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Kara - High School Athletic Director
32 Plays1 month ago
Kara has been a sports fanatic from a young age. She was a member of her high school basketball teams THREE championship wins, then was a championship winning coach. Now as an athletic director for the same high school, she looks back on a successful career as a teacher and coach. If you have an interest in being a athletic coach or director, as well as how to be a better player, Kara is a perfect example of a winning leader who produces well rounded student-athletes (in that order)
If you found this interview helpful and/or entertaining and would like to support the show, you can do so HERE. Thanks!
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction and Guest Overview
00:00:21
The Jobs Podcast
Hey folks, you're listening to the jobs podcast. I am your host, Tim Hendricks. Thank you for joining me today. We have a guest that if you follow high school basketball and you live in Nebraska, the name Cara Graham is not foreign to you. She has been a superstar with a Southeast high school, both as a player and now as a coach.
00:00:42
The Jobs Podcast
And so we'll welcome Cara to the show today. Thanks Cara for joining me.
00:00:46
Kara Graham
Absolutely. Happy to join.
Cara's Early Life and Family Support
00:00:48
The Jobs Podcast
So let's start off, give us a little history about Kara, where you were born, your upbringing, high school, you know, education, all that good stuff. We'll just go from there.
00:00:58
Kara Graham
Sounds good. Yeah, I was actually born here in Lincoln, Nebraska. and really have spent my, the majority of my life here. We spent a couple of years due to my dad's job. We spent a couple of years in Lake Zurich, Illinois, kind of a suburb of Chicago.
00:01:14
Kara Graham
but I was, that was pre-K into kindergarten. I think I came back to Lincoln middle of kindergarten, went to Holmes elementary pound middle school, Southeast high school.
00:01:18
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:01:28
Kara Graham
Kind of always been a Lincoln person. Love the Midwest. My family consisted of growing up, both my parents and then I have an older sister and an older brother.
00:01:37
Kara Graham
Both You know, tried sports a little bit, but really became just big little sister fans because it just is a place where I thrived and I really enjoyed every concept and everything about competition.
00:01:53
Kara Graham
Those two were much better students than I was. When they were in school, they felt that, I think, just a sense of accomplishment. And I felt it more...
00:02:03
Kara Graham
in athletics and so it was cool it was cool family thing too because the whole crew all of my track meets and basketball games and so growing up everything was kind of about Kara sports and I feel a little bad about that now to be honest but uh just great supporters great family and Lincoln and Southeast High School have kind of been home for me for really long time
00:02:26
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
High School Basketball Achievements
00:02:27
The Jobs Podcast
I was doing some research on your history and your record. And in the early nineties, you're the Knights class, a state championship. Let's see. 93, 94 and
00:02:40
Kara Graham
That's right. We were very fortunate. So when I was in middle school, and it's not the same now, you had to live in your attendance area of what high school you went to.
00:02:51
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:02:51
Kara Graham
And was fortunate. Now it's like school choice everywhere. So you can choose whatever high school you want to go to and drive as far as you want every morning and every night to go to that school. But at the time, it was the Nebraska Department of Education said, you have to go to the high school that's in your attendance area. And we had just moved into Southeast attendance area.
00:03:11
Kara Graham
We were downsizing and needed to financially. And it worked out really well for me. John Larson is the head coach here. And he had been here for a really long time with a lot of success in the late 80s and early 90s. And I was like, I want to play for that guy. You know, you go to the Bob Devaney Sports Center every winter as a kid watching football.
00:03:30
The Jobs Podcast
Thank
00:03:30
Kara Graham
teams compete for state championships. And you just kind of recognize what kind of that, what kind culture you want to be around. And my parents really liked the way how, how,
00:03:41
Kara Graham
hard he was on kids, how much expectations mattered to him and thought he would hold me to a high standard. And so I went Southeast High School and we did have a lot of success. I wasn't the only one. There was actually three of us freshmen coming in together that kind of became staple here for those four years.
00:04:00
Kara Graham
Freshman year, we lost in the first round and we kind of decided from there we weren't going let that happen again. And yeah, ended up with a three-peat, like I said, a lot to do with just being fortunate with really good teammates and good coaches.
00:04:12
The Jobs Podcast
Good deal. You mentioned that you played various sports. What did you play and then how did you eventually settle on basketball as the one that you wanted to commit to wholeheartedly?
00:04:25
Kara Graham
Yeah, great question. I, you know, I, was just again I love competition I loved all of it the the early stages growing up, it really was a lot of track, track and field. I love to run, not distance.
00:04:41
Kara Graham
I was, I wouldn't say I love to run. So, so to speak, but I loved, I love the concept of track.
