Meet some of the women on ESPN’s NFL team. Captions explain why they love what they do and detail their day-to-day responsibilities and accomplishments that make them proud. See the full story on ESPN Front Row (https://es.pn/2hFfbjp).
Neeta Sreekanth, Segment Producer – Social Production: No day is ever the same in social media. I create content to program our social platforms, work within the company to discover strategic opportunities, add value to our ESPN NFL brand, and help our talent with their social strategy.
Audra Leimberg, Content Associate – MNF: MNF has pushed me to think deeper – that’s the best part of my job. I’m confronted, I’m questioned, I’m listened to, and the expectations of me are no greater and no less than my peers.
Elanna Rubenstein, Assignment Editor II – NFL: The best part of my job is working on the NFL for ESPN! I get to be a part of numerous shows and I get to be an active participant in making all of our NFL shows better. It can be overwhelming at times, but the payoff in the product we are able to give the viewer is well worth it!
Jaclyn Aronson, Talent Producer – All ESPN Platforms: The best part of my day is getting that booking and providing content for our ESPN platforms. I’m in touch with all 32 NFL teams, PR reps, and agents to secure on-camera interviews, phoners, voiceovers, videos, and in-studio guests.
Allie Stoneberg, Publicist – MNF and NFL Studio Shows: I am proud of achieving results while staying true to who I am and where I come from. I am equally proud of inspiring confidence in others and encouraging them to do the same.
Joanne Strange, Sr. Music Coordinator – Project Lead of NFL Studio and Event: I love being involved in choosing music for the Countdown shows and Monday Night Football games. Music can help tell the story. I place music in edits, custom graphics, billboards and all other areas. Watching the games and the fans gives me such joy that I played a small part in our coverage!
Ruth Spellman, Associate Director II – NFL and MNF: I am most proud of holding a prominent position at ESPN, but more importantly being an African American female in this role. The best part of my job is knowing the show directors rely heavily on my assistance, judgment and expertise to help provide the ESPN consumer and fan with premier programming.
Jess Kraus, Production Coordinator – NFL: I work with two other Production Management teammates to support all NFL studio shows and live events. We help with scheduling and tracking of all NFL talent, facilities, budgets, travel, logistics, and supporting production teams as needed – which can be nearly anything, from meetings with the League Office to arranging a drone shoot on a bison ranch!
Katie Reynolds, NFL Programming Coordinator: I’ve been in my current role in programming for about six months and before that I was a content associate for Sunday NFL Countdown for two years. My proudest accomplishment during my time in production was producing the Moments of the Year feature for the 2015 season.
Dominique Goodridge, Associate Producer – Countdown: The best part of my job is the variety of my assignments and people I get to work with. The unpredictability of this game is one of the constants, so each week is an opportunity to creatively and visually share a different storyline of the NFL season.
Aimee Stokes, MNF Post Producer: I’m most proud of the work I’ve done on the non-traditional events we cover, such as Special Olympics World Games, Invictus Games, and the Pro Bowl Draft Show last season, where we focused on features about Dec 7, 1941. It’s an honor and privilege to work on the stories of the athletes, families, volunteers, soldiers and survivors involved with these events. You learn a lot about humanity. You learn a lot about yourself… who you are, where you’ve been, what you are doing, how you are doing it and start asking, “why.”
Megan Flood, Production Assistant – NFL Primetime: On a typical day at work I help make creative highlights for NFL Primetime to showcase the best of Sunday’s matchups. Being able to spend time really showing how plays develop through telestrations makes coming into work early on a Monday morning enjoyable.
Annie Dunbar, Associate Producer – NFL Social Media: I’m most proud of my work preparing for the launch of ESPN NFL’s Snapchat. We have a bold vision to create innovative content unique to the Snapchat vertical. It is very exciting to be the driving force of extending our brand in such a creative way.
Megan Casey, Associate Producer – NFL Studio Shows: The best part of my job is the pace. Every day really is different, and there aren’t many things like being in a control room in a breaking news situation. The people I work with every day are a huge part of why I enjoy what I do so much.
