Quarterbacking the NFL: Christine Dorfler

In this episode of She What?, cohosts Jess and Maureen take a field trip to New York City to interview National Football League's Chief Financial Officer, Christine Dorfler, the first woman in NFL history to hold this position. Christine shares her experience serving for four years as a Military Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Army and what it takes to be an impactful leader for the NFL. “I try to approach everything with a blend of confidence and humility. I'm humble enough to know what I don’t know...but I’m also confident enough to know that I got here for a reason."

For more, visit She What? on Instagram.

Brought to you by Capital Health

Credits:

Producer and Host: Jess Downey

Producer and Host: Maureen Petrosky

Producer and Editor: Leigh Iacobucci

Artwork: Peter Yates Design

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Transcript

Christine Dorfler (00:02):

The numbers do tell a story. Tying that then together with football is thrilling.

Jess (00:15):

I'm Jess Downey. You might know me as Editor in Chief of Real Woman and Thriving Magazines for Capital Health.

Maureen (00:21):

And I'm Maureen Petrosky. You might have seen me on the Today Show or CBS mornings as an entertaining expert or know some of my books like Wine Club and Zero Proof Drinks.

Jess (00:30):

And we're two friends who created She What?

Maureen (00:33):

<laugh> a podcast that digs into the personal and often surprising stories of women who inspire us

Jess (00:40):

And they get real about the wins, the fails and everything in between.

Maureen (00:45):

Here we invite her to tell the whole story, the pain she endured, the triumph she celebrated, the friends she made along the way, and maybe even how she reinvented herself.

Jess (00:56):

These are the kinds of stories that make us think, they make us laugh, they keep us going.

Maureen (01:01):

Need a dose of inspiration. It's here. Need a fresh perspective. We got that too. Hi Jess.

Jess (01:13):

Hi Maureen.

Maureen (01:14):

For this episode, we took the whole She What team on a field trip to New York City, to the NFL League headquarters to meet our guest today...

Jess (01:23):

Christine Dorfler, the first woman to hold her position as CFO of the NFL, which is so impressive.

Maureen (01:30):

Yeah. But she didn't just wake up overnight and become the CFO of the NFL. There's a whole story that comes first. I knew her as McNeff at Villanova, a lacrosse player who ran in the same circles as some of my roommates.

Jess (01:41):

Oh my God. She still lights up when she talks about being a college athlete.

Maureen (01:45):

And she also lights up when she talks about girls playing flag football,

Jess (01:48):

Which I love. I would've totally played Flag when I was a kid if it was a thing in the eighties.

Maureen (01:54):

<laugh>. But it's not just sports we get into today.

Jess (01:56):

She really gets into what it takes to be a woman in a top position at such a powerful organization.

Maureen (02:02):

Yeah. This is such a cool opportunity to get to know someone in a huge role and learn what makes her tick. You won't wanna miss this one, so stick around. 

Christine Dorfler, welcome to She What?

Christine Dorfler (02:20):

Oh, thanks for having me. Absolutely thrilled to be here.

Jess (02:23):

Well, we're having you, but you're also having us, we're at the NFL headquarters with the first woman to be CFO of the NFL. So we are so excited to be here with you. This is amazing.

Maureen (02:33):

That's great. Yeah, we love She Whats. And when I found out that you were the CFO of the NFL, I was like, she what? <laugh>. Yeah. <laugh>. I love it. And so we appreciate you having us here and we are storytellers by profession. But, Jess, you were saying that…

Jess (02:47):

Oh, well I was saying storyteller by profession. I love words, numbers, not so much my thing, but you definitely feel like numbers are telling a story.

Christine Dorfler (02:57):

So numbers are my jam.

Jess (02:58):

That's your jam. Yes. So has math always been your jam? Is that part of your origin story?

