Women in the City

[00:00:10] Speaker A: This is beyond basketball, where we go behind the scenes of Calgary's newest pro sports team, the Calgary Search. I'm Kala Shuel. [00:00:19] Speaker B: And I'm Emma Miller. [00:00:20] Speaker A: And in this episode, women in the city. [00:00:31] Speaker B: This is women in the city, where we deep dive into the stories, experiences and achievements of incredible women who have broken glass ceilings within the CEBL, and how the women at the surge are continuing to leave their mark in sports through leadership and inspiring the younger generation. [00:00:50] Speaker A: If you are a woman in sports or want to learn about the female filled positions of athletics, then this podcast is for you. One of the surge's main endeavors is to create a space where women can gain inspiration, motivation, and valuable insights from experienced women in the field. [00:01:11] Speaker C: In this episode, we will cover a. [00:01:13] Speaker A: Wide range of topics such as breaking stereotypes, developing leadership skills, and more. [00:01:22] Speaker B: So enjoy the following conversation between Calgary Serge's senior vice president, Brittany Easton, head of communications, Hilary Fontas Kaula and myself. [00:01:38] Speaker C: Can you tell us about your job position, what it is, and what your position entails? [00:01:43] Speaker D: Yeah, you bet. So I am the senior vice president. [00:01:47] Speaker B: Of the Calgary search. [00:01:48] Speaker D: I guess, in a nutshell, I manage the day to day operations of our front office. [00:01:54] Speaker C: Okay. And then, Hilary, can you tell me what your job position and what it entails? [00:01:59] Speaker E: Yeah, definitely. So I'm the manager of communications for the Calgary surge. I basically run all our social media platforms, so that includes Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I also do a lot of press releases, maintain the website, and when players are around, I take care of them. [00:02:25] Speaker C: Okay. And then, Brittany, so tell me about your leadership style. [00:02:29] Speaker D: My leadership style has definitely always kind of leaned more towards the people first side of an organization. So I really enjoy focusing on growth and development, and I really like to work with younger people or people that are starting out newer in their career and just helping them with tools and resources and getting them to where they aspire to be in their life. [00:03:01] Speaker C: Okay. And then, does it differ from any of your male counterparts? [00:03:06] Speaker D: That's a really interesting question. I guess. Yes, yes and no. I think. I don't know what it is, to be honest with you, but in any room, and even before the surge, in any role I've ever had, and even outside of work, I've always just taken on this. People, even strangers, feel so comfortable coming to me and telling me their whole life story. And so I think I might have a one up on some of the other people in our workplace just because of whether it's personable or. I also, I'm never the type to give myself compliments. It's weird for me, but I do think that being personable and being able to have those conversations and have that growth mindset, I think it is an advantage, for sure. [00:03:58] Speaker C: And then what barriers have you faced as a leader? [00:04:02] Speaker D: I'm trying to think of barriers that I would have that would be unique to this organization. But truthfully, I don't think I really have. I think I've always been a very strong willed individual, and I never shy away from giving my opinion. But I've been very, very fortunate that I don't think there's a business case that I've presented where, you know, there hasn't been any males or any. Anybody on the leadership team that's shut down anything that I've thought or said or communicated. I think I've been very, very fortunate. One thing I will say is, and this is outside of the search, but there's a definite. Just in any sort of sporting environments, if there's stats or all the day to day basketball operations, you typically see, anybody from a crowd will typically go ask the male first. But I think women in sport, we're growing, we're learning. We're becoming a powerful force to be reckon with. And I think this stigma is, you know, it's slowly starting to evaporate because there's some. There's some pretty incredible women in sport breaking down barriers. [00:05:16] Speaker C: And so, Hilary, my question for you is, tell me about the women that work for the surge. [00:05:20] Speaker E: Wow. I think the surge has an extraordinary group of women behind it, and I never really tell this to them to their face. So the fact that Brittany's in here is a little much. But they. For my part, they keep me grounded. They pick me up when I'm down, and they always make sure to make me feel like I'm supported and that I'm doing a good job. They are most of the hardworking people, most hardworking people I know. And the team has a bunch of amazing individuals, but we definitely pull our part to make this the best product that it can be. And a lot of people wouldn't, you know, assume that because we're women and we don't know anything about sport and we're new in the sports world, and we've never done anything. For my part, I was an intern last year. So they look at me and they're like, you were an intern last year. You're a manager now. Like, you must not know much. You know what I mean? Great group of women. I don't want to get emotional at all, but some of my really, really good friends, so. [00:06:26] Speaker C: And what are some of the female filled positions within the surge? [00:06:30] Speaker E: So there's me, manager of communications, senior vice president. Brittany. We have Angie Orman, who's our