In this official Q&A with Phoebe Schecter, the first female coach in the NFL, we learned about the power of diversity and inclusion and the secret to succeeding in male-dominated settings. A very sincere and eye-opening interview, it was great to talk to such a positive voice on representation, diversity, and inclusion in sport.

This exclusive interview was conducted by Megan Lupton, a Senior Content Executive at Champions Speakers. Megan is a specialist in female-focused content and enjoys interviewing successful female role models, such as Phoebe Schecter.

Q: How can women succeed in male-dominated sports?

Megan: "As a popular female empowerment speaker what advice can you offer?"

Phoebe: “Yeah, the first thing that comes to mind is self-belief. You have got to believe in yourself and believe that you have earned the right to be in whatever situation that you're in. I also feel, as a female who's been in these situations, that;

“I never really thought of myself as being the only female.”

I think we need to start to remove that mindset from the situation because otherwise, we're always going to be signalling ourselves out. And mentally that can play mind games with you as well.

So, I would say just off the back of that, and this took me time as well, is understanding and identifying what the value is that you bring to an organisation. It doesn't have to be the same as everyone else. For me in football, I knew coming into it at such a late stage in my career, that it probably wasn't going to be the X's and O'kind of thing, but perhaps I could add value with that consistency, with my positive energy, with being able to use my interpersonal skills with the players and they would open up to me more.

So that all starts from self-belief and through that you build confidence and you're able to then identify what exactly it is that you bring. And it's like a big circle and you just build from there.”

Q: How can organisations build meaningful relationships with their employees?

Megan: “How would you encourage businesses to build connections with their employees?”

Phoebe: “I think diversity is such a huge part of success for businesses because the more diverse your organisation is, the more creative it will be. I'd say for organisations, a lot of times it's literally just having a chat, whether it's almost like a breakout session within your company or within certain teams.

I think it's important we do things in football where we just talk about our backgrounds or families, maybe show a picture of what's important to you. A lot of what I found through sports is actually.

“Vulnerability is a really massive part of building trust.”

If you can have someone open up or show that you're opening up, that already starts bringing down the walls and helps people to understand who you are, where you come from, and why you might behave a certain way or do certain things.

When we start being our natural self, well, that's already going to connect us as a team, whatever our background may be.”

Q: What role does education play in successfully implementing diversity and inclusion measures?

Megan: “So, staying with diversity and inclusion. You are the chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the British American Football Association. What does this role entail and why is it important to you?”

Phoebe: “So, it's pretty exciting for me because this is the first time our sport within the UK has ever had a Diversity Inclusion Committee, which is a really big step for us. My role pretty much entails understanding our community and what their needs are, and then being able to create initiatives off the back of that, whether that's supporting the other committees within our sport, or helping to educate the people.

One of the things we work on right now is a transgender and nonbinary gender policy. I mean, not only is that a massive step for the sport, but also for a lot of people who just don't understand or know what any of that means – right? I could have just spoken a foreign language to someone. So, education becomes a cornerstone for what we're doing. But also, we want to open up and create equity within our sport.

We as a sport always say that it takes all shapes and sizes when you're on the field. We've got people who are five foot eleven playing on the field with people who are six foot seven. We are personifying what diversity looks like with all the different backgrounds as well. So, we want to make sure that we're living everything we believe in and showing that to the rest of the world.”

“We want to be at the forefront in showing what diversity can be and how you can be forward-thinking and inclusive going forward.”

Q: How has taking risks affected your career?

Megan: You've built your career on taking risks and saying yes to opportunities. Is this something you would recommend to others and how do you build confidence in other people to do the same?

Phoebe: “Yes, absolutely. I think once I took my first big risk, which for me was moving to the UK ten years ago, once I took that risk, it almost opened up the door for me to do more and look for more and push myself. I think a lot of times we have to look at why would someone not want to take a risk. It is scary and a lot of times the scariness is the fear of failure. But if we can start to change our mindset on what failure is, for me now, failure is just an opportunity to grow and develop and it's not always going to feel nice. I can't lie to you; it's going to be uncomfortable.

“But when you push through and you get to the other side, it's like you're a butterfly and you become a new person.”

We keep going through that cycle and I think it's really important for people to try and take as many opportunities as possible because you never know what could happen. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Someone tells me, ‘no’. Well, I'm in no better or worse position than I was before, so what am I losing here?

You don't know. Something might not occur at first with the opportunity. It might just have been a cool experience, but perhaps 5-10 years down the road, you meet someone that you networked with back then when you did that one thing, and now you're starting something great together. You just have to always be thinking ahead and thinking about what could potentially come from this.

Again, building relationships is a key part of it. I guess when it comes to the confidence side of things, I think, that has to start with yourself, that has to start with your self-belief, and we don't always have that. It's not natural for a lot of people to feel so confident in themselves. I know myself, I did not feel this way before I moved to the UK, to be honest. So, it does take a lot of time, a lot of self-discovery, and truthfully, a lot of ‘fake it till you make it'.

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Contact the Champions Speakers agency to provisionally enquire about Phoebe Schecter for your event today. Simply call a booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.