Christine Dorfler (03:03):

Yeah, a little bit. I was always drawn to numbers because they're logical and they do tell a story. Someone recently I heard say, math doesn't have an opinion. And so there's a beginning and an end and an answer to almost everything. It's not quite that, that easy <laugh>, I would say. But I do think that numbers tell a story and I, I love my role and having evolved through my finance career to now be a CFO, because I think not only do they tell a story of certainly of business performance and how the business is doing, but they tell a story of where we should be going, right? How we think about the, the performance of business, how it informs decisions that are really important and really impactful, and how that then informs the strategy of what should we be investing in? What should we continue to do? What can we scale? What should we stop doing? And I think there's a real creative aspect that you can combine with the sort of logical math aspect that I find kind of fascinating.

Maureen (03:57):

I love to hear that. 'cause I was saying to her, is there like creativity in this? Like when it comes to the numbers, can you be creative? Now, bizarrely enough, I had a job with the NFL that was called Home Gating. I don't know, I don't, you definitely worked, I've never heard of that. For this. It was a program that they did about 10 years ago with a lot of marketing merch that was football shaped and football, it was about home gating. So if you couldn't tailgate, you could Home Gate. And I worked to educate women across the country on all different news organizations about the products and like what you could buy and how you could entertain at home. But I was thinking that was hilarious, that that's like my connection to the NFL where Jess really knows football. I love it and loves the NFL Love Go Birds. But I was curious about, yeah, go Birds <laugh>. I was curious about the role that you have here and is there creativity and play in that? But before we go too far down the line,

Jess (04:47):

I feel like so often what we do with She What?, Someone has an amazing job and they're so successful and that becomes the She What, but tell us about you. Like how did you come to where you are now? There's so much in your story that's fascinating.

Christine Dorfler (04:59):

Yeah. Well, I've always loved sports. I'm one of two girls and I think I was definitely, as they say, the a tomboy growing up. I played every sport as that possibly imaginable. And I absolutely loved it. And now what's fascinating to see is, and we can talk about this later, but girls playing flag football now. And that's, that's incredible. I would've loved to have played when I was a little kid. But in any case, my story, I've always loved sports, never did I dream of working for the NFL or being CFO of the NFL. It wasn't like I had that vision when I was younger. But I went to school, I went to Villanova and I played lacrosse at Villanova. I was lucky enough to play a sport there, but I also did ROTC and I ended up going into the army. And so I,

Maureen (05:39):

And that's a She What?

Christine Dorfler (05:40):

Yeah.

Jess (05:40):

What made you decide to do that?

Christine Dorfler (05:42):

I, you know, it was really, at the time I mechanism to pay for school. I didn't wanna come out with student debt. And I, you know, I sort of said, Hey, I picked up a brochure, <laugh>. - They said, we'll pay for school, but then you owe us. Right? - Right. And, uh, I said, let me try this. And I remember, remember my first summer after my freshman year, all my friends were doing accounting internships at the Big six at the time. And I went to Airborne School in Fort Benning, Georgia and got to jump outta airplanes. And I came back and I was like, I have a cooler story than you do!

Maureen (06:09):

<laugh>.

Christine Dorfler (06:10):

I had a better summer. And I just absolutely loved it. I loved the people, I loved the adrenaline. I love being in places that were different from the Northeast United States. And I just thought it was so cool not to be behind a desk. Look what I'm doing now, but not behind a desk. And to be just out there meeting people, engaging with people from all different walks of life and all different parts of the country.

Maureen (06:30):

And we're doing a podcast. You're not behind a desk!

Jess (06:33):

Exactly. We're doing some cool stuff. Good.

Christine Dorfler (06:35):

But no, so I, I ended up joining the Army and I probably would've made that a career. I loved it so much. But I met my husband in the Army. I actually met him on a deployment in Bosnia, and we knew we wanted to have a family. So it was kind of tough to figure out dual military couple and families and a lot of people doing, and god bless 'em, that they do. 

Jess (06:53):

What were you doing in Bosnia?

Christine Dorfler (06:54):

I was supporting a NATO mission at the time. It was after the war in the Balkans. So I was part of a, a NATO mission, kind of cleaning up landmines and finding war criminals. And I was a military intelligence officer in the Army. And so it was, that was a very analytical role. So that probably led me back into finance, you know, into finance. I knew an accounting major undergraduate, so, but in any case, I got outta the army and transitioned into business, which was great. I went to work for GE. They were hiring a lot of military officers at the time. And then from there I made my way into media. 

