ALSO IN THIS SECTION

Casey Shilts

The WTS Women Who Soar section is about amazing women who’ve paved the way and soared in their professional and personal lives. This month, WTS interviews Casey Shilt.

Casey Shilts was named Chief Operating Officer of Hicks Sports Group (HSG) on June 18, 2007. She is very active in the Hicks family’s day-to-day oversight of its sports teams’ business operations, including the Dallas Stars Hockey Club; the Texas Rangers Baseball Club; 50 percent of Liverpool Football Club; 50 percent of Center Operating Company, which operates American Airlines Center; and the Mesquite Championship Rodeo.

Graduating Summa Cum Laude, Shilts received her BA in political science and communications from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1989 and earned her JD with Honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1992.

Casey works in a field that is mostly dominated by men. I talked with Casey about her roles as head of major sports franchise and how she has earned the respect of her male colleagues.

Casey talks with WTS about her personal triumphs, work/life balance and leadership.

Interview By Gina Grant

WTS: Casey, as COO of a major sports franchise, what is your role?

Shilts: I work with the senior management of our teams and facilities to maximize revenues, ensure that we are sharing best practices across all of our entities, and focus on business development projects. My most important role is keeping Tom Hicks (our owner) up to speed on what is going on from a day to day perspective in our business.

WTS: In order to obtain the type of success you’ve achieved, you had to make sacrifices, what have you had to sacrifice personally in order to reach your professional goals?

Shilts: I don’t like to think of it in terms of sacrifices. Rather, I think that my career has helped shape some of the decisions I have made in life. For example, up to this point in my life I have chosen not to have children. It is a choice, not a sacrifice, and one that I can revise at any time. Given my busy schedule and all of the travel I do, I probably spend less time with my friends than I’d like. But again, my choice has been to see the world and love the people I work with so that my time at work is as enjoyable as it can be.

WTS: What are some of the challenges you faced in the beginning of your career and how did you overcome them?

Shilts: I started my career as a lawyer and I assume I faced many of the same challenges any young lawyer faces. You are expected to work extremely long hours and figure things out for yourself. That is the way we learn, so I don’t regret it. When I moved to Asia with The Coca-Cola Company, I was a young woman in a male dominated business world so I think I had to work much harder to be taken seriously. Once people know that you can do the job, the package (age, experience, gender) ceases to be important.

WTS: Working closely with a predominantly male staff how do you motivate them?

Shilts: I think men and women are all motivated by similar things. We all want feedback from our colleagues. I try to reach out to the folks I work with regularly. I want them to know I care about them at work but I also make sure I find out what is going on outside of work too. I have a guy I work with that lives for his son’s baseball. We never have a conversation that I don’t ask him about that. I want to have that balance with everyone I work with.

WTS: #993300

Shilts: Communicate, communicate, communicate. The worst decision is the one you make by yourself.

WTS: What is the best advice you can give to other women?

Shilts: Exceed expectations!

WTS: We all face adversities, challenges or obstacles. What is the one personal challenge that you can share, and did it make you a stronger person in the end?

Shilts: Early on in my career, a co-worker was hesitant to include me in meetings and I thought was hiding information that could have helped me. I was insistent, continued to just “show up” and asked a lot of questions. In the end, I was accepted and that was all I wanted.

WTS: What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Shilts: I love seeing children enjoy our teams. I love seeing families unite over sports. I know some people might think sports is a frivolous industry…we certainly aren’t curing cancer. But we bring such passion to peoples’ lives that it makes me want to do what we do better.

WTS: How do you balance work and your personal life? Do you make time for self, family and friends?

Shilts: Again, my friends are my co-workers and we try to have fun no matter what we are doing.

WTS: What do you know now, that you didn’t know 5 years ago?

Shilts: You can make a mistake and learn from it without jeopardizing your career. Just admit it, don’t try to hide it, and fix it quickly. People appreciate that.

WTS: Whom do you most admire and who’s a woman who soar’s in your life?

Shilts: I admire so many people so that is a tough one. Of course, my mother soars—she paved the way for me to pursue my dreams. I admired trend setting, tough, political women of Texas, like Ann Richards and Barbara Jordan. They achieved so much in difficult situations. Right now I am enjoying watching so many bright, articulate, women in Dallas in prominent business roles emerge, Elaine Agather of JP Morgan, Lucy Billingsly, and Nancy Lieberman just to name a few.