ESPN Sports and Lifestyle Content Creator Katie Feeney joined Associate Professor of Journalism and Sports Communications Program Director Nick Pietruszkiewicz Tuesday for the most recent episode of “What’s Your Story?”
The YouTube series features industry professionals and gives students access to sports media moguls on a smaller stage.
Feeney, just 23 years old, garners a social media following of over 14 million users and five billion views across platforms. What began as posting relatable short-form Amazon unboxing videos and makeup product reviews on TikTok and YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic catapulted her to a national stage in mere weeks.
“It’s cringy until it’s not,” Feeney said about posting videos. “Once you see success, when someone else sees success, then it’s not cringy anymore. But you have to get there, right?”
In early 2021, Feeney — who was a freshman at The Pennsylvania State University at the time — made headlines when she made $1 million in six weeks through her content on Snapchat’s “Spotlight” feature. Simultaneously, she managed to earn 750,000 subscribers in three months on the then newly launched YouTube Shorts.
YouTube invited her to Super Bowl LVI as an official correspondent in 2022. Two months later, the NFL’s Washington Commanders hired Feeney as the league’s first-ever social media correspondent, where she produced season content from her personal accounts to expand fan engagement.
During her partnership with the Commanders, Feeney also served as the social media contact for AKSM Media at the White House, creating informed political content for impressionable younger audiences. This world was new, but it was another way to put herself on the map.
Feeney managed to put herself in these positions by simply saying “Yes” to opportunities, paid or unpaid. Experiences don’t just appear.
“I tell my classes this pretty regularly,” Pietruszkiewicz said. “You never know when that moment is going to arrive, when it’s the moment that’s going to change your life.”
It also helps to be kind.
“Being a good person will take you farther in life than anything else,” Feeney said. “People want to be surrounded by good people, people they can trust.”
After graduating from Penn State in 2025, ESPN hired Feeney as a Sports and Lifestyle Content Creator who specializes in social media content for the network’s shows, “Sunday NFL Countdown,” “Monday Night Countdown” and “College GameDay.”
“I mean, ESPN, they kind of took a chance on me, right?” Feeney said. “They didn’t know what I would do hiring me. And I think eventually, more networks will start doing something similar.”
Aside from jam-packed weekends in the fall, Feeney spends her weekdays as a normal woman in her early 20s. A self-diagnosed “workaholic,” Feeney has found it challenging to find time to balance work and personal life. Now that her career is off the ground, she’s committed to self-care.
Exercising daily, grabbing dinner with friends and staying in touch with family are equally as important as filming a viral video.
Third-year sports communications major Bella Carter asked Feeney, “What is one song to describe your career journey so far…and why?”
Feeney answered, “The Best of Both Worlds,” the anthem of Disney Channel’s hit series “Hannah Montana.”
Although she’s battled her share of imposter syndrome throughout her rapid rise to fame, Feeney aims to stay grounded with her support system, while cementing herself as a major female face in sports. In other words, she lives in the best of both worlds.
“Oftentimes, I’ll walk through spaces where maybe you don’t feel like you belong,” Feeney said. “You do, you absolutely do.”