- 7/15/2024
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PeopleTranscript
00:00Good morning. Thank you all. Thank you for coming. Thank you Paige. Thank you Lindsay very much for coming. Thank you for having us
00:06Thank you. Very welcome Paige to this room probably does not need a whole lot of introduction
00:11She has a list of honors and accolades a mile long
00:17amazing what she has accomplished in in her in her young life to date and we're gonna talk about all of the
00:23Opportunities for athletes these days that find themselves in this incredible position of again
00:28I mean the list of honors and accolades
00:30Let's just start with you know being an all-american in this town John Wooden's name really still
00:36Carries a lot of weight and you were a wooden first team member
00:40It was a really, you know, obviously everybody that followed the NCAA knew that you had a pretty incredible
00:46Season that we'll talk a little bit about with UConn. So thank you so much fresh off of your
00:51ESPYs appearance and
00:54We're gonna
00:55Fresh off of your ESPYs appearance last night. So again, thank you for joining us and joining us. Here is Lindsay Cagala Colas
01:04Executive vice president of talent for the collective which is a talent representation
01:10Firm that is right in the sweet spot of basically what this whole conference is about which is kind of the nexus of sports
01:17Media and entertainment and how all of these worlds are coming together and growing the platform the fan base the reach of
01:25sports, which was already enormous but is is
01:28Growing even more in our in our ever expanding and connected media world
01:33So again, thank you both for joining us and kicking kicking things off today. And again, we are talking about
01:40Sports media and entertainment the Nexus and right there we are seeing there's so much activity in college
01:47athletics right now so many things that have changed and
01:50Page you have been on you know, you have been a star player for many years now
01:55You've been on up on a you've had a big, you know
01:58National platform in the last couple of years with all of your success at UConn
02:01I
02:02want to talk to both of you and you guys have been in business together now for a couple of years during this period when
02:07The name image and likeness changes have really changed the game and I would like to talk to you about sort of
02:13How have at this time when your your game is expanding so much and you are you know, you're seeking out your professional opportunities
02:21How do you determine?
02:23Your value how do you determine what you want to do and how you should be compensated?
02:30How what what kind of business arrangements that you want to set now that are gonna you know
02:34Potentially influence the rest of your life the rest of your career. I'd throw that to both of you in terms of
02:40evaluating the opportunity and
02:42Understanding where where the marketplace is in this fast-moving environment
02:47I'll go first
02:49Hi
02:51Happy to be here and thank you for that question
02:53So it's it's especially interesting to be in this position as a woman as a woman of color getting to talk about
03:00establishing value for women
03:03Because I think a lot of women have the experience of understanding what it's like to be at a negotiating table
03:09To be demanding value and to get looked at like you're a little crazy
03:13Right or to be told that you know, not yet or that's not yet proven. Well
03:19Pages business is really interesting because the day that we started working together, which was essentially the day that NIL
03:25You know was established and her ability to utilize her name and likeness
03:30Became a reality page was actually pretty hesitant to call this a business
03:34It didn't feel right to her and what we talked about was what the opportunity was
03:41When you have power, what do you do with it?
03:44and pages business from the very beginning was rooted in a why of
03:50purpose and
03:52impact and
03:53She shows up to a commercial opportunity
03:57For what it means for what it can create for what it can do and that's
04:01Really at the root of why I'm in this business and why I chose almost 20 years ago to focus
04:08Specifically on representing women athletes. The data is now showing that women athletes are incredibly powerful
04:14endorsers and that women's sports is a great business and
04:17I think the reason why is really wrapped up in a leader like page who perhaps even unknowingly
04:24I think is set the table and
04:26Modeled what is possible for an athlete with a type of power that she wields?
04:31but it works because it's genuine and because she was only interested in using that power if she could use it for good, so
04:40So it's a lot of money too
04:42We can we can do well and do good at the same time. That's been proven women's sports or proof point of that
04:48You know, that's a lot going on when you're going to college and competing at the highest level page
04:53Can you talk about how especially as your college career is advanced how you've been sort of?
