Sports Illustrated and Empower Onyx are putting the spotlight on the diverse journeys of Black women across sports—from the veteran athletes, to up-and-coming stars, coaches, executives and more—in the series, Elle-evate: 100 Influential Black Women in Sports.
When it comes to being the president of Magic Johnson Enterprises (MJE), it’s a win for not just Christina Francis, but for the basketball icon, too. Francis stepped into the role fully prepared for a successful journey. Being on point, doing the best job, and making sure that she is loyal and trustworthy are the principles that guided her to this amazing moment. It’s both personal and business when it comes to effectively running Magic Johnson’s company.
Francis believes that the day-to-day ebb and flow of MJE should vibe with the needs of the community. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Johnson immediately responded by making sure that millions of dollars in loans were poured into minority- and women-owned small businesses that were at risk of shutting down. These funds kept doors open and allowed companies to continue serving their clients and customers. Before, during and after the pandemic, this kind of action will always be the MJE charge.
Courtesy of EBONY and Alexia Grevious
MJE, which is largely focused on community-based organizations, looks at business trends and decides the most effective way to support companies. “There was a point in time when we were looking at a lot of tech businesses because there weren’t a lot of African Americans or people of color in the tech world,” Francis says. “So, Earvin said, ‘Let's look into that. Let's invest.’” Francis adds that it’s more about where they can make that kind of community impact as well as make a profit. “He's not going to just invest in any tech companies, but he's going to find some young brown and Black kids or women so that we can elevate their brands.’”
Johnson and Francis started their business relationship in 2004 when she was at UniWorld, and they did an endorsement deal with one of her clients, Burger King. Johnson, who was an owner of 30 Burger King franchises, trusted her business acumen and made her his point of contact at the firm.
“The executives at Burger King told me, ‘You’re going to have to leave the agency and come work for us because he'll only speak to you,’” she says. “I ended up working for Burger King, strictly running the Magic Johnson Burger Kings. Every time Earvin needed something, he wouldn't call the people at Burger King. He would call me.”
Francis credits her success to people recognizing that she could do the work, and building solid relationships from networking. Always making it a priority to pay it forward, she really wanted to be the female mentor that she never had. Alexia Grevious, who she works with now at MJE, and Ana Hernandez-Ochoa, who she worked with at the Orange Bowl, have become some of her mentees. “I got both young ladies when they were junior, but so smart, and so hardworking,” she says. “I just pushed them to do the next thing, and next thing. I moved Ana all the way up to a VP level. When I left, I told the CEO, ‘She needs to be the COO.’ Now she is COO. And I'm so proud of her. Alexia was hired as a manager, and now she's my senior director. She should be a VP and eventually be taking over [my] role one day.”
Francis worked at Nissan while Jerry Florence, a Black man, was VP of marketing. She says that he literally opened doors to allow her to spread her wings. “I was the young girl in the office, just head down working,” she recalls. “And he said, ‘I see you working hard and we're going to give you an opportunity to try different things.’”
She eventually started multicultural marketing at Nissan in 1994. “We had to do all the research and fight for the money from the general market agency. We hired the first African American agency, Kara Williams’s agency.” Francis’s team created the first print ads and commercials. “It was super exciting because when you think about it, that was 1994. And people are still trying to do multicultural marketing now. That really kind of started my path. Jerry really opened my mind to the idea that you can do anything.”
In addition to Nissan, Francis would eventually add heavy hitters like IBM, the Orange Bowl and the NFL Players Association to her professional career roster. And through the years, Johnson would ask her to be a part of his team. Although she waited years before she accepted a position at MJE, Johnson recognized that she could ultimately be the president of his organization long before she knew it. “I wasn't sure if I was ready,” she says. “And so, I would decline him. After the third time he didn't talk to me for a couple of years. I think during that time, I was having some fun doing what I was doing. I just believe in learning and growing.”
Courtesy of EBONY and Alexia Grevious
As fate would have it, Johnson and Francis jumped on a call after her name came up in one of his business meetings. He asked her a final time if she was ready to come back to Los Angeles. And she finally agreed.
The retired basketball star and business mogul asked Francis to fill a hole in marketing and PR. “I need you to come help manage my brand,” he told her. When he went back to the Lakers, she ran the office. Marketing, business development and communications were part of her daily routine. She loved it and wanted more opportunities—that’s when he brought to her attention that she was playing the president’s role. “He said, ‘We might as well give you the president's title.’ That’s literally how I got the title.”
Every career choice and opportunity Francis accepted prepared her for her position at MJE. She often decided to chart her own path, learning and growing with every step. Instead of envisioning and preparing for this huge path to the future, she was already doing it. She’d been living the dream all along. “You look at people and you think, ‘Wow, how did they get that role? The president of Magic Johnson Enterprises,’” Francis says. “When really it’s you just get in there and you get to work.”
Bryna Jean-Marie is a contributor for Empower Onyx, a diverse multi-channel platform celebrating the stories and transformative power of sports for Black women and girls.
