{"version":"1.0","provider_url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu","provider_name":"Warpwire","is_public":true,"duration":0,"has_caption":true,"links":{"caption":[{"label":"English","url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/api\/caption\/eTEIAA\/317171\/vtt\/?nonce=a8ac94be8e1e79357795382e86a093ab&expiration=1787371200&signature=f1a01476e00ba305bf0cf2cfeddbb6b6901e828ba6604c69e7101906d673907a"}]},"views":1,"upload_date":"2024-02-19T15:08:05+00:00","description":"\u00c4ngela and Nicole have a talk with Nina King, Duke Vice President, Director of Athletics and Adjunct Professor of Business Administration and discuss an answer, or many, to the question how do we merge our purpose and future with our identities, goals and everything else that makes us who we are.\r\n\r\nTranscript:\r\n- Hello, and welcome to the \"What's Career Got to Do With It?\" podcast, where we hope to provide a space for honest conversation and information that encourages the listener to take the next steps in their career journey. Wherever you're at in this process, we hope the episode will meet you with affirmation, guidance, and maybe some laughs along the way.\r\n\r\n- On today's episode, we are joined by Nina King, Duke's vice president, director of athletics, and adjunct professor of business administration as we discuss an answer or many to the question, how do we merge our purpose and future with our identities, goals, and everything else that makes us who we are?\r\n\r\n- Hi.\r\n\r\n- Good morning.\r\n\r\n- Good morning.\r\n\r\n- Sorry. Good to see you ladies. I'm, we're getting philosophical today, so I was getting deep preparing for-\r\n\r\n- Well, we'll make it light for you. How are you living the dream? That's the series, living the dream, right?\r\n\r\n- I love it. I love it. I am living the dream. I have the best job, which is really not a job. It's a lifestyle, for sure. A great family, great support system. And, you know, folks always ask me how I'm doing when I'm out and about at places, and we're having fun most days.\r\n\r\n- Amen.\r\n\r\n- Yes.\r\n\r\n- Amen.\r\n\r\n- Woo.\r\n\r\n- So, yeah, I guess I can kick it off. We've, this is episode two in the series. Is it two?\r\n\r\n- This is episode two, yes.\r\n\r\n- And we've had some great conversations. I think the first conversation, we tackled the phrase living the dream and what it means to us. And definitely some seriousness, but also some, what usually comes out of me nine times out of the day. You know, somebody say, \"Hey, Nicole, how you doing?\" \"I'm living the dream.\" And how that can sometimes be a little bit sarcastic, but still in a good way. So, just to give you a little bit of background, we love if you want to go deep. We're also okay if living the dream means, I had a stack of pancakes this morning and they were fresh.\r\n\r\n- Love it. I love it. Well, my dream was this morning, getting a 10-year-old up and out of bed, get moving a little quicker than he wanted to, getting him off to school and getting here on time, so that was my dream. But, you know, I have the opportunity really to live the dream every day in a fun, and sometimes I wanna pull my hair out way, and that's okay, right? I mean, we have to recognize that some days we're not gonna come out on top and that's okay. But just kind of looking at it holistically, it is all part of the dream, if you will.\r\n\r\n- Okay. I'll start off with, I guess one of the bigger questions. Thinking about where you're at now and maybe thinking about undergraduate version of you, what would be maybe a piece of advice or two that you would give your younger self kind of thinking about the dream you wanted then and the dream you're living now?\r\n\r\n- Ooh, undergraduate Nina, just a few years ago. It's okay. Deep breaths, which is actually something that I tell myself often still now, to just kind of take a deep breath, live in the moment, and it's okay not to have the answers for 10 years from now, five years from now, sometimes even tomorrow. It's going to be okay. And really, to rely on sense of self, networks, you know, making sure that you've got great people in your village that you can lean on for advice and try to figure it out. And we're all just going moment to moment. So, you know, it's interesting. In undergrad, I was an accounting major, had always wanted to be a lawyer, so was kind of trying to figure that part out and how am I going to do that? And then really in undergrad is when sports came to me. I like to tell people I'm the most unathletic person in sports. I never played sports, didn't participate growing up even, but when I got to to college, everybody was so sporty and I thought, oh my gosh, what am I gonna do with this? So, I became a student manager, and really, that was kind of my first entree into sports and college athletics specifically. And when I realized people had jobs in this, and it really, probably not until my senior year in college that it hit me, oh, wait a minute, I can have a career in this. And so, you know, clearly, I had spent three years of undergrad trying to figure out what the heck I was gonna do with an accounting degree. And then sports came in year four, my senior year. So, it certainly wasn't something I had scripted in terms of career. And then even being an athletic director was not on the radar until it was.