Transcript of Steph Curry Enterprise: From Receptionist to Driving Business Success for a Sports Icon | Tiffany Williams

Wow, this is going to be such an incredible show today. But before we start the show, I want to ask you for a favor. See, I'm on a mission to help millions leap their careers, land their dream goals, fast track to leadership, jump to entrepreneurship, or create portfolio careers. Now, this podcast is about giving you a blueprint of how some of the biggest leaders of our time be success. So subscribe, download. So you never miss it. Plus, it really, really, really helps me continue to bring amazing guests. So let's dive in.

I come from a long line of very strong women who are not going to take no for an answer. When I'm told no, I'm just going to figure out a different way to do it.

Tiffany William, the COO of 30, Inc, the company that was founded by Steph Curry, the Golden State Warriors, NBA Superstar. Tiffany played such a pivotal role in shaping his brand, the business ventures, the philanthropy.

I was really looking for opportunities for growth, and it was just very hungry for all things in entertainment. My dad was really on me to get a job. When I heard about this part-time job as a receptionist, I was like, Okay, this will be good enough. He was like, No. But that didn't really stop me. Ended up at the Warriors working there part-time as a receptionist. There's always times in your career where you may not be moving as fast as you want to, or maybe you don't get the promotion that you wanted. I really just learned to let the work speak for itself.

What would you say to audience who is trying to get the role of their dreams? I would definitely tell them to Tiffany William, the COO of 30, Inc, the company that was founded by Stephen Curry. Yes, Steph Curry. How cool is that? The Golden State Warriors, NBA Superstar. Tiffany Tiffany played such a pivotal role in shaping his brand, the business ventures, the philanthropy. I just can't wait to hear your incredible story, Tiffany. Thank you for being on the show. Take us back in time to Tiffany as a kid. Who were you?

Well, thank you for having me. As a child, I was quiet, still am, probably for the most part, but grew up in the Bay Area with my parents and my sister, and just always have a love of sports. Basketball was something that me and my dad shared, and he used to take me to Warriors games growing up.

Okay, so you basically all love the Warriors from day one. But again, I think between loving the Warriors, there's a lot of people that love the Warriors. I mean, we live in the Bay Area, right? I mean, everybody loves the Warriors. But there's a big difference between loving the Warriors and getting to work with one of the most iconic, beloved, accomplished athletes of all times, So there's a big difference. And I wanted to take us to where do you think that jump started? Do you even have any connections in the sport business?

I didn't. That was something that grew over time I was actually always interested in entertainment. I loved music growing up, loved TV. If you were looking for me, you could probably find me in my room watching TV or reading a book. But all things media and entertainment, I absolutely love I spent a lot of time on those things. I couldn't imagine why anybody would ever want to do anything else. Fast forward when it's time to start thinking about what your career would look like in growing up in such a small town and not having access to the entertainment industry, so to speak. I thought I would probably go into business and wanted to major in business management. Then went to San Jose State, pivoted and started looking in broadcast journalism. That's what I eventually majored in. I think that during that time, I just did a ton of... Because there was not much access to all things in the entertainment industry or how do you get into that career, but I was very determined. I just started looking at a ton of internships. I remember in high school, I was a part of this program, and you could do an internship in high school.

They asked me what I wanted my internship to be, and I said I wanted to intern for a production studio. Musical production studio. They were like, Well, we don't have that in Benicia, so what else do you want to do? Then I ended up doing the internship at a small medical office, but that didn't really stop me. I interned at CMC in college and short student at KMEL, and it was just very hungry for all things in entertainment and trying to figure out what that could look like for me. I eventually ended up getting this internship with a PR firm in Richmond, and through that, ended up with an internship at the 49ers. That was what put me at the Warriors in working there part-time as a receptionist.

I want to go there because, Tiffany, first of all, I think you said, for me, it's one of the most important words, which is hunger. I think that without the hunger, if somebody is way too comfortable, they're just not necessarily going to have the edge to continue and to push. I I love that you said the word hunger, because for me, that's such an iconic word. But like you said, you started as a receptionist, and you were not afraid to start basically from the bottom and to basically prove your way up. Talk to me a little bit about what that journey was like for you.