Jess (07:23):

And so did you fall in love in Bosnia?

Christine Dorfler (07:24):

Well, we, no, we met in Bosnia and it was really, it's really hard to date when you're living in a tent, I would think. And on a deployment.

Jess (07:30):

That’s what I'm trying to picture in my head.

Maureen (07:32):

Like romantic walks down the sand, <laugh>

Christine Dorfler (07:36):

Sleeping on a cot and, uh, in uniform all the time. But no, we, we became friends and then, uh, dated when we got back to our home base, which was in Germany. 

Maureen (07:43):

Well, fun fact, you and I are both one degree from the Pope because Father Peter also married my husband and I.

Christine Dorfler (07:49):

Oh, there you go.

Maureen (07:49):

Didn't he marry you also?

Christine Dorfler (07:50):

Yes, he did. 

Maureen (07:51):

Yeah, at the Villanova chapel. So we both got married at the Villanova chapel.

Christine Dorfler (07:54):

Hey, there you go.

Maureen (07:54):

A little bit of love. And you know, he's like besties with the Pope, so Yes. Other Peter.

Jess (07:58):

So I have many more degrees so in the Pope than you guys are <laugh>, but we are also all 50. We're almost 50. I'm, I'll be 50 soon.

Christine Dorfler (08:07):

I'm over 50.

Jess (08:08):

<laugh>

Maureen (08:09):

Close to. Give or take.

Jess (08:09):

Everybody plus or minus. But I'm interested in this age for us, how you're so at the sort of a great pinnacle in your career. You love what you're doing, you're so passionate about it. You have two grown kids. 

Christine Dorfler (08:22):

Three. I've, uh, one outta college, two in high school. 

Jess (08:25):

Okay. Yeah. And this is such an overused term, but like what's on your bucket list? What's happening for you right now in your life? 

Christine Dorfler (08:31):

Well, I mean, look it, in one sense, this job is my bucket list. Like it's a dream job for me. Yeah. Working for the NFL, working with a product that's so impactful with so many fans across the country and world, uh, world now. Yes. Um, is just awesome. So outside of this job, I would say travel. When I was in the Army and stationed in Germany, I got to travel a lot. But over Europe and different places and you know, and then life and kids and yes, it gets much harder to do, we do now, but at some point I'd love to really travel again. Now the NF L's playing a lot of international games. So that presents a, a great opportunity.

Jess (09:06):

Eagles are playing at Wembley this year.

Christine Dorfler (09:09):

Yeah, we'll be in nine international games this year. We're gonna go to Australia for the first time. Wow. Rio for the first time in Paris for the first time. So wonderful locations, really great stadiums. It's, it's just awesome to be over there and see the international fans. Yeah. Like so fired up for the game and yeah.

Maureen (09:27):

So you're basically doing both things. Your dream job and you're getting to do some of your bucket list. Yeah. 

Christine Dorfler (09:32):

Win Win. 

Maureen (09:33):

So, so <laugh>, I'm very excited for you, but that brings me back to the idea that thinking of a CFO, strictly as a money manager is a little old school, right? Yeah. Like, it seems like you're carving out much more of a bigger role here at the NFL. Like what's your approach to being CFO here?

Christine Dorfler (09:48):

I think what a great CFO does is they, you know, they have this sort of rare ability to look across the business and to connect dots, whereas many other positions within any organization, not just the NFL, but any public or private company sort of see within their silos. I think there are certain functions and finance is one of them that you just, the numbers do tell a story and it allows you to see across the organization and to see problems before they happen and to identify trends. And then it, it helps make decisions. And I like to believe that it helps make decisions that are impacting the future of the organization if done right. So I love it from that perspective. 'cause I love being able to see things and connect dots and inform my boss, Commissioner Goodell, and inform my peers and people in the organization about what direction I think we ought to be going and what the numbers are doing. And as a CFO, there's a way to be objective in that too, right? Because I'm not sort of stating my opinion necessarily. Going back to the math doesn't, I'm an opinion, I'm sort of saying, Hey, this is what the numbers say and this is what I think they're telling us, <laugh>. Right? I like that. The impact that that has and tying that then together with football that has the impact on so many people in this country is thrilling.

