Welcome to Season 2, Episode 7 of the ESPN PRod Pod, the official podcast of the ESPN Communications Department. The PRod Pod takes you behind ESPN’s unmatched storytelling by introducing the people behind the content – who they are, where they’re from and how they create the magic.

It’s no mistake Kati Fernandez’s LinkedIn “About” section includes this key line: “Purpose-driven teammate and leader.” It’s something the Holy Cross graduate lives each and every day in her role as Director, Content Development & Integration at ESPN+ and ESPN Films.

“What I pride myself in being cool at, is serving,” Fernandez tells PRod Pod host Jon McLeod. “I don't mind what we're doing. I know that I'm gonna be a great teammate, pick up the baton, look at other ways, figure out how I can be a better teammate, figure out how I can be a better employee, figure out how I can be a better daughter, sister, friend, colleague, insert the word there.”

So, whether it’s immersing herself in the emerging space of NFTs for a Tom Brady project in conjunction with ESPN+’s Man in the Arena or finding ways to expand the depth of storytelling within ESPN’s “Fifty/50” Title IX inititative, Fernandez interacts with colleagues from all across Disney to ensure the amazing work being created is being creatively injected into all of the incredible platforms throughout the enterprise.

Fernandez’s interests are as varied as the content she interacts with as we learn in the concluding “Fab 5” segment which is guest-hosted by ESPN Summer 2022 Intern Katera Brewer. From a track and field itch Fernandez wishes she had scratched to her favorite “30 for 30” to important work in helping youth education in her native Dominican Republic, Fernandez fills her days fulfilling that promise of being a “purpose-driven teammate and leader.”

And as she shares, “milestones come and go, but what stays is what we've planted.”

Kati Fernandez on LinkedIn

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 6 of the ESPN PRod Pod, the official podcast of the ESPN Communications Department. The PRod Pod takes you behind ESPN’s unmatched storytelling by introducing the people behind the content – who they are, where they’re from and how they create the magic.

Just past Raina Kelley’s one-year anniversary of being named Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of Andscape (formerly The Undefeated), she visits with PRod Pod host Jon McLeod to discuss the transformation of the platform and her guiding principles as Andscape evolves.

“Basketball [in the bubble] showed us, through its actions, that the time to be. . . subtle – was over,” says Kelley, who studied theatre arts at Yale University (Class of 1992). “The way to assert your voice was to just go ahead and use it.”

In the concluding “Fab 5” segment with ESPN Fan Relations Senior Coordinator Kiana Lowe, Kelley shares some deep Whitney Houston respect and offers the perfect combo for a balanced life: “coffee and sleep.” 

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 5 of the ESPN PRod Pod, the official podcast of the ESPN Communications Department. The PRod Pod takes you behind ESPN’s unmatched storytelling by introducing the people behind the content – who they are, where they’re from and how they create the magic.

There are several very good reasons ESPN Vice President, Social Media, Kaitee Daley has been named to the prestigious Sports Business Journal “40 Under 40” list.  (View List)  In fact, there’s something like 430 million reasons – because that’s the amount of impressions ESPN’s 25 different brands generate DAILY over five main social platforms (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook).  

 “When you see ESPN in those environments,” Daley, a graduate of Bowdoin College, tells Communications Associate Producer and PRod Pod host Jon McLeod, "chances are it comes from the great team I have the privilege to lead.” 

The conversation goes on to include a peek at Daley’s “typical day,” her pioneering efforts at the start of ESPN’s social immersion and her admiration for the late Pat Summitt. 

In the concluding “Fab 5” segment with ESPN Fan Relations Senior Coordinator Kiana Lowe, Daley names her current, favorite platform, her small(ish) dog named Moose and the eternal, vexing social media question: “When’s the best time to post?”