00:04:44
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:04:47
Kara Graham
Like you, you've got someone in front of you want to go catch them and you got to be tough and mentally and, and trained physically to do that. And I really enjoyed it. So we traveled all over, with Lincoln youth track club, I was young and,
00:05:01
Kara Graham
It was a good, it was always good family vacations too. So my parents kind of liked that. But we, we spent a lot of time with track when I was younger, my sister did as well. And then,
00:05:12
Kara Graham
you know, as a female, you start to get a little bit more mature and gain some hips and get a little slower, if I'm going to be honest. And I started, started enjoying, no, I stay away from that one, buddy.
00:05:21
The Jobs Podcast
I'm not touching that one.
00:05:24
Kara Graham
But I'm just telling you a fact, it's harder, the older we get.
00:05:27
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
00:05:29
Kara Graham
It's just some of us are built differently. And so I clearly wasn't going to be, you know, a speedster.
00:05:31
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:05:34
Kara Graham
I was started focusing more on skill sports like volleyball and basketball. And basketball just, one of the things was my dad loved the game of basketball. So he, you know, we obviously watched Husker football growing up and anything to do with competitive team sports, I really just kind of always caught on to as well.
00:05:44
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:05:52
Kara Graham
And as much as I think track and field is a team sport, it is very much based on your own individual output. Whereas, basketball just became a love of mine because of how necessary it was to rely on other people and how to, how they relied on you and how much work ethic I needed to put in in order to not let those people down.
00:06:10
Kara Graham
And then it was just a, it was just a bonding experience with my dad. And that was really big at that time in my life as a youngster, wanted to be around him and do whatever he thought was cool.
00:06:17
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:06:20
Kara Graham
So by the time I was probably, know, 10, 11, was still gosh, I was a national long jump champion, you know, when I was 10 years old, but then that, uh, which I'm sure has something to do with Tim.
00:06:29
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:06:33
Kara Graham
Somebody was sick that day or something and didn't make it, but we, we, uh, we, by the time I was 12, it was clear track wasn't going to be it. And I really did love just going out in the driveway and shooting with my dad and shooting baskets and, and,
00:06:47
Kara Graham
I still did volleyball and track in high school, but basketball was my true love. And you know how a lot of times too, it's really just as simple as you have a little success when you're young and I'm 12 or 13 years old and the ball goes in the basket a couple of times and somebody tells you, wow, you're good at that. This is great. And so then you just kind of pursue it a little bit more because you're encouraged that that is something that maybe you could find success in and it's enjoyable to succeed too. So that's really honestly a big part of it too.
00:07:19
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, that boost of self-confidence I can see would really be motivating for a young person who's, you know, that's tough to kind of figure out who you are and what you're going to do and what your skill set is. And when you find something that good at, it's nice to lean into it. And then you had success doing just that.
00:07:34
The Jobs Podcast
So.
00:07:35
Kara Graham
Yeah. And, you know, like, like I said, especially for a female in that 12 to 13 age where self self-confidence when you go into middle school for any boy or girl is it's it's tough.
00:07:40
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:07:46
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, it is.
00:07:47
Kara Graham
And people are cruel. And, you know, like there's.
00:07:52
Kara Graham
I had horrible hair. had other things. I wasn't, like I said, I wasn't my sister. I wasn't a great student or I couldn't sing like she could. And so I wanted to be like my sister. Like Lisa was the coolest person alive to me growing up. And so I always was like, God, I can't do what she does.
00:08:07
Kara Graham
And so anytime I found success with something else, I think I just kind clung to that, hung on to it. And yeah, basketball was it.
00:08:17
The Jobs Podcast
So you're a three-peat state champion. You graduated from high school.
College Basketball Journey
00:08:24
The Jobs Podcast
What's next?
00:08:25
Kara Graham
Yeah, so by the time I was a junior, really believed I could play college basketball. And so I started pushing myself to that. And back at that time, again, I'm old. So in those mid-90s, there wasn't the club sports that we have now where you'd travel all over in the summers to –
00:08:42
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:08:42
Kara Graham
to get looked at by college coaches. And so I was getting looked at by people in Nebraska. So the university of Nebraska, university Nebraska, Kearney, those schools that, that maybe I could play somewhere here local. And then I'd go to a couple of camps places and hope that maybe other colleges would, would see me. Cause otherwise you just send tapes out back then or now it's so easy for coaches to find kids.
00:09:06
Kara Graham
And so got recruited a little bit by few different colleges, Nebraska, Nebraska Kearney. almost took a visit to the Navy. That was interesting.
00:09:18
The Jobs Podcast
Huh. Yeah.
00:09:19
Kara Graham
Kind of a couple of East Coast smaller schools, smaller Division I schools. It became really clear to me. thought early and my parents were so good at being realistic with me that, you I wasn't going to probably get a scholarship and play a lot of minutes at the D1 level.
00:09:34
Kara Graham
And so, and I, I believed I could play at the division one level, but it would have taken, you know, a couple of years to work to earn that, which is fine. I love the concept of just continuing to play and compete right away.
00:09:47
Kara Graham
And then also I love for my parents' sake, again, just financially at the time, it was starting to be a little bit of a strain and my, my siblings were having to, you know, get loans and pay for school.
