From CSUB to ESPN

Growing up, Celia Bouza hoped she might one day work in sports. She was able to make that dream a reality, but not in the way she originally imagined.

Bouza has been a big sports fan ever since she was a child. Both of her parents played collegiate sports and encouraged her and her brother to get involved. She was also raised on a steady diet of sports programming on ESPN and other platforms.

"I spent a lot of time watching games with my parents as a kid," she said. "Sports was always a huge part of my life. It's truly in my DNA."

When the time came to consider what she wanted to pursue in college, Bouza wasn't sure what she wanted to do, other than she wanted to be involved in sports in some way. At California State University, Bakersfield, she changed her major multiple times before finally landing on communications.

Bouza said she wanted to find a way to remain involved in the sports world and decided she could do so as a journalist. She covered school sports for the student newspaper The Runner and served as the sports editor during her time there.

"That was where I found the most joy - staying connected to sports through communications," she said.

Bouza graduated with her communications degree in 2010, joining her parents, who are also CSUB graduates. While she ultimately decided against pursuing a career in journalism, she has remained connected to sports through her 14-year career at the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.

Bouza is currently the vice president of multi-platform video, a role she has held since August. She oversees all digital video-on-demand content, whether that be on ESPN's website, apps, YouTube or social media accounts. She is responsible for a team of nearly 50 employees.

"I'm so humbled and thrilled to be leading such a critical part of our business, and it truly is the future of our business," Bouza said. "Sports fandom has changed. The digital side is where a lot of our younger fans are experiencing ESPN. It's really important for us to find fans where they are and figure out the best way to serve them."

While Bouza had planned to have a career as a writer, she's happy about where she's ended up.

"Not everybody gets to make their job or their career out of something that they grew up loving to do, but I've been so fortunate," she said. "It's unreal, to be honest. I still pinch myself sometimes when I walk through the halls here. It was - and still is - the dream job for me."