Hot Take: Shiz Suzuki, on forging new paths and breaking down barriers in sports sponsorship and marketing
In this Hot, Amira Rose Davis talks with Shiz Suzuki, the Assistant Vice President of Sponsorships and Experiential Marketing at AT&T, about the representation of Asian-American women in sports marketing and leadership, and the abundance of (often overlooked) marketing opportunities in women's sport. They also dive deep into Suzuki's personal journey and the unique steps she took to become a leader in the field, while breaking stereotypes and having the courage to make people uncomfortable along the way.
This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our social media and website specialist. Burn It All Down is part of the Blue Wire podcast network.
Transcript
Amira: Hey flamethrowers, Amira here. It’s my absolute pleasure to be joined today by Shiz Suzuki, the assistant vice president of sponsorships and experiential marketing at AT&T. Now, one of the things that I have loved so much about learning about Shiz’s career is the way that she has used the platform of AT&T to evolve their sponsorships, in particular the innovative partnerships with the NBA and especially the WNBA, in particular brokering these deals that we haven’t seen before. AT&T I believe became one of the first non-apparel sponsors to appear on every jersey, helped facilitate this massive new deal and the CBA, and also created an entry into e-sports and gaming partnerships, and through her position at AT&T has helped raised the visibility in sports for women across the board. Now, this conversation is long overdue. I’ve always wanted to reach out and talk about how branding and marketing can be a crucial point of access in opening up access to women, particularly women of color in sports. But I was [laughs] reminded of this again this week as the Miami Marlins announced their hire of Kim Ng to the general manager position, which is about a decade overdue, but we still absolutely love to see it. I knew I had to reach back out to Shiz to ask her about her immediate reactions to this, and then segue into a conversation about what it means to be an Asian American woman within the sporting realm. So, Shiz, welcome to Burn It All Down!
Shiz: Amira, thank you so much for having me! I’m super excited to be here.
Amira: Absolutely, I’m thrilled to have you here. I’ll just start right off the top: this week the Miami Marlins announced the hiring of Kim Ng, and one of the things that I saw on Twitter was the outpouring of support and excited from women in baseball, from women of color, and particularly from Asian American women who were seeing representaiton at one of the highest positions in the sporting world, which is something so rarely seen. Now, when I think about Asian American women in sports my list is very short, unfortunately. Yet y’all are out here! You are on the court, behind the scenes. So I wanted to ask you first and foremost, what was it like to see this news this week, and what do you think is the state of representation of Asian American women in sports?
Shiz: I was completely elated. I mean, talk about incredible news, groundbreaking news, so long overdue! There’s just so many emotions around this, right? I mean, listen, as an Asian woman, as a woman of color in the sports world, I mean, this is almost one of those factoids that people have a hard time believing that in the year 2020, right, that this is the first female GM for a male sports organization. I don’t think anybody’s actually done the research here but I know I’ve read that people believe that this might be the highest level or highest role if you will in male sports that has been achieved by a woman, woman of color. So, I mean, this is really an incredible…Call it breaking through the glass or the bamboo ceiling, kind of all of those things happening at once. Certainly as an Asian woman I am so deeply proud to see this momentum, right, of things happening.
You know, there was an interview that Kim did yesterday and I was so proud to hear her say that she’s very proud and she realizes and understands this responsibility that she has on her shoulders. As Asian women…I’m an immigrant, I came from Japan, I was raised to be, you know…A long time ago it was about being that perfect Asian woman, right? There’s stereotypes of course that all come along with that, which I have long since burned in that pile that I know y’all talk about! But certainly, right, extreme humility is one of those traits, and I was so proud to hear her say how proud she is and how she has taken it on her shoulders, because she understands the importance of what she represents for so many other women out there in this sports space. So, damn I was proud. I mean, what an incredible moment.
Amira: I love that. Now, you mentioned you have this immigrant story. How did sports factor into your life when you think to your childhood? Because you didn’t grow up a huge sports fan, right?
Shiz: I didn’t. I have a very unique story on how I landed in this position that I have now. It is not lost on me that I head up one of the largest sponsorships portfolios in the US, and the story of getting here is definitely not a typical one. I was an immigrant from Japan like I mentioned earlier; my parents and I, it’s your typical immigrant story, right? It’s $200 and a dream. We landed in Minnesota in a tiny town called Litchfield – one stoplight, one McDonald’s, an incredible place to grow up in. Although my dad watched golf, he was an avid golf fan, but other than that we couldn’t afford cable, my parents were working all the time. Sports was more of a luxury growing up, and so I did not really participate in school sports or in sports growing up. I know a lot of colleagues that are in my role, right…I mean, these are incredible collegiate, sometimes even Olympic athletes [laughs] that I am talking to. I mean, listen, that’s so incredible, what they have done and overcome. My storyline of how I got here is a little more different from that, certainly the same amount of call it grit and perseverance, but it’s just a little bit of a different story, perhaps. I have been very fortunate, so at AT&T I came in through a college hire program, so I came straight from business school into a leadership development program.
