Michael Jordan’s daughter Jasmine Jordan talks about working at the Jordan Brand, signing female athletes, and her legacy
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Being a celebrity’s child comes with its merits and demerits. Being Michael Jordan‘s children? Oh boy, you have huge shoes to fill. Michael Jordan has five children in total, three with his ex-wife Juanita Vanoy, and two with his current wife, Yvette Prieto. From his first marriage, MJ had Jeffery Jordan, Marcus Jordan, and Jasmine Jordan. From his current wedding, he has a set of twins named Ysabel and Victoria Jordan.
While Jeffery has his own app named Heir Jordan, Marcus is busy with his boutique ‘Trophy Room’, which sells high-end Jordan-inspired sneakers. Jasmine Jordan, however, decided to work with her father and is a basketball operations coordinator with the Charlotte Hornets. She also is a field rep in Jordan’s sports marketing division. She recently sat down with Footwear News and here is how it went.
Jasmine Jordan at the Jordan Brand
Talking about how it’s like being a Jordan at the Jordan brand, Jasmine said,
“It’s powerful, it’s special. To have the name and work for the brand, it doesn’t feel real. People say all the time, ‘That’s your brand.’ I say, ‘No, it’s not,’ [but] yes, it is. I’m aware of it, but I don’t think about it as much as people around me do. I’m blessed with the name and an opportunity, but I don’t take it for granted.”
She also talked about how she doesn’t want to take anything for granted. Jasmine wants to work her from the bottom up the way to the top.
“Those who have interacted with me even for 5 seconds, they see I don’t own the room. I have no desire to own the room, I am happy to be standing in the back, grabbing water for my athletes, checking on everybody because that’s who I am. I didn’t come in with my last name printed out in an office and taking executive roles. I’m going to work my way to that point. I want to make sure that if a role or an opportunity presents itself down the line, I can say that I did the entry job, worked my way to manager, director, executive. I took my learnings to find my way to the top.”
Jordan shares her hilarious incident with Te’a Cooper
Being the daughter of the greatest basketball player of all time, it is assumed that most people know who Jasmine is. However, there are those odd few times when they don’t. One of those people was WNBA star Te’a Cooper.
“Some of our ladies know from the jump like, ‘That’s Mike’s daughter.’ But I had an adorable moment with Te’a Cooper. She had no idea. It wasn’t until I posted ‘Happy Father’s Day’ on my Instagram and she texted me right after, ‘You did not tell me he is your dad.’ And I was like, ‘Te’a, I assumed you knew.’”
Jasmine shares her plans for Jordan Brand and its female athletes
Getting more female athletes. That was Jasmine’s first step as soon as she got the green light. She handpicked the athletes whose story got to her the most and created a unique mesh.
“I did a lot of research during COVID, had a lot of conversations. Got the green light in mid-2020, saying, ‘Hey, we’re about to expand our roster’ — that’s all I needed. I had a list of ladies we could consider signing, and Anthony [DiCosmo] said, ‘Create the roster how you want it to look.’ I made sure no two players were alike, every player had their own story and they were killing it in their own way on their team.”
About her legacy with the brand, Jasmine said,
“I just want to make sure that the legacy of the brand continues to evolve and grow with the times. We’re at that point where those who are buying our sneakers, understanding our purpose and what we’re doing, they didn’t see my father play. Furthering his legacy and cultivating it where it still resonates with the youth — and providing different spins to it — is what I want to do.”
To keep the brand growing, while still staying attached to the roots, that’s her plan for the brand, and it sounds like a good one. The task ahead of her is not simple, but then again, she has the best at her side and guiding her.
