IU women's tennis alum Rachel Epstein with Sage Steele and ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro at the 2018 espnW Summit in Newport Beach, California.
Bloomington to Bristol: Epstein uses IU experience in job at ESPN
10/16/2020 9:54:00 AM | Women's Tennis
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IU women's tennis alumnus Rachel Epstein is on the short list of those who have beaten Serena Williams.
Epstein had left her home in Buffalo, N.Y., near the end of high school to focus on tennis. She trained in Florida at the Rick Macci International Tennis Academy, where Macci coached the Williams sisters.
Serena was only nine-years-old and Epstein 20, but a win over the future 23-time grand slam champion is impressive. Epstein said you could tell at nine Serena was destined for success.
Epstein, an All-American, multiple time All-Big Ten honoree and member of four IU Big Ten Championship teams, in a stretch where the Hoosiers won nine straight Big Ten titles, now serves as the Senior Director of Marketing for ESPN and espnW.
Epstein fondly remembers her time at Indiana and uses that experience in her career now.
"As I've become more of a leader in my career and things I could have done better as a student-athlete informs my career now leading a team and inspiring and pushing a team," Epstein added. "Sports shapes you and it's no different for me. I'm certainly where I am in part because of my time at IU."
Epstein, along with Danielle Paradine and Jody Yin brought what former IU head coach Lin Loring called an east coast vibe to the team. Loring called Epstein one of the best athletes he has ever coached.
Deborah Edelman, two years ahead of Epstein recalls her teammate having a fun personality, strong work ethic and competitive drive. They would compete with each other running on the top level of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in the winters.
When Edelman was a senior and Epstein was a sophomore, they reached the NCAA doubles quarterfinals.
"Rachel was very helpful to me in my senior year," Edelman said. "I felt a lot of pressure and she was a little less intense and brought some fun to the game."
When Epstein graduated from IU in 1995 with a degree in Psychology, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do career wise.
One of her early jobs was for Wenner Media, where she managed ad sales marketing for Rolling Stone, Us Weekly and Men's Journal magazines.
Epstein landed at ESPN as Associate Director of Marketing in 2003.
"It was wonderful to be in the sports environment and I could reflect on, in the sports landscape what am I passionate about," Epstein said. "For me it dawned on me it was much more about the power of sports for young girls and women more so than traditional fandom of any professional sport."
At ESPN, Epstein worked with Laura Gentile, who is now her boss and serves as ESPN's Senior Vice President of Marketing.
After four years, Epstein moved to the west coast for her boyfriend, now husband. She was part of the leadership team that launched Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), the professional league that preceded the NWSL.
In 2010 Gentile was instrumental in launching espnW, ESPN's first dedicated business to serve women.
A couple years later Gentile brought Epstein back to work with ESPN and espnW.
"She has an eye for creativity and design that makes her excel," Gentile said. "She also has a great work ethic. As a leader she brings people together and is an incredible teammate."
Being a former student-athlete at Indiana, Epstein felt a strong connection to the job.
"I want to create opportunities for fans and athletes and young girls," Epstein said. "I want to be in this space where women and girls in sports is central and the importance and power and impact of it for all ages is part of what I do. There is a mission driven aspect of it that I felt really inspired by."
The job of marketing within ESPN is to make people consume and engage with content and platforms. As a Senior Director of Marketing for ESPN and espnW, Epstein oversees marketing for ESPN's emerging brands and properties. The common thread is audience expansion and reaching new and different audiences and properties that haven't seen as much support and promotion.
Some of Epstein's projects include: the Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open, Spelling Bee, Little League World Series and WNBA. Epstein said it has been a career highlight to market the US Open.
One of Epstein's successful projects this summer involved the WNBA and the #OrangeHoodie push to promote the start of the 2020 season. Her team leveraged the symbolic orange hoodie to celebrate the WNBA's return.
They didn't have a huge budget to market the WNBA, but they had the iconic apparel with the hoodie, which had been worn by Kobe Bryant supporting women and women in sports.
They packed up the hoodies in nice boxes and sent them to sports stars, ESPN talent and more.
Shoutout to the women on the court making POWER moves. We recognize your power on and off the court every day. Everybody reppin' the #orangehoodie for y'all. #initforgood
______
Don't miss the WNBA games Thursday starting at 6P ET on @espnpic.twitter.com/V0nSpZmCRT
The result: #OrangeHoodie trended on Twitter, with more than 16,400 mentions specifically related to the initiative – with a potential impression base of 623 million across social platforms. Among those that tweeted about the hoodies were LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Lil Wayne and Naomi Osaka. Nearly 200 athletes, teams, celebrities and ESPN talent participated.
"It was about supporting women and women in sports," Epstein said. The power of women. It was so much bigger than the sport and promoting the ESPN. It's validating as you try to grow a brand in a league like that to get voices outside of the sport."
One of the things Epstein is most proud of each year is her work with the espnW: Women + Sport Summit. Each year the summit addresses a wide range of topics, from global access to sports and opportunities for the advancement of women across industries, to the marketing of female athletes and the business of women's sports.
This year's summit is free and will take place virtually October 20-21. The lineup of speakers includes: Sage Steele, Abby Wambach, Natalie Portman, Chelsea Clinton, Maria Taylor, Simone Manual and more. For more information and to register for the summit click HERE.
Epstein has accomplished a lot in her professional career and reflects back on the impact of her experience as a student-athletes at IU.
"The stamina required to be a thoughtful and hard-working student-athlete has made hard work easier," Epstein said. "You work hard to be great at something and I took all of that from my time at IU.
1993 IU Women's Tennis Team. Epstein front row second from left. Edelman second from right.
Epstein remembers the wins and the losses, but she also remembers the moments in the team vans on the way to matches and the incredible friendships and would pass along the following advice to the current team.
"Don't take the moments in between for granted," she said. "I miss the moments off the court and the laughter as much as anything on the court. It's hard at that point in your life to be aware of the richness of the experience on and off the court. Try to enjoy that and absorb that while you have it."
Epstein keeps in touch with her former teammates and they share a special bond. Former IU head coach Lin Loring said it makes him happy and proud they had a great experience and still remain close many years later.
Edelman, the former teammate expressed her thoughts about her friend and what she is doing in her career.
"I think she is the perfect person for it," Edelman said of Epstein. "She has a strong personality and what she is doing to empower girls and women in sports is amazing. It is something she believes in and I'm so proud of her."