Maureen (11:00):

It's really cool to hear you explain it like that. As someone who doesn't know a ton about football, I, you know, we said Go birds, I can host a good tailgating party <laugh>, but there is such a trickle down,

Jess (11:13):

We call that home gating.

Maureen (11:13):

Yeah. We call that home gating. <Laugh>. Yeah. There you go.

Christine Dorfler (11:16):

That was a good one.

Maureen (11:16):

Such a trickle down of what you're doing to what actually the fans are experiencing. Yeah. You know.

Jess (11:22):

Well I was curious, like did the shift into sports present unique challenges? I know you were at NBC Universal for such a long time. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Was this a learning curve for you?

Christine Dorfler (11:30):

Yeah, I was at NBC for 20 years, so that was a big, big leap. And you know, there's always the butterflies in the stomach when you take on something new. And I knew there was going to be a learning curve and certainly there was, but, and allotted NBC including um, a couple of different CFO roles, my last role of which was CFO of NBC sports. And obviously there's a lot of parallels. NBC's one of the NFL's closest partners from a media perspective. And so, you know, I was able to draw on that experience and then just try to have the confidence of, okay, I got this right, it's a new job. There's definitely going to be a learning curve. I have to figure out how the ownership structure works with the 32 team owners within the NFL and the construct of that. And obviously there's a lot of nuance and certainly legacy to the NFL that I had to learn.

Christine Dorfler (12:14):

But I, I like to say, I try to approach everything with this blend of confidence and humility of like I'm humbled en enough to know what I don't know <laugh>. And to ask and to listen to people who've been here a long time and know a heck of a lot more than I do about their areas of expertise, but also confident enough to know that hey, I got here for a reason and you know, I've done these things and I'm a quick learner and I'll ask the right questions and I'll be able to get up to speed quickly. So that like confidence, humility thing, I've always tried to approach new challenges that way, but definitely a learning curve coming here. True.

Jess (12:47):

So I'll make a confession that, uh, one of my hobbies is as an Eagles fan who suffered for a long time, I like to listen to other teams when they're not maybe doing that well and listening to their fan bases. <laugh>, I like to like listen in and hear what they're saying. And having done that for a while, I know that each of the 32 teams has a unique culture to their fan base. Yeah. Which makes it very different, I would think, than working for NBC. So how does that sort of translate or does it into kind of what you do on a daily basis, how you think about this business? Yeah. With 32 sort of fandoms and different teams. Well,

Maureen (13:20):

It's like 32 different business.

Jess (13:21):

Yeah, that's what I would think. 

Christine Dorfler (13:23):

But yeah, and there's, the league office wouldn't be the league office if there were no NFL teams. So I think what we have to realize is that we sitting in the NFL offices, we work in the service of 32 NFL teams and 32 NFL owners and in 30 different markets. Right? And so you have to understand that they have unique complexities, unique challenges, unique fan bases, unique market dynamics, unique climates. Right? Right. If you think about from Buffalo to la the lake, right? From Buffalo Vegas, Buffalo to Arizona. Exactly. Like you got teams playing indoors, you got teams playing outdoors. Yeah. You have teams who have two feet of snow on the morning of a playoff game and gotta have, you know, have the fans shovel out. You have teams who the, you know, the heats of consideration. So in any case, I've come to appreciate the dynamic that certain governance structure that has to be consistent across all 32 teams. But there's also a uniqueness to each that needs to be appreciated. And the way they market to their fans, the way they talk to their fans, the way they engage with their local communities, which the NFL does a ton of that local community engagement is unique and special. Yeah.