I started right at the ground floor, I managed a call center. It was union organized, right there in San Ramon, California. I did some time in a hard hat and boots out in construction in south San Francisco, installing copper. Some of the very non-traditional female roles, and I think those are the elements that certainly define people’s careers, right? Taking on those challenges that you never really imagine or think of but are certainly incredible character and leadership building opportunities. Still to this day I tell people all the time that those types of roles, of leading teams in the front lines, frankly, those are the same experiences that still pay off for me and help me today in the role that I’m in. This is my 9th role with the company. I’ve been so fortunate to have these really incredible opportunities. I’ve supported our chairman and CEO, Randall Stephenson, who has just retired, through some of the most incredible moments of our company’s timeline, including the Time-Warner acquisition a few years ago. Now of course I’m in my third year overseeing the sponsorships portfolio, which is a huge representation and driver of our brand and marketing initiatives. So, it has definitely been an untraditional path, and certainly I always tell people: if you want untraditional results you have to hire untraditional people for those roles.
Amira: I love that. Now I wanna go back to what you were saying about stereotypes, and I think that one of the things that happens when you get people looking at a dearth of, say, Asian American women’s representation in sports, people lean into those stereotypes and automatically are like, here are these kind of traditional gender roles. But how have your experiences been navigating gender roles both in a Japanese context and an American one? The reason why I’m thinking of this question is one of my colleagues, Jessica Luther, has covered women’s baseball in Japan, which has bar none the best women’s baseball in the world. That upends a lot of these stereotypes, right? About “traditional” gender roles. So my guess is that it actually is much more fluid in both contexts than we give it credit for. I’m wondering how you navigated gender roles both within your house, within your family, but also growing up among America boys?
Shiz: Wow, that is an incredible question. I’ve never been asked this before, I gotta tell you. I mean, we could probably have a whole other hour about that dual mentality that…Actually, it’s not just immigrants, right? I think a lot of people who grow up in multicultural families or biracial kids, right? My niece and nephew are biracial, and they have their own journeys that they navigate. Listen, I think that there is definitely in Asia – I’m gonna generalize a little bit here – but definitely in Asia there’s definitely that call it “traditional” female view, if you will. You’re absolutely right, the Japanese baseball players, I mean, they are doing their thing and I’m so proud of them for doing that. I think navigating, sometimes it’s just about being true to who you are. It’s about the confidence. It's about being okay with making other people uncomfortable, you know? Whenever there’s change, whenever you’re trying to do something different – now I’m kind of answering the entire thing, but like growing up even, you know?
Thinking about the American boys, I know back in the day I was probably 4, I don’t know, and all the kids in my neighborhood were all boys of my age, and so we’re always running around and playing out in the fields, what have you. When the lights come on at night that’s the time you go home, and I remember the boys used to tell me, “Girls don’t go to war,” and they’d say, “You stay here at the fort and we’re gonna go…Play war,” whatever it was. I remember even at that age, like, this is such a crazy thing. It was so ironic that they’re like, “women don't go to war” – which I didn’t know if it was a fact or not at that age. But yet those same boys would come knock on my door every single morning to walk to school together, and the reason why was there was this neighbor that was on our path to school and there were these dogs that would bark, and they were all scared of the dog. I was the only one who wasn’t scared of the dog, and of course I’m the only female, so go figure! Even at that age I remember the irony in that.
But I think it’s just about having the courage, taking chances. It’s also the courage of making other people uncomfortable. Now, what you do with that is another choice, right? I know for me now obviously in a professional environment, when you realize perhaps you’re pushing envelopes and doing things that are making people uncomfortable, it’s about how do you manage that change, how do you help people along with that journey? Kind of the same thing as Kim Ng had talked about, her feeling this responsibility. I also feel that level of responsibility, of call it the macro and micro level actions that we take – frankly I take, every day, being in this role, the choices and decisions I make. Whether it be property decisions, whether it be activation decisions, the people I hire, the agency I work with, the people they hire. All of those things, right? Certainly that all comes together as the overall, I’ll call it the AT&T movement, which I’m really proud of. But there is certainly a level of you’ve gotta be okay with that uncomfortable-ness, that is just a reality. You know what? Everybody’s on their own journey, right? I told somebody recently that there is a level of comfortable-ness in my own skin that took me a very long time to get to, in terms of being comfortable with my own voice and being confident in the things that I’m saying and what matters and all of those things. Everybody has their own journey and for me perhaps it took a little bit longer. But I am certainly much more powerful for it, a better leader, a better aunt and sister and daughter for it.