00:09:57
Kara Graham
And I watched that happen. And I thought, gosh, if I can get my school paid for, this helps myself out for later. And obviously my family as well. So I ended up going to UNK, Nebraska Kearney and on a four ride scholarship and played basketball there for four years.
00:10:04
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:10:12
Kara Graham
Again, fortunate that played for a really, really good coach who was young and eager in Amy Stevens. And she had recruited really well.
00:10:22
Kara Graham
It was just her second year there that I came on. And so was one of her first recruits and we were just really, really good. So again, conference titles, conference tournament championships, good opportunities to go to national tournaments.
00:10:37
Kara Graham
Unfortunately in, in D2 at the time, boy, we ran up against teams that are now in the sweet 16, like university of North Dakota North Dakota state.
00:10:45
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, wow.
00:10:47
Kara Graham
And these big girls who were just clearly raised differently, ate better than we did or lifted harder. I don't know.
00:10:55
The Jobs Podcast
Something in the water.
00:10:55
Kara Graham
We ran into some juggernauts up there up north.
00:10:57
Kara Graham
But so fun. Really, really such a great learning experience because it was so hard. You know, I think one of the things I try to. work with athletes now on is how hard college sports are and that I want you to want that but please don't please don't quit when it gets hard you know it's it's very very tough and and we learned a lot a lot of tears lot of lot of blood and tears to get through a lot of injuries just fight through as you're becoming an adult and I'm away from home even though only two hours away it still felt away and
00:11:29
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:11:30
Kara Graham
You have to figure out who your new support system is going to be and these teammates and the people that are going through it with you. I just always love the concept of athletics for that reason, team and adversity and things that will help you in life in the future.
00:11:46
The Jobs Podcast
When you move from high school to college basketball,
00:11:51
Kara Graham
hmm.
00:11:51
The Jobs Podcast
Is everything about it, I mean, I know it's more difficult because the competition is more skilled, but I would imagine that the speed and the aggressiveness and just everything about it is amped up. It goes from 5 an 11.
00:12:05
The Jobs Podcast
I can't even imagine what it gets to be on the professional level, but how do you shift gears as a coach or as a student?
00:12:08
Kara Graham
Oh, I know, right?
00:12:13
The Jobs Podcast
How do you shift gears in that? Do they just throw you into the deep end and go, this is how you learn? Or do they kind of guide you and go, all right, the first year is going to be, we're going to put on some weight, work on your skillset, tactics and strategies and stuff like that. Or how does that kind of play out?
00:12:31
Kara Graham
Sure. I get what you mean. I'll be honest. It's especially if you're in a winning program, like I was fortunate to be in, you really do just get thrown into the deep end. Like the expectation is you're, you're,
00:12:40
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
00:12:44
Kara Graham
you're not, we're not waiting for you. You know, we're on this trajectory upward to make our team better. And the reason we recruited you and chose you is because we felt like you could help us even take that next step. So it's, it's not like we're waiting for you to figure it out.
00:12:58
Kara Graham
And there's always goals like that that come up.
00:13:01
Kara Graham
Like for me, actually had to lose a couple of pounds and put on some weight, I'm sorry, put on some strength instead, lose a little fat and just again, body type and, and stuff like that.
00:13:12
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:13:13
Kara Graham
Whereas there were other kids. Yeah. They had to feed them and get them more. The nutrition that people are able to do now at the college level is so huge. And then obviously strength training, that's all, that's all so different than what you do in high school.
00:13:25
Kara Graham
Even if, even if you have great strength coaches in high school, it's always a step definitely from like what you said, five to 11. Yeah. Like it just all is a little bit more intense. We, we, I'll never forget when my college coach, you know, I this legendary high school coach and we were well known for defense and just great pressing defense and lots of steals and layups and rotations. And everybody was just, we were very good defensively. And I remember my head coach in a drill one day in college said, I thought you, thought,
00:13:54
Kara Graham
I thought coach Larson taught you how to play defense.
00:13:56
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, geez.
00:13:57
Kara Graham
This is terrible. This is terrible. You don't like, you don't, it was everything, you know, wrong foots forward and like all the technique stuff. That's so different when you get to the college level that is expected to just be, you're supposed to, you're supposed to just have it.
00:14:06
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:14:10
Kara Graham
And when you're in high school, a lot of it's instinct and just, do you have skill or not that, you know, figure out how to make a group of girls work together.
00:14:15
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:14:18
Kara Graham
And at the college level, it does a lot more like individual skill needs to improve in order to help the team. So. a lot of that technique stuff changes but yeah it was intense for sure
00:14:29
The Jobs Podcast
So you are playing collegiate ball. You're getting your degree. Then let's fast forward you're done with college.
00:14:46
Kara Graham
Yeah, yeah, that's right. So I actually really didn't, I wasn't one of those people that grew up knowing exactly what I wanted to do with life.