Maureen (14:25):

Okay. So as you just listed that all off, I was like, oh my god, oh my god, I was getting more stressed thinking of all the things you have to take into consideration. But she's sitting here, listeners, you can't see her smiling talking through this. So clearly you have what it takes for the challenge of this job. You would think with such a gigantic job like this, you'd be married to your work. Would you say that you are or how do you carve out time for yourself? I would say, and I would say, yeah, it's a great

Christine Dorfler (14:49):

Question. I, I would say I'm, I'm really passionate about my work. I think that's why I'm smiling. You can hear it. I feel very honored and privileged to work with a product that people care about. People talk about, people ask me questions about people respond to, people respond to. I come home from work and my kids are like, well I just know this is what I read about the NFL today. And they have an opinion about everything, which is awesome. <laugh>, there's a real adrenaline and energy and I find that gets me going. I'm passionate about that. I do find time for myself. I have to, I think anybody has to find the balance that works for them, right. And for their individual emotional, physical, mental health and for their family or whatever the considerations are. I run a lot. So that's my mental break. Are you a marathon?

Jess (15:36):

Are you a marathoner?

Christine Dorfler (15:37):

I am. I don't, uh, necessarily run fast, but I do run a lot.

Jess (15:41):

That doesn't matter fast.

Maureen (15:43):

It doesn't matter if you run a marathon. That's a whole She What? in and of itself. 

Jess (15:47):

Yes. Do you have bucket list marathon?

Christine Dorfler (15:48):

As a matter of fact, I do. So I've gotten five of my six stars. So Tokyo's my last one. So that's, I gotta get Tokyo. Very exciting. 

Jess (15:55):

Yes. That's exciting.

Christine Dorfler (15:56):

My other one on the bucket list is Napa, so I did come back from, so… 

Maureen (16:00):

You can do that one. No problem. That's a little, maybe

Christine Dorfler (16:02):

I hear there's maybe some wine at the end. Yes. So that sounds, that sounds great to me. Yeah.

Maureen (16:07):

<laugh>, so running you do, and then with the three kids, I mean it does seem like a lot if you're traveling a lot and then you've got three successful kids, it looks like I saw one just graduated from Villanova also.

Christine Dorfler (16:17):

Yeah, I mean any working parent, there's the challenge of trying to figure out the right balance and you know, I've always said give yourself grace and don't expect perfection in any aspect of it. Right. You're never gonna be at every single meeting you wanna be at and you're never gonna be at every single baseball game you wanna be at <laugh>. Right. You have to find the right balance, really show up when it's important and and give yourself grace. Yeah.

Maureen (16:38):

That is such great advice. I think too often as women, we don't give ourselves enough grace. 

Christine Dorfler (16:43):

We gotta give ourselves grace. Always.

Jess (16:45):

Always.

Maureen (16:45):

Right. That's, that's really the hard line is no grace. But grace,

Christine Dorfler (16:49):

There are days when the kids were young and I had to drop them at daycare and I was cried on the train on the way in and every phase of life of their childhood and growth, there's different challenges and things. My kids are teenagers now, except for the one who graduated. So that brings its own challenges. My daughter just started to drive and uh,

Jess (17:05):

Oh God, the driving. It's scary.

Christine Dorfler (17:07):

Yeah, It's scary. It's a little scary. I'm on Life 360 quite a lot during, yeah.

Maureen (17:11):

Oh yeah. I lived on Life 360. Yes. You still do. Actually I checked them all, but not a lot of women are in finance. And you kind of went that way earlier on or any of your kids looking to get into the same line of work?

Christine Dorfler (17:21):

Well my son actually majored in finance, but he is going into the US Navy, which I'm very proud of. Amazing. But I don't know, we'll see. We'll see. I would love for them to just, even if it's not finance, get into sports. It's a great field. And

Jess (17:32):

Are you allowed to say what fandom you're part of?

Christine Dorfler (17:35):

I root for all 32 teams in competitive games. However, I did grow up outside of Philly. 

Jess (17:40):

Okay. Okay. Go birds.

Maureen (17:42):

Go birds. We'll just keep looking. Go birds. Yeah.

Jess (17:44):

NFL has done such a great job. I think especially recently with hiring parity. We're seeing so many women across all aspects of the sport. Does that feel important to you and do you feel like we're just kind of scratching the surface or where are we in the scheme of things there?

