Hines would never have entered into the world of PR if it hadn’t been for a mentor who believed in her from the start and eventually had enough faith in her to recommend her as his successor despite her having no experience in the field and a background solely in marketing.
It was during her time at Nissan North America that she encountered him, and her curiosity and his willingness to take her under his wing led to her shadowing him for a five-month period. At the end of the stint, her mentor ensured she was introduced to an executive who would later hire her into her first job in PR.
“When I talk about mentoring being a part of the fabric of who I am, it’s because of that experience,” she says. “It’s because someone opened a door for me that he didn’t have to. He saw something in me that I probably didn’t see in myself at the time… and it just opened the door for so many things.”
Since then, Hines has opened her door and welcomed in a multitude of mentees from across industries and her wards have gone on to become executives at companies like Mattel and Amazon. Not all of them have come across her path from traditional conversations or even chance meetings in an elevator. In recent years, folks have begun reaching out on LinkedIn asking for informational interviews around her career journey, and those have just as often turned into mentor-mentee relationships.
In her mind, the best mentor-mentee relationships are those that are built on authenticity and genuine interest. “I usually get very excited when I see something in someone’s background or something in their journey that strikes a chord with me, and then I know how to tailor my advice for that person,” she says.
But she doesn’t stop there. For those who are interested in pursuing a career outside Hines’ expertise, she tries to connect mentees to at least one or two other people who could push them on to the next step of their journey. “I’m always thinking forward because you just never know who is going to be that person that can help you open a door or whose advice is going to land squarely between the eyes and really assist you in your journey.”
Within Fox Sports, it is hard to find a program Hines isn’t involved in. She is a co-founder of the Fox Sports Inclusion Council, which is on the frontlines of shaping culture within the Fox Sports community and celebrating diversity through panels, mentorship opportunities and the celebration of moments throughout the year, like Black History Month. Hines backed the creation of Fox Sports Voices, an episodic series spotlighting diverse sports stories. She serves as executive sponsor of the BLK+ employee resource group and has taken a deep interest in the company’s summer internship program.
“What I love so much about talking to young people [is] their curiosity… I’m always asking people questions, and curiosity, I think, keeps you fresh and keeps you on the forefront. For me, that’s meant keeping me on the forefront of trends, culture, what’s happening in the social space. What are young people watching as it relates to sports, and what gets them excited?” she asks. “I get excited when a mentee can inspire me.”