04:59Balancing all the potential opportunity with just you know
05:02The focus on making sure you're the best point guard that the Huskies can that you can be for the Huskies
05:07Yeah, it's a balance. Obviously. I have a great team around me
05:11Who from day one we established values and that?
05:14Basketball is my main priority everything else comes second
05:17But at the same time I want to use my platform and the gifts that I've been given to give back
05:23and to
05:24Build my brand start building my wealth start building who I am as a person on and off the on and off the floor
05:30So just to have a great team around me
05:33And values with them share the values with them and then share the values with the brands and the companies that I want to work
05:39With and want to work with me
05:41Just to have that balance and know that basketball is always first and everything else comes after that and just balancing school
05:49Athletics and then whether it's a shoot day or just talking with companies and building that relationship
05:54It's all a balance and a huge credit to the team around me
05:58Can I ask you it you know again in this in this moment now you are
06:01As I understand you're gonna go back and play one more year because you are you were caught in that unfortunate kovat
06:08Period so you have one more year of eligibility to play for UConn if I'm not mistaken correct
06:12Yeah, gotcha as you're in that so you know like like all you know
06:17Students in their last year of college as you're thinking about what you want to do. What are the kind of areas?
06:22What are the areas of interest for you?
06:24I'm just continuing to give back. That's my main value
06:28I was very blessed and fortunate. I never had to worry about food on my plate a roof over my head
06:34Access to sport so to be able to give back with what I've been given is like the main goal and opportunity
06:40That I want to share with others
06:42And continue to do my part in helping this world to become a better place and use my platform for good
06:49All while continue to be a great teammate a great leader and balancing both basketball and everything else
06:56Last night at the ESPYS which was a complete blast. I gotta say get shout out to ESPN
07:02It was a really really fun night, and it celebrated the best of what sports can be it really did
07:07You were terrific you gave a presentation of the of the female college athlete of the year of course that was an award that you
07:14won in
07:152021 and you got up and made a speech at the ESPYS that people were talking about the next day and the next year and
07:22You were so prescient on the themes and the and the issues that were in play for college athletes and for women's sports
07:30You got up there and and one of the things you said you looked at the camera and said in the plainest language
07:36In talking about a sport led by by
07:39Women's basketball a sport led by black women you said quote they don't get the media coverage
07:46They deserve somebody of your stature looking in the camera and saying that directly the power
07:51It had to viewers at home the power. I'd had I know to ESPN programmers
07:56What what was it that that I think we know what drove you to say it?
08:01But I want to ask you about having the presence of mind
08:03Three years ago, which was a long time in your young life
08:07What what what motivated you to say that and then and use that moment to say what you said?
08:13Yeah, I just believe that shining light on others never diminishes your own light and spreading it
08:20Is much better and I've had a lot of
08:23black influential women in my life that I've played a huge role and I've seen the effects of white privilege and just the
08:32Imbalance in media attention and coverage
08:35And after my freshman year, especially I was sort of the media darling and everything was about page. So I kind of wanted to
08:43Call that out and just use my voice in a positive way that way. I
08:49Would say that that you very much accomplished that let me ask you so three years later
08:55Incredible number of stars the the array of stars that people are talking about for the longest time
09:00It felt like there were one or two female athletes that would be talked about at any given time now
09:04There are that now there are so many we're seeing, you know, we're seeing so much coverage
09:09We're seeing so much of a pedestal now on women's sports
09:12How but at the same time it was even referenced last night at the ESPYs there is still some of that
09:17Tension in that historic, you know, let's pit women against each other as you again at the highest levels compete
09:24How do you feel like you know, is there progress is there progress toward parity?
