 Hi everyone. I'm Molly Cahillian, Adweek Senior TV Reporter. This is my first time hosting most powerful women in sports, where the world's greatest marketers, media pros, athletes, and coaches share the remarkable career journeys and how they achieved peak performance. We're live, so I'll be taking questions. Join the conversation and drop any questions you have in the Q&A box. And I am so excited for today. I'm joined by Kim Aang, General Manager of the Miami Marlins. Kim has had nothing short of an incredible career so far, and she's the highest ranking female executive in baseball. She's the first woman to serve as General Manager of a team in any of the Big Four Leagues in North America, and has been in Major League Baseball for more than 30 years, including roles in the front offices of the Chicago White Sox, the New York Yankees, and the LA Dodgers, plus a nine-year stint at MLB. She was named Marlins General Manager in 2020. Nobody knows baseball like Kim, and I am so excited to have her here today. Kim, welcome to the show. Hey, how are you? Good, how are you doing? Good, thanks for having me. Thanks for being here. I know you've got a game tonight. We do. Six Florida, but who's count? We need a W. That's all I know. I can do it. So, I have, we have so much to talk about. You've had nothing short of an amazing career so far, but I want to start from the beginning. Where did you grow up? What was your childhood like, and how did you get interested in baseball? So, I will tell you, not many people know I was born in Indiana. Grew up in New York, though. Queens, Long Island, New Jersey. I went to high school in New Jersey, and I grew up a big sports fan. Came, came through a pretty big sports family. We played tennis all the time. I was a softball player, played softball in high school and college, and then tennis in high school as well. Ski and skate was just a big old tomboy. And that really was, you know, my, my parents were, they fueled my love of sports. Grew up a Yankees fan, and, you know, my love for baseball started from the time I was about five years old. Oh, fantastic. I am also a Yankees fan. My dad's from the Bronx, so I grew up going to Yankees games with him. And then I know you have some Chicago roots. He played softball in college, University of Chicago. So I'm a Northwestern alum, but I think we can still get along. You might look down your nose at me, but I won't look down my nose at you. I would never. I mean, I think you're technically ranked higher than we are, so. But you stayed in Chicago for a bit after graduation. I know you headed to the White Sox. So what was it like kind of getting your foot in the door of the industry? You know, it was, you know, first I'll say that throughout my childhood, you know, being in college, I never really thought of being in the front office of a baseball team that was really just sort of a foreign concept to me until one of my former coaches saw me on campus and said, hey, are you still looking to get in the sports? And I said, absolutely. And she said, we'll take your resume down the White Sox. They're looking for an intern. So that's really how I got my foot in. I can tell you that, you know, again, it just was never something I had really entertained. At the time, I was trying to get into sports, but more on the marketing end, maybe on the PRN, you know, some of the more orthodox disciplines within sports, but never really imagined being in the front office. So it was definitely a new concept to me. But when I was in, I just absolutely fell in love with it. You know, it was behind the scenes. It was operating the radar gun. It was entering scouting reports. It was, you know, all the behind the scenes type of things that you don't really think of as a kid. So really kind of ground level, getting like, getting a base knowledge everywhere. Absolutely. You know, interacting with scouts, coaches, our general manager, people who are making decisions. And, you know, back then, front offices were just so small that you really did have, you know, you did have a voice, which is pretty interesting as well. And you've been breaking barriers your entire career. And I know when you started with the Yankees in 1998, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you were the youngest assistant general manager in Major League Baseball and only the second woman ever. Yes, I think that's right. Did you feel ready? No, absolutely not. And not in the market that I was in. You know, listen, I think being with one of the most storied franchises in all of sports as a 29 year old, you know, in theory, second in command, probably make that third because Mr. Steinburner was number one. But, you know, being at that high a level in that big a market at that young an age was definitely incredibly daunting. You know, but, you know, Brian Cashman, who was my boss, hired me. He was, yeah, he was a great person to learn from. He had grown up through the Yankee organization, really knew the ropes. And it just taught me about being thorough, prepared, had a great way with the media. I mean, to this day, I had Marvel at Brian with the New York media. But, yeah, no, in general, it was pretty daunting. Especially growing up a Yankee span, it must have been, I don't know, legendary to go work for your favorite team. It was. I mean, I got a few ticket requests. But, you know, it was really just one of the funnest aspects for me was seeing seeing former players that I had really grown up watching. You know, Ron Gidry, Rich Gossage, Greg Nettles was one of our scouts, Willie Randolph, Chris Chambliss, they were a couple of our coaches. So guys I had grown up admiring, you know, imitating their batting stances, you know, reading articles about it was just, it was a dream come true. I can't even