Curious as Hell S01E04: She Walked Away from a Merger After Two Years. Then Became CEO of a Pro Sports Team. cover art

Curious as Hell S01E04: She Walked Away from a Merger After Two Years. Then Became CEO of a Pro Sports Team.

Curious as Hell S01E04: She Walked Away from a Merger After Two Years. Then Became CEO of a Pro Sports Team.

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In 2021, Canada won Olympic gold in women’s soccer. Yet the country still did not have aprofessional league. At the 2023 FIFA World Cup, Haiti and Canada were the only countrieswithout female domestic leagues. But Canada finally has one. The Northern Super League hadits first season last year, in 2025. Lara Murphy is the co-founder, president, and CEO of theCalgary Wild FC, one of the league’s founding teams, and she is dedicated to helping build thisteam and this new league. Before that, Murphy co-founded Ryan Murphy Construction, becoming one of the few women to own a commercial construction company in Canada. She is still running her company 18 years later, in addition to her role in professional soccer.Murphy started out as a soccer player. She was recruited out of New Brunswick at age 17 andplayed in England, long before a professional path existed for women in this country. This conversation covers what happens when purpose collides with the realities of building abusiness, how you hand off the company you built from scratch, and why the hardest leadershipskill is not strategy or vision, but patience.Key themes from this episode:Lara Murphy on what it takes to be first: being the first pro women’s team in Alberta means there is no one ahead of you to learn from, no template, and no forgiveness for the same mistake twice.The identity trap of the early-stage founder: most of us get rewarded early in our careers for how many bricks we can pile, and the shift to leading the people who pile bricks is harder than it sounds.The Ryan Murphy Construction merger she walked away from after two years into the process at Ryan Murphy Construction: the day she thought her career was falling apart turned out to be the day it truly began. She sat by the river in Inglewood, convinced it was the worst day of her life, and a year later, she knew it was the best decision she had ever made.Losing sleep as a leadership signal: “When I lose sleep, I know I’m human, and I want that; I want to feel that. I want to have that emotion.”On imposter syndrome at the leadership level: 80% of people have it, and 20% lie about it. Lara treats it as a signal that something real is about to happen.Creating space for every voice in the room: the loudest voices are the ones heard most often, and that is not the same thing as the best ideas.Why keeping girls in sport matters past the pitch: girls drop out of sport at four times the rate of boys, typically around age 13-14, and 94% of women in C-suite roles played competitive sport.Chapters:0:00 — Welcome and Lara's background0:47 — Calgary Wild FC: entering season two1:13 — From commercial construction founder to sports franchise CEO2:44 — Being the first: Alberta's first pro women's team and no playbook3:31 — Grace periods, stakeholders, and season two expectations4:41 — Risk and certainty in a brand new role7:57 — Skills you build and the ones you have to turn down8:17 — Walking out into the bowl at the first-ever match9:43 — How Lara's soccer past prepared her for this moment10:47 — Managing a flood of information without losing direction11:50 — Purpose vs. business: why great causes can fail13:18 — Trust and letting go: from founder to delegator14:43 — The moment you stop being the bottleneck17:05 — Ordained yourself vs. chosen: the psychology of the role18:29 — Deliberate self-development: was it a coach, or something harder?19:08 — The merger she walked away from after two years21:47 — Mentorship and the loneliness of leadership22:30 — Hard decisions and why losing sleep is a good sign24:20 — Handing the keys to Ryan Murphy Construction27:23 — Being first means getting the most arrows28:12 — Getting comfortable being uncomfortable29:03 — Imposter syndrome: 80% of people have it, 20% lie31:28 — Never underestimate your amplitude as a leader32:11 — Monday morning boundaries and showing up as your best self34:05 — Purpose, passion, and why the financial model has to match the heart37:16 — 1.1 million viewers: the business case for women's sport39:56 — React vs. reflect: balancing urgency and patience44:48 — Pulling quiet voices into the room: the Pebble leadership session46:14 — What organic connection looks like: the autographed hoodie50:08 — What's next in Lara's own leadership journey52:07 — Buying a t-shirt cannon, then pitching a multimillionaire: the same day54:20 — Why girls drop out of sport at four times the rate of boys55:19 — 94% of C-suite women played competitive sport57:43 — ClosingConnect with Lara: linkedin.com/in/laralmurphyLearn more about what we do at clearmotive.caIf this conversation was worth your time, subscribe wherever you listen and leave a review. It takes two minutes, and it helps more people find the show. ★ Support this podcast ★
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