How This NFL Executive Champions The Women In Sports We’re Not Talking About

Julie Haddon is the Senior Vice President of Global and Consumer Marketing for the NFL. She leads the team supporting multi-billion dollar revenue streams that drive viewership for all NFL franchises, NFL Network flagship shows, fan products, and digital properties. She is also the Executive Sponsor of NFL Pride, the organization’s first-ever LGBT employee resource group and is an Executive Producer of the just released documentary, A Lifetime of Sundays, featuring the women of the NFL. You can watch the documentary on the NFL Network at 3 p.m. EST Friday, September 20 and again on Saturday, October 12 at 8 p.m. EST.

I feel most powerful when the work I lead impacts and inspires millions of people around the world.  I’m a right-brain and left-brain marketer who thrives at the intersection of art and science. Creating content and storytelling is my passion, but how that content performs is equally something I’m excited about. Our NFL documentary called “A Lifetime of Sundays,” featuring four legendary NFL female owners, and our Super Bowl commercial “The 100-Year Game,” which features a cameo of a young woman football star that runs off at the end of the spot into the next 100 years, have both been received extremely well. When I have the opportunity to champion interesting stories about women who have played an integral role in the league’s history and will play in its future, that is pure power. We can see it, we can be it.  

Power means peace and equanimity. It’s about inner confidence to know I’m advocating for what’s right. Power can only truly be earned, and should be passed along with encouragement, so that others can be steady in being their best selves, too. That’s what has guided my management philosophy and it’s how I show up every day, as a leader at the NFL. 

When I feel powerless, I look to my three extraordinary kids and also nature to remind myself there’s plenty out there that is greater than this moment. The Pacific, Tahoe, a Redwood Grove — all of these are humbling. And when I need someone to talk to, I reach out to a close group of trusted mentors comprised of NFL owners, former managers, coaches, and friends in my inner-circle. I also listen to Amy Cuddy, read Brene Brown, mediate, and regale in humility. 

Power Music: Anything Joni Mitchell, Lizzo, Indigo Girls and ... John Denver. Just try it!

As a movie buff, I also have a collection of power movie quotes. One of my current favorites is from 1987’s “Wall Street” when Bud Fox is about to meet Gordon Gekko for the first time: “Life comes down to just a few moments. This is one of them.” It’s the epic moments and how we handle them, that make all the difference.

Who's your power icon? 

Hands down, my power icon is the entire US Women’s National Soccer Team — all 23 of them along with head coach Jill Ellis. These exceptional women captured, electrified and galvanized, the hearts and minds of an entire nation, while advocating for what’s right for equality. Mad respect for these baller athletes.

A rotation of Gucci loafers or my Allbirds wool runners. My signature powerwear starts with what touches the ground first every day — killer shoes!