imagine. I have a very specific memory. I played softball in high school and I still play rec leagues now. I have a very specific memory of my batting coach saying, I need you to watch Derek Jeter and I need you to watch how he watches the ball and I need you to watch his stance. So I couldn't even imagine like going to work around Derek Jeter. Yeah, absolutely. No, and, you know, Derek is, you know, is pros pro. So I was lucky enough to work with him twice. Wow. Well, you're in your second season as general manager. So what were some of your biggest learnings from year one and how are you applying those this year? You know, I think as long as I've been in this industry, 30 plus years, I can say that you never stop learning. You know, people everywhere are different. You have to get used to your staff. Everybody is unique. So I think, you know, just learning staff and learning to understand the language that they were all speaking and some of it. So we're in a very analytically driven sport now. I think that was part of the process. I think, you know, reacquainting myself with some, you know, some of the other executives around the industry was part of the learning curve. And then I think having been out for, you know, a significant period of time and seeing how analytics has really become so incredibly interwoven with with the method of evaluating, you know, all of your operations and just your every day to day routine, you know, there was definitely some learning curve there. But, you know, having gone through it once, I think, you know, is always just the, you know, you get all of that out of the way and your two has definitely been a little bit smoother. Great. And then sports and baseball can be a little bit of a boys club. And with this year being the 50th anniversary of title nine, I would really love to talk about facing bias and or discrimination, how to best not necessarily overcome it, but face it and cope with it. And I was wondering your thoughts on that. Sure. I didn't mean just in terms of like specific instances or specific instances, if you want to share, but in general, I mean, I can't imagine you started in the industry so young. And now like it's different now, definitely, but I'm sure they're still just gender bias. Yeah. So I mean, they're definitely as I will tell you this. So when you're general manager, you don't see it quite as much. But I can tell you throughout my career, so many instances of just real superficial type of things. You know, trying to get into the visiting clubhouse, you know, where they don't know you in the home clubhouse, of course, they know who you are, you work there. When you go to a different facility, though, they don't have any idea who you are. You're stopped at the door and you're the interpreter, your media, you're someone other than an executive with the club. You know, so I think what I think, you know, on a number of different levels, it was frustrating for me throughout my career. You know, but I think it's just what people are used to. I think you know, the way we try and get around that is to educate. I think in baseball, at the very least, our numbers of women are going up. I think there's a really great story there in terms of, you know, the number of women that we have now coaching in the minor leagues managing, you know, the number of female trainers, scouts. So I think there's a really nice story to tell there. And I think the more that the numbers go up, the less we are a novelty. And that there is some familiarity. But, you know, look, I think I don't want to sugarcoat it either. You know, there were definitely points in my career where I was incredibly frustrated. I mean, just the fact, you know, that I had numerous interviews before, you know, I actually got this job. You know, it was, first of all, I don't want to sound ungrateful. I was grateful for the number of opportunities that I did have to interview. But, you know, at a certain point, too, you know, my resume matched up against, you know, a lot of the other candidates and, you know, candidates who ended up getting a job. So, you know, we still have a long way to go, but it is getting better in baseball, for sure. And I mean, you first interviewed for a general manager job back in what, 2005? Yeah. Yeah. And then you see it, I mean, super interesting point because you see it in all the pro leagues too. Like think about Becky Hammond in the NBA. Her resume definitely stacked up with all those people, but hey, she's not now got a great head coaching gig in the WNBA. So, yeah. Now, and, you know, again, it's, you know, I was fortunate to have those interviews. I mean, there are a number of my colleagues who still haven't had, you know, interviews. So, I definitely don't work, look at it as a horrible thing that I had those interviews. But, you know, when I was going through the process, you know, I thought I was there, you know, and this was going to be the one and you keep hoping. And yeah, I mean, it was tough, but, you know, we're all tough and we just brush ourselves off and get up and go for the next one. And I want to hit on, you mentioned this, that like seeing the numbers growing in baseball and just seeing more women in higher positions in baseball and sports in general. So, there's always been interest in women's sports. Like the market has always been there, but I feel like it's starting to get talked about more and there's more exposure and you're seeing it translate across television ratings. So, like the women's Final Four was just the most watched since 2004. College softball's got a renaissance going on. So, where do you see some of the strongest growth areas for women in sports and how do you think we can communicate with us when that's on? You know, like I think it took a while for softball