Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Getting a flu shot is one of the most important things you can do to stay healthy this year. Flu shots are available and free to University of Alabama students at sites across campus and at the UA Student Health center and Pharmacy. Check out our schedule at CCHS UA EDU flu shot. Call 205-348-6262 for a flu shot appointment at the student Health center or walk up Monday through Friday from 4 to 4:45pm WVUAFM, Tuscaloosa.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: Happy Sunday, y'.
[00:00:37] Speaker A: All.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone. And it's Sunday.
[00:00:42] Speaker C: It's Sunday. And I think we need to go ahead and say that this is the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:00:48] Speaker C: So we know that everybody is listening to us right now, because that's what you do on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: I mean, basically. And you're gonna hear some noises. And it's because we have some paparazzi in here today.
[00:01:00] Speaker C: We have some paparazzi. And I really hope that our producer will, like, chime in. Lady Gaga paparazzi at one of these songs is for him.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Well, and I think, you know, we're gonna leave people on a cliffhanger with this, of course. But I think that, honestly, though, the paparazzi is directly correlated with our guest today.
[00:01:17] Speaker C: I think so.
[00:01:17] Speaker B: I don't know if we have had a guest of this magnitude yet, so I think there's a lot of that going on. But anyways, we can't talk too much about that right now.
[00:01:27] Speaker C: We can't yet.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: So I'm just gonna ask you something random.
[00:01:31] Speaker C: All right, do it.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: Do you like sauces and condiments?
[00:01:36] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: You do?
[00:01:37] Speaker C: I do.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: Okay, tell me, what are your sauces of choice?
[00:01:40] Speaker C: So here's the thing. Being a vegetarian is really tough because sometimes if stuff isn't seasoned very well, it's just bland. So I am always a sauce kind of gal. Yeah, I love Asian sauces. Does it surprise you?
[00:01:50] Speaker B: No, absolutely not.
[00:01:51] Speaker C: I don't. But I love yum yum sauce.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: Do you?
[00:01:54] Speaker C: I will buy that stuff. Like it's going out of style. And I know that's not, like, probably the same super healthiest option, but it's that saty that we talk about where you need that little fat. That's my favorite. What about you?
[00:02:04] Speaker B: So we do a lot of Sriracha at the house. And so my husband had gotten wind that Sriracha was no longer gonna be in production. Like, all of the things.
[00:02:13] Speaker C: Wait, whoa, whoa, hold on. That's where we need to stop for a second. What?
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Sriracha? It did pause for a bit and then we stocked up quite a bit. But then I told my husband, I was like, I think it's back. Cause it's certainly in stock at Target and the non oriented grocery stores, so.
[00:02:28] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: But I heard that it's actually a health hazard for the residents that live near the sriracha plant because the pepper is so strong that it literally burns their eyes. So a lot of people can't work outside that live anyways. That's like fun fact.
[00:02:45] Speaker C: That is a fun fact. And I also like to mix sriracha with ranch. It's the best dip. Anyway. Are you ready for Thanksgiving?
[00:02:53] Speaker B: I think I am. I am. My.
My side of the family, my mom and dad, they're actually in California this week, so that means we only focus on my husband's side of the family, which is great because we're not. We're normally the ones that drive around all day to everyone else. We thought when we had kids, people would come to us, but that's not worked out for us. So we're having to tote the children to all across the state of Alabama. But not this year. So.
[00:03:20] Speaker C: Yeah. Hey, there you go.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: How about you?
[00:03:22] Speaker C: You know, we'll go visit the family. North Alabama. And I was trying to think, like, we still don't really even know the plans. Like, this is just kind of the way things go. You never really know the plans. And I mean, I have a cat, and so somebody's got to take care of the cat because it's just a whole thing. But did we talk last week about our favorite Thanksgiving foods?
[00:03:39] Speaker B: I think we talked about some of the strange things.
[00:03:42] Speaker C: The strange things. Okay, so let's go normal.
What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
That's not strange.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: I like a really good dressing.
[00:03:53] Speaker C: I do, too.
[00:03:54] Speaker B: Yes. That and any sweet potato stuff I'm a fan of.
[00:03:59] Speaker C: Yeah. And I love the Mac and cheese.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: I think you told me that and I was surprised by that.
[00:04:05] Speaker C: I love the Mac and cheese.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: Now, are you contributing anything to the Thanksgiving meal? Like, do you bring something or make something?
[00:04:12] Speaker C: This is where I would like to. But I feel that because we come from out of town, nobody wants us to have to worry about anything or bring anything. So they're just like, ah, don't worry about it. But I'm 37 years old and I feel like I should be contributing and no one will let me.
[00:04:26] Speaker B: Do you sit at the adult table or the kids table?
[00:04:28] Speaker C: We mix it up.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:29] Speaker B: I mean. Cause, you know, really, you know, the running joke is like, if there's still certain generations above you that are still alive, it doesn't matter how old you are, you may still be at the kitchen.