\r\n\r\n- For sure. That's so funny 'cause that resonates. I'm not an athlete either. I bowled for a semester in college because they needed an extra person.\r\n\r\n- Okay.\r\n\r\n- And they were going to pay some of my tuition. But same way, like you, I was a student assistant in sports information and that was my leeway. But the conversation and your reply kind of leads me into one of the topics that we're getting ready to tackle, as well, too. It didn't work out how I planned, and that's okay.\r\n\r\n- Absolutely. Absolutely. I think sometimes, you know, as undergrads we're wound so tight and really needing to kind of figure out what do I go do next? What's next? And you know, I didn't interview for a job until my second semester senior year. It's okay. You know, you've kind of, you've learned to figure it out. And so, I know it's hard, you know, when you're 18 to 22 years old to really sit with that and learn to be okay with that, but as somebody that's been in that position, I'm telling you it's okay.\r\n\r\n- I need Nicole to get outta my head 'cause I really was about to touch that, but you know, it's okay. But I do kind of wanna dive in and a little bit more and, you know, just thinking about, excuse me, your degrees, right? It's accounting background, it's business background, this law background and just talking to students and just trying to help them understand that you can think outside of the box. Like, you would not expect a person holding an accounting degree and to be sitting where you are. Well, I could, but you know, just helping them kind of think outside of the box. So with that, I'm pretty sure you probably had a group of folks and we always talk about, you know, networking and your team, and so, how has your team or your mentors, or your group of folk, your board of directors, your squad, helped you in living this dream and making things happen and to get where you are right now?\r\n\r\n- Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it's about identifying people to put in the squad.\r\n\r\n- Right.\r\n\r\n- To put on the team, making sure you ask them. Don't assume-\r\n\r\n- Exactly.\r\n\r\n- That they're on your team.\r\n\r\n- Exactly.\r\n\r\n- And then, you know, really kind of leaning on them and that's okay. I think remembering, though, that they're not going to get the next job for you. They are there to champion you and to provide wise counsel and guidance, but they're not going to do it for you, I think is really, really important. And especially at a young age when you're starting to just kind of build that network and trying to understand what does networking mean and what does having a mentor mean? You know, just realizing that they're there to assist, not do. It is up to you to do. And so for me it was, you know, certainly, as I started moving through the sports world, finding those people, the right network to put into my village and really help me, guide me along the way. And success takes a village. And so, making sure that we're finding the right people, I think is critically important, and certainly leaning on them. You know, you brought up my degrees and kind of the maybe untraditional background. And that was the fun part for me, really more when I went to law school. That was really where I started to differentiate myself. Most of my classmates were trying to find the big firm jobs or what judge am I gonna go clerk for? And, you know, am I going to New York or Chicago and what, you know, big time associate firm or associate, am I gonna be in a law firm? From the minute I went to law school, I knew that was not for me. I'm interested in the law, but I'm really interested in how I can apply it in different ways. And so, I took a unique path. It stressed me out, certainly sometimes. Again, you know, my classmates are interviewing for summer associate jobs in September of our first and second years. I distinctly remember interviewing for a job in May while I was preparing for finals right before the summer and thinking everybody knows their plans. I have no idea. It's okay. It works out. But for me, it was really trying to find something, how I was gonna differentiate myself. A lot of people wanna work in sports. It's the fun kind of sexy job. You know, what job, what football game can I go to? What basketball game can I go to? How can I sit on the sidelines at lacrosse practice? It's a lot more work than that.\r\n\r\n- Sure.\r\n\r\n- And so, I really had to focus how was I gonna get myself to be an attractive candidate to get the job? And so, for me, it was having kind of those unique degrees, accounting and law, and then busting into the industry that way. And there is no prescribed career path in sports. And you ladies know. You know, you've been in this world, and nobody's career journey looks the same. It's really about who you are, your work ethic, your understanding of the industry and making yourself stand out.\r\n\r\n- Wow. That was good.\r\n\r\n- Did I answer your question? How did I get there?