April 24, 2024 • 33 mins
Kristen Balboni speaks with Ericia Turner, Athletic Director of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. Ericia walks Kristen through her day-to-day responsibilities as she oversees athletic programs for 66+ middle and high schools in Charlotte Mecklenburg County. The pair discusses impactful stories about her family life and experiences that ignited her passion for sports and commitment to inspiring future generations.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Everybody doesn't have to be on the field or on
the court to play, to be involved in sports, or
to love sports. And I think it's important that we
use sports as a vehicle. It's not a means to
an end, but it's a vehicle to create more opportunities
and different opportunities for our student athletes.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Welcome to a brand new episode of the Inspired podcast,
presented by a Trim Health. This is a podcast series
for Panthers fans where we highlight admirable women from across
the Carolinas as they share stories and lessons from their
lives and careers. And today my guest is Erica Turner,
athletic director of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. Erica, thank you so
(00:41):
much for being here with me.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Thank you for the invitation. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I am excited to talk to you. I have a
thousand questions. Okay, First, first of all, this sounds like
a huge job to me. Like, I think about just
driving through Mecklenburg County. How long that takes? So can
you tell me what exactly does being athletic director of
CMS entail?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Okay, So, in Charlotte Mecklinbrig schools. We have twenty high
schools and we have twenty we will have twenty one
next year, and forty six middle schools, and so we
oversee the athletic programs for all middle schools and high schools.
We also oversee the curriculum peaks for the health and
pe curriculum throughout the district, and we oversee all high
(01:27):
school graduations. And so we're currently planning for the end
of the year and planning for all thirty four high
school graduations that we have coming up.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Oh my gosh, And can I just ask, I'm sure
this changes on any given day, but can you walk
me through what a day in your life looks like,
Let's say, at the busiest time of the school year,
because I imagine you're dealing with stuff from every different corner.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And so, well, first, my day starts off with morning devotional,
you know, because I can't do this work without my
favor and because it's a lot of work, and so
I start every day offer the morning devotion on prayer.
I'm also taking care of my dad. I'm the caregiver
for my eighty one year old father, and so I
have to get him up before I start, you know,
before I come to work and get him settled for
(02:14):
his in home nurse to come in feed him breakfast,
and then I get on the road and I drive
an hour to Charlotte because I don't live in Charlotte.
I live in Katawa County, and so that's a meditation
time too with my ride in. So as soon as
I get to my office, the first thing I do
is check and respond to all emails. My goal is
to respond to emails within twenty four hours, and so
(02:35):
that could take a while. And then I have a
to do list. I start on Monday with my to
do list and there's two columns. This is do it
now or do it later. So I prioritize what needs
to be done now. So like tomorrow, I know that
I'm going to the school to support a principal and
it's just the principal with some athletic issues that they
may be having in the athletic director. And so some
(02:57):
mornings is spent at a school, depending on the needs
of the school and the athletic director that they need
to support with parent meetings or you know, parents upset
about certain things. And so I try to make sure
that I'm available to the principal with the athletic directors
whoever need me, then I'll support them. And sometimes I
have parents who come down to my office who want
to talk to me about something that they're upset about,
(03:21):
and then I go through my to do list. I'm
a checklist person because I need to make sure I
get things done because we have minimal staff in this office.
So I am the executive director. I have one director
up under me. I have our senior administrator secretary who
works with us in our office, and so it's just
us three that handles all of athletics throughout the district.
(03:44):
But then i'd have three physical education specialists and resource
teachers that help do the programming for physical education throughout
the day. So they go support physical education teachers throughout
the day. And then you know, sometimes I spend my day,
you know, celebrating kids. So I've been personally invited to
a signing day tomorrow over at Myers Park. So I'm
(04:05):
going to go to this young Lady signing day because
I was personally invited. North Mecklenburg men's basketball team just
won the state championship and so there's a celebration for
them on Wednesday in the middle of the day, so
I'll go to that. Just for this past Friday, the
students at Butler High School did a Make a Wish
Foundation celebration where they raised ten thousand dollars for a
(04:28):
young person who is, you know, struggling with a health issue,
and they raised ten thousand dollars. And they always do
a Make a Wish Foundation celebration and so if they
personally invite me, I'm gonna make it a point to go.
And so so that's what my day looks like. Sometimes
I'm going to school to support during the day and
then I come back. Like right now, we're working on
(04:51):
the minor details for graduation, so like contracts for the
different venues that we use. Typically we use five different venues.
Of course, the Spectrum Center not available this year because
it's under renovation, so we had to make some changes
for a couple of our graduations. You know, we have
to work through contracts for the live stream, and so
I'm signing contracts, going through legal first to make sure
the contracts are in order. Then I have to sign
(05:14):
all those contracts and we order flowers. We do a
hospitality room. We have to make sure the plomas in order.
Each school is responsible for the diploma covers make sure
we have enough security. We will start site visit soon,
and so we'll actually take the principles and that grad
reps to the sites where they'll be graduating to start
a site visit so they'll know what it looks like
(05:36):
and what to expect during graduation. So and then when
that part is over, in the afternoons and in the evenings,
I'm going to games. I randomly select games to go to.
That was just the morning, that was just yeah, the day,
and so around four four thirty, I leave my office
and I'm going to a game. And I just randomly
go to schools and sometimes I might hit two schools
(05:56):
one day, depending on what's happening. I try to make
sure I just show up at every school. Nobody knows
when I'm coming. I just kind of show up and
staying in the corner, so some people don't even see
me there and some people do. But I make sure
that at least at least three days a week that
I'm going somewhere for a school in the afternoon, going
to the game, and I try to hit all sports
(06:17):
I want to go, like to spring sports now, so
I need to go to a soccer game. I need
to go to the track meet. I need to go
to softball, baseball, and tennis at some point through the
spring season. And that's difficult in the spring because I'm
really heavy in planning graduations right now. And then I
go home and I relax, and then I put my
(06:38):
dad to bed. We gotta I do the morning routine
and then the night routine with my dad, and I
have a nurse and my oldest son at home. They
helped me during the day, you know, for the lunch
and all that, and so that's the day in life
for me. And I do have a son that's in
college playing football, So on the weekends, you know, I'm
traveling whenever football season is in watch my son play foot.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I'm tired just listening to that. That is amazing, you know.
And one thing we talk about on this podcast a
lot is you know, I know, balance is not a
great word for it, you know, work and home, and
I don't know if I've ever talked to someone that
has as much on their plate as you do. So
when you talk about you talked about your faith, you
(07:21):
talked about you know, you're right to work as a meditation.
You talked about relaxing at night. What do you do
when you have time for yourself and can you turn
off being athletic director of CMS and get some time
to yourself.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Absolutely, I'm learning to do that much better now, so
that is very intentional. I'm intentional about going to get
a massage. I have a membership at Massage GMB, so
at least once a month, but sometimes twice a month,
I'm going to get a massage. I like to go
get my nails done. I like to go get my
toes done. I'd make sure I check in on my
immediate family because I turn my phones off when I'm
(07:56):
doing my me time, right, so I check my immediate
family as saying hey, everybody good, because I'm getady to
turn my phones off for the next two to three hours.
