Jodi Markley

SVP, Operations ESPN

Markley has focused much of this year on the new state-of-the-art digital center ESPN will open next spring. Her team plans to deliver future-proof infrastructure that will greatly enhance ESPN’s capabilities to produce new content. She says she’s fortunate to work where she does. “No two days are alike—new technologies, new workflows and most important—very smart people working together to create the most compelling multimedia content,” she says.

We are all so accustomed to following a daily schedule in our professional lives, but not putting the same amount of emphasis on events in our personal lives. Exercise classes, coffee with a friend, meditation, a long phone call to catch up with your college roommate—all of those events should be scheduled as well so they don’t fall into the “I’ll get to it when I’m not so busy” category.