[00:04:40] Speaker C: We mix it up. We mix it up.
It's just wherever you want to sit, you just sit. And that's just what we do.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: Well, I've been thinking about this, this Thanksgiving, you know, I know. I just acknowledge that we won't be seeing my family. So I'm like, you know, it only feels like Thanksgiving if there's a random Filipino dish amongst the normal, like, holiday food. So I feel like I need to make something Filipino to bring over to my mother in law's. I'll report back next week.
[00:05:06] Speaker C: Report back. And if they don't like it, I'll take it.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: Yeah, it can't be anything too strange, but it's gotta have some Filipino flair. But anyways, we're not talking about Thanksgiving food again. Cause we talked about that last week. But we've gotta take a break, you guys. And then you will hear from our celebrity. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:05:28] Speaker C: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
Welcome back, everybody. You're listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney. And it's Thanksgiving week and we're super grateful, but we are not going to talk about Thanksgiving. We have already decided.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Yes. And not that we're anti Thanksgiving. So it's fun. No, we're just going to put that out there. But we've got other things to talk about.
[00:05:51] Speaker C: We do.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: So tell us about our guests, Whitney.
[00:05:54] Speaker C: Well, you know, this is very interesting. So usually when we're looking for guests, we kind of like to go all over the division and our campus partners and we just recently kind of had a structure change with who we report to. And so I thought it'd be cool to have our new avp, you know, that we're reporting to come on the show. Especially since he's been frequenting our yoga classes. I thought he could talk a little bit about that. But welcome Dr. Adam Sterrett.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
[00:06:21] Speaker B: I feel like this is where we should cue the, like, applause button and like all the things. So we don't have that.
[00:06:26] Speaker C: We don't have that. So we will use our. Use our little claps. But yeah, thanks for being on the show.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: So. Thank you for having me.
[00:06:33] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm excited. Yeah. And you know, for those of you that are listening to our show, our listeners that don't know this local celebrity. We would like a little bit of background about you. And this could take a whole 10 minutes. I don't know. I mean, you know, we could take
[00:06:47] Speaker B: led to share for the extreme, for
[00:06:49] Speaker A: the rare listener out there that doesn't know who I am. Right. So for that handful people out there that's listening that may not know already who I am and what I do. Yeah, we love it. You know what's funny is if you would have had me last week, it would have been bad because I don't like eat Thanksgiving foods.
[00:07:06] Speaker C: Really.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: I enjoy the holiday, but the actual foods are not like foods that I like to eat.
[00:07:11] Speaker C: It's just not your thing.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: Cup of tea? Yeah, it's just not really my thing. Right. So that could have been a whole nother kind of well, let's situation. Right.
[00:07:18] Speaker C: Change it up right now.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: I'm just kidding. So anyway, so what's my deal? Huh? So I am, I'm from kind of all around. I was born in the Washington D.C. area and so I spent kind of the first part of my life up there around the beltway, around Maryland and D.C. and then moved to Tampa, Florida in seventh grade and spent middle school and high school in Florida. So went to Florida State University.
Big, you know, State public university. They, this was the 90s and so they had a football team at this time. Yes.
That won a few games in the 90s. And so I was there during the stretch when they were in the top three, I think like 10 years in a row. Right. And so went to grad school there, ended up staying there, was very involved on campus and ended up staying there for a master's degree in higher ed. Because I actually, as a strange student had a job and decided that I didn't want to have a job. And so I'd had a job in the industry I thought I wanted to go into and had a long drive home for Thanksgiving, ironically enough, a 10 hour drive back to my parents and decided I didn't want to go into the real world. And I decided to stay in grad school.
Right. And so this is 20 years later and I haven't left campus yet, but I've got degrees to show for it. Right. And paychecks and stuff like that. And so stayed for grad school at Florida State, which is a big higher ed program, and then worked there for a long period of time and kind of have blinked and have been in higher ed for 20 years. And so I've Been in Alabama now for, it'll be like nine years here in a couple weeks.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: You know, thinking about all of your past employment opportunities, whether it's been as a high schooler, a college student or anything else, what has been kind of like, I don't want to say the strangest job you've had, but just kind of like most random, ooh, gosh, so
[00:09:10] Speaker A: you've been good one too.
So in my household growing up, you worked.
And so we were a big. My mom especially was big into work ethic. And so the first job I had that I didn't technically get paid for was my sister was raising money for her chorus trip and we would go set up Dress Barns. Dress Barn is an old store, if you don't remember, department store.
[00:09:34] Speaker C: In my head I was like, I know what this is, but I can't put my finger on it.
[00:09:37] Speaker A: Kind of made dresses that looked like. That made you look like a barn. Right. So that was kind of what they did in the 80s and 90s. So we did that.
My first job was at a video rental store, a local mom and pop before Blockbuster came out and crushed most. And my sister went to college and I was 14 and so they asked me to take over her job. So I would either get dropped off or walk up the street and probably got paid under the table at age 14. I'm not sure about those laws.
