Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Steph Curry Enterprise: From Receptionist to Driving Business Success for a Sports Icon | Tiffany Williams
Thu, 27 Feb 2025
Tiffany Williams started as a part-time receptionist with the Golden State Warriors, just looking to get her foot in the door. Two weeks later, she was offered a full-time role and quickly rose into business development. In 2015, she led the planning of the Warriors’ NBA Championship parade, an experience that fueled her drive for bigger opportunities. Her work ethic caught the attention of Steph Curry, who personally reached out and brought her on to help build his business empire at Thirty Ink. In this episode, Tiffany shares with Ilana how hunger, resilience, and seizing every opportunity took her from the front desk to the front lines of brand building. Tiffany Williams is the Chief Operating Officer at Thirty Ink, the off-court business arm of NBA superstar Steph Curry. She is a key force behind Steph’s brand, media ventures, and philanthropic impact. In this episode, Ilana and Tiffany will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (01:38) The Hustle to Get into Sports Business (03:46) Taking a Receptionist Job to Break in (07:17) Organizing the Warriors’ 2015 Championship Parade (10:26) Earning Trust and Getting Recruited by Steph Curry (14:05) Shaping Steph’s Brand and Community Impact (15:31) Overcoming Imposter Syndrome at the Top (17:24) Learning from a Network of Mentors (21:18) How Thirty Ink Elevates the Underrepresented (24:09) Staying Driven When Success Feels Slow (25:51) The Key to Navigating Career Setbacks Tiffany Williams is the Chief Operating Officer at Thirty Ink, the off-court business arm of NBA superstar Steph Curry. She began her career as a receptionist with the Golden State Warriors, quickly rising to lead major projects like the team’s 2015 Championship Parade. Tiffany is a key force behind Steph’s brand, media ventures, and philanthropic impact, and is known for her strategic execution, resilience, and leadership across sports, business, and community. Connect with Tiffany: Tiffany’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tiffany-williams-2518742/ Resources Mentioned: Thirty Ink Website: https://www.thirtyink.com/ Leap Academy: Ready to make the LEAP in your career? There is a NEW way for professionals to Advance Their Careers & Make 5-6 figures of EXTRA INCOME in Record Time. Check out our free training today at leapacademy.com/training
Chapter 1: How did Tiffany Williams break into the sports business?
I was really looking for opportunities for growth, and I was just very hungry for all things entertainment. My dad was really on me to get a job. When I heard about this part-time job as a receptionist, I was like, okay, this should be good enough. He was like, no. But that didn't really stop me. Ended up at the Warriors, working there part-time as a receptionist.
There's always times in your career where you may not be moving as fast as you want to, or maybe you don't get the promotion that you wanted. I really just learned to let the work speak for itself.
What would you say to our audience who is trying to get the role of their dreams?
I would definitely tell them to...
Tiffany Williams, the COO of 30 Inc., the company that was founded by Stephen Curry. Yes, Steph Curry. How cool is that? The Golden State Warriors NBA superstar. Tiffany played such a pivotal role in shaping his brand, the business ventures, the philanthropy. And I just can't wait to hear your incredible story, Tiffany. Thank you for being on the show and take us back in time to Tiffany as a kid.
Who were you?
Well, thank you for having me. As a child, I was quiet, still am probably for the most part, but grew up in the Bay Area with my parents and my sister and just always had a love of sports. Basketball was something that me and my dad shared and he used to take me to Warriors games growing up.
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Chapter 2: What role did Tiffany play in organizing the Warriors' 2015 Championship Parade?
Okay, so you basically all loved the Warriors from day one. Yes. But again, I think between loving the Warriors, there's a lot of people that love the Warriors. I mean, we live in the Bay Area, right? I mean, everybody loves the Warriors. But there's a big difference between loving the Warriors and getting to work with one of the most iconic people
beloved, accomplished athletes of all times, right? So there's a big difference. And I want you to take us to where do you think that jump started? How did, do you even have any connections in the sport business?
I didn't. That was something that grew over time. I was actually always interested in entertainment. I loved music growing up, loved TV. If you were looking for me, you could probably find me in my room watching TV or reading a book. But all things kind of media and entertainment, I absolutely loved. And so I spent a lot of time on those things.