09:31Sure
09:35So I think yes to a lot of that sure, um, you know, I've been at Wasserman since 2009
09:40I've been in the business a little bit longer than that and we founded the collective which is our women's focused business
09:47Five years ago. We celebrated our anniversary actually just what two days ago one day ago
09:54And that's actually a long time in women's sports
09:57There's been I was talking to the page in the car on the way over
10:01Women's sports for a long time was linear change, right one point the next point the next point it was happening
10:08Right, but you really had to be paying attention
10:10Right or the network had to make a choice that night to make it easier to find so the change was happening
10:15there have been people doing work for a long time, but we've now entered this era of
10:22exponential change where
10:242 times 2 is 4 equals 8 equals 16 all of a sudden it has felt like an explosion overnight and
10:32In some ways it's been that but it's sort of like we see the growth of technology right in the way that culture moves
10:37We're seeing that in women's sports right now
10:39And I think the the most important thing to keep in mind and I think pages really at the center of these kinds of discussions
10:45It's just diversity and storytelling. Are you talk about some of the narratives that are being put on?
10:50Women-athletes those aren't the ones that are started by women-athletes, right if we put the mic in women-athletes hands we invest in
10:58Storytellers and creatives who are in the community. It is rich
11:03It's rich with stories that are layers to tell these are women who connect with people in ways that are measurable and important
11:11And with more coverage with more investment we get to unlock that
11:14But we have to recognize the bias and how that coverage is applied
11:19And how the money is spent page called that out, right?
11:22And I think we call that out and we have to be intentional about
11:26Diverse storytelling. So we're really committed to making sure that in the next phase of pages evolution
11:33That that is very much at the center of what we intend to do
11:37How do you think page again going in
11:40You can't obviously a lot, you know incredible reputation a lot a lot going into this coming season
11:47With so much with so much activity now around women's sports around the potential for stars to emerge, you know
11:55Will there be negative effects in you know in practices?
11:58Do you think are there you know?
12:00Are there are there things you really need to balance in terms of the focus on the other opportunities off the court?
12:06You you've been very you've said more than once even just today that like basketball is your first priority
12:10Do you anticipate that that's going to be a bit of a struggle for some teams when there is so much of a spotlight now?
12:16On college athletes and you all have a mega gigantic megaphone in your pockets every day
12:22I think especially for our team at UConn
12:25We all celebrate each other's successes as our own
12:30And so with whatever I get I love to share with my teammates
12:34And that's just how we are and how the program is and the culture at UConn
12:38So it's never really like a problem with who gets what who gets this who gets that?
12:43I think we all share with each other really well
12:46and I think I mean we all just look at it as a blessing to be able to
12:50Capitalize off of NIL and start building our brands and building wealth for the future and continue to do great things and provide
12:58Opportunities and continue to invest in women's sports. We all just look at it as a blessing and we definitely share with each other
13:06What was it like for you to as you know as your career and your reputation grew as a player?
13:12What was it like for you to you know amass a following on social media?
13:16Well, what's it been like for you to really gain celebrity over these last couple of years?
13:20It's crazy. I definitely don't look at myself as a celebrity
13:25But just to see the following it started in high school around my senior year to where?
13:31You see the the 10k next year name and then it keeps growing and growing and growing. I'm just super blessed and grateful
13:39I'm just trying to be a role model and be an inspiration for others. I used to be that little kid looking up to my idols
13:45And so I just like I said before I want to use my platform for good for good
13:50I feel like God has blessed me with so much
13:52That it's only right that I bless other people with what I've been given
13:57So to continue to use my platform for good just have fun with it continue to stay true to myself
14:02And what got me here? I think will go a long way
14:06And Lindsay for you as a representative obviously, you know, well, she has that platform
14:12She has other platforms that she can reach on
14:14How do you now use all the different avenues that are available to you to you know?