corporate sales executive. So she does anything on the partnership side, sponsorship side. For the team, we have Prabti Patel, amazing account executive. So if anybody wants her contact information for tickets, I can give you that. And we have Marielle, who's actually still a student here at Mount Royal University, and she's working for us part time as our operations coordinator. [00:07:01] Speaker C: And then for you, Hilary, why does female representation matter in sports? [00:07:06] Speaker E: I think it comes from. For me, anyways, I was a cheerleader for a really long time, and, you know, I wasn't the typical cheerleader. That was, you know, skinny and small. I had curves and a kid named Lily. She came up to me, and I'm still in contact with her and her family, and she said, you know, you actually look like me. And I know that I can do this later if I really wanted to do it. And I think representation matters for anybody who doesn't see themselves occupying spaces or, like, being at a table that they think they shouldn't be at, you definitely have that opportunity to be at that table, and you definitely need to occupy that space, because you're serving as an example for people who don't think they can do it. And it's kind of this, like, vicious. Not vicious cycle, but a cycle where it's like, oh, like, I can't do it, so, like, I'm not gonna do it. You should always take the chance, and you should always take the leap and do it. So I think representation matters in that sense, because you never know who is watching you for the first time, who is having struggles, like, you know, deciding on a career path or, like, jumping into something new. You never know who you're gonna inspire, and I think that's what's important at the end of the day. [00:08:21] Speaker C: Okay. And then. [00:08:22] Speaker F: Good story. [00:08:23] Speaker E: Yeah, it was really good story. [00:08:25] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:08:26] Speaker C: And then, Brittany, have you ever experienced a situation in which you felt discriminated against based on your gender? [00:08:32] Speaker D: You know what? Funny enough, I actually don't think I have. I think, and maybe it's just my strong willed personality. I think maybe more age. So I've been very fortunate. But I can tell you, if that ever happened, this girl wouldn't stand for it for 2 seconds. [00:08:51] Speaker C: We love that. What about you, Hilary? Have you experienced a situation in which you felt discriminated against? [00:08:58] Speaker E: I wouldn't say discriminate against. I've had a lot of times in my career where they'll be like, oh, where's the manager of communications? And they'll look at my intern and be like, are you? And they're like, no, this is my boss. So I think situations like that. But like Brittany said, in the CBL, we're such a close, tight knit family. And the surge as well, that the CBL are executives there. Like, they very much value women in these spaces. Like, a lot of women have had multiple opportunities, opportunities within the league. Annie LaRouche, who is now the president of the Montreal alliance, is the first female president in Montreal's history. There hasn't been anyone like her. My mentor at the Ottawa Blackjacks, Marie Kagarin, started as, like, a manager such as myself. She's been at the blackjack for five years. She was just promoted to be the vice president of the organization. So they're always, you know, looking to give, not because we're women. It's just because we're hardworking and we're actually doing our jobs well, so they'll always, like, promote us. There's never a sense of making you feel small because you're a woman or making you feel like you're less than because you're a woman. They just, you know, do a really good job at making sure that the right people are in the right places and getting recognized. [00:10:18] Speaker F: Just when you mentioned that people look at you and don't think, you know, I also. I actually. I'm just coming out of a fitness job right now, and I was in management as well, and that's the same for me. They look at me and they're like, oh, you're like some little 20 year old girl, what are you doing? Kind of thing. Get me the big buff coach kind of thing. And that's like, I totally. I think that's major. [00:10:43] Speaker E: Yeah, you relate, you know? Cause it sucks when they, like, they're like, oh, I'll go to the man in the room. But turns out I know more than my intern. He doesn't know much. So he'll look at me and be like, hey, like, can you answer this question? Cause I don't know what the. What they're talking about. So it's kind of funny, and it's kind of rewarding in a sense, after. Cause, like, you see their face, like, literally, like, oh, like, sorry, I messed up, you know? And it's like, I don't know. To me, it just pushes me to be better. Like, you don't think I can do it. Let me show you that I can do it twice as better than you can. [00:11:17] Speaker F: Yeah, totally. [00:11:18] Speaker D: Also, I don't know if this has come across, but we're not a competitive bunch at all over here. No, no, we love that. [00:11:26] Speaker C: Okay. And then, Brittany, what is the greatest challenge you have faced since working for this surgeon? [00:11:32] Speaker D: Hmm. Great question. I think the biggest challenge was, you know, we went from a concept that we were selling to the community of Calgary without playing a game. So, definitely the biggest challenge was, you know, putting together the front office team, taking people from different roles, different landscapes, different sectors. Cause something that a lot of people don't know is the majority of our front office didn't previously work in sports before. Some had interned here and there, and we had a couple that had