year,
but hopefully I can get back down there and and
enjoy that again. It's just such a hectic time down there,
and fans just see the one guy come out of
the tunnel, but like being back there in the tunnel,

(19:24):
like just you corralling all the guys, like it's always
a miracle to me. So they all make it out there.
The gladiator mask is one of my favorites for sure.
That was a little like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's
sometimes you do have to Again, they've gotten better, but
in the past years they would want to even our
players that would want to run out before it was

(19:45):
their time, and so I would physically have to step
in front of them and say wait a minute, because
you know, the um broadcasting guys are trying to give
them their due, you know, Jay and his team. So yeah,
yeah those jitters and like Zadarius would like kiss your ring,
yeah as you would run out there. Yeah that, um
de Andre. The marketing department also has a huge role
in game day. You know, fans show up to the games.
They don't realize how much goes into that fan experience.

(20:08):
So what is your department, department, excuse me, responsible for
at a home game? Oh man, so many things. Um,
I don't even know how the earliest set our department
gets there, but I get there around a thirty four
for a one o'clock game. Um. But it's setting up
Ravens Walk, you know for fans you know, to come
and enjoy. It's setting up all of making sure that
all of the things that we're doing during the game,
as far as fan activations, are ready to go, you know,

(20:29):
working with Jay and the broadcast team, making sure that
the boards are working, getting music ready, making sure the
image engineering is you know, prepped and ready for intros
and all of the fireworks and all of them. You know,
the practices for the anthem is so much going on
before you know, the ball even gets snapped. So I mean,
it's it's amazing to see. Honestly, every every time I

(20:50):
go to a game, I'm like, jeezus, so so many
things just moving at one time for this big moment,
like the intros when we debuted him um this year,
Like I saw the video prior to but once we
see everything come together, it's like wow, and everything just
contributed to that one moment. So I mean, it's amazing.
It's I'm probably even out leaving out a lot of things,
but there's so many things that the marketing department does,

(21:12):
so shout out to them when something gets added, like
the tribute to Omar Michaulkay Williams, when that gets something
like special like that gets added. What's the process for that.
I think it's a meeting of the minds. They have
a game day presentation meeting before every game, so I
think they throw out a lot of things, and I
think I'm not in that meeting, but from what I
know that you know that came up obviously after he passed,

(21:32):
and we honestly thought about that years ago. We wanted
to do it years ago. It's just it just never
worked out. But it came up and they had to
figure out. You know, I think you know how it
would fit, especially with the new intros and the time
because everything is on a time, like we cannot be
late for anything. So you know, Brittany worked it out
and had it come on right before the team well

(21:53):
right before the video played, which which was such an
awesome moment. So I think, you know, when it works,
it's great. So I guess you know it not working
out those moments before was a good thing. It's always
funny to me now when I go to like a
sporting event, and I really like, you just don't realize
until you work here, like what goes into that? And
like people just think it's the game and that's that,
but there's so many other things that go into it.

(22:13):
You also set the playlist for Raven schemes, which the
pregame playlist for the players, which is probably one of
the most important things. Do you get the guys height
before they go out there and play, so what goes
into that? And do you have a favorite playlist from
a game? That's a labor of love, to be honest
with you, And I was vall and told to do
this when I first got here, but I think and

(22:34):
it's something that's so small in the grand scheme of things,
but it's still so important, I think, And I like
that the organization takes it that serious that they're like, no,
we want to make sure that it's writing as good.
And at first, you know, it was curated by its
thrill sugs, and now it's curated by v and I
get a little bit input from you know, Marlin who
helps out with the practice. Playlist two, playlist two. But yeah,

(22:54):
a lot goes into just figuring out what songs work best,
what new songs are out. I do a lot of
like I don't want to say stalking, but I see
what the guys are playing on their own social media's. Um,
you know, we all obviously know what Lamar likes. We
try to get as much as that into the playlist
as we can. Not all things are as appropriate as
they as they should be, so we try to do

(23:15):
our best to make sure that you know, it's listenable.
So yeah, I mean, we like energy, so we want
to make sure that those guys are pumped up before
the game. And it's always a good thing when they're dancing.
So when you text me and like, hey, they're dancing
to this, I'm like, yes, yeah, it's a win, So
I mean I enjoy it. It's it's definitely a labor
of love, and that has trans send it into us
getting a DJ for our upper level. So we have
started kind of this pregame party because we know that