\r\n\r\n- Made me feel good about my criminal justice degree this morning, thank you.\r\n\r\n- I love it, yes. That's something that I tell students all the time who want to get into sports. What we do is not rocket science.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- There are rocket scientist jobs, and so if that's what you wanna do, then prepare yourself for that. But really, you know, just making sure that you have that foundational background and understanding of the industry is very important. That's what I tell people who want to do these types of jobs all the time. Make sure that you're a student of the industry. You don't need to know everything, but have an idea of what's going on. And in college athletics, there's a lot going on.\r\n\r\n- Ooh, yeah.\r\n\r\n- Yeah. I have a random question.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- Did you ever think about going into compliance? That's my like, standard running joke. I used to have students be like, \"Why would somebody wanna go into compliance?\"\r\n\r\n- Exactly.\r\n\r\n- I interned in compliance.\r\n\r\n- U Penn, right?\r\n\r\n- I thought I was gonna go crazy.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- No.\r\n\r\n- Well, fun fact. After I finished law school, that's where I started.\r\n\r\n- Yes.\r\n\r\n- Yes.\r\n\r\n- And yes, the nerdy rule follower in me got really excited about compliance. And so, my previous job prior to coming to Duke, I was in compliance. And so, then I was at Notre Dame at the time, and the Notre Dame athletic director came to Duke to be the AD and invited me and two other colleagues to come with him. And when he did, I said, \"Absolutely, but I will do anything but compliance.\" Had enough. But it was a great foundation for me in sports. I mean, in compliance, you touch a lot of different areas and really have to have, you know, a good working knowledge of NCA rules and what we can and can't do, or at least be willing to research and study an issue and kind of figure out how you can, as a coach would like you to say, get to a yes. But, you know, and I brought up that I was at a previous institution and then came with the athletic director because that was the value of the network, right? I mean, he identified three people out of a department of a couple hundred to come with him to a new institution and, you know, begin our next part of our career journeys. And it's really about making yourself stand out. You know, get away from the pack. What are you gonna do to differentiate yourself and make sure that you are on the radar? And for me, I was really, really lucky in that I got selected, invited to come with.\r\n\r\n- Wow, listen, don't do this to compliance, okay?\r\n\r\n- That's fine.\r\n\r\n- So, but for me, that's how I learned things. So I was an athletic trainer, so I worked in sports medicine. Part of my deal in my internship, I had to do something. We were going from D2 to D1, so I was in that whole process sitting in the compliance office. So, I get it. Now, I do get that I didn't wanna do it forever, but it was good to kinda like, oh, this is this. So, I gotta tell this coach this. He'll be all right. Lemme go. But yes, the quickest way to yes, that's-\r\n\r\n- That's compliance.\r\n\r\n- Okay.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- Can I touch on something you just said? You know, \"I have to tell the coach that I'm gonna move on to another job and he'll be all right.\" I think a lot of times people get so caught up in what's my boss gonna think or what's my colleague gonna think? You really, in those moments, when you have the opportunities, you need to be selfish. It's about your career, your career journey, and what's best for you. And if you've made that decision to move on to another area, another job, whatever it might be, it's kind of, again, deep breath, you're gonna be fine telling the coach or your boss or whoever it is, but just keep in mind that you're making decisions for yourself in those moments. Those are the moments where it's okay to be selfish.\r\n\r\n- I think if you all don't understand anything from any of our podcast episodes, that's okay is like the biggest catch phrase. Like, that's okay. So, I got another question. I kind of wanna go back to that mentor, that squad, right? So, you were talking about how you positioned yourself, the things that you had to do specifically for you to blaze your trail. Is there something that a mentor told you that it just made it click? What were those words? What were those thoughts? Was it an event that happened or something that happened to be like, oh, this is what I gotta do?\r\n\r\n- Of course. People tell you things all the time. I think it's when you can finally have moments of self-reflection and understand what, you know, when you're gathering all of this information and advice throughout your path that you can really say, okay, wait, this is why he told me this, or this is why she said this and how it applies to your situation and how it applies to you personally. I have been, I've had the benefit of incredible, incredible mentors, and I will never forget, then, the first time that a young woman took me to lunch. It was very nice, and I thought, what are we doing here? And she said during lunch, \"Will you be my mentor?