Next Woman Up: Darline Llamas Llopis, Vice President of Finance & Retail for the Miami Dolphins

Women are rising up the ranks throughout professional football, earning positions of power in a space that for too long was ruled almost exclusively by men. We're seeing more and more women breaking barriers in the sport, but what are the stories beyond the headlines? Who are the women shaping and influencing the NFL today? Answering those questions is the aim of the Next Woman Up series. While the conversational Q&As are edited and condensed for clarity, this is a forum for impactful women to share experiences in their own words. Without further ado, we introduce:

Darline Llamas Llopis, Miami Dolphins

Position: Vice President, Finance & Retail

How did you get your start in a career in sports?

I have always loved sports. As a kid, I remember watching soccer with my dad, and it was always this reason to watch TV because we didn’t watch much of it. Big games or a boxing match brought us together, so it was very much a community aspect, which is what I loved about sports. I went to the University of Southern California during the Pete Carroll era, so football was obviously a huge deal in college. I loved USC football during that time, but I never really thought of football as a job option. It was more like football is what you do for fun, then people go have a separate job.

After school, I worked at a few different accounting firms, and when I was in Dallas, one of my clients asked me if I knew anyone in Los Angeles who’d be interested in a job with the Rams. I talked to my husband, then told the client I was interested. After I got the job at the Rams, my boss told me that my client and friend had written a “glowing recommendation” for me. I always tell people that you never know who you’re talking to. I had no idea when I met that client in Dallas that she knew someone at the Rams and that would open a door for me.

Going into that job with the Rams, I knew I loved it, but working in finance and accounting, what we do is very similar to working outside of sports. But being able to be part of something like the Rams and the NFL that impact people in such a positive way, that was really special. I knew it was an industry I wanted to stay in.

What was your role with the Rams and how does it differ from your current role with the Dolphins?

I came in as controller with the Rams, managing finance aspects of the business. The team had moved from St. Louis to L.A. the year before I got there in 2017, so it had been running on bare bones. The finance department was a three-person team at the time, so I came on to help my boss, Jeff Brewer, ramp up that team, get processes in place and get back to budgeting. It was a really exciting time -- we went to the Super Bowl in the 2018 season, along with growing and learning from the team and all of the intricacies of working in the NFL.

Then, I came over to Miami as the vice president of finance, and one of the first assignments I received from Tom Garfinkel, Dolphins vice chairman, president and CEO, was to do some analysis on whether we should bring our stadium retail in-house. I did all this research, punched the numbers and made a presentation. Then I went to him and said, “I think we can make a little more money, but the main reason to bring it in-house is we can have more control over our brand.” For anyone who runs retail, it’s more about margin and how much money they’re making and less about the brand. He turns to me and says, “I totally agree. You should go do that.”

So, I tapped into all of my networks to build a team, and I had nine months to get it live. One of my friends from the Rams ended up coming over and has helped run this department. We’ve done some incredible things and have really been able to show our brand in a different way. From a dollar sense, we have increased our sales tremendously, but the management we have of the brand, of the collaborations and product we put out has really resonated with the fans.

I also do finance, payroll -- and procurement is a department we started a little over a year ago. We do so much across Hard Rock Stadium, with the Dolphins, events, concerts, Formula One Miami Grand Prix and Miami Open. Last year, I focused a lot on the grand prix, making sure we had processes in place for all of the finances and how we thought about our products. That event is very different from the Dolphins. For the football team, it’s, These are the seats, this is what we’re selling. With F1, we put it up and take it down every year, so we also change things every year. We’re constantly discussing the amount of grandstand seats, hospitality locations and the fans. So we’re working across all of our departments with ticketing and campus experience to try to come up with a consolidated plan, which makes it exciting and dynamic.

That makes total sense. What would you say is the biggest challenge of your position?

