2025

Komal Bhukhanwala

VP Graphics, Innovation & Design, CBS Sports

“Everything that’s loud is very easy to keep up with. It’s all of the silence behind it that you have to really try to navigate and find.”

What do you feel defines Power in somebody?

What defines power? I think knowledge. Knowledge and responsibility. I think both of them are sort of the crux for me. That makes people powerful.

I think most people who have power realize the responsibility they carry with them. And I would like to think of the goodness in people, that 80% of that goodness exists in almost everybody, and they try to channel it correctly. But all of us have our dark demons and there are people in the world who use this power negatively. I’d like to think the majority of humankind who have the power to do the right things choose to do the right things.

With all of the different issues that we have in the world that we could be focusing on today: gun violence to gender equality to child poverty. Which do you feel is the most pressing in today’s world? And if not those examples, what else?

I do think there are two that come to the front and center, which I’m super passionate about, is really child poverty, child care, child progression, and related to that, the environment. The world we leave our kids and the future generations to come is so important. And it’s all intertwined with the kids that are being born today, the conditions they’re getting born in, the food that they’re being fed, all of that stuff is sort of so intertwined with the overall state of the environment.

I think being a parent opens a whole new world of perspective that you don’t have when you’re just focusing on yourself.

What do you think is the number one action as a society that we can take to forward a better society?

It comes back to my want of a better environment: read, educate yourself on the things you buy. There’s so much stuff around you that you want to be consumed by it all, but just educate yourself, read the right things. Read what you think is accurate, like knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. Gain the knowledge you need to help you make the right choices in your life, whether it’s towards your kids or towards the environment. I think the consciousness of not just being fed by what is given to us by the media, but sort of finding a way to dig through all of it that’s under the layers. Everything that’s loud is very easy to keep up with. It’s all of the silence behind it that you have to really try to navigate and find. And I think the quest to educate your kids, to educate yourself, and just gain that consciousness around you.

How do you navigate through these situations? Was there ever a time that you may have encountered a difficult challenge in life that you had to overcome and how did you get through it?

In my job, the biggest challenge I face is how to be a woman in a man’s world. And that is a daily struggle. To get your voice heard, to not only have it heard, to get it to the right people, and ensure that they take action. Because my voice comes from knowledge and experience, and to have people trust you on a daily basis in a man’s world, is very, very difficult. So I think that’s sort of my biggest challenge at work. And I think we’ve made headway in that. I think patience, I’ve learned a lot of patience early on in my career, I would say things that would be a part of meetings, and I’d sort of be sidetracked.

But with a lot of hard work, gaining a lot of knowledge and patience is when you slowly, but surely, get to a point where people trust you and then you become a voice that needs to be heard in situations, and then you’re able to influence decisions and you’re able to sort of make the world a better place.

What was the defining moment in your life that led you to where you are today?

I can’t say it was one defining moment, but it was a few people who helped me get to where I was and where I am today. Early on, I met this man who, while I was in college, told me about this place that he worked at. He saw something in me that he thought I’d be right for the job. And in spite of the inner person inside of me thinking, no, I don’t think he knows what he’s talking about, I still sort of went with the flow. I applied for the position and got it. And that started my journey to where I am today.

Along the way, I had another woman boss who, again, saw something in me that I had not yet seen in myself. She saw leadership and she saw creativity, and she saw the bigger picture and what I was capable of before I actually saw it. And she started talking to me about it and mentored me without truly, officially mentoring me. And only years later, I realized, wow.

What trait or which trait of yours makes you the most uncomfortable? And which trait do you feel is your favorite?

I think it’s one trait that makes me the most uncomfortable and my most favorite is I constantly second guess myself, and I don’t know if it’s a woman trait, but it’s just for me. Anyone will come and give me a compliment. And I’m like, no, it’s not what I deserve. And I’ll always underplay it. I am always my first critic. You know, any food I make, I’ll taste it and be like, nah, this is not good in spite of the world telling me it’s awesome. I’m like, nope, I can do better. And so I’m my own biggest critic. But because of that, I also hate that I always second-guess myself.

What do you consider to be the most overrated virtue?

Beauty. Physical beauty.

What would you say is your most unbreakable rule?

Oh, that’s a tough one. Honesty. Like, don’t lie to me.

Who do you yell at the most when you’re quietly yelling it in your own head?

It has to be my family. And the people I love the most are who I feel like I yell at the most. I target the people I love the most. I have a couple of best friends, and oftentimes I feel like they take the most bruises.

What is your biggest fear?

The fear of losing myself someday and not recognizing myself.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

The quote I really love is “if your dreams don’t scare you, they’re too small.” I hold that very dear to my heart because I’m a dreamer. Big dreamer.

What are some most challenging things you’ve ever had to overcome?

A woman in a man’s world. And I can’t really put it in the bucket, but parenting is a daily challenge.

If you could have any animal or pet, what would it be?

You know what I love? The very cute otters. I love otters. I feel like I want to hold them and hug them. I’ve had a dog as a child, and my family wants a dog. But if it was like one wish list item that’s unachievable, it’s otters.