\" And I thought, oh my gosh, I've made it. I was so touched and so honored. And then I thought, wait a minute, I'm too young. I don't know all the answers.\r\n\r\n- It's okay.\r\n\r\n- Yeah, it is. It's okay. And so, you know, obviously, the value of mentorship is so impactful. And, you know, now I am just so honored and blessed to be in this position where people ask me to be their mentors, and hopefully, I can spread nuggets of great advice. But I think, you know, learning from people and I still continue to. You know, granted, yes, I am in this fantastic position, but I still need mentorship and I still need people to lean on, still got the board of directors and people I can call for various things. So, and then I take, you know, what I've learned from my mentors and figured out how I'm gonna model that in the way that I, you know, apply mentorship to my mentees, which has been a lot of fun.\r\n\r\n- So, I also wanna go back. One of the biggest things I think, aside from what is a cover letter question we get within the career center is this idea of networking and how our students will freeze up at the thought of networking.\r\n\r\n- Same, same.\r\n\r\n- And obviously, you know, we have a little bit of background of understanding where you're at and know that sports is getting in those jobs is networking and meeting people. So, I wonder if you could share any things that you either learned or some tidbits that you would offer out to students around the idea of networking and maybe how to make that a little bit more comfortable for themselves.\r\n\r\n- Yeah, well, I'm not gonna make it more comfortable, but I will say networking is more important than the cover letter. The cover letter is important-\r\n\r\n- Thank you.\r\n\r\n- But, you know, especially in these jobs, so many people apply for these jobs and, you know, I'm not as much on the hiring front lines now, but when I was, you know, I wasn't really reading very closely and in depth a lot of the cover letters and resumes, unless they had errors on 'em. Then, that's what I picked up on and I'm like, nope. There's a no pile.\r\n\r\n- Somebody read your stuff, folks.\r\n\r\n- Exactly. But it was more about, oh yes, I remember meeting this person at a conference, or, oh yes, I had a conversation with them over the phone or somebody that they know has reached out and talked to me about them. So, that's why it's really important because you kind of, you remember those moments a little bit more than, you know, the kind of standard cover letter that's sitting on your desk in front of you. So, that's really why it is important to network. You know, in terms of the awkwardness of it and, you know, just not wanting to do it, I am the shyest introvert ever. So, I have been there in not wanting to network. Suck it up, put your big girl pants on and go do it. You know, you walk into a room. For me, oftentimes I freeze and just the thought of all of these people and where do I go and who do I talk to or how do I end the conversation and move to the next group of people. And, like, you know, stay engaged with this person while I'm kind of side eyeing to kind of figure out my next plan of attack and who I'm gonna go talk to. Listen, we have all been there. Some people, it's more natural for than others. It's okay. You just, it's part of it. You have to do it. You know, find an interesting topic to, you know, discuss with somebody or even ask them what they ate for breakfast that morning to break the ice. It's just all about creating the connection and then ultimately developing an authentic relationship.\r\n\r\n- Talk. It'll be okay.\r\n\r\n- It will.\r\n\r\n- I promise. It's as awkward for you as it is for them.\r\n\r\n- Yes.\r\n\r\n- Especially for the introvert, 'cause once I'm done, I need a minute to go back and kind of recharge. Just let me do the same.\r\n\r\n- Yes, same, same. I get exhausted after networking events and conversations and discussions. I will say, you know, also another, what I find myself doing now often is speaking in front of people in large groups. And I know that is something my younger self hated and couldn't picture doing. My older self still hates it, but I have to do it. And that is also another, okay, suck it up, deep breath, walk in and stand at the podium and speak and it's gonna be okay. Although I still often, and I tell groups this all the time, think about, you know, walking into a building, can I trip on the curb and break my ankle so I can go to the hospital and not have to speak in front of people. Every time. Or listen, COVID was great for me. Oh, I want COVID so that I don't have to go to this event. No, that's terrible to say, but it's true. And oftentimes, I mean, today I've got something big that I have to go speak in front of people and I was like, oh man, am I sick today? I'm not quite sure. No, I'm not. Go do it. That's part of the job. It's part of what I have to do. And, but you know, it does get easier with experience and with time. Networking gets easier, you know, just with experience and just jump in. It'll be okay. Break the ice.