Amira: You said one of the people who’s gone on a journey that you’ve been able to see is your father, and that you’ve been able to be in this kind of evolution where you are serving now as the inspiration, the catalyst for change for your niece. Everybody’s kind of building these legacies on top of each other.
Shiz: Yeah, my dad is one of the most hardworking individuals. I don’t wanna get emotional here…You know, he was the dreamer who wanted to always come to the United States and he did, and we did, and here we are. Growing up I’ll never forget, he used to say sometimes to me, “It’s too bad that you weren’t born a boy.” When you’re younger you think your parents know everything, and I couldn’t understand why. He would say because he grew up, right, in a generation and in a world in Asia where being male afforded you all the opportunities, right? Whether it be as a leadership position, whether that be as higher ranking roles within a company – everything was attached to that, meaning as a woman you weren’t afforded as many of those opportunities. So his comment came from a place of good intent and grace, right? He was simply saying, gosh, I want more for you than what I think. Now, I think the beautiful thing and one of the things that I am proud of, is that that outlook has completely changed, right? And certainly 40 years in the United States will do that to you. But now he sees it, and he’s like, holy crap! And you have a part in it, right? Which is, I mean, as daughters one of the most incredible things is to have your father say these types of things to you, like, “I’m so proud” and et cetera.
By the way, my father…There were moments I will never forget. I remember when we were in high school he was in between jobs, his English isn't that great and he had never put a resume together before and I’m trying to help him put his resume together, and people wouldn’t hire him…Oh my gosh, I am gonna get emotional. [laughs] And he decided that he was gonna go to all these companies, and what he did was he said, “I’ll offer to work for free for you for a month, and I guarantee you that you will not regret hiring me.” I will never forget that. So that level of work ethic and what he did to make sure that he could put food on the table for the rest of us, those are the things that I think about. So when I get up in the morning I do think about of course, right, what did my parents sacrifice and what did they do to get us to where we are today?
I certainly owe it to them, I certainly owe it to the company that placed their bets and their chips on me, somebody who never had experience in sponsorships before. And I certainly do it for my 4 year old niece, my biracial niece who is growing up in a world where I want her to know that she’s got all sorts of opportunities. I want her to know she can be the CEO, she can be in that board room, she can be in my seat and not be the only woman of color at the negotiations table, right? I certainly don't want her to face some of the things that we need to burn down! [laughs] And continue to burn down in the world today, right? When I show up with somebody who’s a man and for them to think that I report to him, like, come on now, people! This is 2020. Let's get it together, right? So that’s what I honor when I get up in the morning.
Amira: I love that. I think that’s so beautifully said, and I think about “you can’t be what you can’t see” and the role of visibility and representation. It’s not everything but boy it’s something, you know what I mean?
Shiz: Oh, amen.
Amira: One of the things that I loved the most was actually from earlier this year in the before times, right before we locked down, when the WNBA announced its new sparkling – really blueprint, they set the standard here – this CBA. We have our friends of the show Layshia and Nneka who’ve been on Burn It All Down, and then Cathy of course, and you’re right there in this picture. I love that picture, because one of the things that I think we often miss from this conversation is that brand and marketing has such a crucial role to play in the sponsorship of women’s sports, and oftentimes of course here on Burn It All Down we’re talking about how capitalism has often constrained the ability to invest in women’s sports. But I think that the flip side of that is we’re seeing, especially through your work, how it’s also opening opportunities from the court to the sidelines to the board room. So I’m thinking here about the WNBA but also, you know, e-sports is a whole new world to me. But what are the possibilities that you see moving forward for women in these sporting spaces? These sponsorship portfolios being one of the hands on deck to even the playing field.
Shiz: I mean, there’s so much to discuss here. The investment in women’s sports, I’ll call it that, is probably one of the best kept secrets out there. I mean, generally it is from a financial perspective less expensive than men’s sports, which means every company with every level of investment…I get some people like, “Yeah yeah yeah, she’s with AT&T, she’s got deep pockets.” No, I’m talking about the fact that there are so many opportunities for companies at all levels to get behind and to be partnered with world-class athletes, right? So #1 is that, and #2 is they generally are younger and much more nimble, meaning they wanna co-create with you, they wanna create things with you. The Changemakers program was one of them for us. It’s being the first non-apparel brand on all 12 WNBA jerseys, it’s this ability to co-create things that is a value for each other, I think. And getting access to some really incredible assets that you typically wouldn’t get with men’s sports, and the reality is some of that is around content and storytelling and a platform, and frankly that level of engagement that you can do with the athletes, with the team and with the league – that is frankly what you’re trying to do, you’re trying to engage your fan base, your customer base, that’s what it’s all about.