00:14:54
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:14:54
Kara Graham
I only knew that I wanted to be involved in sports and play. One of the things I thought that I wanted to do was like broadcast journalism. Like I thought I wanted to be announcer or commentator or, know, be on the microphone and talk sports.
00:15:08
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
00:15:11
Kara Graham
And at the time that just, That seemed intriguing to me, but it wasn't like a passion either. I just wasn't real passionate about anything, but like the very next day, what I'm going to do to get better at my basketball game. And I didn't think enough about the future.
00:15:25
Kara Graham
There was a time at the end of my sophomore year where my financial or my financial, my educational advisor was like, Hey, you need to pick a major. Like, what are we going to do?
00:15:37
Kara Graham
And I think it really came down just some key coaches in the high school level in my life and family members and people around me that said, hey, you'd be a pretty good teacher.
00:15:46
Kara Graham
And if you want to stay involved in athletics, why don't you just do PE? Like, duh. And then you can coach. Because at the time, everyone's like... you know, coaches are really just either PE teachers or social studies teachers that push play, you know, put in a video and push play.
00:16:03
Kara Graham
And that's not true anymore, by the way, but maybe it used to be, I don't know.
00:16:06
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:16:07
Kara Graham
But so I felt like, okay, I love working with kids. Like we, you know, at UNK, we were, we did a ton of camps in the summer. You had to, in college as an athlete, have to kind of work the camps. And I loved working with little kids and teaching them the game of basketball. And I thought, well, this could be fun,
Transition to Teaching and Coaching
00:16:23
Kara Graham
you know? So when I got my, my physical education and health degree, I knew, I kind of knew I wanted to come back to Lincoln.
00:16:33
Kara Graham
I wasn't missing anything. I just loved it there. I love growing up this way. And so I thought, well, maybe I'll have a family here someday and raise them in Lincoln. And And so you just kind of at that time are focused on whatever's easiest to get started with your career.
00:16:47
Kara Graham
I will be honest, back then there's no NIL or anything.
00:16:47
The Jobs Podcast
Right. Mm-hmm.
00:16:50
Kara Graham
I wasn't make, I was, my school was getting paid for, but I was broke. Like I didn't have any, any money. We didn't have time to work jobs. And so I was so ready at the end of my senior year to just be employed somewhere.
00:17:05
Kara Graham
So I was like, I want to come back to Lincoln. I can live at home with mom and for the first year or something, make some money so I can get out on my own. And that's exactly what I did. I ended at Belmont Elementary.
00:17:17
Kara Graham
got a job there. I had interviewed at a few different places and started at Belmont Elementary School and taught PE there for six years. while I was an assistant coach back at Southeast High School. So, you know, the people who had coached me were still here.
00:17:31
Kara Graham
And so they just happened to have openings at the freshman level for coaching right when I came back. So I graduated in 2000, came back, started my teaching career in 2000, 2001 and coaching as well.
00:17:44
Kara Graham
So was freshman volleyball and basketball there for six years until I just stuck with basketball. And then I got a teaching job here at Southeast as well, six years later. So went from elementary to high school.
00:17:56
Kara Graham
I started teaching and still stayed an assistant basketball coach here for the next 11. So yeah.
00:18:11
The Jobs Podcast
It's just you're in the same building. I mean, I'm assuming they're in the same building for decades.
00:18:15
Kara Graham
Yes. Yes. It's bizarre. Yeah. I'll be honest. super weird. But on the other hand, people give me a hard time about it sometimes like, gosh, do you, do you know there's anything else out there?
00:18:27
Kara Graham
You haven't even tried. You haven't even tried. And no, like, you know, we're our mascot is the Knights. And so I, I tell people, listen, I'm a capital K Knight.
00:18:38
Kara Graham
I don't, I'm not just here for, for a short time. I'm here for the long haul and don't have any intention of, I don't know.
00:18:42
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:18:44
Kara Graham
It never, it never, I had lots of opportunities, you know, as I was an assistant for again, what legendary coach he helped me to grow in my ability to coach. And, and a lot of people, when new jobs were opening to be a head coach at other buildings here in Lincoln, I had people reach out to me and really want me to apply. And I just was like, I'll just wait for him to retire and, and be the head coach here. I really don't have any interest in,
00:19:09
Kara Graham
going anywhere. And I also, I'm very aware, you know, I'm confident, but I also am very aware of what my, what my skillset is ready for. And I knew timing of that wasn't ready for me. I wasn't ready to be a head coach. I needed just a few more years and it just kind of all worked out.
00:19:25
Kara Graham
I suppose how exactly how God intended it to, but So I was an assistant coach for 11 years here and then he retired and I was able to be the head coach for for seven.
00:19:36
Kara Graham
So, yeah, just Southeast High School has kind of been this like climbing ladder of of home for me. It's just kind of all fallen into place. And I'm really grateful because I do love it. It's very, very much family, very much home for me.
00:19:52
Kara Graham
I can't see myself going anywhere else.
