Meet the Creative Women of the NLL

Thanks to social media, opportunities for creatives in sports have never been higher – or more important to an organization’s bottom line. No longer limited to print media (think newspapers, magazines, team publications like programs or yearbooks), social media offers fans the ability to be in the moment with their team every second. One carefully crafted social post can involve a photographer, a designer, a copywriter, an editor, and a publicist. In sports, a traditionally male-dominated industry, more women than ever fill these roles and share their talent and passion with the fans.

In honour of Women’s History Month, NLL.com writer Anna Taylor sat down to chat with four other creative women working with the National Lacrosse League about their experiences in the sports world, why they love working in the industry, and their advice for young women who want to break into the business.

Meet the Creatives:

• Story author Anna Taylor has worked in sports since 2006 – in that year she started as an intern for the Oshawa Generals and also saw her first lacrosse game in her hometown of Peterborough, Ontario. She has held several freelance roles for the NLL. Currently, in addition to writing features, Anna is a leader on the Game Night Social team and manages the League’s photography staff and its library of photos.
• Kayla Morrow is the Las Vegas Desert Dogs Manager of Marketing and Communications, in charge of the team’s social media presence. A Sacramento, California native, 2025 will mark Kayla’s 10^th year in the sports industry. Nevada is the fourth state she has worked in.
• One of the League’s most talented photographers is Heather Barry, who has shot the Philadelphia Wings for the last four seasons. A Florida native, Barry also shoots for the Flyers and Phillies and has contributed to Getty Images and USA Today.
• Samantha Ward and Meghan O’Donnell are best friends, and the women behind empowHERed, a company that connects with and provides guidance and mentorship to women in the sports industry. As sports communications professionals, they were hired by the NLL as public relations consultants in November to help grow the NLL’s brand and connect the League with various media outlets through both new and traditional means.

Anna: I’m happy I get to talk with all of you. Connecting with other female professionals in the sports industry is important. Let’s dive right in, and have you start by telling me how you got into the business of sports.

Kayla: I grew up around the Bay Area, so [I watched] the San Francisco Giants and 49ers. I was always playing soccer, and I played lacrosse a little bit in high school, too, and sports were a big part of my life. I knew I wanted to continue that into my career, and get into communications and PR. I’ve always enjoyed writing, so I majored in strategic communications with a double emphasis in public relations and advertising.

Heather: I’ve always liked photography. I always had a camera. Back then we had two-megabyte photos in the low-res digital era, so I had a bunch of little Canon Power Shots, battery powered – that’s such a throwback! I took pictures of everything. I lived in a small town, so I spent a lot of time taking photos of nature and cool things I saw. I bought a camera with my first tax return, a Canon Rebel X, and I brought it to a hockey game, and realized that it was really challenging. These photos are not good by any means, but I really enjoyed doing this, and I pursued it from there. It turned from just covering hockey into different sports like baseball, lacrosse, football, you name it.

Meghan: I played soccer growing up, played in college until I had reconstructive hip surgery and had to retire. But I always knew I wanted to be involved in the sports world in some way and ended up interning at ESPN the summer before my senior year, which is where I met Sam. I was offered a full-time job to go back when I graduated, so I worked at ESPN for a few more years and then went back to Philadelphia with the Eagles for a while before Sam and I decided to start empowHERed.

Samantha: I always knew I wanted to do sports. I majored in broadcast journalism with a concentration in sports communication at UNC. After college, I went on to work for the Boston Red Sox for a couple of years. I was in the weeds doing social for them, so every single day doing all the platforms, tweeting every single game, covering it across every single platform out there. I’ve realized I enjoy the traditional PR side of things more, but I’m thankful that I had my time in social media because everything I learned during that time has really helped me a lot when it comes to doing PR and media relations.

Anna: What are some of the responsibilities you have in your position with the NLL?

Kayla: As the Marketing & Communications Manager, I essentially run all of the Desert Dogs’ social media platforms. I manage our graphic designer and videographer and work with them to plan out content. I coordinate our media appearances and media requests for games. I do the game notes, I help with game previews, and I edit the articles that go up on our website.

Meghan: At empowHERed, we really have two different pillars. One is a community for women and trying to create more opportunities. And the other is the PR agency side, which just developed organically from some of the clients and the people that we’ve worked with in starting up empowHERed.

