University of Minnesota Athletics
Leadership U Hosts Speaker Series ft. Sportsdigita’s Angelina Lawton and Christy Grady-Murray
7/10/2024 10:47:00 AM | Student-Athlete Development, Leadership U
Leadership U wrapped up their Speaker Series collection on Tuesday, April 23rd by welcoming Angelina Lawton and Christy Grady-Murray from Sportsdigita to campus. Angelina is the Founder and CEO of Sportsdigita, while Christy serves as the Executive Vice President for Business Development. In the fireside chat format event moderated by Christy, both women shared their impressive and inspiring leadership and professional journeys with the Gopher Athletics audience while weaving in tips and wisdom they have learned along the way.
Despite Sportsdigita's prominent role in Angelina and Christy's development, they each have illustrious resumes extending beyond the organization that supports their current work. Angelina's journey, which she describes using the analogy of a hockey game and its three periods, started on Wall Street. Her roles in the male-dominated financial industry kick-started her passion for mentorship, especially for aspiring women. It also helped fuel her as she moved into the "second period" of her career journey where she was charged with managing all the branding initiatives for the Tampa Bay Lightning and first saw the opportunity for a better presentation method. This experience propelled her into her current and third period, "The Entrepreneurial Years," where she founded Sportsdigita and continues to explore her life as an entrepreneur and risk-taker.
Christy's background has also given her great momentum for her journey with Sportsdigita. She relies on her extensive sales and leadership experiences with Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Seattle Sounders Football Club to find new ways to continue to propel Sportsdigita toward success.
As Angelina and Christy described their career journeys, they continuously iterated on the importance of networking and building relationships. Whether through LinkedIn, professional organizations, or other means, they described the importance of creating relationships that aren't just transactional but, rather, allow you to "evolve together" and "embrace other ideas." This valuable message served as a foundation for the personal and professional stories both women shared with the audience.
To support their message and the final takeaways for the Gopher Athletics audience, Angelina provided the following eight "tips to live by" that she has gathered from her successful professional career and inspiring personal endeavors.
- Find your niche
- Be a problem solver
- Have a sense of urgency
- Surround yourself with smart people
- Don't be afraid of sales
- Don't be afraid of tech
- Be bold
- Put yourself out there
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