come over from Guelph when the team located. But it was a lot of learning on the fly and growing for our team. So being there for them, giving them the tools and the confidence that they needed to succeed, when sometimes myself, I had never seen and done the product. This was my first year in this space, too, so I'm trying to be very, very confident for the team. And inside, I'm like, you know, I've seen this on tv, but we've never played a game at Winsport. We've never had the Calgary surge on a court yet. So just maintaining that poker face and getting everybody on the same page and focused, and truthfully, they made it probably as easy as they could on me because I couldn't. I've worked with a lot of different groups and a lot of newer roles, newer positions, but I've never worked with. With a group of individuals that are this passionate about what they do, and they really gave it their all. And I think we saw it pay off tremendously in season one, and I'm stoked for season two. [00:13:15] Speaker C: And then, Hilary, what about you? What was your greatest challenge working with in the surge? [00:13:20] Speaker E: I think the greatest challenge came when I moved cross country to work for the surge. So I'm originally from Montreal, but was in Ottawa for the last six years, where my family is, where my mom is, super close to my mom. So it was, like, very much my first time, you know, moving out on my own, in my own apartment, living by myself, just, like, in a new city, like, starting a new job. So it's, like, really overwhelming. But I think another challenge for me was, I've never been in a leadership position. This is my first year doing it, and I have a team that is awesome. I wouldn't be where I am without Jesse and Josh, they do a lot of work, a lot of work behind the scenes that a lot of people don't know about, and they. If I have a moment at work where one day I come in and I'm like, maybe I'm gonna cry today, they let me do that, and they don't judge me, so that's awesome. But I think it was just more or less managing them. Like, I've never done that before. That's kind of me growing into my leadership style, as well, which is, I figure it out more collaborative than anything. I don't necessarily like being like, this is what you're gonna do, and you're gonna do it, and I don't care about your ideas. The best ideas comes from collaboration. So, yeah. So, moving out here and selling to a leadership role would be the biggest challenges for me. [00:14:42] Speaker C: And then how can women navigate through power structures? [00:14:47] Speaker E: Okay, that's a good question, actually, for. [00:14:52] Speaker F: How have you guys navigated the power structures? [00:14:54] Speaker D: Yeah, I think I can speak to this one a little bit here. So I think it's. This is such a cheesy analogy, but it's like a house. A house is only as strong as the foundation that you build beneath it. You know, building out that strong foundation, building out this phenomenal front office team. You know, you can go out and you can make two or three mistakes, and mistakes will happen, and mistakes are okay, but it's about the support that you have behind you. So I think the navigation comes between, you know, and Hillary kind of mentioned this in her leadership style, which I think is so phenomenal. It's having that collaborative approach, because it's not me against the world, and it's not Hillary against the world. It's this whole team together. And if this team is together and functioning together and we're all focused on common goals, then it's pretty much gravy from there. There's really nothing we can't do. So I think as long as this team is solid, there's nothing we can't navigate through. [00:16:01] Speaker F: Sticking together, essentially. Before we kind of talked about female representation in sports and all that kind of stuff, I was just wondering how you guys maybe thought we kind of calculate the benefits of that. [00:16:14] Speaker E: So I think it matters for just the growth in our industry. I don't know if you guys watch the WNBA at all, but the WNBA Finals this year were the most viewed across North America, which is a pretty big deal. Feel like, you know, we haven't really tapped into the investing in women's sport all that much, or, like, it's investing in women in sport, for that matter. But I think the ties are changing, and I think, you know, the more eyes we can get on women's sports or, like, women in high positions, like, the more beneficial it's gonna be in the long run. Just because I don't know if you guys know this or not, I'm really passionate about this. Cause the WNBA is, like, growing, and it's expanding, and it's great, but up until this year, they couldn't fly on charter planes, whereas the NBA is allowed to do that. They had the LA Sparks last year sleep in an airport because their flights kept getting canceled. And then the New York Liberty had the same issue. So the owner was like, hey, I'm just gonna charter this plane real quick, get you guys to your game, because you guys have a game, like, you can't miss that. They were fined, like, 500k for chartering a game, a plane to get to a game. And obviously, that never happens in the NBA. But, you know, that's the thing, right? I feel like the more we invest, the more we have those resources for those kinds of teams is just the best way to go in a growth perspective. Just because if nobody's talking about it, we don't have the resources for it. It makes it a lot harder. Yeah, I think. I don't know if that's answering your question or not. I think it's just important for the growth of women's sports and just women in these spaces in general. [00:18:00] Speaker F: I can't remember if it was the NBA. It was like the all star game or it was the