00:19:59
Kara Graham
Sorry.
00:20:06
The Jobs Podcast
That I'll commend you.
00:20:27
Kara Graham
Yeah, you're, I mean, you're right. And some people thought I was just struggling to get out of my comfort zone, that Southeast was comfortable for me.
00:20:33
The Jobs Podcast
Uh, mm-hmm.
00:20:34
Kara Graham
And that's why I wasn't going anywhere. And I to fight that battle with some people too, just to really, because I think it is important for young, you know, young people to see that it's okay to turn down opportunities if you know exactly what you want.
00:20:50
Kara Graham
And I had gotten to the point too, where
00:20:50
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:20:53
Kara Graham
I felt like if I had started my own program at that time, there were little things that I just knew. One year when I felt like it was too early for me was I didn't feel like I was ready to lead other assistant coaches.
00:21:07
Kara Graham
I thought I could lead young people in basketball. I didn't think I was ready to be the head coach and be in charge of other adults. And then there was another year that came along and I felt like I think I actually really could do this, but I don't think that's the right place for me. I think it's not a good fit as far as what school was offering, you know.
00:21:31
Kara Graham
And so I was just always really good at and I don't know. Again, I give my parents, my siblings credit for kind of raising me to be humble and understand that my work ethic and what it is choose to do each day to represent myself and my family is going to be the most important thing. And I always felt like there was more I needed to do prepare. And as a matter of fact, I'm not sure I knew I was ready for this head coaching job when it happened. But when he resigned, my head coach called me and said, you're ready.
00:22:03
Kara Graham
Don't think about it. You're ready. And sometimes for me, it's always been that. It's been little push from someone I trusted a time where I probably knew it down deep, but also needed a little push.
00:22:27
The Jobs Podcast
You mentioned a couple of times at this coach that you were kind of waiting for him to retire. What kind of things did he do as a mentor that helped shape you?
00:22:38
The Jobs Podcast
What kind of relationship did you have?
00:22:59
Kara Graham
Yeah, I think so. I think that when I played for him for four years and, and, it's not like it was a cakewalk. You know, he was very hard on me. He was hard on me behind closed doors. He was hard on me in front of other people.
00:23:13
Kara Graham
Might even have been a broken clipboard here or there in a halftime. The expectation of me was really high and You've heard people say, when a coach stops talking to you or stops getting upset with you, then you should be worried.
00:23:26
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:23:26
Kara Graham
I always knew was hard on me for a reason, and he was pushing me to be something better than I thought probably I could be.
00:23:31
Kara Graham
And he always... made me feel that way. He wasn't perfect. There were times as an assistant coach for him, I was thinking about things like, what would I would do differently here? If this was my program, what would I do differently? And he encouraged that. He appreciated that about me.
00:23:47
Kara Graham
And for me, that's what a mentor is. It's someone who is, you know, really more about making you better, making you more prepared for whatever is you want, not what they want.
00:23:58
Kara Graham
And that's why sometimes I think it's almost better to find those mentors and people that you don't even know. Like for me, Pat Summitt was the head coach at the University Tennessee, and I thought she was the greatest thing ever.
00:24:09
Kara Graham
So just watching interviews with her and seeing the way she handled some situations, hearing people say as hard as she was, they always talked about her glare and her stare.
00:24:10
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, good grief.
00:24:13
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:24:21
Kara Graham
And yet there's not a single...
00:24:21
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:24:23
Kara Graham
you know, graduate of there that didn't, well, first of all, all of her players graduated with a degree. And then second of all, they all have great things to say about her. And so I always wanted to be that kind of, it encouraged me to be a mentor for other people then.
00:24:40
Kara Graham
In turn, and I think those people, you know, of course, like my dad, yeah, he and my sister, those are people that I emulate and want to be like in the way that they treat people and the way they, at the time, you know, and the fact that dad played basketball, the way my sister treated people and how fun she was and.
00:24:51
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:24:56
Kara Graham
But at the end of the day, when you're talking about your profession and what you want to do, was going into a profession nobody in my family had done. It wasn't a teaching community my family. I didn't grow up around those friends and people. This was something had to learn from my own teachers and coaches and And Coach Larson was one of those guys that he really just made me feel like I could do.
00:25:20
Kara Graham
I could get through anything, first of all, because he was so hard on me. I could handle it all. But also, you know, that I believed this is if he believes in me and he thinks I can do it and I'm ready, then nothing can stop me.
00:25:34
The Jobs Podcast
I'm going to make my boys listen to this because, you know, you mentioned the broken clipboard thing.
00:25:58
The Jobs Podcast
They're not just yelling at you because they're upset.
00:26:07
The Jobs Podcast
And they're wanting you to hold yourself to a higher standard. It sounds like that's what your coach was doing.
00:26:10
Kara Graham
That's right.
00:26:12
The Jobs Podcast
So.
00:26:13
Kara Graham
That's right. Yeah, the expectations are really high. And it's not just an expectation today or, or for this season, but it's every season for every day.
