You Live Where?: Celebrity Edition

With the presence of Walmart's Global Headquarters and the hundreds - no, probably thousands - of their suppliers that also have offices and employees here, there is a very large, very active chapter of the Network of Executive Women to support diversity in the Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail industries. There are regular events, and one of the largest is their event that coincides with the annual Walmart NWA LPGA Championship presented by P&G.

Last Thursday morning's breakfast had two featured speakers: Ros Brewer, the CEO of Sam's Club, and Linda Cohn, ESPN sports journalist and the first female anchor of SportsCenter. Most of the people I know went to hear Ros speak, and no doubt, she is an impressive executive.

But HELLO - Linda Cohn!!!! I was super excited. Kirk Herbstreit and Linda Cohn in the span of six months. Where else would I get this opportunity outside of NWA??? (Yes, I know NYC would be one of those places, but roll with it, people.)

It was a big event - over 600 people were there, and I didn't expect to have the chance to get up close and personal the way I did with Kirk. But I did get to sit almost in the front row, and when they took questions at the end, you know I was ready. As much as I had enjoyed the conversation between Linda and Ros, this was my big chance to ask Linda a question just for her. And to tell her that I LOVE her. So that was pretty awesome.

Me: "First I'd like to thank both of you for your investment of time today. It's been great listening to both of you. And Linda, I wanted to let you know that you were terrific on Mike & Mike a couple of months ago - I can't wait for your podcast!"

My boss, nudging me: "Um, Amanda, question?"

Me: "Oh yeah, my question. Linda, can you share with us one moment in which you were most proud to be a woman in a male dominated business?"

Her answer was super cool. She was at a party during Super Bowl week 1998 and while standing near the bar, looked over and saw Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky having a conversation. Think about that for a second - two of the all time greats of any sport. Standing a few feet away, just chatting. And then - then, Michael looked at her, beckoned her over, and included her in the conversation just as he would've any male sportscaster. She said, that's when she knew she had made it.

So cool. As Linda herself says, this girl from Long Island who had overcome teenage self esteem issues and clawed her way to the top in the boys' club of sportscasting - she was the one that Jordan and The Great One asked to join them.

I don't face anywhere near the institutional discrimination that professional women 30 years ago did. In fact, I am blessed to work for a company that overtly seeks out women for management and leadership roles. But as any working woman will tell you, it is still a man's world, in both big and small ways.

So when I have the chance to celebrate the success of a professional woman, especially one in the world of sports, I'm all in. I'd like to think that Linda feels the same way - and she must've liked my question. Because she tweeted me back. #winning

Go Red for Women

I'm constantly amazed at the unique opportunities that come from working for P&G here in Northwest Arkansas. I've been introduced to the circuit of lunches that raise money for charitable causes, attending as a guest of either my company, or of a co-worker who volunteers for one of those groups.

I have attended a Susan G. Komen event, a CASA luncheon, and today, attended the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" annual event. Definitely a worthy cause; certainly every one of us has been touched by heart disease in some way.

Did I mention that Kirk Herbstreit was the keynote speaker?!

You know I love to run (I can hear the groans; yes, I know I talk about it constantly). I love football about as much as I love to run. I love college football with a fervor that has only intensified since moving to SEC Country. If you're a college football fan, too, then ESPN's College Gameday is likely an important part of your Saturday routine in the best season of the year (not fall, people - FOOTBALL season).

I have enough like-minded co-workers that we even co-opted the College Gameday theme for our office's annual campaign supporting the United Way. It helps that I'm the co-chair and have input to the theme, but still. There was a lot of enthusiasm for the idea.

P&G's Des, Fowler, Corso and Herbie - pretty good, huh?

So today, combine support of a worthy cause with Kirk Herbstreit, and it's clearly a good day.

But it got better.

I had the opportunity to join the pre-lunch meet and greet with Kirk, which I figured would be a quick handshake and a picture. Not minimizing that - super cool, right?! I mean, how often do you get to shake hands with Herbie and have a picture taken with him? Turns out, the guy is as easy going as he appears on TV. He didn't just shuffle people through the line; he stopped and chatted for a minute, and seemed to genuinely enjoy being there.

Fast forward through lunch to his remarks where he revealed that he'd been through his own episode of managing a heart condition, and we get to the Q&A portion of the presentation. Being the shy, retiring wallflower that I am, I was ready - and got my chance as the last question-asker of the day.

So I asked what was on the mind of everyone, everywhere: How did you manage to keep a straight face during the National Title game when Musburger started talking about Miss Alabama???

Followed by: What do Johnny Football and the Aggies have to do to beat Alabama again this year? (This was followed by several Whoops and Gig 'Ems in the audience - Aggies are everywhere, I tell you.)

Gratuitous Johnny Manziel picture

He answered the Johnny Football question first, essentially saying that he's a sensation akin to Joe Namath who brings a presence and a buzz that's going to make next season a lot of fun everywhere the Aggies go. He also mentioned he's pretty sure that Coach Saban has a plan for his visit to College Station next year, but DUH.

I figured he was going to skip over the question about Musburger, but he surprised me by returning to it - and cracked me up when he said, in obvious honesty, he didn't know what to think. He was like, "Wow - where do we go with this? Back to the game..."

So there you have it, sports fans. He was thinking what everybody else was thinking. About Musburger, I mean. Can't say what he was thinking about Miss Alabama. I didn't ask him that.