And then the strangest is I worked a fruit and vegetable stand on the side of the road and then during the holidays sold Christmas trees.
[00:10:13] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: Which is a lot of SAP.
[00:10:16] Speaker C: A lot of SAP.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: Really, really strange job and very interesting as well. And I also worked in floral businesses. Oh, wow. My mom worked at florists growing up and so I would deliver flowers places. And so in Tampa you would deliver flowers to lots of very, very interesting places.
[00:10:34] Speaker C: Did you ever deliver flowers to any wrestlers?
That's the hub.
[00:10:39] Speaker A: So not Wrestlers.
Lots of other things that have that Tampa is known for you. So. Yes, very interesting.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: You are quite the renaissance fan.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: So I worked a lot of jobs. Worked a lot of jobs.
[00:10:50] Speaker B: That's cool. Like I'm thinking about if I were or rent a movie from a 14 year old. It's like, yes, I am renting a decent proposal. Hope you don't know what that movie is.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Right, right. Yeah, exactly. So that was out at that time. That was a hot one at that time.
[00:11:04] Speaker C: Right.
[00:11:05] Speaker A: So I worked there like 92 to 95, 96. Then Blockbuster killed us. And then the fruit stand took me on.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: Then the fruit stand.
[00:11:14] Speaker A: I was clearly great at very hyper local sales. It's right around the corner.
[00:11:18] Speaker C: So you brought up a story when I ran into you last week and I was like, yeah, thanks for being on the show. Which we haven't really clarif like what we're talking about or anything. And we'll. Yeah, yeah, you know, we'll get there, we'll circle back. But you were talking about, you know, you had had some ties to the radio and you mentioned Backstreet Boys.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: So. Yeah, so the details of the story. I didn't give you these details necessarily as much the other day. The details of the story of why I went to grad school was actually I was. This is the fall semester of my senior year. I'd worked on campus in student programming and so in the student union, student programming.
We ran a nightclub on campus. And so they booked comedians, they booked bands. It's also where like student orgs did special events. So if you wanted the salsa club, salsa night dancing was there or whatever. And so I got involved with that. We ran a movie theater, we did a lot of entertainment. So I liked doing that and I thought I wanted to go work in the concert industry. And I had a job lined up in what at the time was Live Nation, the concert promoter in South Florida.
And the guy called me right before Thanksgiving and said, when can you start? If you can come in January and finish your credits here or somewhere else, like we can get you now.
We need to get, we need to get you going. I said, well, what do you need? And he said we're gonna get you.
We need to buy newspaper ads to put Backstreet Boys and Britney tickets on sale.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: Oh my. Lance.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: So this is the 90s in Florida and so this is peak of early of 90s in Florida. And so I would be calling like the St. Pete Times and getting half page ads to put on tickets on sale. So you would walk up to Peaches Records and sleep outside or Spec's music and whatever. And at the time I fancied myself like a underground college radio punk rocker. And that was the side of music that I liked running like a college radio club. Right. And so that sounded kind of soul sucking to me is going and buying newspaper ads. And so on the drive I thought this doesn't, this isn't what I thought this would be.
And then decided to go to grad school. And so I was very involved in going to see bands and liked that. And so when I got to school, that's how we got involved. And the guy that told Me in my rest hall, worked at the movie theater and said, hey, they pay people to check IDs at the door. And I thought, hey, I worked at video fair from 1992-95. Like, this is logical. And then I showed up and it was actually an all call volunteer staff meeting.
[00:13:48] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:13:48] Speaker A: For their programming board. And so little did I know. 20, whatever, years later, I'd still be related to week of welcome and stuff like that. But that's how I got into student affairs.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: I like that.
[00:14:01] Speaker A: And so people still wonder why, like Adam, do you book concerts? Like, no, I do all this other stuff.
[00:14:06] Speaker C: Call this number. I'm just kidding.
[00:14:08] Speaker A: Until recently, my mother in law would say, yeah, he books concerts for the students at universities.
[00:14:12] Speaker B: Interesting.
[00:14:14] Speaker A: I have a different job now, but that's fine.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: But if that's what you want to think that I do, that's quite lovely.
[00:14:20] Speaker A: It was more a fun thing that
[00:14:21] Speaker C: probably to explain to people, you know, I know. I think that that's great. And I just took your line because you're always like, I love that. And I just totally took it. But as I'm sitting here and I'm thinking about, okay, your position now. And we're coming up on a break here in a minute. But like in a nutshell, who do you ever see? What do you do?
[00:14:41] Speaker A: So what do I do now? Yeah, so I'm assistant vice president for strategic initiatives, which really means I try to keep us all on track strategically. Right.
I work with strategic planning and assessment. I work with professional development. So to make sure that we are actually developing our staff along that same strategy. I also work with university recreation, and I work with a fourth organization of which is the career center that I came to at the end of that sentence.
