Kelli Finglass is best known for being the game-changing director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, a position she has held for an incredible 30 years. During that time, she has become one of the most revered names in the NFL, notable for combining her passion for cheerleading with her entrepreneurial drive to take football cheerleading to a whole new level. Her achievements and innovations, from calendars to workout videos to hit television series, have raised the industry standard and secured her place in NFL and cheerleading history as a trailblazer.

Finglass first encountered the Dallas Cowboys in 1984 when she heard about their cheerleading team on a local radio station. She auditioned for them and was accepted straight away, the first of their dancers to be allowed to bypass the long and rigorous full audition process. She was a key member of the cheerleading team for the rest of the decade and became assistant to the director in 1989. Two years later, aged just 27, she was appointed their director. Before long, she’d begun to expand the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders brand and had soon seen her role expanded to that of business manager.

In 2006, Finglass was instrumental in the launch of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, a reality show that premiered on Country Music Television and has now run for 16 seasons. Finglass is one of the stars of the show, which follows the tough audition process to become part of the NFL’s most recognised cheerleading teams. The show has helped Finglass to become a popular presence on social media — she can boast of well over 100,000 across various platforms.