369. A New Era For Women's Sports: How To Create Buzz & Follow Your Instincts With The New York Liberty's Chief Brand Officer Shana Stephenson
Hurdle with Emily Abbate
iHeartPodcasts
5 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 25 August 2025
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Shana Stephenson had her dream job at ESPN years ago. Now, she has her dream job—again. As the New York Liberty's Chief Brand Officer, Stephenson has the opportunity shape the way that fans see the Championship team in the stadium, on television, and beyond. In this week's episode, Stephenson talks about how she ended up in Brooklyn, and what goes into marketing the no. 1 team. She also talks about how she balances work and her personal life, how the WNBA has changed drastically over the past eight years since she came on board, and what she's most looking forward to next.
IN THIS EPISODE
(7:13) What's been the biggest challenge for Shana Stephenson as a leader at the Liberty organization
(13:15) What it was like being in the WNBA "Wubble"
(17:40) How did Shana Stephenson concept a brand identity for the New York Liberty
(19:00) What it was like to build Ellie the Elephant's brand
(21:40) How they were able to pivot from Mattie the mascot to Ellie
(24:30) How Ellie has evolved over the years, including brand partnerships with Essie and Away
(29:57) Shana Stephenson offers up the best piece of advice she's ever received in her career
(34:00) The biggest sacrifices Shana Stephenson made when she was working for herself doing personal marketing for athletes
(40:23) What made Shana Stephenson decide to go back in-house for a job when she thought she'd work for herself for the rest of her life
(44:15) Shana Stephenson talks about how her upbringing made her a better businesswoman
(48:46) Shana Stephenson talks about the corporate culture working for the Liberty
(49:10) Shana Stephenson talks about the difference working for the Liberty versus the Nets
(53:30) Shana Stephenson talks about balancing her work life versus her personal life
OFFERS
LMNT | Go to DrinkLMNT.com/Hurdle to get a free sample pack with your purchase
AG1 | Head to DrinkAG1.com/Hurdle to get a free welcome kit (valued at $75) with 5 free travel packs and a year's supply of D3K2 with your purchase of AG1 next gen.
JOIN: The Daily Hurdle IG Channel
ASK ME A QUESTION: Email [email protected] to ask me a question!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | if you really are tapped into your purpose and where you truly believe your call to be, |
| 0:06.5 | then the dots will always connect. |
| 0:08.6 | So you just have to be patient and trust. |
| 0:30.4 | What? What's going on? Emily Abadi here. I have a confession. I giggled when I realized that this is episode 369 of hurdle. A wellness focused podcast where I talk to inspirational people about everything |
| 0:38.0 | from their highest, highest, highest, and toughest moments to essential tips on how to live, |
| 0:42.3 | a healthier, happier, more motivated life. We all go through our fair share of hurdles. |
| 0:47.8 | My goal through these discussions is to empower you to better navigate yours and move with |
| 0:52.7 | intention so that you can stride towards your own |
| 0:55.3 | big potential. And of course, have some fun along the way. For episode 3, 6, 9, I am chatting |
| 1:04.6 | with Shana Stevenson. She's the chief brand officer for the New York Liberty, Brooklyn's very own WMBA team. I was elated to be |
| 1:15.3 | connected with Shana last month and so excited to have her on the show because these are the |
| 1:20.2 | conversations that light me up, the conversations that peel back the curtain so that we can |
| 1:25.8 | see what's going on behind the scenes. |
| 1:29.5 | In our conversation today, Shana gives me the lowdown on how she ended up at the Liberty, |
| 1:34.6 | a background in fashion, in sports, and at one point, a dream job at ESPN. |
| 1:40.4 | We talk about how that term dream job can evolve over time and how just like we are all |
| 1:48.4 | growing and evolving every day, so do our career aspirations. We chat about the crazy evolution |
| 1:55.0 | of the WMBA and what it was like when Shana first started working with the Liberty to now. |
| 2:01.4 | What goes into building a brand for a team like this and how it feels that the fandom is really |
| 2:08.0 | catching on. |
| 2:08.9 | That woman's basketball is in such a different place than it was when she started with the team in 2018. |
| 2:16.0 | We talk about the integral role that Chana played in the team's transition to Brooklyn, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.