I did so many internships. My dad was really on me to get a job. And so I thought that when I heard about this part-time job as a receptionist, I was like, Okay, this will be good enough. And he was like, No, that's not what I had in in mind. I was actually only part-time receptionist for two weeks. Then they asked me to go full-time, and I initially said no because of my dad being on me to get a job and me thinking, Well, I don't want to be a receptionist forever. But after a few months there and talking to some people, I realized that this could be an opportunity for me to showcase my skills and get my foot into the door to do something else. I went back to them and I asked if the position was still available that I was interested interested in that role. I was probably only in the full-time receptionist role for a couple of months in a position that actually did become available in the business. It was business development at the time. Department as an assistant. I applied for it and got that role. Then it was like it was really on from there.

Wow. Now, as a receptionist, right after, do you have accessibility to the players? Were they able to see how you perform? My instinct is probably not, but what visibility did you have?

None at all. That wasn't even in my mindset at the time. I was really wanting to prove myself to the front office. There wasn't even a thought of working closely with the players or anything at that time. I think probably the most access to players I had, Monte Ellis was a rookie the year that I started, and he used to come up to the office after practice every day and hang out in the executive offices. And so that was probably the most access. But I was really trying to also get into those executive offices and hopefully then see what I can do and get a role in one of their departments. And eventually, that did happen.

Exactly. I mean, it's incredible. It's such a beautiful story. If I'm not mistaken, in 2015, I think you played a very major role in organizing that NBA Championship parade for the Warriors. Do you think it was a pivotal moment or Tell us a little bit how you see this.

It was an incredible experience. I remember I was running the Events Department at the time, and the production company that we worked with for the parade, I had been working with them for many years. I used to always ask them, How was it to produce the Giants parade? What was that process? How long did you start in advance planning? When did you know it was time to start planning? All those type of questions. It was really interesting to me. That as we're into the playoffs, and we're super excited initially to make the playoffs and then to continue going round after round. I started thinking, we need to start planning. I remember bringing it up to my boss and some of the executives. When we set up a meeting with Hartman and started that process. It was amazing. Just all the things that go into it that you don't even think about. You need to get almost all the bike rack around the country, pretty much, to plan for all of these people. Just small things like that and planning well in advance to make sure that you have enough bike rack. Nobody thinks about bike rack.

All of those things and planning with the city and the mayor's office and the police Department and fire and just all of these things that everybody has an amazing time, but they don't think about what happens behind the scenes to get to that point where the guys are standing up on the stage or going down the parade route in their busses. But it was amazing. I think that was a pivotal time in my career because when you work for a team, you're working within a 75-mile I had done that at that point for almost 10 years. I was really looking for opportunities for growth. I realized that this parade is amazing, and this is an amazing opportunity for me to be this involved this, but if I stay here, it may be the biggest thing that I do, and I was really looking for growth opportunities. Not only was it something like that notch that I could put on my belt to be a part of something like that, then it was also something that triggered in me that I probably need to start Start looking for other opportunities if I wanted to achieve some of these growth goals that I was looking for.

First of all, what I got out of this is that level of curiosity and learning to just keep on asking the tough questions because you're right, we just look at a parade. I didn't even think of the bike rack. My husband will actually spank me for this because he's a cyclist. He's always complaining about the bike rack. I should have thought about it, but I didn't. So he will love this episode. But seriously, just that curiosity of asking, because by definition, you're doing these things that you've never done before. It bears the question, how did you know what to do?

Yeah. Or even things that I didn't... When I first started working for the Warriors, they weren't the 2015 Warriors. And so Never thinking that I would have the opportunity to be involved in the parade. Just that curiosity of what was that experience like was just always something that I thought about.

From that pivotal moment, what happened Because within, I don't know, like a year, you already leaped into working with Steph Curry. That is mind-blowing because, again, everybody would think that that needs, I don't know, he will hire his sister, or is he? You know what I'm saying? Not necessarily. You just climbed your way. How did you do that? What do you think were some of the main things that you got to get there?

Yeah. To take it back a little bit, I was with the Warriors, of course, when he He was drafted. I had built a relationship with him and his family over the years. In my role in business ops, we worked within several of the departments. My boss was over several departments. Arena operations, community relations, the foundation were all departments that were under her leadership, and I was her right-hand person. I worked a lot with the players, player development as well. I worked a lot with the players on player development and community relations initiatives. I was constantly down there after practice, asking guys to do events, producing events for them, for their foundations or the initiatives that they cared about. Through all that time, I had built a relationship with Stefan. Then fast forward to after that, that Championship year in 2015, I started putting myself out there more for other opportunities. Applying for jobs. I think some recruiters had reached out to me as well. In 2016, I was in the final rounds of interviews for a position with the city of Santa Clara to be their liaison with the 49ers. My aunt, I think she was Stefan's nanny at the time, had mentioned to him that that was what I was doing.

