 Hey everyone, I'm Molly Cahillian, adweek senior TV reporter. I am so glad you could join us for another episode of Most Powerful Women in Sports, where the world's greatest marketers, media pros, athletes and coaches share their remarkable career journeys and how they achieved peak performance. As a reminder, we are live and taking questions, so please join the conversation in the chat and drop any questions you might have in the Q&A box. Today I am so excited to be speaking with Stephanie Sherman, the Chief Marketing Officer at DraftKings, a digital sports betting and gaming company with products include daily fantasy, gaming options and digital media. Stephanie joined the company in 2013 as one of its first 15 employees and she oversees all integrated marketing efforts, spanning brand and agency campaigns, media buying, database marketing and influencer strategy. She took on the role in January of this year just in time for the Super Bowl. So we have a ton to talk about and Stephanie, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks so much for having me, excited to be here. Yeah, it's so good to see you. So we only have 20 minutes and there is so much to talk about. But first, can you tell me a little bit about yourself? Where are you from? How'd you grow up? And were you interested in sports as a kid? Yes, so born and raised here in Boston, left for a little bit, went to school in Maine, did a lot of travel growing up. My father came here from Greece when he was in his late 20s. So was fortunate to be able to do a lot of travel there to see family. But today, here in Boston, still very close to where I grew up. So reflecting on sort of question around childhood and growing up, I think probably two threads come to mind. I would say, the first, my family had a small business, women's health clubs. They, my parents started it early in the 80s before women's health, women's gym was really a thing or in vogue. So sort of that thread certainly was a part of growing up, whether it was the sort of odd jobs or absorbing everything that, in hindsight, a lot of things when I think about marketing and basics of easy to remember phone number and simple communication and that type of thing, testing through direct mail. So sort of exposed to a lot of those things and certainly the ups and downs of a small business. And I think another thing you mentioned, sports as part of childhood, absolutely. My father was an Olympic athlete, an Olympic boxer. So from an early age, that was certainly an inspiration and that sort of proximity to understanding elite athletes, what it sort of takes the dedication was always certainly an inspiration. And for me personally, figure skating to field hockey, but ultimately settled in in high school with track and field and continue to run in college. So certainly sports was a part of it. And now it's interesting, seeing it my older child getting into sports, soccer, hockey. So those lessons, the winning and losing, but I think the most fun is sort of seeing that sports fandom through exercise. There's no bigger Boston sports fan today than my son. So that's great to see. That's so great. And so it sounds like pretty much you're kind of perfectly aligned for a career in the sports business world. So you were one of the first 15 employees at DraftKings. So obviously the sports betting landscape has massively changed in the past nine years. So what has your career path been like and what have been some of the biggest changes you've seen in the industry? Yes. So when I started at DraftKings, obviously, you actually started consulting when I was still working at the former company I was at, this different now, Stimpress. And at that time, there were a couple players in the space, but ultimately it was the challenge of building a brand and building a company. And I think what attracted me to getting into the industry at the time really was certainly personal and sort of the opportunity to help start a marketing team and think about it as more blue sky, that full customer experience from marketing to advertising into the consumer journey through the product was the business opportunity, like I mentioned at the time, seeing the sort of beginning blossoming industry and the opportunity to help influence and change how I'm experiencing sports. And then also the co-founders sort of working with them at my previous company and sort of the vision, the leadership and also just really great people that you want to sort of get in the trenches with. And so sort of starting from there, at that point, it was daily fantasy only and through the ups and downs over the years, I think it's really punctuated by some pretty high highs and some pretty low lows in the journey, but the industry from sort of the company we were, daily fantasy to now, daily fantasy, sports betting casino now entering into the Web3 space, it's just been sort of an exciting, certainly exciting journey and for me personally from company of 15 to now we're over 4,000, all of those experiences in between in terms of what does it look like for us to be successful at a 15-person company, a 100-person company now 4,000 and I think just being aware of what that takes, what the composition of teams are needed, I think that's been an incredible part of the journey as well. So there's a lot of threads I want to follow there, but first let's start with building a brand. So DraftKings has partnerships with pretty much every major sports league and the brand's kind of evolved from just daily sports betting into a one-stop shop for fans. What's that evolution been like and how are you capitalizing on the growing interests and legalization? Yeah, absolutely. So I think exactly as you mentioned, it's really this customer focus around how can we better that experience for sports fans? So starting in daily fantasy all the way through to today in the Web3 space. So we have fantastic partnerships that have certainly evolved over the years to sort of help bring the brand into the forefront, not just of daily fantasy or sports betting, but of sports in general. And I think the sort of starting of that evolution, I recall one of my favorite memories