Tory Zawacki, Associate Producer – Countdown Features & ESPN.com Contributor: Outside of the players and coaches we have the opportunity to work with, there are also so many incredible stories of fans, families, and communities that come together through their love of football. Being in a position to share these stories is what makes my job great.
Jodi Brits, Sr. Production Coordinator – NFL: The best part of my job is working with an amazing crew that loves their job and treats everyone like an extended family.
Josslyn Meyer, Director – NFL Studio Shows: The best part of my job is having the opportunity to be creative with studio elements and coming up with new ideas on a weekly basis for a national audience. The NFL is my favorite sport to cover and being able to work on a show that prepares the nation for each week’s games is a privilege.
Erin Dunphy, Content Associate – Countdown: The best part of my job is getting to challenge myself creatively. It’s rewarding to come up with and collaborate on ideas with the whole team (the other best part of my job!) to make a new element or tell a story.
Paula Orange – Sr. Operations Planning Coordinator – MNF and Entertainment Events: On Mondays, I take care of all day-of credentials, parking lot passes, three catered meals and craft services for 200 people, local hire orientation, guest tours and any pop-ups that may happen. Although the day is busy – I am first in and last out – it is rewarding to have a successful event!
Meg Robinson, Associate Producer – Countdown: The best part of my job is that every week is different. It’s fun to travel somewhere new and work with different people (reporters, teams, camera crews) for each story. No two days on Countdown are ever the same and that keeps the job exciting.
Jenna Contreras, Content Associate – Sunday NFL Countdown: The best part about working on Sunday NFL Countdown is the creative freedom. Every week we are encouraged to take risks and create memorable content. Creatively, the options are endless and the support from the staff is unparalleled. I take great pride in seeing my elements run on Sunday mornings.
Susan Smith, Segment Producer – NFL Studio Shows: The best part of my job is working on the shows I grew up watching (and it being as awesome as I thought it would be). No matter how crazy the day gets, at the end I can always think back to how cool my 10-year-old self would have thought this job is.
Holly Lagasse, Production Assistant – NFL Studio Shows: In addition to producing video elements for the shows, I collaborate with the rest of the staff on content ideas and how to best visually portray them. My proudest accomplishment has been becoming a trusted member of such a great production team.
Natalie Rey, Back Bench Producer – MNF: My typical work day begins coordinating live hits from the stadium for all our Spanish language ESPN productions that revolve around MNF including NFL Live, NFL Esta Noche, and SportsCenter. During the actual game, I feed game coverage and cameras to our producers in Bristol, they add the other elements that constitute what we put on air as our Spanish language MNF, and the TV magic is complete!
Michelle Rosenhouse, Production Assistant – NFL Studio Shows: The best part of my job is getting to work with the talent and producers on a daily basis because of their unique perspective. Getting insight into their thoughts and what they see in a game is an experience that I wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere.
Kelly Karsch, Remote Operations Assistant: The best part of my job is having the privilege of working with the most talented individuals in this business. I have had the honor of being able to learn from the best, which makes me strive every day to do the best I can.
Susan Molinsky, Director – NFL Studio Shows: The best part of my job is working with people who are so passionate about the sport and what they do. My coworkers’ enthusiasm is evident every day and it encourages everyone to push our shows further to create more unique and creative content.
PJ DeCordova-Boyd, Assignment Editor – NFL: We are a well-oiled machine on the Assignment Desk. I am most proud of the way we handle breaking news. We scramble to get sound and video for all shows. We immediately begin to put camera crews on hold to cover the breaking news story.
Lauren Donati, Content Associate – NFL Studio Shows: The best part of my job is getting to wake up every day and create content with an amazing team. Not only do I get to relive the memories I’ve created as a football fan, but I also get to help others partake in that intense sense of fandom on a daily basis and that’s an incredible feeling.
Jillian Kweller, Content Associate – NFL Studio Shows: The best part of my job is the amount of creative freedom my producers give me. It shows they trust me with important decisions and it allows me to express myself without being held back.