And even when I go home, I try not to
look at my emails after seven pm or eightpm because
I'm prone to kind of answer that. So now I
shut it down from work after seven pm. Now I
do keep my work cell phone on just in case
(08:17):
there's an emergency at a game and an athletic director
needs to get in contact with me, but that's few
and far between that doesn't happen often, but the phone
is still on, but I intentionally do not check my
emails after seven pm, and so I kind of turn
it off. And then when I'm with my children or
i'm going, I'm making a point to go, you know,
spend time with each of my children. But the boys,
(08:38):
the men, I'm say men one is twenty four and
one's eighteen. And so I recently the last two days
this past week, I went back to my college where
I played basketball to to support them when they played
in the w N I T so that I went
to North Carolina A and T and so I played
basketball there and so that's that's a that's my mee time.
(08:59):
Yeah right. And so I'm a very I'm very much
an introvert, and so I can kind of sit at home.
I gotta I like to do jigsaw puzzles, and so
my release is to sit down and do jigsaw puzzles.
And when I finished them, I glew them together and
put frames around them and hang them up in my
house as part.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
You and I are very similar in the ways in
which we like to relax, like the massages, the puzzles.
I'm a big Crossford puzzle person too, So maybe check
those out at some point if you're absolutely all puzzles.
You mentioned playing basketball at A and T. I want
to ask you about your your path to get to
(09:37):
this role.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Okay, So I played sports as a young lady. As
a young child, I actually started out in cheerleading, cheerleading
and softball when I was five years old. I started
those sports, but I kind of evolved into a better
basketball player, and I also ran track. Upon leaving high school,
I actually started my career at Chapel Hill in North
(09:59):
Carolina and T. Chapel Hill I had a full basketball
scholarship and I played there for two years, and then
I transferred to North Carolina A and T. And my
major was physical education. So I have a bachelor's and
a master's in physical education and probably graduating from college.
At A and T, I became a physical education teacher
and a coach, and so I coached basketball. But when
(10:20):
you're a physical education teacher back in the day, when
principal say you got to coach the sport, you had
to coach whatever sport they told you coach, And so
I did coach basketball. I coached. I was an assistant
coach of volleyball. I was an assistant coach of softball.
I did a stint to help out with a soccer
team until they found a coach, and I'm so glad
(10:40):
that they heard it, because those spots babies were suffering
with me out there. And I also did a stint.
I did a year at football. I coached the wide
receivers on the football team at Parkland High School when
I taught at Parkland High School, and so it was
just a natural progression from teaching and coaching. And then
my first admin job was an assistant principal and an
(11:01):
athletic director of a high school. And that's when I
came into the athletic director space and I loved it.
I left there and went to Alamance County and I
became the first director of athletics for Alamance County system
at that time. And then there were some things going
on with my mom and I needed to move back home,
and so I went straight to the administration to get
(11:21):
back home, and I worked in Idell's Fates for Schools
as an assistant principal and a principal, and then I
made my way back to our Charlotte Mecklenburg schools because
I did teach at Charlotte make at one point, and
I was the principal at Rocky River High School for
five years and then this position came available and now
here I am as the director of athletics. So I've
been a teacher, coach, athletic director, assistant principal, principal, and
(11:44):
now executive director of athletics. So that's kind of my
career path.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
And we are going to I want to ask you.
I have so many questions. I want to ask you
a lot about that path. But first, because I work
for a football team, I have to specifically ask you
about a wide receivers coach. Tell me more about that.
How was that transition with your I mean, as you said,
you coached a lot of different sports, but with your
background being in basketball, how did you find coaching football?
Speaker 1 (12:11):
So I enjoyed it, but it wasn't something that I
sought out. It found me, and so I when I
was at Parkland High School. Unfortunately, my oldest son is
a twin, and so unfortunately his twin passed away at
five months old, and I was teaching and coaching at
Parkland High School. And so now years later I found
out the real reason. But the head football coach came
(12:32):
to me and said, Erica, you know, I like the
way you teach that fast break in basketball, and I
like the way you have discipline in your practice and
you discipline your kids. He said, I need a wide
receiver coach, and I need you to come and be
my wide out coach. And I said, coaching you sure,
I've never played football in my life. He said, if
you can coach the fast break, then you can coach
wide receivers. You just need to learn the routes and
(12:54):
the tree, the wide receiver tree. And I said, okay, well,
I need to come back there and practice there because
I can't go in front of those boys without knowing
what I'm talking about. So I essentially spent the whole
summer with the offensive coordinator in the quarterback running those routes,
learning the routes myself right running the drills that a
wide receiver coach would run, and throwing the football, throwing
(13:17):
the I had some people come out and work with
me and I was the quarterback and they ran the
routes and I would throw the football. So when the
kids really came out there, they really thought that I
had played some football, but I was prepared, you know,
because I didn't want to go. If you asked me
to do something, I'm going to give you on under
the ten percent. I don't know how to go halfway.
And that's part of being in sports, right And so
(13:37):
I'm competitive and I don't like the loose and so
I wanted to get it right. And so I practiced
that whole summer before them babies came out there, because
I was not going to make a fool of myself,
and so I was ready. And so some of the
kids was like, miss Turning, did you coach Turner? Did
you play football? No? And at that time there was
a semi pro women's league in Greensboro, So so a
(13:59):
lot of kids start I played. I said, absolutely not.
I just know what the wild receivers is supposed to
be doing. And the fun part was we had a
no huddle offense, and so during the JV nights, I
got to call the plays even though I had the
headphones on and the coach, the varsity coach was up
in the stands calling the plays, or the JV coach
was down there with me telling me what to call.
And so I was out there patting my head, hitting
(14:20):
my nose. I was calling the signals. So so I
was signaling the quarterback on what the play was. And
so a lot of people thought I was really calling
the plays, but I really wasn't. Somebody else was calling
the place from somewhere else and I was just doing
the signals, and so it was. It was a whole
lot of fun. A lot of young ladies would come
and ask me for my autograph. And you know, I'm
the type of I'm a look, I'm different, and I'm
(14:41):
okay being different. I love to do things to set
myself apart. And that's the interesting conversation. Any time I
apply for a job, people want to talk about that.
They want to talk about when you coach football, and
and it really saved my life. I will tell you
that I was struggling. I was grieving the loss of
my son, and so so later on years down the road,
(15:01):
the head coach said that was one of the reasons
why we wanted you out there one because we knew
you was He said, you were a great coach that
had you know, it's bigger than Ex's and others. But
you know, him and his wife have gone through something similar.
So there were some coaches at the school that had
gone through something similar that I have gone through. So
they wanted to make sure that they took care of
me and kept an hour on me, kept me grounded,
(15:24):
and kept me engaged. And so coaching football kind of
saved my life. And the boys really respected me as
as a football coach. They didn't say, oh, she's a lady.
You know. When I said it's time to go, it's
time to go and so and the kids kind of
respected that. And so it was so much fun. And
we want to state championship, and so I got a ring.
(15:44):
We beat Shelby Crest in the state championship, and so
it was so much fun. I loved it. I enjoyed
it so much.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
So that's amazing. And to think that that's just one
small part of all of these teams and jobs that
you've been a part of. I'm sure you've got stories
like that for days with all different teams. But something
you said really resonated with me. You talked about losing
your son and how this saved your life, and I
imagine it's a big part of your work now about
(16:10):
the importance of whether it's playing sports for kids or
coaching what can sports do for kids?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So I just did a workshop at our state Athletic
Director's conference about how we can kind of create leaders
from sports. I think a lot of times people think
sports is just about participating on the court or on
the field. But I don't know if you saw the
during the the NFL the Super Bowl where they had
a young man that was doing the commentating or he
(16:42):
was a sport like a sports journalist because he had
a health condition as a baby, he couldn't play football,
but he loves football, and so he was able to
still be around the sport that he loved in a difficulty.