(23:37):
music is so important and just creating energy is so important.
So um, but my favorite playlist, I would say, would
have to be twenty nineteen when we played the Patriots.
I think, Um, I don't know, I don't know what
pizzazz or razzle Dad's why I put in that, but
I think I think it helps. I like to say
that I contribute to our wins, not the laws, it's
just the wins. But it was my face. It was

(24:00):
just very high energy and you could just see that
they were just dialed in and they just I mean,
that game was unforgettable. So would you ever like bring
back that playlist? I thought about it. I actually went
and listened to it um for prior to the Colts
game because our game day DJ Woody he said that
that was his favorite playlist too, and I listened to it.
I mean, it's kind of a lot of old music,

(24:22):
older music on there, so I don't know, maybe maybe
I can play a little a little bit more razzle
dazzle on there. We'll see. Everybody loves a good throwback
every now and then, right, yeah, yeah, I try to
stay as current as possible, knowing that you know, sure,
we have some new guys on the team, so I
want to make sure that they know that, you know,
we're listening and we're hip, we're cool. Yeah, and you're
totally non biased opinion. Who was the best at using

(24:44):
said song lyrics and Instagram captions? Drake? Of course, yes,
that's my favorite. Um, all right, so kind of broadly, guys, Um,
what do you think you know when you we talk
about your roles here and kind of what they all
entail about to you guys? What are the busin biggest
misconceptions of what you do? Oh? Good question, So you know,

(25:05):
I guess, and looking specifically at community relations, I think
that there's a misconception that the guys have to be
out there doing things. You know, there's nothing in their
contracts saying that they have to make appearances that they
have to be giving back and involved, and I think
that that's it's part of their culture here, and I
think that says so much, you know, again back to

(25:26):
what you were talking about from the top down. But
it's just part of being a raven. And I think
that that can be a misconception of oh, well, you know,
they have to go visit kids in schools and they
have to hand out turkeys, and they don't have to
do any of it. I mean, we certainly encourage them
to and work with them too, but I I have
no fine ability. I can't do anything if they don't
show up, you know, and things like that. So I

(25:48):
think just the fact that this is literally them making
the choice to give up their only off day is
normally when we're asking them to come out, their whole
weekend is in one day and then and I say,
you know, hey, come with me and come do this stuff.
So the fact that we have such great participation from
our players and that they come out, um is a
testament to them and to this culture. But but yeah,

(26:10):
I think that there's a there's definitely a misconception out
there that this is this is just something they have
to do that they're obligated to. So I think the
biggest misconception is the and my role is that we're
what do you do in the off season for me,
you know, like, oh, are you doing the off season?
They're they're only getting paid from you know, September to
or August to December. But um, the rest of us

(26:31):
here still have to be paid. And UM, you know,
the the organization doesn't shut down just because there's games
are not being played played, so UM and the players. Again,
every team is different. We have always played paid our
players weekly and this year they just pro the CBA
they've changed. It used to be over the seventeen weeks
of the season that they would get their UM paragraph

(26:52):
five pay is what it's called. But this year it
changed and now it's extended to thirty six weeks, so
they'll be paid all the way through May twentieth, and
by that time the off season program will have started. UM,
so they're all which they are also paid for if
they participate, and then that rolls right into mandatory mini
camp and then there's a couple of weeks break there
and then it's training camp. So um, people think you

(27:14):
know that we once the seasons ended, that there's not
anything to do. And then of course when you get
out of the outside of the those kind of payroll
UM specific things, there's audits there's always audits going on.
It seems like that. Unfortunately we participate in and um
we have to push through no stalary camp audits and
financial statement audits and ownership audits all that kind of thing.

