My name is Shauna Griffiths. I’m the CEO/Founder of SLG Impact. Making a positive impact on people and with my work has always been my North Star. I spent 20+ years in Marketing and Brand Partnerships for professional sports and entertainment properties, and on the agency side. I have worked across verticals with brands from start-ups to the iconic including NIKE, WNBA, NBDL, Nets, Cirque du Soleil, Harley Davidson, Sesame Street, Harlem Globetrotters, AVON39, Muscular Dystrophy Association, QVC, TNT, TBS, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen Network, GameOn App and more. I have also successfully coached people throughout their career journeys. Facing change and challenge recently, I decided it was time to catch my dream of creating a purpose-driven business ecosystem: SLG Impact | Evolving Brands and People.
This is my story.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I was laid-off due to COVID in early April after nine and a half years on the agency side, and 13 years working in the NBA family. With millions of others laid-off at the same time, I felt I needed to do something different and impactful as I worked to find my path forward. I’ve worked tirelessly to curate this consultancy to maximize positive impact. I built the site last weekend and launched it publicly this past Thursday. The support I’ve received has been incredible and is deeply appreciated.
At my professional core, I’m a passionate, hybrid-marketer. I’m experienced in driving revenue and consumer engagement by defining strategy, storytelling, developing compelling marketing platforms and campaigns, and creating dynamic brand alliances internationally. I believe developing the work and the people go hand-in-hand, and I embrace coaching as a key part of the equation. My experience includes history making brand launches, campaigns and partnerships, and coaching countless people. I was honored as a Game Changer by SportsBusiness Journal.
I’m also an athlete and a dream chaser. I played basketball at the University of Michigan while getting my BA , and used my fifth year of collegiate eligibility running Cross Country for Eastern Michigan University while getting my MBA. I am a wellness enthusiast, avid cyclist and fan of the outdoors. I live in Colorado with my husband, John, and our dog, Peaty.
Looking back, I’ve always been one to follow my passions and make choices that don’t always make sense to others.
Early in my career I passed on opportunities to work for a variety of notable, global companies, because I was blindly obsessed with working for the NBA league office in NYC. Not making progress from my father’s home in Ann Arbor, Michigan – I rented an apartment with a friend of a friend in NYC, packed my car, and was set to move there with no job just months after 9/11. I literally thought that was my best shot at the NBA hiring me. Thankfully, I got a call three days before the big move and was hired to be a part of the launch of the NBA’s (then) minor league, the NBDL, and the team in Asheville, North Carolina.
Years later, after working for the NBDL for two years, and then the New Jersey Nets for nearly seven and a half years and being an integral part of landmark moves including ownership and leadership changes, a temporary move to Newark, and the road to becoming the Brooklyn Nets in Barclays Center, I made another move. This time it was a year before the Barclays Center opened. I went to the agency side in an effort to evolve myself as a marketer – to gain experience as quickly as possible with a variety of brands and verticals.
My next unexpected move came after living and working for 13 years in the NYC area – when my (then new) husband and I moved to Colorado for a life-upgrade. Fast forward four and a half years of working remotely for that same agency – after building all of the disciplines I led at the agency – after landing the biggest deal in the history of the U.S. arm of the agency – after leading through years of change including acquisition and integration – I was laid-off due to the agency’s significant cost savings measures when COVID rocked the world. Suddenly – overnight – my career came to a screeching halt just as it did at the same time for millions of other Americans. In one phone call I went from having the title of SVP of Integrated Marketing and Brand Partnerships, and Managing Director of the Midwest, leading over 60 people located across the country – to Unemployed During a Global Pandemic. In a sea of others also trying to secure coveted senior roles, I had to find my path forward in a way that is true to my soul – so I launched SLG Impact.
SLG Impact was born out of the marketplace need for maximum impact across brands and people, our single pursuit is to drive your business and you forward. Core services include Marketing Solutions, Brand Partnerships, and Executive Coaching – because the work and people are connected. As we discover your needs and goals, we work with you to curate your coalition of Impactors: Impact Consultants & Solution Partners as fitting. We offer Workshops, Short & Long Term Engagements, and we customize thought leadership experiences: Kick It By EP conversations, powered by SLG Impact, with my amazing friend and SLG Impactor, Elisa Padilla.
Now is the time to start your evolution.
Drop us a note here – or email me directly at shauna@slgimpact.com – and let us know what’s on your mind. We’d be honored and grateful to have the opportunity to positively impact your journey. We’re headquartered in Colorado. Our coalition of Impact Consultants, Executive Coaches, Solution Partners & Advisors are located across the U.S. We’re always on.
Jacob Brown is a former NFL athlete turned transformational and motivational speaker with almost a decade of experience leading humans to overcome fear and fail forward in business, leadership and life.