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Sophie Goldschmidt, has been recognized as one of the\xa0most influential/powerful Women in sports\xa0by multiple publications/organizations from\xa0Forbes, Adweek, Leaders in Sport, Sports Business, etc, working across the globe in\xa0leadership and\xa0senior positions\xa0from the\xa0WTA, NBA, England Rugby to the World Surf League.\xa0 All very different sports, with different opportunities and challenges along the way.\xa0 Great stories and learning from her exciting career over the\xa0past 20 years.\n\xa0\nKey Highlights\nJourney from Baylor University playing NCAA tennis and landing at Adidas USA in Portland\nWorking in the Adidas Tennis division, Indian Wells, Roland Garros, dealing with top players from Hingis to Kournikova,\xa0 Henman, Safin, etc\nMoving to WTA during the time the William sisters, Sharapova all becoming big stars, working with Larry Scott in the commercial and marketing space\n\nSony Ericsson WTA Tour \u2013 US$ 88 million\xa0 (5-6 year deal) \u2013 breakthrough deal \nPorsche, Lotto, Wilson and Eurosport deal \nMoved WTA Year end final from LA to Madrid \u2013 new commercial deals\n\n\nNext stop, the NBA in NYC \u2013 David Stern and Adam Silver, tennis fans too - made connection through tennis and then moving into this new sport\xa0\nMoved back to London as Managing Director EMEA, establishing NBA operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa \u2013 more decentralized operations, opening offices in Moscow, Milan, Istanbul, Jo-burg, etc\nOver 70 players from Europe in the League already at that time, NBA League Pass (OTT), finding new local marketing partners (sponsors),\xa0\n\u201cBasketball without Borders\u201d across South Africa and other countries, grassroots development, something the NBA is very good at \u2013 Leading up to potential NBA League in Africa\nLong terms view,\xa0 \u201cone kid at a time\u201d convert from kicking to bouncing a ball \xa0(David Stern)\nOpportunity to join England Rugby (RFU) as Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer \u2013 passion for the sport from her dad \u2013 opportunity for the sport following the very successful London Olympics and leading up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup in the UK\nFirst female board member at the RFU (also became the first female board member of the PGA European Tour during that time), evolved the brand and more progressive approach to sponsors, driving commercial and engagement with fans\xa0\nCVC new investment into Rugby and her thoughts on it \u2013 new resources and more independent strategic thinking for the sport\nJoined the agency world at CSM \u2013 getting a look into the agency world\nMoving back to the US with the World Surf League as CEO \u2013 sport accepted into the Olympics, new wave technology with Kelly Slater Wave Company, etc\nTurning the challenge of the unpredictability of the weather (waves) into an opportunity, streaming vs linear TV, early digital adoption, less focus on live, lifestyle brand\xa0\nElevator pitch \u2013 as many surfers than golfers (over 400 million) in the world, beautiful location and people doing amazing things, highly engaged audience (sponsors from Corona to Airbnb)\nBig educational process, understanding and interest depending on the markets, Brazil is huge\xa0\nSophie continues on the WSL Advisory Board, in addition to new roles now as an Advisor in sports, media, tech, health & fitness including; as a business partner to the new\xa0connected Home Health & Fitness Platform (Tersa), LOVB volleyball, MIXhalo, Egoli, Racquet Publishing, Pamos and as Board Governor for the International Tennis Hall of Fame\n\xa0\nAbout Sophie Goldschmidt\nSophie\xa0is a\xa0dynamic, senior, global leader\xa0with broad and deep proven experience in sports, entertainment, media and technology. Throughout her career she has been at the forefront of globalizing and innovating sports and entertainment properties. \nMost recently she was\xa0CEO of the World Surf League (WSL)\xa0and previously in\xa0leadership, commercial and marketing roles\xa0at the\xa0National Basketball Association (NBA), the\xa0Women\u2019s Tennis Association (WTA), the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the\xa0PGA European Tour,\xa0Adidas\xa0and the\xa0global sport