(27:36):
So there's always there's not really downtime in our department,
but a lot of people think that there is. Yeah,
I get that one a lot too. It's like, oh,
like there's no games in the off season, like you
must just like be free, and like the NFL does
a great job of staying in the news like year round,
so we you know, you have the draft and like
you mentioned mini camp and training camp and then like
rookie seminars and all those things like throughout the off season,

(27:58):
like we stay busy round, which is and obviously there's
more flexibility in the off season. Sure, but yeah, that's
definitely one that I see for sure. Um, I would
say I was trying not to be long winded, but
i'd say, like from my job with branding, I think
people just think it's just about you know, graphic design
and pretty pictures and pretty billboys. But I don't think

(28:18):
a lot of people understand like all the things they
go into branding and how much. Every department is a
part of that. You know, everybody talks about play like
a Raven and you know all of our you know,
our mission statement, part of it is to win championships.
But I think you know, we want to win in everything.
So you know, our community relationships department is the best.
You know, our corporate partnerships department is the best. Everything
is the best, Like the presentation we put on game

(28:40):
day is the best. And you know, excellence is the
standard here. So you know, all of that goes into
the story that we want to tell, and you know
how much we're in the community and the fact that
you don't have to force those guys to do that,
they just want to do. It's a part of who
the Ravens have been. And that's something I learned when
I got here, just because I always was wondering, like
why do we have to do so much? Like if
we do so much, I feel like we do at

(29:01):
least one hundred events a year, you know. And then
also the grants that we give, the fields that we
you know, renovative and and the you know, the equipment
that we give these the youth football teams, Like all
of that is a part of the biggest story, and
it's just what we do. It's not what we're forced
to do. So I think people don't don't understand like
all that goes into it, even social media, you know
cast you guys do a great job at that, all

(29:22):
of the content, all of that is you know, the
what people see first. Um, it goes a long way,
and I think you know, excellence is a part of
what we do and it's a part of the standard
that we opposed. So that's all a part of branding. Yeah,
that's very true across the whole organization. The other ones
that I feel like we always get are like do
you get limitless tickets? Like can you give me something
signed by the player? Like, no, that's not how this works. Um.

(29:46):
So kind of a similar vein what is your favorite
thing about working for the organization? I'm gonna go back
to you, Oh man, excellence is what we do. Not
this kidding, um, I would say the people I think, Um,
I mean, we have a really good time. We have
fun at what we do. I think obviously game days
are fun. It's a lot of work. I walked four

(30:07):
point two miles last Sunday. That's a lot of walking.
So I mean that's usually any any game day, but
it's it's a lot of fun at the end of
the day. Um, So that's my favorite part, just seeing,
you know, putting smiles on people's faces. I forgot to mention,
you know, I guess experience this team they do such
a great job as just making games memorable for people,
and they don't have to do those things either, So
I think just you know, it's it's easy to, um

(30:29):
to see good examples of the right thing to do
and to fall in line with it. So that's my
favorite part. Patty. You've also been with the team for
two Super Bowls. I imagine that has to be probably
one of your favorite things about working here. So what
was that experience like? It was it was pretty incredible.
It's it's and I would piggyback onto what Dandre said,
it's the people and the atmosphere here. It's like a family.

(30:52):
It's been like that since the models were here. That's
what Art Model brought when he came in, and it's
hasn't that hasn't changed with Steve Pshatti come in. So, um,
it's just like one big family here and that carried
over into those two Super Bowls where we went to
where um, you know, we everybody was together. We we
flew down together, we were housed together, we went to

(31:14):
events together and postgame party celebrations, and in New Orleans
we walked from the hotel to the Superdome Superdome together,
which was amazing. I mean it was It's just a
once in a lifetime experience. And it's it's you know,
you could not only share that with your co workers
who are also your friends, but with your family. You know,
your families that were there with us. Um were just

(31:36):
I'm super lucky and I know that I'm lucky, and
I'm grateful every day and I never take it for granted.
And I don't think it's boring. I think a lot
of people think, oh, accounting is I'm not an accountant.
I want to put that out there, but um, but
it's also interesting. It is you know, there's when you
think you've seen it all, something new pops up. You know,
after this is my twenty sixth season, and you know,

(31:58):
I'm like, okay, this new thirty six week pay role
schedule for the players. Okay, I had it down, and
now this is a whole new animal. So yeah, yeah,
it's always changing toially. What about NET for you, Heather, Yeah,
I mean I think just to kind of echo when
we talk about the people and talk about the culture,
I think, you know, the fact that it does feel