Christine Dorfler (18:01):

Yeah, I mean from an NFL perspective, and I will say I'm going on my fourth season here, I've been so impressed with this from a league office perspective, which is obviously what I have daily interaction with, tremendous representation of women and important to Commissioner Goodell and to his whole staff to make sure there is, you know, the right representation, diversity on the team, et cetera. From a women's standpoint, one of the things I think is awesome is to see women in scouting positions and coaching positions. All 32 referees of NFL referees. Yep. All 32 of NFL teams have women representation in their scouting office. And the NFL has more women in coaching positions than any other male professional sports league, which I think speaks tremendously about the effort. I think the number of women in scouting and coaching positions has grown something like 300% over the past five years. And there, there are a lot of very intentional efforts to make sure that women and girls see that as a career and that there's potential there. So I think it's awesome. Yeah. And I love to see it.

Jess (18:57):

Same.

Maureen (18:58):

Same <laugh>. I love it. I feel, so we're here at the NFL offices in Manhattan and I don't think I've seen a man since we came into the office <laugh>, so, you know, like I was just thinking about it as you were talking. I was like, hmm, no we haven't. So that's definitely different for us as we come into definitely corporate spaces. And it is fun to see that's why it was such a she what to find out you were in this role where I think so many people think of the NFL as like, oh it's a guy's space, it's a man's world and

Christine Dorfler (19:25):

It takes everybody to put the game on the field. And whether that's on the field, things like scouting and coaching and officiating, or whether that's office things like I do. You know, the other thing that I think is so exciting and that has been a real joy to see over my past three years here has been professional flag. And not only just professional flag, but flag football in general as a pipeline for girls.

Maureen (19:46):

Literally my favorite sport the kids played because it was one hour I could go. Exactly. It's like I was like, this is the best baseball or softball.

Christine Dorfler (19:53):

It was the, but it is. I mean,

Maureen (19:54):

But they got to play under the lights. It was like exciting for the whole whole hour they played. I was like, this is the best sport for kids. Totally.

Christine Dorfler (20:00):

And you know, it'll be an Olympic sport for men and for women. So there'll be a USA, we'll have a team in la 2028 Olympics of, of women and you know, just the efforts that the NFL and the 32 teams have put behind girls and high school getting its sanctioned in many states in college and working with the NCAA on that, including at the D one level and then into professional and in the Olympics. It's like, you know, watching girls play football in a formal way.

Jess (20:29):

It's awesome. So it's like a true pipeline that's happening.

Christine Dorfler (20:31):

Absolute pipeline and very, very intentional. Yeah. And it's one of the most exciting things we're doing. So.

Maureen (20:37):

So let's talk a little bit more about what you're doing here, like differently. You've followed in the shoes of someone that was in this role for 20 years. 30, right? 30, 30 years.

Christine Dorfler (20:46):

A long time.

Maureen (20:46):

Yeah. 30 years. I feel like mentally you had to prepare yourself in some ways to take on someone else's space. Like that shoes step into big shoes. Yeah. Maybe you can tell us a little bit about, I know you talked about knowing what to ask the right questions mm-hmm <affirmative>. And also being confident. But was there any other like mental preparation to shift into this job? And then maybe how you're carving out your name here? Yeah.

Christine Dorfler (21:09):

No, I mean, look, I felt very fortunate. You know, it's always big shoes to fill when you have someone who's been in a role for a long time and, and my predecessors absolutely phenomenal and just, you know, created so much value for the league and did a phenomenal job. And so big shoes to fill. I was fortunate to have a pretty long transition where I had the opportunity to just learn and absorb like a sponge. Some of the institutional knowledge that he has. And it was really set me up for success. And I think that's really important of making sure that when you enter a new role, you take on a new challenge that you're set up for success in the transition process. And I, I definitely was, and I felt fortunate for that. But I, listening is a skill and knowing when to ask questions and when to listen and when to just ask more questions. <laugh>

Christine Dorfler (21:53):

Is not, you know, it's a real skill and I've had to develop that over my career when I was younger in my career, being afraid to ask the question because I was like, oh, I should, I should probably know that. And as I've gotten older and maybe it's a confidence thing or an experience thing or an age thing, I don't know, but I said, I'm just gonna ask the question 'cause everybody else is probably thinking it. So I, you know, it is a real skill to develop. But yeah, big shoes to fill, but felt really good about, about being set up for success in, in the way the NFL kind of structured that transition. So

Maureen (22:19):

Like when you get the phone call that you got the job, what was it like? Like was it a phone call, was it an email?

