She carries Telfar bags and wears Nike sneakers. She rocks a long braid. She’s a pro at twerking. She’s... an elephant wearing a Statue of Liberty crown? She's, of course, Ellie the Elephant, the breakout mascot for the New York Liberty. The WNBA is bringing in more fans than ever, and while the sport is already thrilling, one of the most fun parts of attending a Liberty game is watching Ellie dance, whip that braid around, and mingle with the crowd.
But who came up with this sassy, on-trend anthropomorphic elephant? One of the people responsible for Big Ellie is Shana Stephenson, the Chief Brand Officer for the Liberty and this week's guest on the Marie Claire podcast "Nice Talk". Stephenson chats with editor-in-chief Nikki Ogunnaike about the inspiration behind Ellie and the cultural phenomenon that the mascot has become.
Stephenson began working with the Liberty in 2018, just before the team moved from Westchester to Brooklyn. Before their brief stint in Westchester, the Liberty had long called Madison Square Garden home.
“We had a mascot prior to Ellie, named Maddie. Maddie was a lovable golden retriever—and Maddie could dance, too,” Stephenson says. “So it’s not like Maddie was corny or wack. Like, Maddie was dope.” But Maddie was named after Madison Square Garden, and bringing her to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center didn’t feel right. “That created an opportunity for us to introduce a new mascot.”
The Liberty’s CEO, Keia Clarke, came across a story about how, when the Brooklyn Bridge was built, P.T. Barnum led herds of elephants across it to prove its strength. “We loved the symbolism of the Brooklyn Bridge and the migration from Brooklyn to Manhattan,” Stephenson says. “And, you know, we were doing the reverse.”
Stephenson and her team held open auditions to find someone who could embody Ellie's spirit and hype up the crowd from inside the sweltering costume. She calls the person they hired "just phenomenal," but if you want to know who it is, you're out of luck. The dancer is anonymous.
“We just got lucky,” Stephenson says. “The performer is actually from Brooklyn, so a lot of what you see is a combination of them, Criscia, Shenay, and our CEO—this group of brilliant Black women who’ve completely leaned into Ellie and helped shape and elevate the brand.”
Emphasizing just how loved Ellie is, Stephenson tells a story of attending an event with her.
Ellie’s star power is real. “I did a red carpet with Ellie,” Stephenson recalls. “They were like, ‘Okay, thank you, Shana... but Ellie! Ellie!’ They completely shooed me to the side!”
For more from Stephenson—including her career journey and her mission to make Liberty green as iconic as Yankees caps—check out this week's installment of "Nice Talk". The episode is available everywhere you listen to podcasts.