(32:18):
like a family. And I think that was probably one
of the hardest parts of working from home and navigating
COVID and everything else, is that you just miss seeing
people around the building and stopping in their offices to
catch up or ask a quick question or you know,
you didn't have to schedule a meeting. But the way
that the building I think is structured to where we're
all kind of together is good. And I think it's

(32:40):
just it's also that fact that we're all valued in
our roles and supported, because that is not something you
see in every organization but here. If you know, if
our interns have really great ideas, we want to run
with that. You know, like we want to give them
the opportunity to showcase their ideas and let them have
a voice UM. And I think we sometimes are an

(33:03):
organization that'll take some chances in a little bit of
risks sometimes whereas others won't. And I think that's because
you know, UM leadership believes in us and I think
that's great. So UM, I think you know, just that
family feel, but also just that supported family. You know
that you have each other's backs is UM is something
that I absolutely love about working here. Patty. I do
want to go back to the Super Bowl UM for

(33:24):
a minute. Do you have a favorite memory from either
of those two? And I would just like to put
on the record that I think every super Bowl should
be in New Orleans because that is the perfect place
for a super Bowl to be. I agree because the
UM in Tampa, we had to bust everywhere, you know, nothing,
there's nothing near at that point, there was nothing near
M Raymond Jane Stadium, So I would say, I mean,

(33:46):
there were so many but I really think, UM, the
when they shoot your the confetti that's your team colors
out of that canon at the end of the game
to signify that you've won. That's one of the things
that's stuck in my memory. And I even have some
of that confettiate at home with some of my other
Super Bowl chats keys that I saved. UM. It's just

(34:07):
such a rewarding feeling, you know, and you're UM. Even
though we're not on the field, we're not the players
on the field playing the game. You still again, you
feel like a part of it, because that's the culture here,
and that's nobody's felt. Nobody's made to feel like what
they do is not important. Every role here is important,
and um that is just the culmination of everything that

(34:29):
you've worked towards for the whole season or the whole
year again, since we're we don't have any downtime. But
um so yeah, that's that. That's pretty memorable, pretty rewarding,
and I'm hopeful to see that again here soon, maybe
this February five stadium, right right, right, I said, New Orleans,
but I'll go anywhere, right absolutely, Yeah, I love that,

(34:52):
Like I think I always tell people that's one of
my favorite things about being on the team side is
that you do get to feel like a part of
the wins. Like obviously we don't really have control over
what happens, but like you do get to feel like
you're a part of it, versus like being someone external
that like you know, cheers for the team, but we
really get to have that kind of like ownership and
feel like we're a part of the winds on a
broader scale. Obviously, Like one thing that I'm really interested

(35:14):
to discuss is that we're obviously all women sitting around
this table, and a lot of the league's kind of
public focus has been as far as like female empowerment
and sports has been on the football side, which obviously
that's super important, and the football side has generally been
like a little more behind the business side. But I
know that there's we still have a long way to
go on the business side of the industry as well.

(35:35):
How do you guys feel that we continue to kind
of push that needle forward? Well, one I think is
a good thing that we don't have to look too
far to see representation in our organization and I think
we have representation in every department at this point and
great examples too, So I think that's an awesome thing.
And I think, you know, the way that we can
take you to push forward is just you know, make
sure that we're doing great a good job and our

(35:57):
roles and when we have seats at the table, to
make sure that we are providing valuable solutions, we have
something to say, and that we also you know, pull
up a seat for somebody else, leave the door open
for the folks that are coming behind us. So I
think that's how we continue to move it forward. I
love that you said kind of bringing up the people

(36:18):
that are behind us, because Heather, as a female vice
president of an NFL team, you're obviously in a minority.
But I think it's really important to note that one
of the things that I've noticed that you've done really,
really well is hired women underneath you, which I think
is really important. But why has that been so important
to you? And like to hire the best person for
the role, regardless of their gender, I think is really
important to note, but that you have hired a lot

(36:40):
of women. Yeah, I mean, I think obviously, you know,
it's important to dangerous point like when you when you
talk about trying to find opportunities anytime that we're given one,
you know, anytime that an opportunity in opening, you know, granted,
hard work and good timing and all these things that
kind of come together with it. As we advance, it's

(37:02):
it's imperative that we figure out who else we can
take with us. UM. So I think that you know, uh,
we certainly you know, want to have a great um
and especially for me in my department working normally working
closely with players, again, we have some COVID restrictions on
our end as well, but you know, being around the
guys as much. I want a diverse department. I want
people who can connect with the guys in lots of

(37:24):
different ways. Um. That's really important, I think to me,
but also across the board here, UM, you know. So,
I think it's just it's a matter of finding the
opportunities and making sure that you can give those um.
And to not be afraid to think about that when
if it's something I could do, that's great, But is
is it something I can pass along to empower somebody
who works for me. I think that that's even better. Um.