He reached out to me and said that he was looking to bring on some people on his team. Then I interviewed and got the job. Amazing.

Tell me, Tiffany, what do you think you said? Again, it sounds like he already knew you, so that is a big difference. But do you think there's something that you did or you said or that just made that cross the line? Do you think there's something in the connection that you built? Or what would you say to our audience who is They're trying to get the role of their dreams, and they're trying to interview. What are some of the things that you think that made a difference?

I think it was seeing my work ethic and just me being always down there diligently working on various things for the players. I remember after he played in FIVA and they won the gold medal, I led an event for him and some of his sponsors and the Warriors. It was called the Gold Metal Reception. I worked very closely with his mom and his agency on putting that event together for them. I think that it was seeing the work that I had done in the community. Christmas with the Curry started initially when he was with the Warriors and him and Ayesha purchasing these huge troughs of food for the community and working with them on producing those events back in 2012, 2013. I think it was all of those things, seeing me in the way that I'm not only working to produce events or community initiatives, but then also the way that I worked with him and his family on those things and executing the things that they wanted to see and knowing that that would be a fit in what he was looking for.

These examples are amazing. For somebody that doesn't a lot in the world of sports, who raises these ideas? Who's the executor? Tell us a little bit what happens behind the scenes when you want to build a brand for somebody like Steph Curry and all the amazing things that you are all doing with him. Tell us a little bit of what's going on behind the scenes.

Stefan is somebody who he has a lot of amazing ideas, and he really had a lot of the things that he wanted to see and the work that he wanted to do in the community. Him and Ayesha knew that they wanted to start their own foundation, ELP. They had been working with a lot of different organizations, but they wanted to put something together that focused on the issues that they saw in Oakland that they wanted to help to solve. Then in terms of his brand and things, it's a combination of him knowing what he wants and knowing he wanted to be intentional about the way that he showed up and making sure that the partners that he worked with had values to his and that the work that they do with ELP is not just that's the only community-focused work that they do. They want that to have a lens through all of the work that they do with their partners. Anybody who knows Stefan knows that he really wants to use his platform to provide a voice to those who don't have one. Those are things that he came to the table with, like he knew that he wanted to do.

It's really just making sure that working with him and working with his partners and our team to make sure that those things are realized.

Well, I hope you're enjoying this amazing conversation. We have a lot more to cover, but don't forget to like this video and subscribe to our channel. Now, if you're looking to fast track your own career, figure out what's next for you. Get that Security, fast track your own growth. Check out that free 30-minute training. You'll get a lot of value out of it. It's sleepacademy. Com/training. That's sleepacademy. Com/training. Now, let's get back to the show. Now, I know that no No matter what, anytime you need to climb up the ladder, do big things, there will be challenges that you're going to face as a leader. Give us some examples and how do you feel like you overcome them?

I will say one of the biggest challenges that I was working over the last couple of years to overcome, and I have at this point, but was imposter syndrome. I think that I was... I don't want to say I've worked so many years in my career to get to this point, but I don't know, sometimes you execute and you make things happen, and you may not see, even in yourself, the work that it took to get there. Being around all of these leaders and executives and Stefan, in the way he shows up, I did have a little bit of imposter syndrome, but I definitely have worked through that with a business coach, even just writing down everything that I have done and everything that I was doing in my role and taking a look at that and being like, Okay, yeah, I am supposed to be here, and I'm doing this, and it's not by accident.

I love that you said that, Tiffany, because for me, first of all, as we're working with thousands of people a year, imposter syndrome is one of the things that will come every single time and for every single leader, because I think by definition, when you're driven, you're always going to do things that are outside your comfort zone. Otherwise, you would just stay stuck and boring. So by definition, every single person driven will do big things. And if they do big things, they're going to have a little bit of that, oh, Oh, my God, can I do this? Now, the only question is, does that stop you or that makes you continue? I think the beautiful thing with you, Tiffany, is that you just continue, which I love. Again, I think you're also in an industry, again, that is relatively unrepresented with maybe women overall, et cetera. What do you think helped you navigate that space? Because, again, it is not easy to get that first impression to get people to trust to get that leadership?