Christine Dorfler (22:24):

It was a phone call and I -

Maureen (22:25):

I like to know the details.

Christine Dorfler (22:25):

Yeah. It's just a pinch yourself moment. Yeah. You think, oh my gosh, how did I get here? Because when I first heard about the job opportunity, I was like, of course that that's a dream job, but there'll be a million people who want that job. Right. But sometimes you just gotta go for it. And I, I would feel really honored. <laugh>,

Maureen (22:43):

I feel like you,

Jess (22:43):

Did Roger call you directly? Was that - Yeah. - Is that who called you? And he said, you're our girl?

Christine Dorfler (22:47):

Yeah. Yeah. He called and yeah, it was amazing.

Maureen (22:50):

Pinch yourself moment.

Christine Dorfler (22:51):

pinch yourself.

Jess (22:52):

Did you scream? Did you,

Christine Dorfler (22:53):

I didn't scream<laugh>. I was smiling like I am now. Yeah.

Maureen (22:57):

It is life changing. And you mentioned that your last job you were in for a couple of decades. And then I guess do people stay in these jobs long? Like in our line of work people, there's movement, like people are moving and it's very transient. Yeah.

Christine Dorfler (23:10):

Well the NFL's an easy place to love. So <laugh>. Okay. So people tend to wanna stay here 'cause it's a great place to work.

Jess (23:16):

You mentioned the travel, you mentioned so many aspects of your job. What's the part that you just absolutely love doing the most of this, this role?

Maureen (23:23):

Your favorite?

Christine Dorfler (23:23):

Yeah. I would say seeing team come together to work on, on something like I, I'll, I'll give a great example. We just, earlier this year we closed a deal with ESPN for the sale of some of our media assets to ESPN in exchange for 10% equity. And that probably sounds a little bit boring, but it was, it was a really very strategic deal that's a, a win not only for the NFL and for ESPN, but for fans, right? 'cause it puts a lot of NFL content on a much broader scale, more scalable platform. And it was a real bear of a deal to work through. It took many, many years, including before my time and seeing the team come together, roll up their sleeves, work on something that was complex, put the time, effort, energy, passion into it and get it done in a, in a way that was, that was a win for the two sides of the deal. But then also more importantly for our fans was awesome that I felt really, really proud of, proud of that.

Maureen (24:17):

I feel really proud of it and I don't, yeah. You know, she just exudes the energy like, oh, I I love it, you love your job.

Christine Dorfler (24:23):

But another female colleague of mine, Anderson, who runs our partnerships business, which is like sponsorship and consumer products and everything, I remember when I interviewed with her, she said, I gotta tell you about it. I asked her what the NFL was like to work for and the people and the culture and, and she said, you know, I gotta tell you, it's like the players they put on their pads and their helmets and they run out onto the field and they give their everything she said. And not to be too cliche, but that's what it's like here. You know, people really are passionate and work really hard and really care about this place because they care about the impact it has on so many fans. And not only fans, but local communities and local economies, et cetera. So that resonated with me. And you know, you hear that in an interview and you say, okay, all right, but now I see it. Yeah. And, and it's really cool to see and to be a part of.

Maureen (25:10):

Amazing. Right? Yeah. It seems like, you know, when you talk about the culture and people wanting to stay here and it's a great place to work, same for the players, right? Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Like this is their dream job is to get into the NFL mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, um, the question I always ask at the end of our interviews, or as we're getting close to the end of our interview, is, with so much on your plate and such big ticket items every day that you're managing, do you have any advice for maybe up and coming women in finance or just women in general in such big roles or any mantra that maybe that you've abide by every day? <laugh>, maybe something someone told you along the way. Yeah. I feel like she had so many words of wisdom already throughout our, that just natural answering questions. But is there anything like, yeah.