Samantha: We primarily started as communications consultants at the NLL, but we wanted to integrate ourselves more and more into the League. We’re very, very passionate about the League. We see the potential for it to be The Next Major League. So, beyond press releases, we have written features. We do a weekly newsletter that goes out to all media. We’ve developed a partnership with ESPN, so we now have consistent coverage on their website and app. We’ve been working closely with Joel Feld and his broadcast team to optimize the content that’s going out on broadcasts and making sure we’re really targeting our fans to increase viewership. Truly any opportunity that comes, we are the type of people to jump on it and say yes.

Meghan: I’d say the three main pieces are public relations, media relations, and corporate communications, and anything under those buckets.

Anna: I didn’t ask Heather this question because, as a photographer, I felt like her tasks were pretty self-explanatory. I can tell you as her manager that she’s at the rink two hours before every game and a long time afterward, following a shot list I provide and capturing every memorable moment within the game, editing and then uploading those photos for team and League use. I want to give her a shoutout because occasionally the Wings will have an afternoon game and the Flyers a night game, so she’s at Wells Fargo Center working literally all day.

Anna: Let’s move on to the harder-hitting questions, which is the point of this discussion. What are some of the challenges you’ve run into as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field?

Heather: I still feel like we are limited, especially non-binary people or women of color. We have done better in some spaces. I would say there’s a lot more women staff in different roles. I would love to see more women in football and baseball and at the college level. Sometimes I’m the only girl on the sidelines and it’s a little intimidating, but you have to just show up and do your job.

Kayla: I’m trying to figure out how to say this. I’m sure you understand it too, though. It’s a challenge just to kind of prove that you belong. You do deserve the seat at the table. I’ve worked for some teams where I just wasn’t taken seriously. I’m very grateful to now be working with a team where I don’t have to worry about that, and they value my opinion. My favorite thing is game days, because I’m on the bench with the players during warmups, and there’s always little girls who wave to me, and I think that’s the best part of it. Last year, I had a little girl who was like, “Oh my gosh, you’re just like me.” And I was like, “okay, well now I’m going to cry.” Normalizing that it doesn’t have to be a male-dominated industry is hard, but we get to bring a whole new demographic [to the game] and we get to see how excited those little girls are. It can be challenging at times – I’ve worked with some teams where I was literally the only woman in the front office and just trying to be like, I can do what you do, and I can probably do it better.

Samantha: Through our experiences, that’s how we came to the idea of empowHERed. We wanted to create a community where women in sports were uplifting each other and creating more opportunities for other women rather than having a scarcity mindset. [For example, I had a situation where my supervisor, a woman,] had a competitive scarcity mindset. I noticed very quickly that I hit my ceiling, though I was there to learn and grow. But that wasn’t possible under the current management, which was unfortunate because I loved my job there.

Meghan: When I left my first job, it was because of sexual harassment. My manager was fired eventually, but not until years after I left. It was something that I didn’t talk about for a really long time, but I started to because I didn’t know if it was my fault. It was my first job out of college. And then when we started empowHERed, it was kind of cathartic for me. It was like, okay, we can help make sure that other women don’t go through the same things. Hopefully we get to a point where they don’t ever go through it.

Anna: I have found more acceptance as a woman in lacrosse, especially in the NLL, than other sports. I hope that you feel the same, that our League is not only inclusive for women but a place where we can thrive. What are your impressions of your time here so far?

Kayla: The NLL is one of the first leagues I’ve worked in where it’s completely equal across the board, which I love.

Meghan: I think they’ve done a tremendous job. We were talking the other day, Anna, about how much you do and how you’re such a huge content creator, or nights when we’re doing games and you’re the person sending us the highlights at the end of the night. We’re like, Anna’s just on it. She does so much for the league. She gets stuff done on the content side. And so I think being able to see the role that you play, and how we’ve been welcomed so quickly and everyone was so willing to help and getting us up to speed, it’s been great to see that kind of inclusivity at the league level. From our perspective, it’s been one of the most inclusive experiences we’ve had with a league that we’ve worked with.

Samantha: Oh, I would agree completely.

Anna: Oh my gosh, thank you. I wasn’t expecting that. I have been with the NLL now for eight years or so and I have always felt valued for my skills and knowledge. It’s rewarding to know I’m making an impact.

