Dr. DeAnne Davis Brooks is an Associate Professor in the Exercise Science department at Salem College, a liberal arts women's college in North Carolina. She’s also a track coach and is married with three daughters.
In this episode, we discuss…
- How limiting her educational options served DeAnne well.
- How DeAnne uses her social skills to be memorable at work.
- The tough but needed feedback a professor gave her that changed how she prioritized her studies while pursuing her doctorate.
Listen to an update of DeAnne's story here.
Find DeAnne online
The Path: How DeAnne Did It
Career advice to her three daughters
Make decisions early that will give you freedom later on. When it comes to choosing a college, make smart financial decisions so that you’re not strapped financially any more than you need to be so that you have freedom to take chances, to take internships, and to travel to opportunities when you graduate.
Meet as many people as possible. Follow up (email/phone call). Mentors are out there and ready to mentor; they just need to know what you need. So have an elevator pitch.
Really and truly follow your interests. Don't pursue a job, pursue an interest (things you want to learn more about).
My Thoughts After the Conversation
More, please
In the 33-minute mark of the episode, DeAnne explained why she approaches her role as a researcher, practitioner, and educator from a Womanist perspective. I wish I would have asked her more about the end game or goal of doing it this way. Does she want to change things institutionally, does she want to create a separate movement, or is there something else?
What I learned
DeAnne chose to get an Ed.D. – instead of a Ph.D. – because she wasn't interested in doing research and want to be more of a practitioner (applying knowledge).
Up-level your game
When DeAnne worked at Cisco and at the Cardia Rehab Center in graduate school, she used her social skills to keep her clients coming back. She recognized they came to socialize and if she could keep them talking she could keep them exercising.
If DeAnne was a song, she would be…
Mentioned in the Episode
- Durham Striders Track Club
- Solid Gold (TV show) | Season 6 – Episode 16
- Graduate Assistantship
- Dr. Janice Hillard: Twitter | LinkedIn | Athlete Empowerment Zone
- Dr. Billy Hawkins: LinkedIn
- Ph.D. vs. Ed.D.
- Peachtree Road Race
- Dr. Shirl J. Hoffman: LinkedIn | Huffington Post
- Dr. Katherine M. Jamieson: UNCG | Personal Website
- YMCA
- Amy Cuddy: Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are | ‘Power Poses' Co-Author: ‘I Do Not Believe The Effects Are Real'
- Facebook Messenger: Website | Android | iOS
- Amazon Kindle: Android | iOS
- Amazon Prime
- Run Keeper | Apple Watch
- Netflix: Website | Android | iOS
- The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo series*
- The Family Business series by Carl Weber*
- The Midnight Series by Sister Souljah*
*An asterisk means the item is an affiliate link. Click here to learn what that means.
Music Credit: ballet by Ryan Little
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