And so I work with some departments then I work with some areas now that are kind of divisional wide of keeping us on strategy. And I know that sounds very boring, but it's kind of a hard thing to keep 22 to 25 different departments that do very different things to understand that we really all do the same type of things. And whether you're booking bands and running a club or an RA or working outreach for health promotion, it's really the behind the scenes stuff is the same for us. The development, the leadership skills, all of that.
[00:15:52] Speaker B: And I love that you put that in lay terms. And, you know, you obviously do a lot. And we certainly. I'm excited to continue this conversation. We've got to take a break, but we're gonna Hear More about Dr. Adam Steer in a Minute you guys grab something to drink and run to the restroom. Go book a band. Do what you gotta do. You are listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7 the Capst,
[00:16:17] Speaker C: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
Welcome back. You're listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheena and Whitney and man, it's the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we're killing it. We got Dr. Adam Sterrett on talking about strategies and all kinds of cool things, but it's really been a good show. And I do kind of want to ask you, Dr. Sterrett, you know, what are your hobbies? I mean, we kind of know your background and we know a little bit about, you know, what you do now, but you know, what are your fun things that you like to do?
[00:16:51] Speaker A: So that's a great question. I have two young children and so I have a almost nine year old and eleven and a half year old. And so I stay pretty busy with them.
What I do for fun, I do.
It's going to sound like a common theme, but I like live music a lot. I go out and see bands quite a bit. And so I go to Birmingham quite a bit frequently or stay in town sometimes and go out and see music.
[00:17:15] Speaker C: So who would you go see? Or recently.
[00:17:17] Speaker A: Who would you see recently? So I've been pretty. So post Covid. I've been pretty active this semester. And so I went and saw a band called Snail Mail in Birmingham and Lucy Dacus.
[00:17:30] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:17:31] Speaker A: And then I went to Atlanta to see a band called Pavement who was around in the 90s. It was kind of a reunion thing.
[00:17:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:17:38] Speaker A: So, yeah, I've seen quite a few things this semester. I saw something else too.
[00:17:41] Speaker C: I can't remember.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: Oh, I saw a band called Plains the other night, which is Katie Crutchfield from Birmingham who's in a band called Waxahachie.
[00:17:49] Speaker C: Yeah, you're definitely into the music scene.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: So I start, I listen to records for fun and collect records.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: Oh, cool.
[00:17:55] Speaker A: So that's been something I've done since I was little. And so when I went to college, that's kind of how I connected to campus. And it's still what I do for fun. I just don't have to do it at work. Right. And so it was for me a work thing. It was a values discussion and that somebody had with me about do you value like promoting concerts or do you value working with students and at the educational atmosphere and coaching students along more.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:19] Speaker A: And at that time I said, well, maybe I value this experience and it Just happened to be in the context of something else I enjoy too.
And so I could still go to concerts and have fun that way, but then work with students in different ways.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:18:32] Speaker C: Isn't that funny that that's kind of what student life is? Because I'm a fitness person. I teach yoga, I teach Pilates, I teach all these things that I would have done in a health club setting or in corporate, but I get to do it in a college setting, and I get to have that impact and create experiences for students to have. Like. Like, I'll do a free intro class on the reformer. And a student may have never had the opportunity to try it, but because we have that service, they get to try it. That's what we're doing.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: And it's a different environment, educational. Right. It's really focused around you getting better at your job while the student is getting better at something. Developing. Right. And. And a lot of what we do can be done in the private sector, but there's some values that we bring to it. And I teach student affairs on the side, and when I teach it, that's one of the things I talk about. These are foundational values of what student affairs is, of why people got involved in the field, why the field exists. And so when people get involved in that type of work, it makes a lot of sense why they want to work in this context.
[00:19:28] Speaker B: I agree, because I think when I think about being a dietitian on a college campus, it's so different from the private sector because I'm thinking I am literally helping change the campus culture around the topic that I work in, you know, and being able to do that. And I think that season of life within college is, you know, such an interesting and special time. And, you know, I think about your love for music, and you talked about your kids. Do they have an eclectic palette for music as you do? Like, are there, you know, have they picked up on, you know, dad's love for music?
[00:20:03] Speaker A: So they do. It's interesting because also my wife, my partner is a big Broadway person as well as likes all kinds of music. Right.
[00:20:13] Speaker C: She excited the Hamilton stage.
[00:20:15] Speaker A: So. Yeah. So, like, she used to sing and perform and stuff like that. So if you take, like, musical theater.
There you go, Disney. And combine it with me, it's like a. Yeah. So they can't escape it. And there's music in the house a lot. Normally they're kind of walking around singing or something like that.
So, yeah, I think since we're both kind of musically big music appreciators now, she was actually a performer of some sort that I never performed of any sort really well.
[00:20:44] Speaker C: And I'm kind of curious. I mean, that's what's so cool about student life. We get to do what we want to do and the fun that we have. But I'm curious from your perspective of leadership and I mean, you're overseeing a lot of different departments. I mean, you rec. We're kind of big. We're very huge. We have a lot of people. Yes.