In any business, every department has its own goals that it is trying to achieve. If your department is fan-facing, of course you are trying to make the best fan experience you can. Finance is here to always support you, but it’s also about weighing the pros and cons. We help set up a mirror to help departments make decisions by figuring out if this or that is the best way to do something. You’ll be met with a little bit resistance sometimes, but the way we are most effective is when we can work hand-in-hand and build a partnership with other departments. Both sides know we each want the best thing for the business, fans and players, so it’s about how we do that together.

When looking at the football team, the Dolphins have so many star players right now. Does that have any sort of influence on finance and retail?

Having star players and winning makes everything much more exciting, and I think everyone can attest to that. Finances-wise, we do see an uptick in ticket sales, retail and partnerships, but the interesting part about my job is, regardless of how we do on the field, we have to find a way to make sure we’re bringing value to all of our stakeholders. We’re still running a business and we want to create magical moments, win or lose. The hard times on the field make for more interesting times in the front office, and I’ve learned a lot of things in both of those instances.

For example, when I was with the Rams, the Super Bowl in Atlanta was a huge undertaking. We were scrambling to keep everyone together while keeping an eye on the financials. We sent three charter jets to the Super Bowl with family and friends, which was a fun thing to do, but we were trying to execute and just keep the train on the tracks during that time.

Having been in Miami for three seasons, do you have a favorite moment so far?

The first year after we finished the Formula One race, there was definitely a feeling of accomplishment across our organization. It was such a huge undertaking of making sure that event went off without a hitch. We’re a huge organization and we do work across a lot of properties, so that I was really exciting.

On the football side, it was after that first game when we brought our retail in-house. I remember running around trying to organize and move hangers. It was a great accomplishment and something the team had worked on for a year. To see that project come to life and feeling like a big part of it felt great. I have never worked that hard in my life, and I have such respect for retail workers. That job is so hard, and because it was so different from finance, it was very rewarding on a personal level for me.

I want to pivot to mentorship. Do you have mentors who have helped you along the way? And if so, what advice have you received from them?

I’ve had so many mentors, some of who know and others who probably don’t know they’ve had such a big impact on me. I’ve had amazing people who’ve given me great advice and looked out for me, and it’s made a huge difference in my life. One really great takeaway is to always share credit. Nobody works in a vacuum and nobody does anything by themselves. It takes a lot of people to make things happen, so making sure you share that credit, because it is just as much their hard work as it is yours.

Another takeaway I love is this: To be clear is to be kind. Sometimes having those hard conversations -- or people having those hard conversations with you -- makes it easier to meet and exceed expectations all around. I do take that to heart. Sometimes it’s easier to not have those conversations because it can be uncomfortable, but it’s best to be clear.

And what advice do you have for other women looking to get into a career in football?

It’s challenging and an industry a lot of people want to work in. I think a lot of people think there’s the football side and then ticket sales, but there is so much more. If you don’t get into sports right out of college, that’s OK and you can still break into the industry. I think it’s about building the right skill set so, if you transition to sports, you’re really adding value. That’s really important. And like anything, it’s being true to yourself. If it’s right for you and the right time, it’ll happen with persistence. Being flexible and mobile will also help you grow in your career.

That’s good advice. Now back to you. What is next in terms of what you want to accomplish?

Tom Garfinkel always says, “Always be learning.” That has always been my mantra. If I feel stagnant or if I’m not learning as much anymore, that’s when I know it’s time for me to go find my next thing. When I came to Miami, I told my boss, Chris Clements, that I want to be a CFO. I came to Miami because he’s one of the best and I want to learn from him. He’s been an amazing mentor to me, and I want to make sure I keep learning so I can take that next step.

And lastly, what are you most proud of?

I’ve worked with such amazing people. Building the retail team and watching what they’ve accomplished, they are just crushing it. They do so many things between the Dolphins, F1 -- and they have the Taylor Swift Eras Tour coming up. They won NFL Club Retailer of the Year, and I’m just so proud of how far that team has come. Same with the finance team. When I came here, it was all about revenue, but one of the things our team discussed was how to get the organization to think about margin. It doesn’t really matter how much money you’re bringing in if you’re spending the same amount. It was a very different way of thinking, and seeing that change in how people think across our organization has really shown me our team’s impact.