to get going, but it finally has. You know, I think women's hockey is another one on the horizon. They were just televised, I believe in January at Lake Placid. Their playoffs were actually their entire season might have been. But forgive me, I don't know the exact details. But, you know, I think on the athlete front, we have made definite strides. You know, WNBA has been there quite a bit. You know, women's tennis, but I think we're really making it there in terms of what's viewed on TV. And I think people are seeing that there's money in advertising and that there is definitely a swell. You know, and I think the more that female executives are put in positions of power or not only building teams, but we're also deciding what's on TV and what plays and advertisers, etc. Yeah, I think it's only going to get larger and bigger and broader. So, really hopeful I'm up front. I agree. It feels like there's a swell happening. So kind of along those lines, what's the best piece of advice you'd give to women who are trying to break into the sports business? Well, you know, persistence is obviously one of them. I mentioned the numerous interviews that I've had. You know, that's whether you're in the industry or whether we're trying to get into the industry. And then the other thing I would say is, you know, I've encountered a lot of this in my career is that you have to have thick skin. You know, you're going to hear a lot, you're going to see a lot that for me, you know, I think for a lot of us, he gets our hackles up. And I think it gets our competitive juices going. We want to prove everybody wrong. But I think that's that's a good thing. And yeah, it's really just to have thick skin and be persistent. That's good advice. Good advice for just careers in general, too. Exactly. Exactly. I like it. Just be half-thick-skinned, guys. You'll get through life. Persistence is definitely key, though. So just being in the industry for so long, who's someone you admire a lot or someone who's maybe served as a mentor to you? Well, I think I'd have to say first and foremost is Joe Tory. Joe has been a great, stabilizing voice in my career. I've worked with him at three different stops. The Yankees, the Dodgers, and Major League Baseball. I think Joe has been that person for me who has this incredible map for just simplifying life. I go in, I tell him a 10-minute story about whatever's going on, and he can simplify it into one sentence, one or two sentences. And it makes you just pitch your head and go, of course, and that's the answer. But he's a great listener and has always been there for me. Other people, as I mentioned, Brian Cashman, prepared, thorough, able to see the big picture, and definitely been an influence for me as well. Great. I mean, those are some great names I've had in your career. So going back to the Marlins, where do you see the future of the Marlins going? What are your hopes for the franchise? And then also baseball in general, where do you want to see the sport of all two? World Series or bust. Look, I think the future for the Marlins is very bright. The folks here have done a really good job of building the farm system prior to my arrival. Last year, we've been ranked in the top five to 10 player development systems, marauded systems in all of baseball. We're now seeing some of those players get to the big leagues. We've made some great trades. We got to the playoffs in 2020, not as fortunate last year, but striving for that in 2022. That's really where we are. I mean, we're trying to win. We're trying to get to the playoffs and we're trying to do it every year. I think this is a year where we will be very competitive. We are in a tough division, the NL East, but nonetheless, just going to ride that pitching all the way to October. We've got a great staff and we, again, we have great kids coming up for the play point. At playoffs are always the goal. And if it helps, one of my coworkers specifically asked me to ask you why the Phillies can't beat the Marlins to save their lives. Pitching. I will reiterate that. Well, he's kicking my butt in fantasy with his pitching staff. So you should take some Marlins pitchers on your staff. They all got drafted so quickly. We have it. Well, Kim, unfortunately, we are almost out of time. But before I let you go and go prep for your game tonight, I believe you have some key takeaways you want to share with the audience. Yes. And we've mentioned the word persistent several times, remain persistent. Again, me having interviewed all those times, it finally came to fruition and staying optimistic. Number two, sometimes it's lattice, not ladders. I know we're all ambitious and we all have our eye on the goal. But sometimes it's okay to take a step sideways as opposed to up. And I think, you know, for me, that's always been about the learning curve and making sure that I never lose sight of learning and being curious, because I think that is a fundamental driver of great leaders. And then number three, I'm going to identify your allies, your allies. I think, you know, it's always easy to know who your enemies are, but it's, it's a lot harder to figure out who your allies are. But when you do find them, they are just incredibly helpful to you. And, you know, it could be a mentor, it could just be a colleague, it just be a support, somebody who supports you. But, you know, these are all things that I have found to be really helpful in my career. So I hope that others take from them. I mean, I personally have taken away so much from this conversation. So I am very, very glad that you joined us today. Thank you again and good luck tonight. All right, Molly, thank you. Take care. Thank you. And we will see you guys all back here in two weeks for the next episode of Most Powerful Women in Sports.