Women are rising up the ranks throughout professional football, earning positions of power in a space that for too long was ruled almost exclusively by men. We're seeing more and more women breaking barriers in the sport, but what are the stories beyond the headlines? Who are the women shaping and influencing the NFL today? Answering those questions is the aim of the Next Woman Up series. While the conversational Q&As are edited and condensed for clarity, this is a forum for impactful women to share experiences in their own words. Without further ado, we introduce:
Disney Harris, Houston Texans
Position: Senior Director of Event Experience
How did you get your start in a career in football?
I was born and raised in Houston and wanted to be back home after I finished college in San Antonio. There was an internship open with the Houston Texans at the time, and I called my parents to tell them I was moving back in. Fourteen years ago, I took that marketing events internship and have slowly worked my way up in the organization. Now I'm in a really cool role where I am running our event experience department, something we started three years ago. Chair and CEO Cal McNair has pushed the mantra "Fearlessly evolving" within the organization, and it fell in line with the vision of this department. We saw the events our organization would hold, and we knew the importance of them and how they helped with the interaction between fans and corporate partners. The question was, how do we amplify those events? The department started on the marketing side and moved into the corporate side as we slowly figured out the right space where it could live within the organization. Now there are seven people on the team.
What a great opportunity. So, what does your current role entail?
The event experience department is essentially an in-house events agency for the business and football operations sides. I run our department like an agency. Each person and/or group of people have a set of departments they service. We run all of our events, from small ones to large ones, such as the Season Premiere event this summer, in which our Houston Texans Foundation raised $1.4 million. We handle ownership events, and if our football operations department wants to have an ice cream party, we'll also handle that. We are here to help.
On game day, our group is responsible for fan experience for everything from the parking lots until the fans walk into the stadium, which is when our live events team takes over. We help enhance everything from the BULLevard to signage, curating all music, games, sponsorship activation and making sure messaging is in line with marketing. We also enhance the experiences of the clubs within the stadium before fans go into their seats.
The Texans host the Chicago Bears for *Sunday Night Football* in Week 2. Are there any events or things fans should be aware of for that game?
We're always here to excite the fans, but the big thing for us as an organization this year is we want them in the stadium. We want to entertain you from the time you arrive, and we will, because we're constantly tweaking everything, but our live game presentation team does an amazing job. We want fans to enjoy the game itself.
What is one of the largest events you've done?
I would say the largest one was during Super Bowl LI in Houston. We did Texans House, very similar to NFL House. As the team in the host city, we hosted this three-day extravaganza from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. There was programming the entire time with food, beverage and entertainment. That was two years in the making outside of my normal responsibilities. Another cool thing we've done is our draft party. We have hosted a draft party at the stadium for years, and we took it into the city at Miller Outdoor Theater in 2023. It's a huge, iconic spot in Houston, and there were 8,000 people there when we drafted C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. I have chills talking about it. It was one of the coolest experiences we've ever done, and I think that continuously plays into the "fearlessly evolving" mantra.
We are super family-oriented, like many of the teams in the league, and we get to do some really intimate things for our retired players. When J.J. Watt retired and went into our Ring of Honor, we did an entire weekend celebration with legends, his family and partnerships. Same thing with Andre Johnson when he went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Cal McNair and Hannah McNair, VP of the Houston Texans Foundation, do a great job of supporting our events team and allowing us to go and show what our organization can do from an events standpoint. I think we do a really nice job of making every event we do feel like the Texans.
Those sound like great events. What would you say is the most challenging part of your job?
Keeping things innovative, fresh and new. I am not one to sit on the same event year over year. We have what we call, "Get Betters." After every event, every person on the team submits their "Get Betters" to figure out how we can continuously grow and be the best at what we do. I have a two-year plan for most events. We do an event, then we'll tweak it in Year 2 based on our "Get Betters" from the previous year. Then in the third year, I'm ready to blow it up and do something new. We keep some of the foundation of the events that are working, but we want to try to do new things. What gifts do people want? I am constantly scrolling through Instagram for research to see what is new and what gifts people like. It's the most challenging, but it's kind of my favorite part, making events bigger and better and surprising people.
Looking back on your 14 years, do you have a favorite moment with the team?
I do think Super Bowl was really special, but we played in London in 2019 and did a four-day trip with our corporate partners and ownership. That was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done. London is amazing, and we really leaned into the city and embodied it in our events. We rented out a small pub one night and had a piano man playing throughout the space. The next night, we took over Kensington Palace and had this progressive dinner. It was wild and one of those things that I pitched to ownership and our president. They really gave me the freedom to go big. We do these types of trips every year for our corporate partners and the sky is the limit, in a sense, for those events. We get to be really creative and gift around the theme of each city, and we really lean into that. From a partnership perspective, they are the most valuable and what we see the most return in. They are also ones I get to have the most fun in.
Now pivoting to mentorship. Do you have any mentors? And what advice have you held onto as you've gone through your career?
I would say my biggest mentor is my mom, Pattii Montgomery. She was a business owner of a large ad agency in Houston. It was woman-owned. Seeing the determination and grit that she and her partner had was so impactful on me growing up, and still is. She has definitely impacted how I view work and my passion. I love what she's done and how she's approached work, but I have taken my own approach for my life. I have three little kids, so that's fun to figure out how to balance.
I want to do the same thing for my daughter. I want her to look at me in this role and be proud of what I have accomplished and the impact I have made, because that's the impact my mom had on me.
What an incredible role model to have. What advice do you have for women who want to get into a similar career path?
Don't ever be discouraged if the position you think is right for you isn't there. I say that because the role I am in didn't always exist, and don't be afraid to voice your opinion, either. As an intern, I worked in a hybrid events group, and they told me I was to service accounts and do events. I told them I was happy to help in any way, but my passion was events, and I stuck with that from Year 1 to now. Don't ever back down from your passion. Just keep going and be persistent. The world of sports is a very niche group but keep applying and find that one connection you can hold on to. That's how we all got into this industry.
That's great advice. What is one of the next things you want to accomplish?
For a while, I wanted to start this department. Now that we've had this department for three years, it's about how we can keep getting better. I don't know if I have the right answer, to be honest. I want to continue growing as a leader within our organization. What that means or looks like, I don't know yet. I want to continue to be a voice for my group and continue growing for myself. I am very content and happy right now with where I am.
Lastly, what are you most proud of in your career?
Our organization has an award for our business operations group each year called "Spirit of the Bull." It's voted on by your peers and ownership, and I won the award two years ago. It's for someone who exemplifies the team's mantra and impact. That is one of the biggest achievements of my career. It was the first year our ownership came and presented it, and that meant a lot, because I work with them closely.