And then professional development, you said career center and I forget the other.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: So I remember strategic planning assessment.
[00:21:10] Speaker C: Strategic planning assessment.
[00:21:11] Speaker A: That one's in the name, so I don't forget that one.
[00:21:13] Speaker C: I mean, how do you manage all of that?
[00:21:16] Speaker A: So it's interesting because I used to.
You said this, right? You're in this because you, you like fitness. You're in this because you like nutrition. So I was in this because I got to work in higher ed and promote concerts with free money. Imagine if you got to promote concerts and took out all the risk of losing all your money, right?
And so.
But then how do you go past that? Right. Was I still interested in it, past that piece of it? And I found out I was. But much of what I do now is the same thing I did then.
I learned how to manage large organizations with. You manage a large organization of students and how many students it takes to put on a concert of that size. But it also takes contracted vendors, right? And sound and lights teams and people who work for the union and people who do hard jobs that are reporting to a 19 year old who just spent $250,000 on their company and is going to spend another $500,000 on somebody else. If you truly empower that student and let them do that and teach them how to do that. That's what we're all doing. You can do that through what you do. And we can all do that, right? And so doing that at scale and learning that, oh, I can take these tricks that I know and apply them towards the center for service and leadership. Apply them towards something else, right? And so expanding that. So that way I realize, I always call it the black box. What's really happening here? It's the student development black box. What do we want to happen to the student between 18 and 25?
And so that way they leave here a different person that is going to be a lifelong learner, a citizen, right? Who takes care of themselves, takes care of others. All those things we always say, right? For me, it was running a punk rock club. Right. And DJing at a college radio station from 2 to 6am Willingly. Right. Like just. Just begging to do that for you. It was something different. Right. I talked to so many people. It's sga, it's ra, it's all the same.
It's all the same. If you do it well, it's the intentionality behind what you're doing. Are you making them think about what they're doing? Are they doing the right things? Are they learning real life things? Right. If you open the rec center and close the rec center on the weekends, it's not all of us there. Right. It's some students running that building. And they deal with tough stuff. Right. I used to be a building manager during summers at night. And so when you're learning to negotiate with human beings, with people who are upset with all of that stuff, if you have the right staff and structure to help you figure that out. Right. Of what that means and how that relates to the rest of your life and how that relates to what you're learning and how that relates to why your roommate's pissed off at you because you don't talk to them about decisions.
That's what we're trying to do. And whether you like to do it through yoga or through going to watch the movies or SGA or fraternities or sororities or any number of things, I think it's the same thing. And so that is why I talk strategy. That is why I can boil the whole division down to three priorities and say, look, folks, these are the three things we're doing.
And you can't name a single thing for me that's happened in student life that doesn't fit within one of those three. And if you do, then we should probably stop doing it. Right. And so that's, I think, how somebody who is so embedded in department became, well, they became larger and I had to manage more people. And managing people is the most complicated thing you end up doing.
[00:24:36] Speaker B: Well, you know, thinking about the experience that you have now with managing people and different personalities. And I think in some ways, a lot of student affairs professionals, we have similar things about us, but we're also quite unique. Have you found a common theme to what keeps employees motivated and satisfied in the field of student life? Or just, you know, if you're Mr. Manager and you're thinking, okay, I want to do XYZ to keep my employees happy, what's kind of your XYZ formula?
[00:25:09] Speaker A: So it is really hard, I think, because every employee, every person feels incentivized differently, feels rewarded differently. And so it has become there's a certain part of me that is non negotiable. Right. So part of it is learning myself over time and being self aware of, you know what? These are things I'm good at. These are things you're bad at. I'm actually really bad at rewarding staff. I'm bad at doing happy birthday stuff. I'm bad at doing like feel good stuff. Right. I'm not great at that.
So I tend to surround myself with people that can help me do that type of thing. Right. And so.
But I do think I'm pretty good at figuring out what type of management or supervision or relationship each person needs with me. And while there's a set of Adam things that aren't going to change, I share those with people. And I'm up front like, hey, here's how to best deal with me. Here's how I suggest it. And then I try to learn the same with them. So we meet in the middle and there's a different version of me that they get each one. Now there's some times that they all get the same one. Right. But you have to learn what motivates people and what keeps them engaged and it's different for everybody.
And then I think once you get the larger groups, I think it is about simplicity and concise, clear messages of what can we all buy into.
[00:26:31] Speaker B: Well, what I'm hearing there, and I know we're about to have to go to another break, is I'm hearing intentionality. And it sounds like you're very intentional and that's the biggest thing in this. And so we want to continue this conversation. But, y', all, it's break time. You are listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:26:53] Speaker C: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
Welcome back. You're listening to Fit to be Tied and man, show is flying by today. We're having a great time.
[00:27:08] Speaker B: Time flies when you're having fun.
