Episode 435: Lisa Cornwell Troublemaker: A Memoir of Sexism, Retaliation, and the Fight They Didn't See Coming

After working my way up the ladder in the television sports world—hosting and reporting at some of the greatest events of the past two decades—it was time for a change. Even though the change wasn’t by my design, it was still very much needed.<br /><br />As a successful two-sport athlete growing up in Arkansas, pursuing a career in this industry made perfect sense. By the time I made it to the network level covering golf exclusively, it <i>finally</i> felt as though I had credibility. Why do we as women struggle with our own validity significantly more than our male counterparts? Golf has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I won my first of four Arkansas Women’s State Championships at the age of 14—still the youngest in state history—and was a two-time AJGA First-Team All-American. But perhaps what I’m most proud of is being the first scholarship player in women’s golf at the University of Arkansas in the post-Title IX era.<br /><br />My television career included stops in Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, and then Chicago working for the Big Ten Network. But my big break happened in 2014 when I landed what was supposed to be my dream job at Golf Channel. Little did I know how quickly that would all change. As I soon learned, the misogynistic, boys’ club culture—which had plagued the network from its early days—was still rampant throughout the company. Unfortunately, many of those in the executive offices and on the management team only perpetuated these deeply-rooted problems.<br /><br />Soon after making my story public on January 1, 2021, as detailed in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/03/04/women-golf-channel-lisa-cornwell/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><b><i>Washington Post</i>,</b></a> upwards of 30 women reached out to me privately about their own encounters with mistreatment. Sadly, most of these women have been unable to speak out because of Non-Disclosure Agreements they signed after losing their jobs. Others are afraid that voicing their struggles will