Christine Dorfler (25:52):

You know, I would say, uh, figure out what your leadership style is, right? And figure that out early on. You don't need to be in a position of managing people to develop that leadership style. Leadership is how you engage and interact with people. It's how you build relationships. It's how you present yourself. It's, it's how you learn, right? Yeah. We talked a lot about listening. It's how you listen and learn and, and then keep going, keep evolving. Be a lifelong learner and a lifelong developer of that leadership style. Like it took me a while to strike that right balance of having the confidence to do new things and take on new challenges and apply for a job when I didn't feel quite ready. <laugh>. Yeah. Um, which is a hard thing sometimes for, for women to do. Right. You know, sometimes you feel like, oh gosh, I, I have 80% of the things they're asking for, but not this extra 20 I can't apply. Sometimes you gotta take a leap and you gotta believe in yourself and believe that that 80% will carry you a long way and then you'll figure out that the other 20%. So having the confidence to do that is right. But I would say keep develop that leadership style early on.

Jess (26:52):

So what is your leadership style? How would you describe?

Christine Dorfler (26:54):

I think it is that blend of confidence, humility. I think I approach things with a eagerness to learn. I like the relationship building aspect of things. I think there's nothing more important. Sometimes I think women in finance dismiss the EQ part of it. And, and I shouldn't just say that people in finance, I think anybody in finance dismisses the EQ part of it because it's -

Jess (27:12):

So numbers driven?

Christine Dorfler (27:13):

Yeah. And think, hey, if I do great analytics on this Excel spreadsheet and I'm really good, you know, I'm a workhorse and I'm an analyst and that's gonna be enough. Yeah. And it's not right. You could be a great analyst but not be great at the relationship building and the teamwork and the presentation and the communication. And it's only gonna get you so far. You are gonna be limited in your career. And I think leadership feeds into that. Develop your leadership style, develop your relationship building skills, your listening skills, your communication skills, you know, in a world of ai right? <laugh> right. Figure out those softer skills that can't be replicated and really, really focus on them as much as you focus on the hard skills. Focus on the soft skills. 'cause the numbers piece of it is only gonna get you so far. Then it's what you do with the numbers and how you communicate and how you build the relationships to be able to impact things in, in a meaningful way.

Maureen (28:01):

Awesome. Totally fascinating. Well, we cannot wait to see what you do next. Yeah.

Christine Dorfler (28:06):

It's fantastic and excited for this upcoming season. It's only a few months away now.

Jess (28:10):

Oh, we can't wait. Yeah, go Eagles!

Jess (28:14):

Okay. So she would not confirm or deny if she was an Eagles fan,

Maureen (28:19):

But she did say she grew up outside Philly.

Jess (28:22):

Okay. Yeah. I left with bird's vibes in my heart. That girl bleeds green <laugh>.

Maureen (28:27):

I love that she is embracing having her dream job and making it her own. I mean, being in the room with her, you can just feel her confidence.

Jess (28:35):

And her joy. She loves her job.

Maureen (28:37):

And we love our job!

Jess (28:38):

<laugh>. Yes. She just reminded us that no matter what route you take to doing whatever you wanna do in this world, you can totally do it. Yeah.

Maureen (28:47):

You can start out as McNeff on the lacrosse team at Villanova and wind up as the freaking CFO of the NFL.

Jess (28:53):

<laugh>. Totally amazing. She What? Comes to you from Real Woman Magazine, a product of Capital Health. This episode was produced by Leigh Iacobucci, with Music by Epidemic Sound.

Maureen (29:05):

Please, please leave us a rating and review. We want this show to be so great and we need you to help us do that. So follow, subscribe, and next time bring your friends too. Until then, I'm Maureen Petrosky.

Jess (29:17):

And I'm Jess Downey.