Carolyne Savini has been an executive search consultant and a specialist in the sports and entertainment industry since 2006. She joined Fortune 500 gaming giant Activision Blizzard in 2020 to help identify and recruit the world’s top executives into the world’s top gaming and entertainment company.

In this episode, we dig into her story and unpack her unique perspective on how to influence gender equality in gaming. Conveniently, in her new role, Carolyne is in the perfect position to do just that.

 Carving out a niche in sports industry recruiting

After enjoying a successful career in Division 1 swimming at the University of Pittsburgh, Carolyne went on to complete her MBA in Sports Administration at Ohio University. She quickly moved past her dream of being a college athletic director and embarked on her journey as an executive recruiter serving the sports industry. Little did she know, she would go on to love this line of work, and create a name for herself in the space at companies like Turnkey and Nolan Partners.

Building even more experience as part of a collaborative team

In the fall of 2020, Carolyne took another step in her journey, accepting a position with Activision Blizzard, a global gaming and entertainment brand. This was a calculated move on her part and one that would allow her to enjoy the benefits of being part of a team again — something she missed in her years as an independent recruiter. She shared that the athlete in her loves being back on a team with likeminded people, and the idea of being apart of something bigger than her makes her happy.

Increasing diversity in the C-suite begins with leadership

With only about 20% of the C-Suite positions being held by women in both the sports and gaming industry, there is a clear need for more diversity. Carolyne believes there are two ways to combat this: leaders need to open up the job pool, and there needs to be more room for failure. 

“Diversity in the C-suite is a leadership issue,” said Savini. “We can’t change the makeup of the top tier if we are pulling all of our candidates from that small pool of individuals who check all the boxes. We need to look at candidates that check most of the boxes, not all, and focus on growing them.”

Creating a larger, more diverse candidate pool requires effort

Hiring managers must have the willingness, aptitude, and expectation to develop and grow someone if we are going to see any change. Most leaders expect their next important hire to check all of the boxes on the list; they want to be able to hire someone who did the exact same thing at their previous job. Instead of trying to avoid training, industry leaders should embrace the learning curve and give opportunities for applicants to grow into the role. 

Establishing a runway for failure to grow a better team

Carolyne believes that leadership would be more inclined to take a candidate who needs some training if there was more room for micro-failures along the way. In order for this to occur, hiring managers must have the permission to grow their teams over time, and that expectation comes from the top. Accepting the idea that the right candidate will take a bit more time to check all the boxes of the role requires a re-think of the internal structure of a business. It requires some additional up front effort for a longer term payoff.

Her advice for women: Ask for what you need.

“You never get what you do not ask for,” said Savini.

Carolyne urges women to make their goals known and not expect others to know what they are thinking. She shared that, in her opinion, the most successful people are those who are honest with themselves and others about what they need. She wants to empower women to look past the fear of being replaced or looking weak in circumstances where they may need to step away. 

What WINS is she working toward?

“It sounds so cliche, but I get up every day and think, ‘How can I be my best self today? And what does that mean? What does that look like?’ That's what I try and manifest in my day job and in my relationship with my husband, and in my relationship with my kids. My goal, personally, is just to raise high functioning, emotionally intelligent, sweet, curious, human beings. I've got two of them right now… and to continue to support my husband as much as he supports me.”

Deja Wiggins is a WINS contributor and the Sales Coordinator for Ticket Operations at Madison Square Garden Sports.