[00:27:09] Speaker C: Time flies when you're having fun. But I will say this.
We've talked about all the leadership, the cool stuff, the strategy, all the good stuff. But now I kind of want to get into the work life balance. And the reason why this, well, not the reason, but one of the reasons why it prompted me to invite you, Dr. Sarah, on the show is you started taking our yoga classes at the rec this semester. And I mean, I had never seen you in yoga before. And part of it, I think was, you know, getting involved with us, which we really appreciate, we really love. But you've made it a commitment, I mean, two days a week. And so what prompted yoga?
[00:27:45] Speaker A: So it's actually, it's actually a continuation of the last segment. And so I, you may not have noticed, but I did not have an answer to. Do you have any hobbies? What do you do for fun? And so I talked around and I said, I have kids, I have this, I have that. And so I don't have that many hobbies. Before I had kids, I played a lot of golf, I do yard work, I like to be outside.
And so I don't do a lot of things for myself. And I have tried a lot of different types of mindfulness before. And I am a highly anxious person. And so I've tried mindfulness things that didn't work because I couldn't stop my brain.
And so I did WILBAMA classes. I lied down on the floor in 3104 with all kinds of people. I tried the walking mindfulness. I thought the labyrinth was pretty cool. But then there was also like a slow walking just in place and I couldn't do that. Kind of flipped me out. And so anyway, so that's been in the back of my head for a while. And I've had people say, you should do yoga, you should do yoga. So that's just been in the back of my head. The other part it connects to is that when I take over a new unit, one of the most important things I do is try to go and see what's going on and try to learn as much as I can. And I'll tell you, people who grow up or come up through facilities like student unions, there's that whole management by walking around, right? Like you're always in somebody's office, you're checking on people because you've got custodians that work for you, you've got people who put on programs, you've got artists who work for you.
You know, we had people who ran a bowling out, right? And so part of it was. And I was at a meeting with you all, I think I showed up to a meeting and I said, scott, invite me to a few meetings. Let me meet the staff. And I said, I said, I'll take a class, I'll go to an outdoor rec. Let me see what you all do. And you all tried to get me to take Reformers Pilates.
[00:29:36] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, we still gotta do that.
[00:29:37] Speaker A: You all were hot and heavy on Reformers Pilates at that point. And I said, let's Take it and let's dial it back a notch. And you all said yoga and I said yes.
And so there's a few things there. I've told everybody that's selfish for me, that for me is a work thing. Right. That is how I do my job better is to try to go over there and learn what's going on. Right. But I also selfishly kind of wanted to do it anyway and wanted to try it. And if I said it out loud to you all, I was gonna do it.
[00:30:06] Speaker C: And the time of day is perfect.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: I'm just gonna say 3:30. So but I started during the day noon summers. So I started late July.
[00:30:13] Speaker C: That's right, that's right.
[00:30:14] Speaker A: With the noon summers. And then now it's like totally perfect. But also when I go over there, I can see staff, I talk to staff, I stop by and see the people in the office. I meet a lot of folks that different teach different classes.
So I get a lot of work benefit out of it as well as I've really enjoyed it. And so it's become for me, I've been able to shut. It's hard to. For me to do and had to learn it, so I'd never done it. I went from zero to yoga and I did one day a week and then I'm doing two days a week.
[00:30:46] Speaker C: Have you seen improvement?
[00:30:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:47] Speaker C: In yourself?
What specifically? Mind or body?
[00:30:51] Speaker A: So both, I will say for sure during yoga I can shut off my brain. And so for that hour I am down.
And that is the first time I've been able to do anything like that. Now part of it is because I have to pay attention and follow every move and every pose and everything like that a lot. And I find myself now when I go to gentle yoga sometimes when I'm getting more comfortable, still drifting away. And so I have to challenge myself a little more.
Whereas with power yoga I'm still struggling so much that I've got to do it. And it depends on who's doing gentle yoga, quite frankly to know how powerful it is.
And so, yes, that and body wise, I mean as far as flexibility.
Yeah, it's incredible.
Especially because I've never tried anything like it before.
[00:31:41] Speaker C: Well, it's interesting because when people talk about mindfulness meditation, that's just really hard.
[00:31:46] Speaker A: It's really hard.
[00:31:47] Speaker C: We're so turned on to everything. And I practice yoga a lot and those types of movement principles, I can't meditate for that long. I went to a meditation workshop in Birmingham. It was an all day thing. It was Kind of trippy.
And we meditated for very long periods of time and it was the hardest thing ever. And I had a guided meditation so I had somebody like taking me through it. But it was all based on breath work and visualization. Yoga is the best thing because you know, you need to connect your body with your mind so that when you come into your final relaxation or shavasana, you release pent up tension that your body holds from your mind and then you can lay down and that's when the magic kind of happens, you know.
[00:32:25] Speaker A: So it's interesting you say that. I used to, when I used to exercise more consistently, I actually did body weight circuits because I was, I am about saving time.