(37:44):
And then to know, hey, I'm here if you need me,
but I know you can do it, and offering that
type of just encouragement and support and sometimes a bit
of a push, Hey you got this and I know
you can do it. So, UM, I think that's important. UM.
I think you know guys. UM, I think that we're
seeing it more in football, but but certainly on the
business side. Not that it's even easy on the business side,

(38:06):
you know. I mean we're still football is played by
a bunch of men. That's just the logistics of the sport,
right now, so I if I need to talk to
a player, I can't go in the locker room and
seek them down. I know, Cassie, you deal with this too.
You know, we're kind of waiting for them to casually
stop by the cafeteria or wherever else we can we
can find them. So it's not that it's it's there's

(38:28):
still difficulties that is just as what it is. But
we can sit there and we can stew on them
and you know, kind of fret over it, or we
can just do the best we can and find ways
to work around it, and you know, empower others to
do that with us. Yeah, I think that's a really
important to note, especially for some of our younger female
listeners who maybe are coming up in the industry, you know,
want to work in sports one day, because I think,

(38:50):
to be honest, sometimes it can be easy to get
discouraged by the frustrations and the things that you do
encounter as a female in this industry, and I think
it's important for us to note for them. You know,
you're told, you know, you have to work twice as hard,
things like that. You know, you come across things like
that in your career, But what gets you through those moments.
For me, like I would say, like last year at

(39:10):
being at home during COVID, I think it really showed
me it was important to remember that I have value
outside of my profession too. I think, you know, coming
up in this industry, you're taught, like you get into
a good college, and then you get good internships, and
then from your internships you get a good job, and
then you work the hardest that you can at your
job to progress in your job. And so COVID really
was the first time in my life I felt like

(39:30):
I kind of paused and I was like, WHOA, Like,
you know, I've spent my whole life working for this
role and I'm don't get me wrong, my role is
extremely important to me, and I'm really proud of like
everything I've been able to accomplish. But at the same time,
I think it's important to like note that I have
value outside of like what my profession is, you know.
And I think that was something that really that time
away kind of forced me to recognize. And I think, now,

(39:53):
you know, when I encounter things that are can be
frustrating or challenging for me, like it's important for me
to kind of like remember that if that makes sense. Yeah,
and I'll add just to um and I know Patty
can speak on this as well. But I have two
little girls at home, so you know, when you talk
about the balance, and that's a lot of questions that
when especially women coming into the industry or you know,

(40:14):
how do you do both? How do you have a
family and have a demanding job, because you know, as
we've all alluded to, it doesn't end when the football
season ends, um, And it's generally a lot of hours.
Community events are generally happening nights, weekends, I mean, whenever
the events are happening, So how do you balance it all?
Is is always a tricky thing, but but it can
be done. And um, yeah, I mean COVID certainly brought

(40:37):
to light the fact that, you know, what are the
priorities and our jobs? And am loving my position and
love my role and the work that we do here.
But that's just part of me and being able to, um,
look at the whole. And I think going back to
the culture here is that the Ravens see us as
a whole. And that's you know, that's really helpful to
know that. Um. You know, I do have little ones

(40:59):
at home that if they have a doctor's appointment, they
have something that then my team around me is going
to step up to help me with that. UM. And
that's something that I think is a bit of a
culture shift too with with women in the industry that
when it was predominantly men and and you know, they
just kind of didn't always have that same perspective. UM.
It's it's great to see that we're getting that because

(41:19):
I think it comes with that understanding too that we're
going to help each other out with that. If you
want to be able to have a family and you know,
have a career in sports, you can do that. You know,
do you have to make tough choices sometimes on what
you know you're going to do between you know the preschool,
you know, field trip or you know prepping for the game. Well,
you know, I might have to prep for the game
that day, and that's a tough choice, but it's it's