Heather: I’m kind of solitary in my position covering the Wings, so I can speak more to how it is specifically as a woman working in the Philadelphia sports scene. It depends on the sport. I feel like we’re slowly making strides, but there are still times when I’m the only woman out there and it’s quiet until you get comfortable with the people you’re around. I would like to see more diversity in faces. There’s talent out there. It’s just that the sports market is a very, very competitive and a small field, I think. We’re pretty limited in terms of women covering Philadelphia football, it’s me and one other woman. Baseball is pretty good. Most of our marketing staff is female, but our team operations guys are men, and they’ve been around forever.

Anna: Mentorship is a big opportunity in sports business. What’s it like to pass on your expertise to the next generation?

Kayla: I have an intern this year, and it’s a really cool feeling. I remember how excited I felt with my internships, and honestly, I still feel like even though I started 10 years ago in sports, it was literally two years ago. I remember the opportunities that I wanted to be presented with and I’m hoping that I’m able to give the people that I work with those same opportunities to grow in their career and figure out what they want to do with the team.

Samantha: We talk about imposter syndrome all the time, and we still have that every day. So sometimes we have to step back and be like, “are we qualified to be mentors?” And we’re like, “yes, this is what we’re doing. We’re here to help women.” Even if it’s just to lend an ear and be like, “hey, you are not alone. We don’t want you to feel isolated in this situation.” I love that we’re able to be in that position now. Sometimes I still don’t feel old enough or qualified enough to be in that position, but we are.

Meghan: I echo Sam’s sentiments. We struggle with the imposter syndrome side of it, but I think the best feeling is when people reach out after we’ve worked with them and they’re like, “hey, I just got this job. Thank you so much.” Or we’re able to help connect them to somebody who can open doors for them at their dream organization. Just being able to talk and be that support we didn’t have when we were younger is important to us.

Anna: I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you to brag about yourselves a little. What have you found most rewarding in your career or what has been something really cool that you’ve done?

Kayla: When I was with the Henderson Silver Knights (AHL), we opened Lee’s Family Forum. Just getting to open an entirely new arena in a whole new, different part of Vegas, where there were no professional sports in Henderson until that moment. So that was really cool, getting to see when it was literally an empty lot to the renderings and being in the meetings until it was completely built, and now I’m back here with the Desert Dogs.

Heather: Covering the World Series. I had always wanted to cover a big event, and I didn’t care what team it was or where it was. It was kind of a fever dream. It was crazy. I can’t even describe how much fun that was. And the other goal for me was getting on some type of sports card, and with Getty this year I was able to get baseball cards. My first baseball card was the Yankees, and I didn’t care what team or what player it was. I was just like, I want a card. Whether it’s a hockey card or a baseball card, it does not matter. I just want to see my photos printed and that was a big proud moment.

Heather Barry’s imagery has appeared on several baseball cards.

Samantha: I would say starting empowHERed together. We can both look at our careers and be like, wow, we’ve done some really cool stuff in sports. But to be able to say that I started a successful company with my best friend of 10 years and its main priority is to help other women in sports, that’s by far the thing I’m most proud of.

Meghan: Most rewarding for me is the relationships I’ve built throughout my career. Sam is my best friend. She was a bridesmaid at my wedding. I’m a bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding. I met my husband at ESPN. Literally the most important relationships in my life outside of my family have come from the sports industry.

Samantha: No, she just downplayed that. She’s the maid of honor.

Anna: Last question. What advice do you have for young women looking to break into the business of sports?

Heather: Don’t be afraid to reach out to people. I think for me, finding a mentor is big. Find somebody who will be open to it. You’re going to get a hundred people who won’t even answer or will say no. But reach out anyway. Try to be genuine with your approach about working in sports, don’t just build the connection to advance yourself. Really sit down and learn from your mentor and grow from that.

Samantha: Network, network, network. Pretty much every opportunity I’ve had in sports is because of someone else. Sports is such a small world, so develop genuine relationships with the people you are networking with and treat everyone with equal respect.

Meghan: Organizational culture is a big thing. [Your] day-to-day responsibilities are only part of the job. So are the people that you work with and the environment that you’re in every day. So, the culture is a huge piece of whether you’re going to be happy, and also successful and able to make an impact. Do your research on a company’s culture, try to talk to other employees, and seek out information before you start. Prioritize that and find organizations that align with your values.

Anna: Thank you all, so much, for everything you do for the League and the sport of lacrosse. And fans, next time you see a social media post from your favourite team, remember how passion goes into creating it.