00:26:18
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:26:21
Kara Graham
And you gotta, you gotta meet that standard every day. And we don't, obviously, we all fall short, right? But if you're working, if you're pushing yourself to meet that standard every day, then there more days than not, you're going to reach it.
00:26:26
The Jobs Podcast
Right. Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:33
Kara Graham
So that's important.
00:26:48
Kara Graham
yeah
00:26:51
The Jobs Podcast
It's a different relationship between a teacher and a student and a coach and a student. And think.
00:27:21
Kara Graham
Yeah, well, I think one of the things that coaches do get lost a little bit sometimes, and, you know, now as an athletic director, I'm working more with coaches than I'm with kids. So it's, I've been through all of these steps, but as a coach, I just remember feeling like it's so important that, that one, students have to know you care about them.
00:27:31
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:27:41
Kara Graham
Yes. But they also, again, have to understand sometimes they don't The kids aren't great. And I wasn't either. I don't think back back then thinking of what their own personal and team goals are like coming up with what you really want.
00:27:55
Kara Graham
And so instead of using the word goals, we just say like as a coach, like I'm here to just put expectations in front of you. This is what this is what we are here to do. And here's how we're going to get there. And so practices are not lined up and set up for you to, you know, just have hoot of a good time every day. Practices are going to put you through adversity that you're prepared then for that adversity when a game comes along.
00:28:20
Kara Graham
And then it's great because you get to, I always love just, it's the life lessons, right? Telling them how this applies later. always told my players in that seven years, I was a head coach. We're going through so much and In year two, ended up winning the state title, and it was the year after my mom passed away.
00:28:39
Kara Graham
And I always told them, I was like, listen, I said, listen, there's not a single moment that I think for a second, I could have survived the death of my mom who, you know, was, she was my best friend at the time.
00:28:50
Kara Graham
Like I couldn't have survived the death of my mom without what I had gone through in high school and college in, in that adversity of being a part of, family of players, right.
00:29:02
Kara Graham
That is led by really, really hard, difficult, tough nosed coaches,
00:29:02
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:29:07
Kara Graham
that put you through things you didn't think you could survive. And you did, you made it through and you found success. And it, there are life lessons and applications in that, that, that I really believe I wouldn't be who I am today if I didn't have those things. And so it's, it's so much easier. And maybe again, I don't know if male athletes are the same as female athletes in this case. I never coached male athletes. I see them a little differently as an athletic director. They sometimes guys are so good at just like,
00:29:36
Kara Graham
I'm just going to – so I lost yesterday. Okay. I'm going to go play today, and I'm going win. Like there's just this like innate sometimes confidence that they're able to just go make it happen. And sometimes we – at least this is me as a coach. I've noticed that a lot of times we females, we just struggle – with bouncing back as easily.
00:29:56
Kara Graham
Like we, we internalize too much. We think everything's our fault. We, you know, it's just, it's absolutely nonsense. But, but what's cool about it is, is as a coach is being able to teach those kids again, how to, how to handle adversity that not only, not only is it okay to fail, but I am literally planning practices in the hopes that you will fail.
00:30:19
Kara Graham
Yes. And I tell parents that we are trying to we are trying to prepare life.
00:30:21
The Jobs Podcast
Really?
00:30:26
Kara Graham
young people for what to do when there's failure. Cause right now it feels like we're in a world where all we do is we, we try make things easier so that you can get a trophy.
00:30:36
The Jobs Podcast
Yes.
00:30:37
Kara Graham
You know, I want to make everything easy so that we can get a trophy and I can make you smile and you can have this great, great, wonderful day.
00:30:37
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:30:45
Kara Graham
And, and I want that. I want every kid to walk out of my gym smiling, but it's just not, that's not life. And if we're not giving that lesson, Then they get into a game situation and they have 10 turnovers and can't seem to get out of their own way in a game. And they've never been asked to handle adversity or fail in practice. So how do they know how to do it?
00:31:05
Kara Graham
How do you bounce back and get out of that in a game if you haven't been taught how to do it in practice?
00:31:07
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Sure.
00:31:11
Kara Graham
And so that's something at home you don't learn. At home you're told you're amazing. Like even me, I was like, you're great, Kara. You're so good at this. Oh, great shot. Oh, that's okay. You missed one. Great job.
00:31:22
Kara Graham
You know, like, and that's what parents are supposed to do, by the way. That's fine. That's great. But when they get to us, especially the high school level, as we're, as we're this close, you know, you're so close to, to real life out there on your own.
00:31:34
Kara Graham
You got to learn how to fail and work through adversity so that, so that you can really recognize the joy and the peace of success then. And success doesn't necessarily mean the scoreboard, just fighting through something and surviving it. Me surviving my mom's death was, you know, it's like a state championship.
00:31:53
Kara Graham
So to me, that's what it's all about.