[00:32:37] Speaker C: Right.
[00:32:37] Speaker A: So I can also do this during work time. Right. And so that's a huge save for me who has a 9 year old and 11 year old and has tennis tonight and basketball tonight and everything else. But so the ability to, to do it at work is a huge deal. Well, I used to work out for that 20 minutes. I'm just hardcore for that 20 minutes. It's awful. Well, that just stressed me out more. It was like the most anxious way to exercise for somebody who is exercising to stop being anxious. So after a while that didn't work anymore. Yeah. And I never thought about it until I stopped doing it. And now I do something that is such a radically opposite approach to what I'm doing. It's all about calming down and getting your. It's just as hard. Right. Like I tell people all the time, if you want to know how every single muscle in your body hurts at the same time, including most of them that you didn't know existed. Right. Like that's yoga for you.
[00:33:28] Speaker C: And to think especially power yoga.
[00:33:30] Speaker A: Yeah. And just to imagine how much work goes into some small, extremely intentional movement. Right. Like it's such a, it works with my brain in some way of just. If you just do the right thing in the right way, you can really get the most out of it. Right. Like it's just cutting all the fluff out of it in that way. And so to me that helps because that's similar to how I like to look at I think a lot of pieces of my life.
[00:33:57] Speaker B: Well, I tend to have a love hate relationship with the word self care. I think Whitney and I, we've talked about this before. But I am curious, aside from this journey that you've had with yoga, are there other things that you and your family incorporate that are health focused or health intentional or you know, self care intentional?
[00:34:17] Speaker A: So I'm not the greatest at it. I told Whitney off air the other day. I almost refused to come on here due to my imposter syndrome. But yoga is an attempt for me to get back into doing those things.
You know, I'm a pretty crazy introvert, actually. Now I'm also very outgoing and work in an outgoing field and will never shut up, apparently. And so that, that doesn't come across. But so when I'm at home on the weekends, I'll hang out in the basement and listen to records for three or four hours in the morning before I kind of get up and get going. And that kind of is a, for me, the way that I kind of recharge myself or if I go out to see a band on a night, that's kind of a communal, outgoing experience for me, even if I'm alone and not with anybody. Right.
So that post Covid, that was a big thing for me is being able to go out and do that type of stuff again.
So, yeah, we were big walkers during COVID too, when we were at home, and we still do that sometimes and things like that.
[00:35:14] Speaker B: Well, I appreciate your transparency. Basically saying, like, you know, I don't know if I'm good at the self care thing yet because I think that for me and others that I've spoken with, they felt like, especially during the pandemic, you heard people say, say, like, oh, you got to do self care, self care. And then people would register it as, oh, gosh, this is just one more thing for me to be mad at.
[00:35:35] Speaker C: You know, it became negative. It wasn't, oh, let's look, let me do this one thing for myself. And I always tell Sheena, like, self care to me, and this is weird because I'm in fitness, but, like, it's in time. It's sometimes not Fitness and wellness. Self care is just that break going listening to records or going to the movies, taking a break from reality. But yeah, thanks for just. I mean, our listeners need to hear that because I think sometimes on the show we're like, you should do this to be healthy. And then sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. And that's fine.
[00:36:02] Speaker A: Sometimes something works for a while and then doesn't. I swear to you, I did the same types of exercises and other things for years and it just doesn't work anymore. Right. My life's different. Apparently. I'm older than I used to be. Right. And so there's all these things that
[00:36:15] Speaker C: go into it that becomes a problem.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: I'll tell you so time is different than it used to be. Right. And so it doesn't work anymore. And so I was searching for something new whether I knew it or not. Right. And so the timing was good for me personally and professionally. You see, it's gotten both personally and professionally, I've gotten quite a bit out of it. And so again, it's linked to all these other things of how I can have a hobby that benefits me personally and professionally and use that same two hours a week for all of that.
[00:36:45] Speaker C: Right.
[00:36:46] Speaker A: And so certainly I get a lot of value out of it in all parts of my life. So it's been a great addition to my life.
[00:36:55] Speaker B: Well, I think considering the fact that you are so busy, you know, we're just grateful that we got to have this time with you today to really learn more about who you are, not only as a leader on our campus, but as a person. You know, get to hear about all of your adventures as a strapping young 14 year old boy at the video rental store to nail. But jokes aside, we've got to take another break, but we're gonna keep you on for our last five minutes. We've got a question for you. But you guys, you're sticking to Fit to be Tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone.
[00:37:32] Speaker C: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
And we're back. You're listening to Fit to be Tied and man, another show in the books. And Dr. Sterrett, thanks for being on with us. It's been great, enlightening and awesome.
[00:37:50] Speaker A: Thank you all for having me. I've had a great time.