Everybody doesn't have to be on the field or on
the court to play, to be involved in sports, or
to love sports. And I think you know, with this
platform that I have, it's important that we use sports
(17:04):
as a vehicle. It's not a means to an end,
but it's a vehicle to create more opportunities and different
opportunities for our student athletes, for our kids. It ain't
always about being on the field. Some of these folks
will be presidents of NFL teams or NBA teams and
not ever play. Some of them may be athletic trainers,
they may be you know, sports information directors or athletic
(17:24):
directors or there's so many different career opportunities from being
a part of a sport sports team that we can
create for our kids. And it's bigger than being on
the field and being on the court. There are so
many different things that you can get out of participating
in sports.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yeah, I'll raise my hand. I was never good at sports,
but i'm sports journalists.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
You know.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Just getting to be around the sports and many different
sports has been obviously life changing for me. I wouldn't
be sitting here talking to you if not. What about
specifically for young women. You've done a lot of coaching,
you're obviously athletic director of CMS, you played yourself. What
do sports do for young women?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
It gives them self confidence, builds their self esteem, shows
them how to like set goals. It is some discipline.
It creates discipline in your life, so you're disciplined to
get up and work out and to eat right and
to do things. It creates lifelong healthy habits, but also
(18:29):
helps them with leadership development. So since I've been in
this role, I've had actually I had a couple of
young ladies reach out to me, and one specifically from
a high school and said, I want to shadow you
because I want to go into sports management, right, And
so I'm intentional about reaching and bringing those babies along
because somebody had to help me. And I think as women,
(18:50):
we need to, you know, be intentional. I'm reading a
book called on the Arena by Katrina Adams, and Katrina
Adams used to be the president of the United States
Tennis Association, and then she talks about being the only
black female, being the youngest or the only woman at
the table sometimes. But in chapter eleven, she talks about
being intentional about reaching behind and being a model, being
(19:11):
a role model for young ladies that look like you
that want to be in this field because it's a
male dominated field, right, and so you have to create
those opportunities. And so I try to be intentional about
creating opportunities for those young ladies who want to be apart.
So we just kind of did a walk with the
high school Athletic Association the other day because we possibly
might get the host state championship soccer. And I emailed
(19:34):
the young lady, I said, this is an opportunity for
you man, she beat me out there. She's like, you know,
and so just being intentional about creating those opportunities. I
think it's great for women in sports, for young ladies
to be apart because it's not always again being on
the field or being on the court. You know, there's
so many different opportunities. But I think those of us
(19:55):
who have a platform, we need to make sure that
we use that platform to create those opportunities for young
ladies as they're coming up, because we didn't always have
these opportunities, and so we need to take advantage of that.
And so I'm very intentional about that. I have nieces
that play sports, and so I'm intentional about creating those
opportunities for them as well, because somebody had to do
(20:16):
it for me. So somebody above or you know, the
trailblazers before me, created those opportunities and we can't take
that life. And so I'm very intentional about creating so
that we have girls flag football, which has been amazing
thanks to the Carolina Panthers. So we're in our third
year and we have twenty sixteen. So with twenty sixteens,
(20:37):
we only have twenty high schools right now, So that
means some teams got two teams. We had enough kids
that wanted to participate in girls' flag and it's so
much fun to watch them, and it's bigger than the
actual sports, right, And so I can't explain it. You
just got to come and witness it.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I have seen it. That was actually, you know you
talking about creating opportunities and being intentional. I know that
you have done that work with the Panthers or something.
I was going to ask you about for high school
girls flag football, and I was reading an article about
it and I saw a young women say, just I
love being around it because I can see that it's possible. Right, Like,
(21:15):
we as young women need to see that this is
something that can be achieved. And as you said, you know,
people did it for us, so we have to be
intentional about looking behind us and bringing those people with us.
Tell me about the work to get flag football sanctioned.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Wow, that's interesting. So the first two years we couldn't
get any other counties to kind of bite on, right,
and you know, they was they had questions, they had concerns.
Is it going to tear up the field? Is it
going to hurt other sports? You know, are we taken
away from other sports in order to do this? And
you know, there was the questions how much is it
going to cost? And I said, well, the Panthers isn't
(21:52):
going to First of all, you have to get it started,
but it's fairly cheap. So when you started, when you
start answering those questions for him and taking away the excuses.
So now now in the third year, we have more
counties on board, so Cabara's County, Union County, I think
Mores when in Kannapolis did a small league. We got
Wilmington coming up in Durham is getting ready to start
a lead. Different counties on board, so we got more
(22:14):
counties on board. So I think we're headed in the
right direction because you got to have a certain number
of schools in order to get ex sanction in the
state of North Carolina. There has to be a presentation
to the Board of Directors, and so the board of
Directors is made up of superintendent's principles, coaches and athletic
directors and they have to approve it. But I think
we're moving in the right direction to get ex sanction
(22:36):
because it has been exciting. People are excited about it.
People wanted, the parents want it, the kids want it,
and so I think we're close to getting extanction here
in North Carolina. That is our overall goal.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
We're going to keep our fingers crossed. As you said,
you know, everyone in the Panthers organization enjoys it. We
featured it a couple of times on our TV show.
I've gotten to see it in person and it's just amazing.
And what you have done to get it to where
it is over the last three years is amazing. So
thank you for all you're doing with that. I want
(23:09):
to ask you about you know, we talked about all
the different things that you have going on. What would
you say are specifically the biggest challenges that come with
your role.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
The biggest challenge is all the moving parts, you know, athletics,
the health and pe and graduations and making sure that
I'm available in supporting everybody, right, So the biggest challenge
for me is just trying to make sure all those
moving parts and that we are affected. I want to
be effective, right, I don't want to get caught up
and just doing task that I forget about people, and
(23:42):
so making those sacrifices and making sure I'm at a game,
and everybody was like, well do you sleep?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
I'm like, oh, absolutely, say I have that question too.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
And so I think that's that's the challenge for me,
is making sure I touch everybody because I don't want
anybody to fall through the cracks, right, I need every
to be I want to add value to everybody that
I come in contact with. But at the same time,
I can't add value if I'm not taking care of myself, right,
And so I think that's the challenge for me because
we have minimal personnel. But I don't want to use
(24:13):
that as an excuse. Okay, I'm not one to come
up with an excuse. And so really, when I go
to the games, I don't have to stay the hole, right,
And so sometimes I go for a quarter or a
half and then I leave because I know I got
to get home and take care of my dad and
make sure he's okay at at night, give him his medication,
and get him in the bed. But I still signed
(24:34):
up for this. I knew what it entailed. And you
have to make sure that you're intentional about supporting people.
And I want people know that I'm accessible, right, I
want I want to be visible. I want to be present.
I want the parents to know that I do care
about your kids. I'm a parent too, So my older
my baby, my younger son is eighteen. He plays football,
but he plays with a heart condition, and so he
(24:56):
was born with that heart condition and growing up and
coming through the high school, we had to get approval
from three different doctors in order for him to play.
My son that died died in daycare. So he died
in somebody else's care. So I don't take that lightly.
