The Power of Three (Words) 

Three years ago in March, Kraken colleague Jordyn Bryant was cherishing her final months as a University of Washington undergraduate student while finishing up a double major, one in American Ethnic Studies and the other in Education, Communities and Organizations. She earned a minor in Diversity. All her designations were achievable in part because she handled her university math credits while attending Lakes High School in her hometown of Lakewood, south of Tacoma.  

“When I was in high school, I was a major math girl,” said Bryant, the Kraken’s executive office coordinator, during what can best be described as a buoyant conversation grounded in equal parts of optimism and intelligence. “I loved calculus. I took all of the AP classes [across subjects], but mainly math and statistics. I didn’t have to take any math classes at UW because of the AP credits. I took all of the ethnic studies classes that I could. So many essays, so much writing. I found that I loved it.” 

Her curiosity and study of diversity is a natural extension of Bryant’s upbringing. Her father is Black and Korean and her mother is white. At the urging of Bryant’s grandmother, the family was part of a Korean church community that occupied a number of hours on Sundays with services, a youth group and a shared meal among families. 

“I would go to the youth group and made some friends there,” said Bryant. “I always felt a little bit different, but I didn't really mind. I was happy to be by my grandma’s side.”

Like many proud college graduates, Bryant posted on her LinkedIn account upon graduation. Her final line staggered this reporter for bearing wisdom that can take years or even decades to understand and embrace. She selected three words that form the foundation of her intentions and hopes for a career path. Here’s the line: 

“I look forward to applying the meaningful knowledge I’ve gained to a professional career rooted in humility, tenacity, and advocacy.”  

Humility. Tenacity. Advocacy. Let’s take that one word at a time. 

“Humility is something just core to who I am,” said Bryant. “I'm not the most showy person. I enjoy leading, but not in a way that's commanding attention all the time. I'm more of a silent leader. I've always been very shy. I've only recently come out of my shell into more of an introvert-extrovert mixture. 

“Developing relationships with my professors and taking criticism and learning new things, that all takes tenacity. You can't passively go through life and expect to learn things. You have to put yourself into uncomfortable situations.  

“I realize now and throughout that time of graduation that I can be an advocate for myself and others.” 

Dance Days and Diplomacy 

Tenacity is a quality-- no, make that a lifestyle-- all dancers must embody to find success and joy; Bryant was all in at a young age.  

“As a kid, my sport was actually dance,” said Bryant, smiling. “I was part of a dance studio in Puyallup. My mom drove me to dance class and practiced a few times a week. What I remember most is the travel and the friendships I made. We went to dance competitions at Disneyland. That’s where my love of performing blossomed. In high school I was on the dance team and was captain my senior year. We won first place in hip hop at state in 2019, the first time for Lakes High since 2012. It was a big relief and something we had been working toward.”

The work was year-round without many days to sleep in: “In high school, there's practice every day. It was a year-long sport. Our competition season was winter and spring, but then we still performed halftime shows at football games and basketball games. There was summer practice and dance retreats, then preparing our competition routines for the upcoming year. Even so, I looked forward to going to dance practice all the time. It’s something you simply must do, showing up for yourself, showing up for your teammates.”  

At UW, Bryant successfully tried out for the hip hop team. During her senior year, she served as the Political Chair for the UW Student Hip Hop Association. She was holding the officer board accountable for responsibly engaging and representing the hip hop culture, especially honoring its origins. When the association hosted events, she advocated for making sure there was potential to grow interest in the greater Seattle area. 

“I was on the dance team all four years,” said Bryant. “Over that time, the organization shifted into covering other hip hop events not exactly related to dance. There are pillars to hip hop culture, such as graffiti, break dancing and emceeing. We wanted to broaden our impact on the Seattle hip hop community. With me majoring in American ethnic studies and minoring in diversity, it made sense for me to be in that leadership position to hold everyone accountable to show up thoughtfully in the community and be respectful to the people that came before us to create the foundation of hip hop.  

“I was part of the event planning too. We hosted [hip hop] battles and presented graffiti workshops with experts showing students how to make their own tags, plus talked about the history of graffiti. We held watch parties of hip hop-based movies and staged open discussions about how hip hop impacts us.” 

Words to Live and Work By 

Bryant embraces humility and advocacy too, particularly serving as political chair of the UW Student Hip Hop Association and now in her current role in the Kraken’s executive office. She started with the Kraken organization as an intern in the fall of 2023. When the six-month internship ended, she was hired full-time. 

The intern-hiring practice included an in-person discussion with a panel of Kraken colleagues from different parts of the organization, including ticketing, sales, corporate partnerships, and game-day presentation. It  was far from daunting for Bryant, likely because the extrovert in her emerged in both advocating for herself and  seeing the value in others.  

“I remember that interview being so heartfelt,” said Bryant about the panel of people who are now colleagues and friends. “Every time I asked them questions, I could see the way they interacted with each other. Everyone cared so deeply about not only what they do, but each other.

“We had a really deep conversation. I remember leaving and saying, ‘Even if this doesn't work out, it was a pleasure just talking to you guys.’ I remember leaving with a great feeling in my heart, not even about how I presented myself, but thinking, ‘Oh, this is a special place to work.’” 

Bryant is humble enough to learn by seeking out her work colleagues when needed. She is particularly grateful for getting to work with the beloved Flora Taylor, who headed up the executive office from Day 1 back at the “NHL Seattle” Harrison Street office until she retired at the end of 2025. We all miss Flora here at Kraken Community Iceplex but she paid it forward mentoring Bryant.  

“Flora's leadership style was very informative, but gentle,” said Bryant, who handles a portfolio of duties, including arranging auction items for nonprofit organizations each year, along with being part of the investor relations team. “She was so good at correcting me. I needed that, because I acknowledged at that point that I really did not know a lot about working in sports and working for an executive office and with investors... This job has changed the trajectory of my career. I knew it would from the day Flora called to say I got the internship.”