Lead the Room: Women in Sports, Outsider Advantage, and Real Leadership | Ep. 84 w/ Toni Will

Women in sports leadership are still way too rare, especially in men’s professional hockey. Toni Will is one of the only women in the country leading a men’s professional hockey team, and her story challenges one of leadership’s most stubborn myths: **If you don’t already know the room, you don’t belong in it.** In this episode of Is Anything Real?, Adam W. Barney sits down with Toni Will, General Manager of the Kalamazoo Wings, women’s leadership coach, keynote speaker, host of Women In, founder of Empower Her, and author of Rebellious Success. Toni entered men’s professional hockey after earlier chapters in banking and economic development. She didn’t walk in pretending she already knew everything. She walked in honest, curious, and willing to learn. That became part of her leadership advantage. This conversation is about women in sports, leadership, outsider perspective, gatekeeping, access, community, confidence, and what happens when difference stops being treated like a weakness and starts being trusted as intelligence. Adam and Toni unpack why “I don’t know yet” isn’t a disqualification, why curiosity can be a serious leadership tool, and why the rooms most convinced they know exactly what they’re doing are often the rooms most allergic to change. Toni also shares how her outsider lens helped her see the Kalamazoo Wings differently. She wasn’t emotionally attached to hockey in the same way a lifelong hockey purist might be. Instead, she was emotionally attached to the people, the organization, the community, and the experience being created for fans. That perspective mattered. Because most people walking into a minor league hockey arena aren’t just looking for pure hockey. They’re looking for entertainment, community, memory, and belonging. The episode also explores the Kalamazoo Wings’ Guinness World Records, including the largest lightsaber battle, and why those moments are not just fun stunts. They’re proof of culture, discipline, execution, accountability, and leadership that knows how to bring a community into the room. The deeper thread is access. Toni and Adam talk about unequal starting lines, allyship, women in sports, and what it means to use access not as a trophy, but as a door handle - or, in Toni’s language, an elevator - for someone else. In this episode: - Why women in sports leadership still matters - What Toni learned walking into men’s professional hockey - Why “I don’t know yet” isn’t weakness - How curiosity became a leadership advantage - Why outsider perspective can reveal what insiders miss - The business cost of sameness - Why fun isn’t frivolous in leadership - What Guinness World Records teach about culture and execution - How access can become architecture for others - Why allyship requires more than good intentions - The Outsider Advantage Audit for leaders, founders, sports executives, and allies The big takeaway: **You don’t need permission from the room to lead it.** Sometimes the leader the room needs is the one willing to question how it’s always been done. Guest: **Toni Will** General Manager, Kalamazoo Wings Women’s Leadership Coach Keynote Speaker Author, *Rebellious Success* Host, *Women In* Website: https://www.toniwill.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonildaniels/ Email: [tonilwill78@gmail.com](mailto:tonilwill78@gmail.com) Host: **Adam W. Barney** Transition Leadership Coach Author of *Make Your Own Glass Half Full* Creator of EnergyOS 👉 Book your 20-min Exploration Call: https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/explorationplugin-20min Subscribe to *Is Anything Real?*: https://isanythingreal.adamwbarney.com/