I couldn't imagine why anybody would ever want to do anything else. So fast forward when it's time to start thinking about what your career would look like and growing up in such a small town and not having access to the entertainment industry, so to speak. I thought I would probably go into business and wanted to major in business management.
And then I went to San Jose State, kind of pivoted and started looking in broadcast journalism. And that's what I eventually majored in. And I think that during that time, I just did a ton of, because there was not much access to all things kind of in the entertainment industry or how do you get into that career, but I was very determined. And so I just started looking at a ton of internships.
I remember in high school, I was a part of this program and you could do an internship in high school. And they asked me what I wanted my internship to be. And I said, I wanted to interned for like a production studio, like, you know, musical production studio. And they were like, well, we don't have that in Benicia. So what else do you want to do?
Then I ended up doing the internship at a, like a small, like medical office, but that didn't really stop me. I interned at CMC in college and short stint at KMEL and And it was just very hungry for all things in entertainment and trying to figure out what that could look like for me. I eventually ended up getting this internship with a PR firm in Richmond.
And through that, ended up with an internship at the 49ers. And that was what put me at the Warriors and working there part-time as a receptionist.
And I want to go there because, Tiffany, first of all, I think you said, for me, it's one of the most important words, which is hunger. I think that without the hunger, you know, I mean, if somebody is way too comfortable, they just not necessarily going to have the edge to continue and to push. And I love that you said the word hunger, because for me, that's such an iconic word.
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Chapter 3: How did Tiffany Williams earn Steph Curry's trust?
Wow. Now, as a receptionist or right after, do you have accessibility to the players? Like, were they able to see how you perform? Kind of my instinct is probably not, but what kind of visibility did you have?
None at all. And that wasn't even in my mindset at the time. I was really wanting to prove myself to the front office. There wasn't even a thought that of working closely with the players or anything at that time. I think probably the most access to players I had, Monte Ellis was a rookie the year that I started.
And he used to come up to the office after practice every day and hang out in the executive offices. And so that was probably the most access that I was really trying to also get into those executive offices and hopefully, you know, then see what I can do and get a role in one of their departments. And eventually that did happen.
Chapter 4: What strategies helped Tiffany overcome career setbacks?
Exactly. I mean, it's incredible. It's such a beautiful story. And if I'm not mistaken, in 2015, I think you played a very major role in organizing that NBA championship parade for the Warriors. Do you think it was a pivotal moment or tell us a little bit how you see this?
It was an incredible experience. I remember, you know, I was running the events department at the time and the production company that we worked with for the parade, I had been working with them for many years. And I used to always ask them, like, how was it to produce the Giants parade? You know, what was that process? How long did you start in advance planning?
When did you know it was time to start planning? All those type of questions. It was really interesting. interesting to me. And so that year, as we're into the playoffs and we're super excited initially to make the playoffs and then to continue going round after round. And I started thinking, we need to start planning. And I remember bringing it up to my boss and some of the executives.
And we set up a meeting with Hartman and started that process. And it was amazing. Just all the things that go into it that you don't even think about. You need to get almost all the bike rack around the country pretty much to plan for all of these people. Just, you know, small things like that and planning well in advance to make sure that you have enough bike rack. Nobody thinks about bike rack.
All of those things and planning with the city and the mayor's office and the police department and fire and just all of these things that, you know, nobody, everybody has an amazing time, but they don't think about what happens behind the scenes to get to that point where the guys are standing up on the stage or going down the parade route in their buses. But it was amazing.
And I think that that was a pivotal time in my career, because when you work for a team, you're working within a 75 mile radius. And I had done that at that point for almost 10 years. And I was really looking for opportunities for growth. And I realized that, you know, this parade is amazing and this is an amazing opportunity for me to be this involved in this.
But if I stay here, maybe the biggest thing that I do. And I was really looking for growth opportunities. So.
Not only was it something like kind of that notch that I could put on my belt to be a part of something like that, then it was also something that triggered in me that I probably need to start looking for other opportunities if I wanted to achieve some of these growth goals that I was looking for.
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Chapter 5: How does Tiffany Williams contribute to Steph Curry's brand development?
So first of all, what I got out of this is that level of curiosity and learning to just keep on asking the tough questions because you're right. We just look at a parade like I didn't even think of the bike rack. And my husband will actually spank me for this because he's a cyclist. He's like always complaining about the bike rack. So I should have thought about it, but I didn't.
So he will love this. But seriously, just that curiosity of asking, because by definition, you're doing these things that you've never done before. It bears the question, how did you know what to do?
Yeah. Or even things that I didn't, you know, when I first started working for the Warriors, they weren't the 2015 Warriors. And so, you know, never thinking that I would have the opportunity to, you know, be involved in the parade. And so, you know, just that curiosity of, you know, what was that experience like? It was just always something that I thought about.
So from that pivotal moment, what happened? Because within, I don't know, like a year, you already leaped into working with Steph Curry. And that is mind blowing because again, everybody would think that that needs, I don't know, he will hire his sister or is, you know what I'm saying? Like, not necessarily like, you know, like you just like climbed your way. How did you do that?
What do you think were some of the main things that you got to get there?
Yeah, to take it back a little bit, I was with the Warriors, of course, when he was drafted. So I had built a relationship with him and his family over the years. So in my role in business ops, we worked within several of the departments. My boss was over several departments. So arena operations, community relations, the foundations were all departments that were under her leadership.
And I was kind of her right-hand person. So I worked a lot with the players, player development as well. I worked a lot with the players on player development and community relations initiatives. So I was constantly down there, you know, after practice, asking guys to do events, producing events for them, for their foundations or the initiatives that they cared about.
So through all that time, I had built a relationship with Stefan. And then fast forward to, you know, after that championship year in 2015, I started putting myself out there more for other opportunities, applying for jobs. I think some recruiters had reached out to me as well. And
In 2016, I was in the final rounds of interviews for a position with the city of Santa Clara to be their liaison with the 49ers. And my aunt, I think she was Stefan's nanny at the time, had mentioned to him that that was what I was doing. And he reached out to me and said that he was looking to bring on some people on his team. And then I interviewed and got the job.
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Chapter 6: What are the roles and challenges in building a sports icon's brand?
Amazing. So tell me, Tiffany, what do you think you said? And again, it sounds like he already kind of knew you. So that is a big difference, right? But do you think there's something that you did or you said or that just made that cross the line? Do you think there's something in the connection that you built? Or what would you say to our audience who is, you know, they're trying to get
the role of their dreams, right? And they're trying to interview. What are some of the things that you think that made a difference?
I think it was seeing my work ethic and, you know, just me being always down there diligently working on various things for the players. I remember after he played in FIBA and they won the gold medal, I led an event for him and Some of his sponsors and the Warriors, it was called the Gold Medal Reception. I worked very closely with his mom and his agency on putting that event together for them.
So I think that it was seeing the work that I had done, you know, in the community, you know, Christmas with the Currys started. Initially, when he was with the Warriors and him and Aisha purchasing these huge trucks of food for the community and me, you know, working with them on producing those events back in, you know, 2012, 2013.
So I think it was, you know, all of those things, seeing me in the way that I not only working to produce events or community initiatives, but then also the way that I worked with him and his family on those things and executing the things that they wanted to see. And, you know, knowing that that would be a fit in what he was looking for.
These examples are amazing. For somebody that doesn't know a lot in the world of sports, who raises these ideas? Who's like the executor? So tell us a little bit what happens behind the scenes when you want to build a brand for somebody like Steph Curry and all the amazing things that you are all doing with him. Tell us a little bit of what's going on behind the scenes.
Stefan is somebody who, he has a lot of amazing ideas and he really had a lot of, you know, the things that he wanted to see and the work that he wanted to do in the community. He knew, him and Aisha knew that they wanted to start their own foundation ELP. They had been working with a lot of different organizations.
But they wanted to put something together that focused on the issues that they saw in Oakland that they wanted to help to solve. And then, you know, in terms of his brand and things, it's kind of a combination of him knowing what he wants and knowing he wanted to be.
intentional about the way that he showed up and making sure that the partners that he worked with had like values to his and that the work that they do in with ELP is not just that's the only community focused work that they do. They want that to have a lens through all of the work that they do with their partners and
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