HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The hardest work Gretchen Sheirr does as the Houston Rockets' president of business operations isn't at center stage on the hardwood. Her responsibilities overseeing all business operations for the NBA team and the Toyota Center mostly happen out of the limelight. But she is a core in the organization who never imagined she'd be here. "(This is) 100% beyond my wildest dreams of what I could have thought it could have led," Sheirr said. Gretchen grew up in Spring as an athlete herself -- a gymnast. She turned herself into a diver to earn a scholarship to attend Louisiana State University (LSU). Mental flexibility and pragmatism have become a recurring theme in her journey. She began college as an engineering student but pivoted to marketing after encouragement from a professor. "I led the class project of throwing a pep rally at a bar for the LSU football team. And I remember my professor saying, 'You have natural leadership skills. You plan events really well. You coordinated the budget. Do you know that you can do this for a living?' And I was like, 'You can throw parties at a bar for a living?'" Sheirr laughed. After graduation, Gretchen started her sports marketing career in an entry-level job with an indoor soccer team. She then joined the Rockets in the sales department. After becoming the director of that department, she noticed she was an anomaly among her NBA peers: a woman. SEE ALSO: Women's History Month: 1-on-1 with Claudia Aguirre, the CEO of BakerRipley "It really wasn't until I was in it and then noticing like, 'Wait a second, I'm the only person in the room here.' I didn't even feel it at the Houston Rockets or at the Toyota Center here. But in the industry, as I started traveling and as I started to go to conferences, I started noticing this might be harder than I thought it's going to be," Sheirr said. And like many trailblazers, she faced unique challenges. "I always felt like there was added pressure to perform well and to make sure that I was adding value, because if I did say something that wasn't as intelligent or wasn't on the mark, that I would be remembered more than the 29 other men who could have said anything," Sheirr explained. "I tell people all the time to map out their own career and their own goals and their own vision, and just because somebody else took a path does not mean that that is the only path. And it doesn't mean that that's the only way to success," Sheirr said. And she reminds people -- especially women -- not to worry about making a mistake. "I think sometimes people are afraid to take risks," Sheirr said. "You have to be willing to mess up." For more on this story, follow Gina Gaston on Facebook, X and Instagram.