As an athletic director that we have, I have thousands
of other people's children under my care, and every decision
(25:18):
I make could impact me and so I don't get
lost on that. And so I want the parents to
know I understand. I know you don't always agree with
my leadership decisions, and that's okay, but I'm here for
let's talk about it, because I want to make sure
that I'm making the best decision for the kids first.
That's what I'm about for the kids first, and everybody
that knows me know that that's what I'm about. And
(25:39):
so it doesn't matter whether you like my decision. So
but that's that's the challenge. Because people want to win.
Parents want their kids to get scholarships. Everybody's kids going
D one. They're gonna go play Division one, and reality
that's not gonna happen. And so I have to have
those real tough conversations with parents, coaches, with athletic directors.
(26:00):
But I'm here for That's what I signed up for,
and so I don't shy away from that. So I
have to make myself available because I'm a parent too,
and I understand. And so the challenge for me is
I'm learning better now to find that balance because sometimes
I just say, you know what, No, I'm not doing that. Today,
I'm going home early and I'm gonna go to bed early.
And so I'm learning to do that. But at least
(26:21):
three days a week, I try to make sure i'm
at a school, and even this weekend. We have a
student Athlete Advisory Council. And I created that council when
I first started three years ago, and so we I
do have help. I have an adult who oversees that
council now. But they wanted to have a They had
a meeting Saturday in my office and they wanted me there.
So I made it myself available to them on that Saturday.
(26:43):
Right if they asked me to be there. If the
kids asked me to be there, I'm gonna show up. Wow,
you know. And so it's important that we show up
in that space for our kids because that's what it's about.
It's not really about the wins and losses. If we win,
that's all it's good. But that's about creating those opportunities
and some of the things that these students have been
able to accomplish. Right now, they're planning the student gala
(27:04):
that we had at the Panthers then last year it
was beautiful, but we've outgrown your space and so we
have this amazing and so we're expecting about four hundred,
almost five hundred people to show up this year for
the gala. But it's all planned by the students. Wow.
I'm just in the background. The adults are in the background,
(27:25):
and they have an adult leader, Miss Tamrasaddlefield, who's also
a counselor at Julius L. Chambers, who oversees that group
and really works for them more than I do. I
just had the vision and they've made it work, and
I'm so proud of them and the work that they're
doing behind the scenes. And when when people see it.
I get to tell them, listen, all I got to
do is dress up and come and eat. I didn't
(27:46):
really do anything. The kids are planning all of that,
and that's what it's about because they're so proud about
the work that they're doing. And these kids are juggling academics,
they're jruggling playing a sport and leadership opportunities for these babies.
So when they go off to college, some of them
don't even want to play those sport in college, but
it's creating leadership opportunities for them at this point, and
(28:09):
that's what it's all about.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Well, Erica, getting to know you over this conversation. I
love that we turn the question of what are the
biggest challenges into you ended it with these are the
things that make me happiest, which just seems so indicative
of your personality. But what else are your favorite parts
of this job being able?
Speaker 1 (28:27):
So now you know when I first started, I was like,
it's all about the kids. It's all about the kids.
I don't like big people, I don't like the adults.
I'm doing it for the kids, right, But as I
continue to evolve, my wide continues to evolve, right, So
now being in this space, it's important because I'm the
as a district athletic director. I'm one of five in
the state of mind Okay women that is, as a
(28:51):
district athletic director. I'm the only African American woman as
a district athletic director in the state of Miscom. So
for me, representation matters. So now it's not just about
the kids. It's about being a role model for women
who look like me, women who might want to get
into this space, and creating that opportunity and being when
(29:14):
people random people reach out to me and say, you know, misturned,
I'm watching you from afar. I'm inspired and knowing knowing
and not knowing that I'm actually inspiring people every day
and so it keeps me humble but also understand the
importance of the work that I keep, that I have
to do, and it keeps me going every day. This
is what I'm twenty four years in the game, and
(29:34):
I'm not tired. I love coming to work every day.
When you talk to educators, now, oh I'm ready to
get out time to time, but I actually love coming
to work every day because it's something different, it's something new.
It comes along with his challenges, But who does not
go through adversity. Everybody goes through adversity. That's one of
the positives of being involved in sports. It teaches you
how to handle pressure. It teaches you how to handle
(29:56):
that adversity with grace. And so that's what I've learned
to do. But I actually it's not a job of me.
This is kind of my ministry. I love doing it
and so now it's about being impactful for adults too,
not just the kids. Right, So I get the coach coaches,
I get the coach athletic directors, I get the coach
principles in this role, and that's what I love. I
love to motivate and inspire people. That's what I'm about
(30:18):
in my other life. I'm also an associate minister. So
I love it. I just love what I do. And
you say, that's what.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
You tell that you can tell that, you know, you
can tell when someone has a calling to something versus
just a job, and that is absolutely what you have.
And you talk about being an inspiration. If you're an
inspiration to me, I feel lucky that I've gotten to
talk to you. You're going to be an inspiration to
the people that are listening to this podcast in addition
to all the people whose lives you affect on a
daily basis. And so as we finished, I just as
(30:48):
I said, You've been so inspiring in this conversation that
I just want to know what advice would you have?
You know, you said there's a lot of young people,
young women that reach out to you and say, so
someone emailed you right now and said, I want to
get to where you are, or I want to play
professional basketball or whatever it is, whatever these big dreams are,
(31:10):
what advice do you have? Or a young woman who says, ericup,
mis Turner, how can I get to that next level?
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Right? Be intentional about reaching out doing that part, but
also putting yourself in the position that you want to
be in. So I got a little testimony to that
I'll share. I know I'm about four or five years
from retirement. I know I don't really want to let
go of this space. So I have been intentional about
reaching out to women who look like me in the
pro space and in the college space, because I might
(31:42):
want to do that after I retire from public education.
So I'm intentional about reaching out to them saying, hey,
can you be my room Can you be my inspiration?
Can you be my mentor? And so even twenty four
years in, I'm still reaching out for people to be
my mentor. But I'm being intentional about putting myself in
positions to do what I want to do next. And
so you have to make you have to be intentional,
(32:04):
you have to do the led work. You have to
be ready when the times when the time comes. My
birthday is August to twenty eight, So on the twenty
eighth of every month, I update my resume with stuff
because I'm ready when the next opportunity comes, I'm gonna
be ready. And it may be four or five years
down the road, but you got to start now. You
gotta start. You set your goal and you got to
(32:25):
start now. You gotta work every day. I do something
every day that work towards my goal. So I spend
at least fifteen minutes a day on doing what I
need to do for me. So that means I'm working
on my doctorate. So I'm gonna work on my dissertation
fifteen minutes a day. I started my own executive coach
and the leadership development business. I'm gonna do something for
my business fifteen minutes. I'm gonna take fifteen to thirty
(32:48):
minutes a day to do something for my goal that
I have in the future, if that makes any sense.