I always tell everybody that women’s sports is certainly one of the best kept secrets in sponsorships, so if brands and companies are not in it today this is definitely something to look at. I think for us, right, obviously there always has to be a brand fit, if you will. There has to be something that ties togehter, so for us the W; we’re also sponsors of the US women’s national team as well as USA Basketball, both men’s and women’s. Ultimately there has to be that level of fit, so those are things like, does this allow us to create incredible and differentiated technology stories for instance, right? Like, to be able to integrate 5G in really unique and authentic ways, there’s things like that obviously from a business perspective that we certainly want to make sure we’re telling stories of. But at the end of the day when people talk about women’s sports and why, I mean, I think it was 85% of household decisions are made by women, so why would you not, right? It makes business sense. Now in order to connect with that customer base certainly you have to be in the right partnerships and the right places where women are fan bases of.
You also have to hire within the company itself, right? If you hire diverse people into your work force you will inherently create products and services that are more reflective of your customer base. For us, customer bases are generally the United States, 18 and above, and for that we need to have a work force that is reflective of that, and we will create better products and services that are better geared for that. Frankly also from an advertising and marketing perspective as well you will create messaging that will better connect with your customer base. So on the back side of it from a hiring, corporate brand perspective, there is that. Now, from the decision-making and the things that we wanna go do with our partnerships, especially like the WNBA and the Changemakers moment – I’ll call it a moment because it happened at the beginning of the year, and to have this opportunity to be with Cathy and Nneka and Chiney…I mean, I will remember that moment for the rest of my life because that is a reminder of the things that we as a brand can impact and help, and certainly there’s the obvious financial component of it, right? However outside of that it’s about how do we really support the women both on and off the court in ways that are really authentic to what they need.
This year obviously with COVID and what ended up happening with the wubble, right, the WNBA bubble, it was a unique situation where we had to get really creative. We had to kind of scrap all the ideas we had for the season and kind of start over. For us we started from a place of first and foremost let’s make sure the women stay connected to the people and family and folks that they love, so we gave them each a 5G phone and service and all of that, and then we also wanted to make sure that while they’re in the wubble they’re connected to the content that they love the most, so we also gave them HBO Max service as well – and that was just the beginning. We wanted to make sure that they knew that people within the industry, people within the league, that everybody was cheering them on as they tipped off this really incredible season. We put together this video titled To Those Who Wish You Good Luck and it had everybody from Vivica Fox to LeBron James to others that wished them good luck on their journey as they tipped off the season. What we wanted to do was combine all of this into a macro-level story that was told on national television, it was on ABC during the tip off, because we wanted to show to other brands, to other viewers out there: listen, this is an athlete base that is absolutely incredible, and others frankly should be in this space and supporting them, right?
There’s other things like for example I know in sports marketing there’s always kind of this push-pull and debate over what needs to happen to increase the amount of women’s sports on broadcast. I know the stats on this are staggering, I think it’s like less than 4% of media coverage is women’s sports, which is crazy to me. But it is sadly true, and so things like when the WNBA draft happened…I know everybody talks about the NFL draft and Goodell, and no offense but like, let’s just say Cathy Engelbert and the WNBA and their draft came first!
Amira: Absolutely.
Shiz: That was the week before! Yes, right? Originally it was supposed to be on ESPN2, and we’re all scratching our heads like, why is this on ESPN2? What else is going on this Friday, right? So we made a couple phone calls over to ESPN – great broadcast partners – and we said: listen, let’s help each other out here. Guess what? The draft got moved to ESPN, where it should be, and we tripled our investment in media buys that night. So it was to prove the point, right? Then guess what happened? Viewership, I think it was the second highest rated that night. 123% in terms of viewership year over year, so much better ratings than the year before. Frankly I hope millions more people got to see and hear the stories of these incredible women that maybe they weren’t exposed to before, right? Sometimes you gotta start from a place of awareness. Listen, these are those little things…Again, macro and micro level things that we can do to help basically elevate the women in this space both on and off the court. That kind of strings through all of our properties, whether that be in e-sports, entertainment or others.
Amira: Well, I could talk to you forever, but I thank you so much. Sometimes you have to raise awareness and I think it’s so important to reach out and talk to you on this week of heightened visibility to be able to say, “Look, here’s another badass Asian American woman in sports who’s absolutely kicking ass at AT&T, who you should all know.” But thank you so much for giving us some insight about your journey and some of the work that you have going on. I can’t thank you enough for taking the time out to speak with us on Burn It All Down. Of course I have to shout out my absolute best friend in the world, Thelma Hughes, who introduced me to Shiz. And thank you all for taking the time today.
Shiz: Thank you so much! Thanks for having me.