(41:41):
a choice of making and it's a choice that, UM,
you know, I feel like I have the support if
you know, if if I need it. Yeah, I'm my daughter.
I have a teenage daughter, and it's important to me
for her to see that I can do both and yes,
you know, as how they're alluded to, there are times
when you have to make the tough choice and you
have to miss you know, her cheer competition or something

(42:03):
like that. But she has expressed an interest in, for instance,
um athletic training, and I want her to see that, Yeah,
you can do that, and we are a team that's
a leader in having females on the football side as
well as all these roles in the business side that administrative,
you know, can be seen as administrative sometimes. Is that

(42:24):
I want her to know that. You know, don't let
somebody tell you know, if you want to do athletic training,
you want to be a physical therapist that works with
male athletes, you can do that and still you know,
have a family at home and feel fulfilled by doing
both of those things. Does that make sense? You know,
you're not just one or your other and your Yeah,

(42:45):
it just makes you feel whole by having the home
and the work football side, they said at all, They said,
I'm taking notes because obviously I'm a single one here
with with no kids, so taking notes on how I
can have harmony. The men don't get asked that question

(43:07):
all right, Before we wrap up, I appreciate all of
your time here. We are going to finish with our
little purple hot seat. So five this or that question
is a little rapid fire. Dan Jo'll start with you
and we'll go this way. So, crab cakes or picking crabs?
Picking crabs? I don't eat seafood. I don't eat seafood,
but I will say I do um like cream of

(43:30):
crab soup, and I do like um crab ra and goon.
You know, so right, it's it's a little bit right.
If it's a it's a little bit masked, then yes.
But if I had to choose, I would go crab cake. Okay,
I go picking crabs. It's a conversation starter. Yeah, it's like, yeah,
you're not really there for the food, You're there for

(43:52):
the conversation. All right, Color Rush or all black jerseys
all black and night color rush on another day either okay,
all black, all black? Yeah, I'm probably with you. Honestly,
I like I like both of them. That's those are
my two favorites. The problem is I tie them to
different to two really good moments that I remember, Like

(44:13):
we wore all black. I can't remember which game we
wore all black. Actually, no, all black. We won when
we beat the forty nine ers, and it was my
birthday in twenty nineteen when when it poured raining and
my niece came today game. Now she's a Ravens fan um.
And then the color Esh we won. I mean we
played the Raiders, I believe in color esh in twenty
eighteen and it was a really good game. That's why
I great jerseys too. I like the white jersey and

(44:35):
the purple pants now too, So yeah, I think that's
a really good combo. I think arguably we have one
of the best like jersey combos in the league. There's
only like a few. I like the Saints, they have
a good one, but we have a lot of good
you don't think, so you know what I don't like us?

(44:55):
It's all right. It's the purples that get me when
we do too much with Like if we have purple
pants and like the white jerseys, the purples don't match
because our PMS colors are really weird and it sometimes
it will steer blue and sometimes it will steal more purple,
so it annoys me. Sometimes will grow on TV and
it looks blue. So that's why I don't really like

(45:16):
the purples on unless it's all purple, so then it's
all blue. No, the colorush is a different pm it's
a different color, so we need the color rush pants
all right, Monday night or Thursday night game, Monday night,
Monday night, Monday night and the facilities. Orange juice machine

(45:37):
or the fresh ground peanut butter machine, orange juice machine
with prosecco the ship somehow, I don't think that would
go over well. Peanut butter machine, the orange juice machine,
and I think it's coming back for the players at
least here soon, but we got to talk about bringing
that to the side of the building. We can't all

(45:59):
go to the cafeteria now because of COVID protocols, so
we're missing all of our fancy perks that Sarah Snyder,
who they've heard from on the podcast, was the one
that brought in, so Sarah's great. Ladies, I appreciate your
time so much. This is fantastic and thanks for joining me.
Thank you so much. It was so fun getting to
learn from three fantastic women that I'm lucky enough to

(46:19):
work with every day. Don't forget to leave us a
review if you're enjoying the podcast and subscribe and share
it with all your friends. New episodes drop every other Tuesday.
I'll talk to you soon.