I think that really throughout my career, there's been people that have given me that seat at the table. Even if I wasn't in a speaking role or leading, I had a seat at the table to just get the information. I'm one who sits back and observes and really wants to learn as much as I can. From earlier in my career at the Warriors, being able to just walk in certain executive offices and ask questions and them allowing me to join their meetings, my boss included, to working with Stefan and accompanying him even in those early days in most of his meetings. Just having that seat at the table to learn is something that has really helped and informed and helped guide me as I am in this role today.

Did you have mentors beyond that? People that helped you get where you are, or do you feel like you just leaned on your boss or your bosses? What was it for you, Tiffany?

I will say I definitely had mentors, but it was more in the sense of being able to just call people and ask questions. Community leaders that I met working in Oakland for the warriors that I would work with on different initiatives to some of the sponsors of some of the companies that the warriors were working with, building relationships with women executives at those companies, and being able to just still to this day, pick up the phone and ask for help or ask them questions. Those were the type of mentors that I had.

Every single person, or especially leaders, that are doing some big things, will have some moments or two. They just need to plow through with massive resilience, whether it's something in life or something in the work itself, do you have some hard moments like this, and how did you need to pick yourself back up and continue?

There definitely were some. I think that sometimes you may not feel hurt heard or seen. I think it's just continuing on. I talked about this the other day, and I was speaking on a panel. My mom was an entrepreneur since I was seven. She's been running her business, and she was told, even within members of our family, maybe you should keep your job and working in insurance. She didn't want to do that. She wanted to go out on her own. Seeing the work that she put in day after day when people were telling her to do something else. It's been 30 years now, and she's still running that same business. I think that I got a lot of that from her. I think I come from a long line of very strong women who are not going to take no for an answer. That was really instilled in me in an early age. I was told recently that when I'm told no, I'm just going to figure out a different way to do it. I think that I've taken that approach in my career. It's like, if I can't do it here, then I have to go somewhere else where I can.

And I think that that's the great part of working with Stefan, with whoever he's working with, he's going to give you that opportunity and he's going to listen to you and take your ideas. And even if it's something that can't be accomplished, he will hear you out and definitely give you feedback.

And I absolutely love that. And I think this podcast episode is also an example, right? Because for us, we were like, oh, my God. We talked to Richard Branson and the President of Starbucks and the President of Shop, founder of Zillow, et cetera. And he's like, no, you should talk to Stephanie. And To me, that was actually so beautiful about how he's empowering his team and you to shine the light on you. For me, that was such a beautiful example of the person that he is and how much he wants to empower you. Tell me a little bit of what you guys are doing. I mean, you're responsible for overseeing so much strategic initiatives way beyond basketball, if I'm not mistaken. Take me a little bit of... I mean, there's industries and media and philanthropy and business. There's so many things. Take us a little bit into your world, Tiffany.

30 Inc. Is the off-the-court business group for Stephen Curry. We have several businesses. Unanimous Media is our production company. We have two youth sports tours, Underrated Basketball and Underrated Golf. We have a creative agency, 7K. Then this foundation, eHearn Play, sits right outside of that because it's a foundation with him and Ayesha. Then Gentleman's Cut, his Kentucky Straight Bourbon. But our mission is really to elevate the under. As I mentioned earlier, Stephen's goal is to use his platform to provide a voice to those who don't have one or who may not get the recognition. When we're producing film and television and publishing books through unanimous, we want to tell those stories of that community. Stephen realized a few years ago that he wouldn't have been invited to his own select camp. Each company host these signature athlete select camps, and he wasn't in that top ranking to be invited to that camp. So he wanted to create a space where those three-star athletes like himself would have an opportunity to showcase their skills to college coaches. That's how underrated basketball was born. With golf, he just wanted to create equity, access, and opportunity, a space where kids can play on the best courts throughout the country, throughout the world at this point, because we're expanding into Europe and Asia.

But he wanted to provide that space where they can get competition at the highest level, playing with their peers on the best courses. That's just really what we strive to do with 30ink, is how can we come together in all of our businesses, all these different industries and provide that space and that voice.