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- I have one other thing I definitely wanna touch on. A couple of seasons ago, we definitely talked about a little bit of separating Nina at home from Nina at work, but also how we combine those and what that may look like for us. Kind of around living the dream, what are some things that you've learned in trying to combine maybe home and work, especially, you know, working within athletics that you, a piece of advice or something you've learned that you would give back to others who aspire to be in the role that you are in?\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- Particularly being a woman, a mother.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- A partner.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- All of that, yeah.\r\n\r\n- I'm so glad you didn't phrase it as tell us about work life balance.\r\n\r\n- I wouldn't, no.\r\n\r\n- Because that's-\r\n\r\n- You won't get that from me.\r\n\r\n- Bullshit.\r\n\r\n- You're good.\r\n\r\n- Are we good?\r\n\r\n- You're fine. That's okay.\r\n\r\n- Good. Yeah, and it comes up every time, you know, that I speak in with people and how do you do it? And I'm so glad people think that I do it because some days I can. You know, balancing the work and the home. For me, it's been more about integrating work and home. Unfortunately, sometimes when I go home, I am sitting at my computer doing work, even while my kids are at the dinner table and I'm sitting in my home office, answering emails because I have to that day. But on the flip side, I get to bring my family to my work and my work sometimes is going to games and, you know, doing those type of fun things. And so, for me, it's really been about how do I make sure that people here at Duke understand that I have a family and how do I make sure that my family knows that my job is pretty demanding, and sometimes, I'm not going to be able to be present for them in all moments. So, you know, it might seem like it's easy. It's not. I know that I am very spoiled and that I have an incredible support system at home. My husband is a stay at home dad, and really, I rely on him for, they have basketball practice today. What time is that? And you're taking them, right? And then also, my mom lives with us, and to help take care of the kids. And so, I've got two very capable adults at home to be able to kind of make sure that the home front is taken care of and we're not forgetting anybody at pickup line or something like that. But I know not everybody has that luxury. And so, it's really just, you know, making sure that you identify who your support system is and being able to call on them. And it's okay to ask for help because we cannot do this-\r\n\r\n- Wish I had the button.\r\n\r\n- By ourselves.\r\n\r\n- Don't have the button.\r\n\r\n- No button today, okay.\r\n\r\n- It is okay to ask for help.\r\n\r\n- Yes, absolutely. We are not meant to do this life alone. And so, to just reach out where you need to.\r\n\r\n- Awesome. You got any more questions lingering?\r\n\r\n- I think that's enough just to drop the mic right there.\r\n\r\n- Okay. Well, what I will say is, it's pretty custom at the end of all of our episodes, we like to leave our audience with our top tidbit of info, our inspiration of the day, something to leave our audience with, so, ha ha, you're it. What you got?\r\n\r\n- Put your big girl pants, big boy pants on and just suck it up and get it done.\r\n\r\n- I like it\r\n\r\n- For sure. I would definitely say that living the dream looks different for folks, and I'm big on this and I think I've said this a couple of episodes. Create your own journey. Create your own path and be selfish with that. You can use others to model, but that does not have to be your direct path. And I hope as we've listened through these episodes, that folks are getting that through hearing the conversations with different people. It's okay to be different. It is okay.\r\n\r\n- Yes. I love it. You guys, I'm coming here every morning for some inspiration and start to the day. This has been so much fun chatting with you ladies.\r\n\r\n- Awesome. Awesome. Well, we certainly hope that you've got some tidbits of information from today's episode. We would very much like to thank Nina for joining us this morning and sending you good vibes for your big talk you have to do today.\r\n\r\n- Thank you, thank you.\r\n\r\n- We hope you join us next week. As always, thank you for joining us on the \"What's Career Got to Do With It?\" podcast.\r\n\r\n- Bye, y'all.\r\n\r\n- Have a great one.","author_name":"Sandhya Pakala","html":"\u003Ciframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/w\/eTEIAA\/\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media; camera; microphone; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E","height":360,"width":640,"thumbnail_height":360,"thumbnail_width":640,"url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/w\/eTEIAA\/","type":"video","title":"S3 E10 Living the dream... with Nina King, Duke VP, Director of Athletics and Adjunct Professor","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/img\/10ED13AE-DB77-4E78-BDAA-21F9B14D30E1\/814C9627-025E-4F4B-A24D-4749684B113C\/large\/"}