00:31:54
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:32:03
The Jobs Podcast
I mean, that's such a simple concept. And when you explain it, it makes perfect sense. But I've just never heard it worded like that.
00:32:08
Kara Graham
It sounds evil, right? It sounds evil.
00:32:10
The Jobs Podcast
Well, no, it's it sounds it sounds perfect.
00:32:10
Kara Graham
It sounds awful. But if you think of it correctly, yeah.
00:32:14
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
00:32:27
Kara Graham
Yes. Yes, absolutely.
00:32:39
Kara Graham
Yes. Yes.
Becoming an Athletic Director
00:32:41
Kara Graham
So again, still at Southeast High School, can't seem to leave. But I, after 11 years and as assistant and seven as a head coach, so 18 years of teaching PE and health and coaching every single day after school stuff, right? Throughout the year.
00:32:57
Kara Graham
I just, for 18 years, I just thought, gosh, and I did start to get to a point a little bit where in coaching where I was like, This is it's not that it's harder. It's the the landscape changed as well.
00:33:09
Kara Graham
So, again, we're starting to get into a big social media age about, you know, a decade ago.
00:33:13
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:33:14
Kara Graham
And kids were able to, you know, transfer all over and decide where they wanted to go to school based on where their friend was going to school. And everything was different, which there's nothing wrong with different.
00:33:26
Kara Graham
And coaches have to adapt. But for some reason, I felt like myself pulled a little bit more towards helping coaches navigate that whole new life more so than actually doing it myself and try come up with strategies and helping them do that.
00:33:42
Kara Graham
I also felt like there were years there at the end of my head coaching career where I was struggling more to be joyful in it myself because I was so...
00:33:53
Kara Graham
so competitive so and we just we didn't have the the skill level to to have the expectation to be at the state tournament every year and that's okay but it wasn't okay with me right so i was again i needed to grow in my own leadership and so i took some classes
00:34:02
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:34:15
Kara Graham
to there's a really good program at Doan College called Educational Leadership. And so it's a it's a master's degree to become a principal or AD or, you know, administrator that that is set up for teachers.
00:34:32
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:34:35
Kara Graham
So you could be a teacher And it was every, you meet in like a cadre. And I met every Sunday with this same group for two years. And then in the summer, there's a little bit more intense, like two week classes.
00:34:47
Kara Graham
But otherwise it was set up perfectly for teachers. So you're not missing like Wednesday nights or Saturday. Like it was always Sundays and then one Sunday a month.
00:34:58
Kara Graham
And then it was, you know, intense in the summers and it just worked out perfectly for me. I love this program. And so I ended up getting my degree through Doan.
00:35:04
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:35:07
Kara Graham
And again, as a person who's not a school person that doesn't want to just sit in class and read and write. I loved it. It was great for me.
00:35:17
Kara Graham
So I got my degree and I didn't do anything with it for a couple of years. had no intention of actually at that time, not coaching or teaching. As a matter of fact, at first I really thought maybe I'll just, I've been doing the same thing for 18 years. Maybe I'll just go a couple of years, just teaching and really focusing on my teaching job and not coaching. And I can support other people in the building and do other things.
00:35:40
Kara Graham
And that just, that's silly for me to think I was going to get away from athletics in any realm. So,
00:35:45
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:35:45
Kara Graham
And again, just kind of fell into place. So there was an assistant AD opening here where the athletic director really encouraged, again, pushed me a little bit, encouraged me to apply.
00:35:57
Kara Graham
said, I'm just not sure I'm ready to get out of the classroom. I don't want to get away from kids. And And so he said, well, then don't get away from kids, become an assistant AD and do it differently than people have done it before, you know, be around students and stick, stay with that and stay involved with that somehow find a way, you know?
00:36:14
Kara Graham
And so I did, I became the assistant AD here for four years. And then that athletic director kind of moved up to the district office. And so I've been, this is my third year as the athletic director, again, still here at Southeast.
00:36:39
The Jobs Podcast
Cause that's a pretty specific program.
00:36:47
Kara Graham
Uh,
00:36:50
Kara Graham
Yeah, and it was such a broad program that, again, it was for people who wanted to be a principal. was for people who were taking the next step towards being a big superintendent somewhere.
00:36:57
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, okay.
00:36:58
Kara Graham
So it wasn't just athletics.
00:37:01
Kara Graham
But that was always – they did a really good job. They would bring in speakers of each of those areas. So you could really determine what it is you wanted to do. I could have changed courses and thought, I think I would be a great principal. And that's just not how I, again, envision myself always around athletics. there were some people in my group that were going to be special education coordinate.
00:37:01
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:37:21
Kara Graham
You know, there was a lot of different aspects of it. And so they just, they teach, I mean, the classes were more general in that way. So one was all about law school law and one, so we didn't get ourselves sued as administrators.
00:37:29
The Jobs Podcast
I see. Mm-hmm.