So I'm intentional about that. Even when I'm tired and
I just want to go to bed, I got to
stop and make sure that's been fifteen minutes on my
future for me, And so you have to be intentional
about doing that, even when you're tired, when you don't
feel like it, you do it anyway.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I just want to thank you so much for giving
me and the listeners this time. I know I can't
even imagine how busy you are just listening to some
of the things that are going on. You are such
an inspiration. It's been an honor to talk to you,
so thank you so much for sharing the lessons from
your career path and how you continue to evolve. I
(33:30):
can't imagine that anyone who listens to this will not
be affected in a positive light just from hearing your story.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
And I'm definitely gonna so much.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Yes, thank you. I can't wait to implement that fifteen
minute rule, among many other things that you said. So Erica,
thank you so so much for the time.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Thank you and I thank you for the invitation,
Everybody doesn't have to be on the field or on
the court to play, to be involved in sports, or
to love sports. And I think it's important that we
use sports as a vehicle. It's not a means to
an end, but it's a vehicle to create more opportunities
and different opportunities for our student athletes.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Welcome to a brand new episode of the Inspired podcast,
presented by a Trim Health. This is a podcast series
for Panthers fans where we highlight admirable women from across
the Carolinas as they share stories and lessons from their
lives and careers. And today my guest is Erica Turner,
athletic director of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. Erica, thank you so
(00:41):
much for being here with me.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Thank you for the invitation. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I am excited to talk to you. I have a
thousand questions. Okay, First, first of all, this sounds like
a huge job to me. Like, I think about just
driving through Mecklenburg County. How long that takes? So can
you tell me what exactly does being athletic director of
CMS entail?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Okay, So, in Charlotte Mecklinbrig schools. We have twenty high
schools and we have twenty we will have twenty one
next year, and forty six middle schools, and so we
oversee the athletic programs for all middle schools and high schools.
We also oversee the curriculum peaks for the health and
pe curriculum throughout the district, and we oversee all high
(01:27):
school graduations. And so we're currently planning for the end
of the year and planning for all thirty four high
school graduations that we have coming up.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Oh my gosh, And can I just ask, I'm sure
this changes on any given day, but can you walk
me through what a day in your life looks like,
Let's say, at the busiest time of the school year,
because I imagine you're dealing with stuff from every different corner.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And so, well, first, my day starts off with morning devotional,
you know, because I can't do this work without my
favor and because it's a lot of work, and so
I start every day offer the morning devotion on prayer.
I'm also taking care of my dad. I'm the caregiver
for my eighty one year old father, and so I
have to get him up before I start, you know,
before I come to work and get him settled for
(02:14):
his in home nurse to come in feed him breakfast,
and then I get on the road and I drive
an hour to Charlotte because I don't live in Charlotte.
I live in Katawa County, and so that's a meditation
time too with my ride in. So as soon as
I get to my office, the first thing I do
is check and respond to all emails. My goal is
to respond to emails within twenty four hours, and so
(02:35):
that could take a while. And then I have a
to do list. I start on Monday with my to
do list and there's two columns. This is do it
now or do it later. So I prioritize what needs
to be done now. So like tomorrow, I know that
I'm going to the school to support a principal and
it's just the principal with some athletic issues that they
may be having in the athletic director. And so some
(02:57):
mornings is spent at a school, depending on the needs
of the school and the athletic director that they need
to support with parent meetings or you know, parents upset
about certain things. And so I try to make sure
that I'm available to the principal with the athletic directors
whoever need me, then I'll support them. And sometimes I
have parents who come down to my office who want
to talk to me about something that they're upset about,
(03:21):
and then I go through my to do list. I'm
a checklist person because I need to make sure I
get things done because we have minimal staff in this office.
So I am the executive director. I have one director
up under me. I have our senior administrator secretary who
works with us in our office, and so it's just
us three that handles all of athletics throughout the district.
(03:44):
But then i'd have three physical education specialists and resource
teachers that help do the programming for physical education throughout
the day. So they go support physical education teachers throughout
the day. And then you know, sometimes I spend my day,
you know, celebrating kids. So I've been personally invited to
a signing day tomorrow over at Myers Park. So I'm
(04:05):
going to go to this young Lady signing day because
I was personally invited. North Mecklenburg men's basketball team just
won the state championship and so there's a celebration for
them on Wednesday in the middle of the day, so
I'll go to that. Just for this past Friday, the
students at Butler High School did a Make a Wish
Foundation celebration where they raised ten thousand dollars for a
(04:28):
young person who is, you know, struggling with a health issue,
and they raised ten thousand dollars. And they always do
a Make a Wish Foundation celebration and so if they
personally invite me, I'm gonna make it a point to go.
And so so that's what my day looks like. Sometimes
I'm going to school to support during the day and
then I come back. Like right now, we're working on
(04:51):
the minor details for graduation, so like contracts for the
different venues that we use. Typically we use five different venues.
Of course, the Spectrum Center not available this year because
it's under renovation, so we had to make some changes
for a couple of our graduations. You know, we have
to work through contracts for the live stream, and so
I'm signing contracts, going through legal first to make sure
the contracts are in order. Then I have to sign
(05:14):
all those contracts and we order flowers. We do a
hospitality room. We have to make sure the plomas in order.
Each school is responsible for the diploma covers make sure
we have enough security. We will start site visit soon,
and so we'll actually take the principles and that grad
reps to the sites where they'll be graduating to start
a site visit so they'll know what it looks like
(05:36):
and what to expect during graduation. So and then when
that part is over, in the afternoons and in the evenings,
I'm going to games. I randomly select games to go to.
That was just the morning, that was just yeah, the day,
and so around four four thirty, I leave my office
and I'm going to a game. And I just randomly
go to schools and sometimes I might hit two schools
(05:56):
one day, depending on what's happening. I try to make
sure I just show up at every school. Nobody knows
when I'm coming. I just kind of show up and
staying in the corner, so some people don't even see
me there and some people do. But I make sure
that at least at least three days a week that
I'm going somewhere for a school in the afternoon, going
to the game, and I try to hit all sports
(06:17):
I want to go, like to spring sports now, so
I need to go to a soccer game. I need
to go to the track meet. I need to go
to softball, baseball, and tennis at some point through the
spring season. And that's difficult in the spring because I'm
really heavy in planning graduations right now. And then I
go home and I relax, and then I put my
(06:38):
dad to bed. We gotta I do the morning routine
and then the night routine with my dad, and I
have a nurse and my oldest son at home. They
helped me during the day, you know, for the lunch
and all that, and so that's the day in life
for me. And I do have a son that's in
college playing football, So on the weekends, you know, I'm
traveling whenever football season is in watch my son play foot.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I'm tired just listening to that. That is amazing, you know.
And one thing we talk about on this podcast a
lot is you know, I know, balance is not a
great word for it, you know, work and home, and
I don't know if I've ever talked to someone that
has as much on their plate as you do. So
when you talk about you talked about your faith, you
(07:21):
talked about you know, you're right to work as a meditation.
You talked about relaxing at night. What do you do
when you have time for yourself and can you turn
off being athletic director of CMS and get some time
to yourself.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Absolutely, I'm learning to do that much better now, so
that is very intentional. I'm intentional about going to get
a massage. I have a membership at Massage GMB, so
at least once a month, but sometimes twice a month,
I'm going to get a massage. I like to go
get my nails done. I like to go get my
toes done. I'd make sure I check in on my
immediate family because I turn my phones off when I'm
(07:56):
doing my me time, right, so I check my immediate
family as saying hey, everybody good, because I'm getady to
turn my phones off for the next two to three hours.
And even when I go home, I try not to
look at my emails after seven pm or eightpm because
I'm prone to kind of answer that. So now I
shut it down from work after seven pm. Now I
do keep my work cell phone on just in case
(08:17):
there's an emergency at a game and an athletic director
needs to get in contact with me, but that's few
and far between that doesn't happen often, but the phone
is still on, but I intentionally do not check my
emails after seven pm, and so I kind of turn
it off. And then when I'm with my children or
i'm going, I'm making a point to go, you know,
spend time with each of my children. But the boys,
(08:38):
the men, I'm say men one is twenty four and
one's eighteen. And so I recently the last two days
this past week, I went back to my college where
I played basketball to to support them when they played
in the w N I T so that I went
to North Carolina A and T and so I played
basketball there and so that's that's a that's my mee time.
(08:59):
Yeah right. And so I'm a very I'm very much
an introvert, and so I can kind of sit at home.
I gotta I like to do jigsaw puzzles, and so
my release is to sit down and do jigsaw puzzles.
And when I finished them, I glew them together and
put frames around them and hang them up in my
house as part.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
You and I are very similar in the ways in
which we like to relax, like the massages, the puzzles.
I'm a big Crossford puzzle person too, So maybe check
those out at some point if you're absolutely all puzzles.
You mentioned playing basketball at A and T. I want
to ask you about your your path to get to
(09:37):
this role.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Okay, So I played sports as a young lady. As
a young child, I actually started out in cheerleading, cheerleading
and softball when I was five years old. I started
those sports, but I kind of evolved into a better
basketball player, and I also ran track. Upon leaving high school,
I actually started my career at Chapel Hill in North
(09:59):
Carolina and T. Chapel Hill I had a full basketball
scholarship and I played there for two years, and then
I transferred to North Carolina A and T. And my
major was physical education. So I have a bachelor's and
a master's in physical education and probably graduating from college.
At A and T, I became a physical education teacher
and a coach, and so I coached basketball. But when
(10:20):
you're a physical education teacher back in the day, when
principal say you got to coach the sport, you had
to coach whatever sport they told you coach, And so
I did coach basketball. I coached. I was an assistant
coach of volleyball. I was an assistant coach of softball.
I did a stint to help out with a soccer
team until they found a coach, and I'm so glad
(10:40):
that they heard it, because those spots babies were suffering
with me out there. And I also did a stint.
I did a year at football. I coached the wide
receivers on the football team at Parkland High School when
I taught at Parkland High School, and so it was
just a natural progression from teaching and coaching. And then
my first admin job was an assistant principal and an
(11:01):
athletic director of a high school. And that's when I
came into the athletic director space and I loved it.
I left there and went to Alamance County and I
became the first director of athletics for Alamance County system
at that time. And then there were some things going
on with my mom and I needed to move back home,
and so I went straight to the administration to get
(11:21):
back home, and I worked in Idell's Fates for Schools
as an assistant principal and a principal, and then I
made my way back to our Charlotte Mecklenburg schools because
I did teach at Charlotte make at one point, and
I was the principal at Rocky River High School for
five years and then this position came available and now
here I am as the director of athletics. So I've
been a teacher, coach, athletic director, assistant principal, principal, and
(11:44):
now executive director of athletics. So that's kind of my
career path.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
And we are going to I want to ask you.
I have so many questions. I want to ask you
a lot about that path. But first, because I work
for a football team, I have to specifically ask you
about a wide receivers coach. Tell me more about that.
How was that transition with your I mean, as you said,
you coached a lot of different sports, but with your
background being in basketball, how did you find coaching football?
Speaker 1 (12:11):
So I enjoyed it, but it wasn't something that I
sought out. It found me, and so I when I
was at Parkland High School. Unfortunately, my oldest son is
a twin, and so unfortunately his twin passed away at
five months old, and I was teaching and coaching at
Parkland High School. And so now years later I found
out the real reason. But the head football coach came
(12:32):
to me and said, Erica, you know, I like the
way you teach that fast break in basketball, and I
like the way you have discipline in your practice and
you discipline your kids. He said, I need a wide
receiver coach, and I need you to come and be
my wide out coach. And I said, coaching you sure,
I've never played football in my life. He said, if
you can coach the fast break, then you can coach
wide receivers. You just need to learn the routes and
(12:54):
the tree, the wide receiver tree. And I said, okay, well,
I need to come back there and practice there because
I can't go in front of those boys without knowing
what I'm talking about. So I essentially spent the whole
summer with the offensive coordinator in the quarterback running those routes,
learning the routes myself right running the drills that a
wide receiver coach would run, and throwing the football, throwing
(13:17):
the I had some people come out and work with
me and I was the quarterback and they ran the
routes and I would throw the football. So when the
kids really came out there, they really thought that I
had played some football, but I was prepared, you know,
because I didn't want to go. If you asked me
to do something, I'm going to give you on under
the ten percent. I don't know how to go halfway.
And that's part of being in sports, right And so
(13:37):
I'm competitive and I don't like the loose and so
I wanted to get it right. And so I practiced
that whole summer before them babies came out there, because
I was not going to make a fool of myself,
and so I was ready. And so some of the
kids was like, miss Turning, did you coach Turner? Did
you play football? No? And at that time there was
a semi pro women's league in Greensboro, So so a
(13:59):
lot of kids start I played. I said, absolutely not.
I just know what the wild receivers is supposed to
be doing. And the fun part was we had a
no huddle offense, and so during the JV nights, I
got to call the plays even though I had the
headphones on and the coach, the varsity coach was up
in the stands calling the plays, or the JV coach
was down there with me telling me what to call.
And so I was out there patting my head, hitting
(14:20):
my nose. I was calling the signals. So so I
was signaling the quarterback on what the play was. And
so a lot of people thought I was really calling
the plays, but I really wasn't. Somebody else was calling
the place from somewhere else and I was just doing
the signals, and so it was. It was a whole
lot of fun. A lot of young ladies would come
and ask me for my autograph. And you know, I'm
the type of I'm a look, I'm different, and I'm
(14:41):
okay being different. I love to do things to set
myself apart. And that's the interesting conversation. Any time I
apply for a job, people want to talk about that.
They want to talk about when you coach football, and
and it really saved my life. I will tell you
that I was struggling. I was grieving the loss of
my son, and so so later on years down the road,
(15:01):
the head coach said that was one of the reasons
why we wanted you out there one because we knew
you was He said, you were a great coach that
had you know, it's bigger than Ex's and others. But
you know, him and his wife have gone through something similar.
So there were some coaches at the school that had
gone through something similar that I have gone through. So
they wanted to make sure that they took care of
me and kept an hour on me, kept me grounded,
(15:24):
and kept me engaged. And so coaching football kind of
saved my life. And the boys really respected me as
as a football coach. They didn't say, oh, she's a lady.
You know. When I said it's time to go, it's
time to go and so and the kids kind of
respected that. And so it was so much fun. And
we want to state championship, and so I got a ring.
(15:44):
We beat Shelby Crest in the state championship, and so
it was so much fun. I loved it. I enjoyed
it so much.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
So that's amazing. And to think that that's just one
small part of all of these teams and jobs that
you've been a part of. I'm sure you've got stories
like that for days with all different teams. But something
you said really resonated with me. You talked about losing
your son and how this saved your life, and I
imagine it's a big part of your work now about
(16:10):
the importance of whether it's playing sports for kids or
coaching what can sports do for kids?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So I just did a workshop at our state Athletic
Director's conference about how we can kind of create leaders
from sports. I think a lot of times people think
sports is just about participating on the court or on
the field. But I don't know if you saw the
during the the NFL the Super Bowl where they had
a young man that was doing the commentating or he
(16:42):
was a sport like a sports journalist because he had
a health condition as a baby, he couldn't play football,
but he loves football, and so he was able to
still be around the sport that he loved in a difficulty.
Everybody doesn't have to be on the field or on
the court to play, to be involved in sports, or
to love sports. And I think you know, with this
platform that I have, it's important that we use sports
(17:04):
as a vehicle. It's not a means to an end,
but it's a vehicle to create more opportunities and different
opportunities for our student athletes, for our kids. It ain't
always about being on the field. Some of these folks
will be presidents of NFL teams or NBA teams and
not ever play. Some of them may be athletic trainers,
they may be you know, sports information directors or athletic
(17:24):
directors or there's so many different career opportunities from being
a part of a sport sports team that we can
create for our kids. And it's bigger than being on
the field and being on the court. There are so
many different things that you can get out of participating
in sports.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yeah, I'll raise my hand. I was never good at sports,
but i'm sports journalists.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
You know.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Just getting to be around the sports and many different
sports has been obviously life changing for me. I wouldn't
be sitting here talking to you if not. What about
specifically for young women. You've done a lot of coaching,
you're obviously athletic director of CMS, you played yourself. What
do sports do for young women?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
It gives them self confidence, builds their self esteem, shows
them how to like set goals. It is some discipline.
It creates discipline in your life, so you're disciplined to
get up and work out and to eat right and
to do things. It creates lifelong healthy habits, but also
(18:29):
helps them with leadership development. So since I've been in
this role, I've had actually I had a couple of
young ladies reach out to me, and one specifically from
a high school and said, I want to shadow you
because I want to go into sports management, right, And
so I'm intentional about reaching and bringing those babies along
because somebody had to help me. And I think as women,
(18:50):
we need to, you know, be intentional. I'm reading a
book called on the Arena by Katrina Adams, and Katrina
Adams used to be the president of the United States
Tennis Association, and then she talks about being the only
black female, being the youngest or the only woman at
the table sometimes. But in chapter eleven, she talks about
being intentional about reaching behind and being a model, being
(19:11):
a role model for young ladies that look like you
that want to be in this field because it's a
male dominated field, right, and so you have to create
those opportunities. And so I try to be intentional about
creating opportunities for those young ladies who want to be apart.
So we just kind of did a walk with the
high school Athletic Association the other day because we possibly
might get the host state championship soccer. And I emailed
(19:34):
the young lady, I said, this is an opportunity for
you man, she beat me out there. She's like, you know,
and so just being intentional about creating those opportunities. I
think it's great for women in sports, for young ladies
to be apart because it's not always again being on
the field or being on the court. You know, there's
so many different opportunities. But I think those of us
(19:55):
who have a platform, we need to make sure that
we use that platform to create those opportunities for young
ladies as they're coming up, because we didn't always have
these opportunities, and so we need to take advantage of that.
And so I'm very intentional about that. I have nieces
that play sports, and so I'm intentional about creating those
opportunities for them as well, because somebody had to do
(20:16):
it for me. So somebody above or you know, the
trailblazers before me, created those opportunities and we can't take
that life. And so I'm very intentional about creating so
that we have girls flag football, which has been amazing
thanks to the Carolina Panthers. So we're in our third
year and we have twenty sixteen. So with twenty sixteens,
(20:37):
we only have twenty high schools right now, So that
means some teams got two teams. We had enough kids
that wanted to participate in girls' flag and it's so
much fun to watch them, and it's bigger than the
actual sports, right, And so I can't explain it. You
just got to come and witness it.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I have seen it. That was actually, you know you
talking about creating opportunities and being intentional. I know that
you have done that work with the Panthers or something.
I was going to ask you about for high school
girls flag football, and I was reading an article about
it and I saw a young women say, just I
love being around it because I can see that it's possible. Right, Like,
(21:15):
we as young women need to see that this is
something that can be achieved. And as you said, you know,
people did it for us, so we have to be
intentional about looking behind us and bringing those people with us.
Tell me about the work to get flag football sanctioned.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Wow, that's interesting. So the first two years we couldn't
get any other counties to kind of bite on, right,
and you know, they was they had questions, they had concerns.
Is it going to tear up the field? Is it
going to hurt other sports? You know, are we taken
away from other sports in order to do this? And
you know, there was the questions how much is it
going to cost? And I said, well, the Panthers isn't
(21:52):
going to First of all, you have to get it started,
but it's fairly cheap. So when you started, when you
start answering those questions for him and taking away the excuses.
So now now in the third year, we have more
counties on board, so Cabara's County, Union County, I think
Mores when in Kannapolis did a small league. We got
Wilmington coming up in Durham is getting ready to start
a lead. Different counties on board, so we got more
(22:14):
counties on board. So I think we're headed in the
right direction because you got to have a certain number
of schools in order to get ex sanction in the
state of North Carolina. There has to be a presentation
to the Board of Directors, and so the board of
Directors is made up of superintendent's principles, coaches and athletic
directors and they have to approve it. But I think
we're moving in the right direction to get ex sanction
(22:36):
because it has been exciting. People are excited about it.
People wanted, the parents want it, the kids want it,
and so I think we're close to getting extanction here
in North Carolina. That is our overall goal.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
We're going to keep our fingers crossed. As you said,
you know, everyone in the Panthers organization enjoys it. We
featured it a couple of times on our TV show.
I've gotten to see it in person and it's just amazing.
And what you have done to get it to where
it is over the last three years is amazing. So
thank you for all you're doing with that. I want
(23:09):
to ask you about you know, we talked about all
the different things that you have going on. What would
you say are specifically the biggest challenges that come with
your role.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
The biggest challenge is all the moving parts, you know, athletics,
the health and pe and graduations and making sure that
I'm available in supporting everybody, right, So the biggest challenge
for me is just trying to make sure all those
moving parts and that we are affected. I want to
be effective, right, I don't want to get caught up
and just doing task that I forget about people, and
(23:42):
so making those sacrifices and making sure I'm at a game,
and everybody was like, well do you sleep?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
I'm like, oh, absolutely, say I have that question too.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
And so I think that's that's the challenge for me,
is making sure I touch everybody because I don't want
anybody to fall through the cracks, right, I need every
to be I want to add value to everybody that
I come in contact with. But at the same time,
I can't add value if I'm not taking care of myself, right,
And so I think that's the challenge for me because
we have minimal personnel. But I don't want to use
(24:13):
that as an excuse. Okay, I'm not one to come
up with an excuse. And so really, when I go
to the games, I don't have to stay the hole, right,
And so sometimes I go for a quarter or a
half and then I leave because I know I got
to get home and take care of my dad and
make sure he's okay at at night, give him his medication,
and get him in the bed. But I still signed
(24:34):
up for this. I knew what it entailed. And you
have to make sure that you're intentional about supporting people.
And I want people know that I'm accessible, right, I
want I want to be visible. I want to be present.
I want the parents to know that I do care
about your kids. I'm a parent too, So my older
my baby, my younger son is eighteen. He plays football,
but he plays with a heart condition, and so he
(24:56):
was born with that heart condition and growing up and
coming through the high school, we had to get approval
from three different doctors in order for him to play.
My son that died died in daycare. So he died
in somebody else's care. So I don't take that lightly.
As an athletic director that we have, I have thousands
of other people's children under my care, and every decision
(25:18):
I make could impact me and so I don't get
lost on that. And so I want the parents to
know I understand. I know you don't always agree with
my leadership decisions, and that's okay, but I'm here for
let's talk about it, because I want to make sure
that I'm making the best decision for the kids first.
