When billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban recruited and hired Mavericks’ CEO Cynt Marshall in 2018, there were risks involved for both parties. Marshall didn’t have any basketball or sports industry experience and expressed her doubts to the “Shark Tank” star.
But Cuban’s positive mindset and encouraging words made the offer hard to pass up, she said. Marshall recalled her initial conversation with Cuban in a video interview for LinkedIn’s “The Path.”
Related: Mark Cuban Reveals No. 1 Way to Start a Business Worth Billions
At the time, Marshall was working at her own consulting firm, having previously come from AT&T, where she held several executive roles such as Chief Diversity Officer and Senior VP of HR over a 30-year career.
“I thought twice about it because I was loving what I was doing with the consulting,” Marshall recalled. “But here was an opportunity to serve, to have an impact.”
Marshall said she “did not know the business of basketball” and was on the fence about what to do. But when she expressed her concerns to Cuban, she was met with understanding and the sense of support she needed, she said.
“You don’t worry about that. I will teach you the business side of basketball, and others will do the same,” he told her.
At the time of her hire, there were women or people of color in leadership positions in the Mavericks organization. Marshall is the first female CEO in Mavericks’ history. Per LinkedIn, the organization now consists of nearly half women and half people of color.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” Marshall explained. “I will never know what some of these people know about the business of basketball, but I don’t need to know it. I learn from it every day. What I need to do is lead these people, learn from these people, and love these people.”
She also added that Cuban has kept true to his promise.
Cuban’s net worth is estimated at $6.47 billion.
This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur
