S2: Jennifer Bullano Ridgley, Pittsburgh Penguins Vice President, Media Relations

Deb Placey welcomes Jennifer Bullano Ridgley, the Vice President of Media Relations for the Pittsburgh Penguins to the podcast. Their conversation begins with Jen explaining how she first became interested in pursuing a career in hockey and how her first job at Disney World led her to wanting to get involved in sports public relations (1:40). Jen shares her thoughts on the evolution of the sports industry, she explains her role with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and tells a funny story of her first month on the job with the team (5:00). She discusses working with Sidney Crosby, the crazy media requests he gets, and why sometimes she has to give him special treatment (11:00). Deb asks Jen how she deals with stressful moments, and Jen offers a wonderful piece of advice to those who want to break into her business (19:00). Jen reveals some of her superstitious quirks, explains why working with Marc-Andre Fleury was amazing, elaborates on her relationship with Dan Bylsma and Mike Sullivan, and discusses the differences between Ray Shero and Jim Rutherford (24:00). She reminisces about having to navigate the team through HBO’s first 24/7 behind the scenes show (26:00), offers up some of the challenges of working in a social media world (35:00) and explains how her relationship with Phil Kessel evolved (39:15). She shares a bit of her personal side during Deb’s “Executive Summary” line of questioning (47:00).