That's what I'm about for the kids first, and everybody
that knows me know that that's what I'm about. And
(25:39):
so it doesn't matter whether you like my decision. So
but that's that's the challenge. Because people want to win.
Parents want their kids to get scholarships. Everybody's kids going
D one. They're gonna go play Division one, and reality
that's not gonna happen. And so I have to have
those real tough conversations with parents, coaches, with athletic directors.
(26:00):
But I'm here for That's what I signed up for,
and so I don't shy away from that. So I
have to make myself available because I'm a parent too,
and I understand. And so the challenge for me is
I'm learning better now to find that balance because sometimes
I just say, you know what, No, I'm not doing that. Today,
I'm going home early and I'm gonna go to bed early.
And so I'm learning to do that. But at least
(26:21):
three days a week, I try to make sure i'm
at a school, and even this weekend. We have a
student Athlete Advisory Council. And I created that council when
I first started three years ago, and so we I
do have help. I have an adult who oversees that
council now. But they wanted to have a They had
a meeting Saturday in my office and they wanted me there.
So I made it myself available to them on that Saturday.
(26:43):
Right if they asked me to be there. If the
kids asked me to be there, I'm gonna show up. Wow,
you know. And so it's important that we show up
in that space for our kids because that's what it's about.
It's not really about the wins and losses. If we win,
that's all it's good. But that's about creating those opportunities
and some of the things that these students have been
able to accomplish. Right now, they're planning the student gala
(27:04):
that we had at the Panthers then last year it
was beautiful, but we've outgrown your space and so we
have this amazing and so we're expecting about four hundred,
almost five hundred people to show up this year for
the gala. But it's all planned by the students. Wow.
I'm just in the background. The adults are in the background,
(27:25):
and they have an adult leader, Miss Tamrasaddlefield, who's also
a counselor at Julius L. Chambers, who oversees that group
and really works for them more than I do. I
just had the vision and they've made it work, and
I'm so proud of them and the work that they're
doing behind the scenes. And when when people see it.
I get to tell them, listen, all I got to
do is dress up and come and eat. I didn't
(27:46):
really do anything. The kids are planning all of that,
and that's what it's about because they're so proud about
the work that they're doing. And these kids are juggling academics,
they're jruggling playing a sport and leadership opportunities for these babies.
So when they go off to college, some of them
don't even want to play those sport in college, but
it's creating leadership opportunities for them at this point, and
(28:09):
that's what it's all about.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Well, Erica, getting to know you over this conversation. I
love that we turn the question of what are the
biggest challenges into you ended it with these are the
things that make me happiest, which just seems so indicative
of your personality. But what else are your favorite parts
of this job being able?
Speaker 1 (28:27):
So now you know when I first started, I was like,
it's all about the kids. It's all about the kids.
I don't like big people, I don't like the adults.
I'm doing it for the kids, right, But as I
continue to evolve, my wide continues to evolve, right, So
now being in this space, it's important because I'm the
as a district athletic director. I'm one of five in
the state of mind Okay women that is, as a
(28:51):
district athletic director. I'm the only African American woman as
a district athletic director in the state of Miscom. So
for me, representation matters. So now it's not just about
the kids. It's about being a role model for women
who look like me, women who might want to get
into this space, and creating that opportunity and being when
(29:14):
people random people reach out to me and say, you know, misturned,
I'm watching you from afar. I'm inspired and knowing knowing
and not knowing that I'm actually inspiring people every day
and so it keeps me humble but also understand the
importance of the work that I keep, that I have
to do, and it keeps me going every day. This
is what I'm twenty four years in the game, and
(29:34):
I'm not tired. I love coming to work every day.
When you talk to educators, now, oh I'm ready to
get out time to time, but I actually love coming
to work every day because it's something different, it's something new.
It comes along with his challenges, But who does not
go through adversity. Everybody goes through adversity. That's one of
the positives of being involved in sports. It teaches you
how to handle pressure. It teaches you how to handle
(29:56):
that adversity with grace. And so that's what I've learned
to do. But I actually it's not a job of me.
This is kind of my ministry. I love doing it
and so now it's about being impactful for adults too,
not just the kids. Right, So I get the coach coaches,
I get the coach athletic directors, I get the coach
principles in this role, and that's what I love. I
love to motivate and inspire people. That's what I'm about
(30:18):
in my other life. I'm also an associate minister. So
I love it. I just love what I do. And
you say, that's what.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
You tell that you can tell that, you know, you
can tell when someone has a calling to something versus
just a job, and that is absolutely what you have.
And you talk about being an inspiration. If you're an
inspiration to me, I feel lucky that I've gotten to
talk to you. You're going to be an inspiration to
the people that are listening to this podcast in addition
to all the people whose lives you affect on a
daily basis. And so as we finished, I just as
(30:48):
I said, You've been so inspiring in this conversation that
I just want to know what advice would you have?
You know, you said there's a lot of young people,
young women that reach out to you and say, so
someone emailed you right now and said, I want to
get to where you are, or I want to play
professional basketball or whatever it is, whatever these big dreams are,
(31:10):
what advice do you have? Or a young woman who says, ericup,
mis Turner, how can I get to that next level?
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Right? Be intentional about reaching out doing that part, but
also putting yourself in the position that you want to
be in. So I got a little testimony to that
I'll share. I know I'm about four or five years
from retirement. I know I don't really want to let
go of this space. So I have been intentional about
reaching out to women who look like me in the
pro space and in the college space, because I might
(31:42):
want to do that after I retire from public education.
So I'm intentional about reaching out to them saying, hey,
can you be my room Can you be my inspiration?
Can you be my mentor? And so even twenty four
years in, I'm still reaching out for people to be
my mentor. But I'm being intentional about putting myself in
positions to do what I want to do next. And
so you have to make you have to be intentional,
(32:04):
you have to do the led work. You have to
be ready when the times when the time comes. My
birthday is August to twenty eight, So on the twenty
eighth of every month, I update my resume with stuff
because I'm ready when the next opportunity comes, I'm gonna
be ready. And it may be four or five years
down the road, but you got to start now. You
gotta start. You set your goal and you got to
(32:25):
start now. You gotta work every day. I do something
every day that work towards my goal. So I spend
at least fifteen minutes a day on doing what I
need to do for me. So that means I'm working
on my doctorate. So I'm gonna work on my dissertation
fifteen minutes a day. I started my own executive coach
and the leadership development business. I'm gonna do something for
my business fifteen minutes. I'm gonna take fifteen to thirty
(32:48):
minutes a day to do something for my goal that
I have in the future, if that makes any sense.
So I'm intentional about that. Even when I'm tired and
I just want to go to bed, I got to
stop and make sure that's been fifteen minutes on my
future for me, And so you have to be intentional
about doing that, even when you're tired, when you don't
feel like it, you do it anyway.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
I just want to thank you so much for giving
me and the listeners this time. I know I can't
even imagine how busy you are just listening to some
of the things that are going on. You are such
an inspiration. It's been an honor to talk to you,
so thank you so much for sharing the lessons from
your career path and how you continue to evolve. I
(33:30):
can't imagine that anyone who listens to this will not
be affected in a positive light just from hearing your story.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
And I'm definitely gonna so much.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Yes, thank you. I can't wait to implement that fifteen
minute rule, among many other things that you said. So Erica,
thank you so so much for the time.
Speaker 1 (33:46):
Thank you and I thank you for the invitation,
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