was when we were first, 2013, 2014, our first live events, I remember we decided that, we wanted to give a giant check for third place, not just first and second. So I'm going through the airport carrying this giant check and folks were saying, oh, DraftKings, I didn't know that was real. I didn't realize people were actually winning that money. And I think it was sort of in that moment and thinking about sort of taking the brand, sort of that authentic content and that really encapsulating that thrill of having something on the line and getting the game that has been this thread through daily fantasy to sports betting and now Web3. So as we continue to think about how to reach our audience players and prospect players and existing players, really wanting to make sure that we continue to innovate and we continue to have the right message for the right audience in a way that resonates in that really authentic content for the different product verticals that we have. Okay. And then you were promoted in January just before the Super Bowl, which DraftKings had its second consecutive add-in. So how can you take advantage of these kinds of massive platforms like the Super Bowl and other big temple events to promote DraftKings? Yes. So Super Bowl, very exciting time. You're the most bet on a day of the year. So I think for all brands, Super Bowl is certainly a huge platform for awareness, for acquisition, but I think for us in our category in the industry, that ability to not just be part of the moment, but to help engage and bring some of that excitement. So we were really excited for the past couple of years to be able to sort of true to the experience, be able to help fans have something on the line while they're watching the Super Bowl. So I think that sort of not just about that moment, but really the moment still coming up to the Super Bowl and after and continuing to find ways that we can connect with our fans, have authentic content and that flows up one way in a moment like the Super Bowl and that wide of a platform, but also in other ways, whether it's unique to a certain influencer or platform and how can we make sure that we're thinking about that in the right way to the different audiences because at its core, the content of sports betting is really interesting to folks. Well, I wanna keep on the advertising and marketing track for a second. So how do you think about national versus local markets and what's the kind of the difference in strategy there? Great question. And sort of the national and local both play a huge piece and component to our marketing strategy. And I think actually this month marks four years since a past bill was overturned in New Jersey as a first date with mobile legalized sports betting. And so as you think about now four years later over 35% of the population with mobile sports betting, that how we think about sort of the role of local, how we think about the role of national continues to shift, but ultimately that local fandom will always play a role in how we think about whether it's targeted digital sort of personalized messaging or more linear based as well as as we think about as new states launch. So we continue to see new states sports betting and we will continue to see that. We're really excited about some of the states up and coming. And so local will always play a role there. But as we think about national, what's been really exciting has been the ability to have more of a national platform with more of the population able to bet legally. And our partners, we were able to for the first time talk about sports betting on air and Super Bowl with NFL, but that's sports betting. We always have our daily fantasy product which is national and continues to be a strong product for us to engage with existing and prospective players. But national and local both will play a huge part of our mix across all of our different marketing channels. That definitely makes sense. And then you have mentioned web three a couple of times. So we're going to wade into some territories that I probably don't understand as well as you do. But as this technology continues to evolve, like we're talking about web three, we're talking about NFTs, how are you balancing DraftKings legacy products with these new opportunities? Absolutely. And so ultimately at its core, what you mentioned at the top of, we are building and innovating to be that one soft shop where that sports man can come and experience sports in whatever ways, whether it's new or existing. So core will always be relentless innovation on new or existing products, sports betting, daily fantasy casino, how do we ensure that there's a frictionless experience? How are we innovating on that types? It's been really exciting to see the adoption of in-game betting over half of folks that have been in last NFL season placed in in-game bets. So I think relentless focus on that frictionless experience will always be a core focus. But unlike when we were 15 people, now the resources that we have really allow us to not only deliver sort of exceptional experiences, but also innovate in making sure that we are delivering those experience that our players want to see. And I think we're excited with this intersection of sports and technology, entertainment with three, what competing in that space and bringing, we've launched our DraftKings Marketplace, we're in partnership with Tom Brady's NFT company, Autograph. We also have our own collectibles where we provide, through those NFTs, we provide utility through our core products, through rewards in daily fantasy and sports betting. And recently back to our roots, a fantasy, a blockchain-based fantasy game. So all of those things really intersect around that relentless focus on the customer and providing that best engaging entertainment experience to our players. So there's definitely a lot of opportunity with Web3 and NFTs and blockchain coming up for DraftKings. Yeah, and I mean, it's certainly exciting. And I think it's another one of those moments where the impact and the opportunity is huge. And you mentioned, when your space may be for you to get into, but I think that's, certainly the beauty of it is how early it is and how much things will continue to change. And we're excited to be at the forefront there and helping be a part of it. So moving tracks a little bit, as sports betting continues to get legalized across the country, this is a relatively new process and gambling can be a bit of an addiction. How is DraftKings and you thinking about creating a responsible gaming space and marketing company as such? It's a great question. And responsible gaming is a huge priority for us, for me, for DraftKings and for the industry as a whole. So there's a lot of different ways that we think about our responsive gaming programs and how we intend to really have been during impact. Certainly there's more from the marketing standpoint about education through all channels, whether it's awareness campaigns, touch points through our internal communications. But beyond that, beyond partnerships that we have, we partner with folks like the American Gaming Association, again to help to collectively build awareness, going beyond that, partnering with organizations like the Cambridge Health Alliance to redefine how employee training happens inside the company to ensure that sort of best in class and pushing and evolving there. One of the things this year is funding state council funds, so over a million dollars to local state councils, not just in jurisdictions where sports betting is legal, but also in where it isn't. And our hope is that those funds go to nonprofits supporting it and around responsible gaming to ensure more resources, extended resources. And then again, contributions to research and programs to really understand the risk and prevalence in sports betting. So a huge priority, huge focus, again, for us at Drop Kings and the industry as a whole. Great. And then sports can be a pretty male-dominated and a tough industry, as can gaming and betting. So what have been personally some challenges along the way for you and what advice do you have for women who are trying to break into the industry? Yes, I think in general advice I would have really is if trying to get into sports or sort of in a male-dominated industry, I think the more you can build, have a group of advocates, the more talk to as many people as you can. I think reaching out, even if you don't always get answers for every maybe 10 people you reach out to, maybe you'll get a response. So I think really sort of investing time in that. And I think that sort of those advocates internal to organizations have been key and have certainly been something that has been helpful for me, particularly in a male-dominated industry. And for those folks that may already be in sports or certainly a male-dominated industry, advice would just be particularly for women really being cognizant and deliberate about bringing folks along with you, whether that's as simple as a callback to making sure credit is given where it's due in a meeting all the way to something formal and sort of a mentor style relationship. Those would be things that I would focus on in the advice that we get. What would you tell Stephanie in 2013 once you joined Drop Kings now? Oh my goodness. A lot of things, there would be a lot of things. But I think probably the one main thing I would say would be get ready for the ride. And I think it was sort of underneath that is really just so fortunate to have been part of building this company along for the journey and really appreciating that everything changes every six months. And that's part of the excitement, that's part of the innovation. But I think really being deliberate around what the next six months look like, how can I be better, continue to evolve, continue to invest in teams and talents to make sure that we're the best team that we can be. And then where's the future heading? What's next for Drop Kings, what do you hope to see? Future is very exciting and very bright, I think as I mentioned, just continuing to have that sort of customer focus understanding where and how we can innovate to provide better experiences for the products we continue to have or again, push into the new frontiers like our blockchain-based fantasy game that I'll work in place with NFTs. So what I hope to continue to do is really connect in an authentic way with our players and continue to drive and continue to drive results. Well, thank you so much for being here today. 20 minutes is absolutely flown by. But before I let you go, I believe you have some key takeaways that you want to share with the audience. Yes, so three things here. So first one, you know, stay focused on solutions. You know, I think you mentioned what I would say to, you know, 2013, Drop Kings, Stephanie, I think it's really this mindset of there's always going to be challenges. They'll always make mistakes, but how do you learn from them? How do you keep focused? How do you always bring to the table solutions and then sort of a bias to action and path forward? The second, lead with heart and head to deliver business results. So table stakes, of course, delivering results, you know, sort of core competencies from a leadership standpoint. But I think what is required of leaders today, especially with the last couple of years, what's required of companies to acquire and retain the best talent I think is really shifting. And I think that's that combination of sort of leading with head and heart to build the best teams and deliver the best results. And lastly, opportunity for impact is everywhere with the right mindset. So I think as we just talked about, I think with sports, sports entertainment, with sort of intersection of web three, the opportunity for impact is everywhere. And I think if you're excited about sports in sort of any domain that, you know, really everything touches within this industry, it's just a really exciting time with the right mindset of how to innovate, how to deliver value and how to make impact. It's a great time to be in sports. Well, Stephanie, thanks again for joining us today and thank you for those words of wisdom. So this was really great. And please, everyone tune in next week, Wednesday at 3 p.m. when we will be talking with WNBA superstar, Candice Parker.