GladiatHers® Blog

GladiatHers® Executives is a series that highlights some of the top women in sports who are influencing the sports industry and beyond. These high performing women share how they achieve success and have impact. Meet Thayer Lavielle: EVP, The Collective at Wasserman Thayer Lavielle, EVP The Collective As EVP, The Collective at one of the most power sports agencies in the world (Wasserman), Thayer Lavielle showcases current and future pioneers in women’s sports. The Collective

On Thursday over 60 women in the sports industry gathered to connect with and learn from one another in Atlanta, GA. The atmosphere was electric as women committed to growing their reach and influence in sports took steps to broaden their networks. Following registration, food and drinks, attendees listened to a panel of expert women in sports discuss their journeys in the industry. The panel consisted of Caren Cook, Assistant General Counsel for the Atlanta Hawks; Jessica Co

NASCAR and women are not synonymous; not yet anyway. But there’s a woman, Amber Balcaen, who hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba who’s working her absolute hardest to change that. She is the only Canadian to compete in the 2014 and 2016 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine and the 2015 Bill McAnally Racing Drivers Expo. In 2016, she became the first Canadian woman to win a NASCAR sanctioned race in the USA and earned Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series for Lee

We hear a great deal about professional athletes and high profile college athletes, especially in basketball and football, but we don’t often talk about the average student-athlete. There’s little discussion about the hardships, the triumphs and their lives after college athletics. But former college athletes have a great deal to offer this world and are proving it everyday. They are teachers, coaches, doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs. In fact, one study showed 94% of senio

The WNBA Finals are here, and I haven’t written about the League all season long.  Shame on me.  Thankfully, others have been doing a great deal of talking about the WNBA this season. A couple of weeks ago NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, for example, had a few things to say.  As he sat on a panel at the Sports Business Journal Game Changers Conference he admitted of the WNBA that, “It’s not where we hoped it would be. We thought it would have broken through by now.”  Sil

Earlier this week the Beyhive and the whole internet was abuzz after the sagacious Queen Bey came off of her thrown and delivered a brief essay on equality.  With a focus on equal pay, Beyoncé encouraged both women and men to demand that women be treated as equals in the workplace.  I’m the first one to tell you that I’m no Beyoncé Stan and that she’s probably not one of the first celebrities I would look to for advice, but I admit that she was spot on with her assessment.  W

Last week, I published the first of part of this two-part series on the utility of women’s sports programs in college.  In part I, I reached the conclusion that, for the institutions, the value in women’s sports, in the form of institutional morale, diversity and scholarship, significantly outweighed the financial costs necessary to fund those programs.  Therefore maintaining those programs was worth it.  As I mentioned, however, the institutions are only half of the equation

3,283 points. 748 blocks. 18 dunks.  3-Time AP All-American. You know her name, get to know her stats.   Brittney Griner.  Over the past four years we’ve been privileged to watch this women single-handedly dominate basketball.  Her presence electrified fans and disheartened opponents.  Her voice in the media was not loud and boisterous, but her talents on the court were.  We’ll never see Griner in all her glory on court as a collegian, but the future is bright for her.  She n