14:18To to burnish the page Becker's brand and also, you know potentially seek out new opportunities
14:24It must really be something you must watch so carefully the trends and who's watching and who's commenting
14:31Yeah, we do the you know a big part of our
14:35Business in the collective is driven by an understanding of how to gather and analyze insights
14:40Right how we apply that and we know that because we've had to do that to prove that women's sports are a great business
14:47People need to see the numbers. Well, the numbers are showing that right so, you know with pages business
14:52I mean she talked about the privilege of being the position she's in I mean
14:57It's really my privilege to be able to represent someone who really leads us
15:03We're not making this stuff up like this is not manufactured she's not an actor
15:07No discredit to actors like playing a part like this is a person who shows up in this way every single day
15:14She sets the table, right? We're the ones who elevate and connect
15:19Bring an opportunity maybe help her understand how that connects to something that's happening
15:24But it's all genuine and that's why it lands. I mean page runs for social
15:28Right, we we can measure and we can look at the engagements and we can talk about what's happening
15:33But and that's page and the reason it works and the reason why people connect to it is because it's real and that's a real privilege
15:41to cultivate
15:42You know, I've got two young kids. I've got a three-year-old in the seven and three quarters year old
15:48For the record for drew I was very specific about that as they are at that age
15:53That's right, and he got to come to work with me at Nike on Tuesday
15:56It was extremely hot in Portland, so he got to come be with Paige and
16:02he walked in to the gym and
16:05The first thing that happened is page grabs him and goes to the court
16:10Like her ability to connect with kids and my comfort in having kids who I get I know that this is the role model
16:17I would want them around
16:19That's an incredible privilege
16:21I'm curious because in this, you know moment or somebody said not moment, but the momentum for women's sports, which I like that
16:29It's I mean, it's just been so undeniable in the last, you know, 12 months or so and it occurred to me
16:36It occurred to me that it's significant for people of pages generation that you've never known a world without a WNBA a
16:43Professional an avenue for you to turn for players to turn pro in the US. You don't have to go to Europe
16:49You know an exotic spot like to turn pro in the u.s. I can only imagine that how much that has now
16:57Generationally changed the ambition was that something page?
17:00I mean as you started to really see that you had real skill at this game
17:04Was that something that the notion of that there was of course long shot an incredible amount of work
17:10But that you could turn pro is that something that was like in your consciousness when you were in at the high school level?
17:16Yeah, I mean it started as a dream when I was five and I first picked up the basketball
17:21But that's just a testament to everybody that came before me
17:24I wouldn't be who I was without my favorite, Minnesota Lynx team growing up. I wouldn't have
17:30Shoes that I wanted to be in I wouldn't have the WNBA to aspire to be in
17:35And I wouldn't have you con that my dream school that I would want to go to so
17:40For everybody that played before me and paved the way
17:43I give so much credit to them because I wouldn't be who I am without them
17:47And the league wouldn't be what they are and college basketball wouldn't be what it is if it weren't for the people who came before me
17:54And so they played such a huge role in just inspiring young little kids
18:00Which is why I take such pride in that because I was just a young kid looking up to
18:05To those people and so it's it's something that I want to continue to do
18:10It's very significant in our last couple of minutes here
18:13Is there anything specific in the world of you know using your influence or business opportunities anything specific that you're pursuing that you can talk about?
18:21Lindsay, where would you say if you can't get specific like where would you say the the
18:26The most opportunity is is right now. Yeah, well
18:30There's really unlimited opportunity. It's really fun to be creative in an environment like that
18:34I would say for Paige we've done a lot and she has a really robust portfolio
18:39She's been really thoughtful about her choices
18:41Expanding the work of her foundation, you know and specifically the impact. She's opened a couple of free grocery stores on campuses
18:47We'd love to expand those
18:49We'd love to expand, you know more opportunities in and around getting more people of color into media
18:56Generally because we understand that the whole ecosystem matters, right? It's not just one place that all feeds each other
19:03But I think Paige developing as a creative
19:06She's got a really great point of view and great taste
19:10So I think in and around the fashion and beauty space
19:13I already talked about content but thinking about ways to utilize that
19:17To tell her story and to connect with people and to really flex her creative muscles
19:21That's gonna be a growth area that we're excited to lean into
19:24Paige what excites you?
19:27Everything
19:29Just the the growth of women's sports, I think is the most exciting thing especially now just to see
19:36People investing in women's sports brands and companies investing into women's sports and just to see it come back a hundred times better
19:43So just to see the accessibility grow the respect grow the coverage grow
19:49It's just amazing to be a part of I'm very blessed to be a part of it and it's very exciting
19:54I couldn't think of a better note to end on. Thank you so much to both of you for your time. Thank you
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