[00:37:52] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay, so I don't know where this came from, but sometimes I'm just like, I need a question to ask somebody at the end. And it used to be the self care question. Well, that's boring. No one cares anymore. It's boring. So my question is, what gets you hyped? Like, and it can be anything. You know, one of our. Okay, we have to talk about Paige Acker real quick. So Paige Acker came on the show. Her version of getting hyped is like a really good schedule and like a planner to where she's super organized. And we were like, okay, yeah, all right. I'm thinking like, I'm playing like Backstreet Boys in the car and like getting ready for the day or whatever.
[00:38:26] Speaker B: And then Charles Burrows. One thing aside from him mentioning the music that he likes that gets him hype. He also mentioned what gets him hyped is a scenario where you have have something on Your calendar. The other person canceled it. So now you're no longer obligated to.
So it's like, does he keep it on the calendar?
[00:38:46] Speaker C: Oh, see, that's.
[00:38:47] Speaker A: So when I cancel things, I ask them if I can keep it on my calendar, protect my time.
So that way, like it shows up that you've declined it and you're not coming. Well, I still set up the meeting. I'm still going to have that time to myself.
[00:39:01] Speaker B: Hashtag pro tip.
[00:39:02] Speaker C: Prepping our pro tip. I like that. So, yeah, what was the actual question?
[00:39:06] Speaker A: Sorry.
[00:39:06] Speaker C: Well, like, what gets you hyped? And it could be anything. I mean, traditionally people go to music and you're obviously a music kind of guy, but like something that just kind of makes you feel really good.
[00:39:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Is it good cup of coffee? Is it a particular song?
[00:39:17] Speaker A: So I'm a big coffee fan, but I'm a really, really big fan of cleanliness. Okay. And so I'm a really.
[00:39:24] Speaker C: I like that one.
[00:39:25] Speaker A: Neat freak. Cleanliness. So like if I roll home today and the house is completely clean, but like a Friday, if I could get home on a Friday, like a cool fall Friday and the house be perfectly clean, that's like something non music related. That would get me super pumped. Now I like to get pumped about things. I think the terminology of get pumped pumped.
[00:39:45] Speaker C: Well, maybe we should change it to get pumped.
[00:39:47] Speaker A: I used to wear a visor in one of my early jobs that said get pumped. And if people weren't so pumped at work, then you got to get yourself pumped. Let's go.
[00:39:55] Speaker C: It's time.
[00:39:55] Speaker B: You're like a server Applebee's.
[00:39:57] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
You don't have enough flare that. 23 pieces. It's a Thursday. It's 25 piece Thursday.
[00:40:04] Speaker C: Now do you get pumped just when it's clean or do you like to
[00:40:07] Speaker A: clean so it just has to be cleaned? And so if I have to do it, that's fine. If somebody else does it, that's great. But it has to be clean and it has to be clean to my expectations.
[00:40:15] Speaker C: You know what I'm going to change my hyped to? I love to rearrange stuff. It's like, it's like I love and I do this in my office all the time. It'll change all the time. It's like, oh, wasn't that there? I was like, I mean it was, but I felt like moving it. I like rearranging, moving things along with being clean. I like being able to clean things. But like if I could, if this whole room right here. If I could get my hands on it, it would look totally different. I already have an idea of what I would like to do in here.
[00:40:38] Speaker A: So my friends from years ago would make fun of me for open window cleaning. And so my favorite thing is the combination, like open the windows, crank the tunes, and clean.
[00:40:46] Speaker C: Right.
[00:40:46] Speaker A: And then you have a perfectly clean house and loud music.
[00:40:49] Speaker C: Spring cleaning.
[00:40:50] Speaker A: Yeah. It's just like the best, right?
[00:40:52] Speaker C: Got a long way to go this spring.
[00:40:54] Speaker A: Well, I like fall better even though.
[00:40:55] Speaker C: Really? Fall clean.
[00:40:57] Speaker B: If. Yeah, fall smells like. Yeah, sure, the aromas of fall are nice.
[00:41:02] Speaker C: I might get one hyped. The smells and the aromas of fall.
[00:41:04] Speaker A: Buy candles, folks.
[00:41:05] Speaker B: You can just get a candle.
[00:41:06] Speaker A: It smells like whatever you want. Get pumped about that.
[00:41:08] Speaker B: I'm just excited that now we have another new response to our get pumped questions. You know, it's. You know, there was, like, the organized schedule. There was this cancel meeting stuff. There's the music. Now we have cleanliness.
[00:41:21] Speaker A: Yeah, this is kind of a sad list here.
[00:41:24] Speaker C: No, but it's good, though. I love it. It just shows how adult we all are. You know what I mean? Like, I like it.
[00:41:29] Speaker B: Answers of student affairs professionals. You know, the lovely life of being in student life.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: But.
[00:41:35] Speaker B: Okay, you guys have a fabulous Thanksgiving. It has been a wonderful Sunday with y'.
[00:41:39] Speaker C: All.
[00:41:39] Speaker B: You have been listening to Fit to Be tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90 points of the capstone.
[00:41:48] Speaker C: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
