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ESPN’s Inspiring Women Series: Meet Ardi Dwornik

What's life like in this multilingual publicist's shoes?

(Illustration: Rachel Siegal/Photo: Joe Faraoni/ESPN Images)

EDITOR’S NOTE: In honor of Women’s History Month, ESPN Images and ESPN Internal Communications asked ESPN employees to nominate colleagues who inspired them. From hundreds of nominations, seven women were selected to share their stories in a series entitled “In Her Shoes.” Throughout March, Front Row will publish these profiles accompanied by Images’ photos. In this installment in the series, 13-year employee Ardi Dwornik, senior director, Communications, ESPN International, explains what it means to be “In Her Shoes.”

What is your proudest moment at work this past year?
Without a doubt, the launch of UFC on ESPN on Jan. 19. It was fun, challenging and exciting and I had the opportunity to collaborate with many new colleagues with whom I had never crossed paths in my 13 years at ESPN. I love the energy we continue to share to make our presentation of combat sports world class.

What are some obstacles you had to face as a woman in your field?
I can’t say my obstacles have been gender-focused, but more linguistic. I have worked most of my career, beginning at my school newspaper, in other cultures, specifically Latin American and Brazilian. Learning Spanish and Portuguese was challenging, especially being able to communicate authentically and fluently during the course of my various jobs, from Associated Press intern in Rio de Janeiro to teacher of English-as-a-Second-Language and Spanish-as-a-Second-Language to new immigrants and university undergrads to a communications professional in my current field. But incredibly rewarding. Language is the key that unlocks the door to whole others worlds of experience.

Melissa Rawlins and Joe Faraoni contributed to this post.

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