Olympics, when they showed it was the difference in the weight rooms for women. [00:18:09] Speaker E: That's why it was the NCAA Marchmyer ness tournament in 2020, I believe. So a TikToker named Sedona Prince, basically, he went to go get a workout in, and the guys have, like, a weight room that has, like, everything. It's like a state of the art gym. You can. There's so much space. Beautiful. You can, like, fit three semi trucks in there. You turn to the girls side, and it's like yoga weights and yoga mats, and, like, they have, like, ten pairs of dumbbells. For a team that's like 30 going up to, like, 30 people in there. And then she goes on TikTok, and she's like, nCAa. Like, you have explaining to you, what is this? What do you mean? We don't have space? And she pans around the room. There's as much space in the man's gym that there is in the women's gym. The next day, they get back to the gym. Stater of the art gym. [00:19:01] Speaker D: Get it, girl. [00:19:01] Speaker E: And NCAA was like, yeah, we dropped the ball and we should have been better, but it should have been done right in the first place. You know what I mean? That's why there's so much. Why does it have to be so much discrepancy in what we get? Like, I just don't understand that. But it's getting better. The tides are changing. Not fast enough, but we still have some work to do, but it's getting better for sure. [00:19:23] Speaker F: So you'd say representation and investment are kind of the two biggest things. [00:19:29] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:19:29] Speaker F: Do you guys have any advice that you would give young girls going into sports or, like, leadership positions? Yeah, going to work in sports. [00:19:37] Speaker D: I think I can take this one. So, I mean, I'm a mom, so it definitely hits home. And I think, you know, any decision that I make is, you know, is this something that, you know, I would be proud for my kids to see? Is this something that's, you know, being able to just look back and be proud of? So that's. That's definitely the mentality that I bring to work every day. And I don't know that it's necessarily my advice for, for the younger generation, but what I will say is these jobs are available, the barriers are being broken down, and my advice is more to the collective, to be a good neighbor, be a good role model. Make sure that you're casting a shadow that you would be proud for your children to follow. And then with that being said, something that's so phenomenal about the league, about the CeBL, is what we're doing right now. And my role and Hillary's role and all the roles on our team, these are reachable. You look at NHL and you look at NBA, and it's a very narrowed down pool. It's not as accessible as what these leagues are. Our purpose is to grow canadian talent, show that you don't have to always go overseas to play. We're really trying to develop that here in Canada, and it's taking off. I mean, we've had Winnipeg just launched last year, so this league is rapidly growing with us. So, you know, my commitment is to get out into the community, get out into the schools, and be able to, you know, not just sit on a podcast and give the, oh, you know, this is what you could do. I want to get in there and I want to, you know, be face to face with kids, I want to show them how this path is achievable. And maybe if sports is not your role, if you have other passions, there's still things to learn about that. And I think the more that US leaders can be able to get face to face and in the schools and hands on and just showing the youth and young women what's possible, I think that's what moves the needle. [00:21:49] Speaker F: It's like the value of sportsmanship in a way, kind of, yeah. Did you have anything to add to that? [00:21:54] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:21:55] Speaker E: And to add a bit more, I think just take the leap. Like, you don't have anything to lose, really, for me, I left a government job, very cushy pay and benefits. And a lot of people look at me and they're like, why the hell would you do that? But at the end of the day, I had a passion, I had a plan, and I had a career in mind that I wanted to go after. And Dylan and Brittany gave me the opportunity. Dylan is our vice president. They gave me the opportunity to come out here and start from something from scratch. And not a lot of people can say that they've done that in their lives. So take the leap. [00:22:29] Speaker F: You guys have anything you'd like to add? [00:22:31] Speaker E: Go women in sport. [00:22:33] Speaker F: Cheers. [00:22:38] Speaker B: That's Hilary Fontas, the Calgary search's communication manager, and Brittany Easton, the senior vice president. [00:22:53] Speaker C: And that's it for this episode of. [00:22:55] Speaker A: Surge in the city. Thank you for listening. I'm Kala Shawell, and special thanks to Emma Miller for producing this episode. This series is a collaboration between the Calgary Surge and the community podcast initiative. [00:23:12] Speaker C: Based out of Mount Royal University. [00:23:14] Speaker A: It was produced on treaty seven territory, and we recognize the stewards and storytellers of these lands, the nitsutape, the Yahei Nakoda Sutina, and the Metis peoples. We are grateful to create, learn, and play here, and as storytellers ourselves, we are committed to listening to their expertise and continuing to learn as we work towards reconciliation. [00:23:39] Speaker B: Follow the surge on their new season at Calgarysurge, Ca and Calgarysurge on social media. Learn more about the community podcast initiative at thepodcaststudio, CA and at CommunityPod YYC. Be sure to subscribe for the latest episodes and find out where in the city the search will be next.