Well, how beautiful is that? I think this focus on unrepresented groups is so, so, so important. I was just talking about it with my team because in LEAP Academy, we're totally seeing how there's this big cliff of tens of millions or hundreds of millions of people that will need to reinvent themselves, and nobody's going to help them. But there's rescale schools, but nobody really teaches how to reinvent yourself. I feel like this whole groups of unrepresented is just getting bigger and bigger. It's amazing. So I love what you guys are doing. Is there something that you went through? I'm looking at your drive. Sounds like some of it is your mom, but is there something that you went through that maybe maybe some people don't know that has built you to the Tiffany that I'm seeing today?

There's always times in your career where you may not be moving as fast as you want to, or you may not feel like you're getting the recognition that you want to be able to move up. And I've definitely had those opportunities, but I do think that it is my background that had provided that drive even back then. There were times early on in my career where I was like, Is this what I'm sure I want to be doing? It absolutely was. I talked about in the beginning how I always wanted to work in entertainment. Remembering that in those hard times. But yeah, there definitely are those moments where you have setbacks. Maybe you don't get the promotion that you wanted or you're not advancing as fast as you think that you should. But I've really just learned to let the work speak for itself. Eventually, you will get there if you're working hard and you have that drive and that hunger. I definitely think that I have and had all of those things, and that's what was able to get me to this point.

So one of the things that I love doing is looking back, is there an advice that you would give your younger self about your career and chasing these big dreams and accomplishments?

I don't want this to come off wrong, but no, because I think I did everything that... There's definitely nothing that I would change. I think that I did everything. I think that my younger self would be proud of what I've done and the work that I've done to get here. I don't think that there was anything... Probably the only thing that I would tell my younger self is that you're going to make it happen.

I love that. What would you say to people listening? So some of them have been laid off and they're looking for jobs, which is really hard these days. Some of them are trying to fast track to the C-suite, to executive level. Some of them just trying to figure out what on earth do I want to do next and maybe jumping to entrepreneurship or creating these portfolio careers. What would you say to them?

I would definitely tell them to utilize your network. I know that that is, in some case is easier said than done. But in my experience, and I have a lot of people that reach out to me all the time for informational interviews, I try to, if I hear about jobs and opportunities or different things, send it out to my network so that they can send it out to theirs. But I really think that believe in utilizing your network. I think sometimes people are afraid to bug people. I get all the time, I didn't want to reach out to you because I know how busy you are. I say reach out. It doesn't hurt to ask the only thing that somebody can tell you is no. And if they do, then you just move on. But I do definitely utilize your network. We don't know how to help if we don't hear from you. I think that that's the biggest advice that I would give.

Right. I think what you said is so true because what we say to people, you already have a brand. The question is, what are you known for and what do people have in their heads? And will they bring those opportunities to you? And if you're not top of mind, it's not going to happen. So I love that. I love that. How do you navigate now this world of top celebrities? I'm sure it's not just Steph Curry. I'm sure he knows a lot of people, and you're working with partnerships and all these things.

For me, this is something that I'm very behind the scenes, I always say. This world of giving interviews and being on panels for myself, I'm used to organizing and setting those up for him, not so much doing it myself. But it is something that I said I wanted growth when I started this journey, and so this is another piece of that. But I'm just trying to get some of these under my belt and learn from each one that I do and how to be a better speaker and not be so nervous. But I think I'm growing in that way as well. And yeah, it's been fun. I think that we're building an amazing business with 30ink, and there's so many opportunities for us to use our platform to help others, just the way that Stephanie uses his and the way that he wants to. And so anything that I can do to continue to get the word out and help those who need that platform, I'd love to do it.

That's incredible, Tiffany. So we'll definitely be in touch because I'm sure we're going to have a lot of people that maybe can help or do other things. But seriously, Tiffany, thank you so much for joining this show and inspiring and doing the beautiful things that you're involved with.

Thank you so much for having me.

Wow, what an incredible conversation. I am so inspired. I hope you are, too. If you enjoyed it as much as I did, please share it with friends. It really, really helps us bring more amazing guests. If you, at some point, want to take yourself and your career to the next level, watch our free training at leepacademy. Com/training. It's leepacademy. Com/training. I will see you in the next show of Leep Academy with Ylana Golan.