00:37:35
Kara Graham
You know, one of them is just about leader, just basic leadership learning to, we did strength finders tests and learn more about ourselves and then followed up and And how to teach, lead other adults who maybe don't get along as well or fit as well with their own strengths and weaknesses and stuff like that.
00:37:59
The Jobs Podcast
So now that you are, you know, for most of your career, you're looking forward. Now you have people underneath you that you are managing.
00:38:24
Kara Graham
So, you know, at the end of the day, like the main thing, there are a few things that I've kind of become, have become my staple for what I'm looking for. And it's not the same for, for everybody, but it is, it's how I handle it. So I'm not saying it's the right way, but the biggest and most important thing for me is that, that coaches understand, you know, Billy Graham said that a coach changes more lives and, and, uh,
00:38:52
Kara Graham
one season than anyone else can do in a lifetime. And I always believe that like a coach, a coach is so, and I tell parents that every year as we get started in each sport, you know, we're about to start spring sports here in the next couple of weeks.
00:38:55
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:39:04
Kara Graham
And I meet with our parents and I'm going to tell them like your kid is about to spend more time with their coach than they do with you. So when they come home, if there's any way you could just make it a home and not make it all about what happened at practice and why they're not playing and all that stuff, right?
00:39:22
Kara Graham
Because a coach really does, to answer your question, the coach really does have to do a great job of getting to know kids, caring about them, and then ensuring that they know you care about them.
00:39:34
Kara Graham
And again, we're just in a day and age where People want things to be easy and they want you just to give them opportunity just because they walked in the door, not because they had to earn anything.
00:39:45
Kara Graham
And so teaching them those life skills that, you know, you really do have to earn it.
00:39:45
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:39:49
Kara Graham
And the great thing about coaching that I do love when it comes to that is that.
00:39:57
Kara Graham
Sports are extracurricular, which means they are a privilege. They are not a right. Your education is a right. So our teachers do have to treat you a little different. Coaching is hopefully just like teaching.
00:40:10
Kara Graham
Hopefully you can do the same and hold them to the same standard. But on the other hand, if you're not pleased with how that's going, you have every, you don't have to be there.
00:40:17
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:40:20
Kara Graham
You know, it is a privilege. And so coaches, coaches have to do a great job of understanding that and, and really, entered, making it, you know, a welcoming place for, for kids to be, but yet holding them to that high standard and getting that expectation out. And so I look for people that, that really are good at,
00:40:40
Kara Graham
Really three things. One, do you just generally make good relationships with other with kids and with other adults? You're not scared of talking to a parent like that's kind of important to and I mean, just general talking like there are some people that literally put their head down when they see a parent, even if the parents just going to say hello.
00:40:57
Kara Graham
So that's an issue.
00:40:57
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:40:58
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:41:00
Kara Graham
And then the second thing for me is that you can hold them accountable, that we're going to have expectations. We're going to have, whether that's to work towards winning or more so just to work towards getting better every day.
00:41:12
Kara Graham
You know, I tell our coaches, the key is that if your season starts in November for basketball, for instance, they better be playing better in February. Like that's the idea. You're you, there's gotta be growth there as a team.
00:41:25
Kara Graham
So each, each group has got to really, you gotta see growth at the end of the year, whether you're winning a state title or not. So that's exciting for me to always watch that happen. And then the third thing is, unfortunately these days, like you gotta actually know what you're doing.
00:41:40
Kara Graham
You know, back, back when I was in high school, If a coach had told me how to do a technique in the high jump or something, would have tried it. would have just done it because that's what I was told to do by an adult.
00:41:51
Kara Graham
And nowadays, adults are questioned a lot more. There's like this freedom in young people.
00:41:55
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:41:58
Kara Graham
And by the way, it's not a bad thing always. It's how they communicate it sometimes is bad. But I like that we are pushed a little bit to prove why we're doing what we're doing.
00:42:08
Kara Graham
You know, like, what is this drill for? And and again, so there might have been people that coached soccer way back when that don't know anything about soccer, but they're just coaches. And so they just got out there and rolled the ball out and they held the kids to a high expectation. And then they actually did really well.
00:42:25
Kara Graham
Well, now you actually you have to have soccer coaches that know something about soccer. And so for me, it is important that you have a knowledge base of the sport that.
00:42:29
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:42:34
Kara Graham
But that's probably third on my list as far as the whole relationships, high expectations and accountability, and then the knowledge of the sport.
00:42:50
The Jobs Podcast
And you would just do it. Do kids nowadays want to know the why? And, and it's okay to know the why. If it's an accusatory type of an approach, that's probably a problem.
00:43:09
Kara Graham
Yeah, I think they I think they want to know. They either want to know the why or other another thing I've seen is that they've they've had these club coaches growing up that teach them differently. And so they they want to know why we're doing it different than they think that whatever I've been taught before is brilliant or if dad showed me how to do it.
00:43:18
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, sure.
00:43:21
The Jobs Podcast
Mm hmm.
00:43:26
Kara Graham
It must be their only way.
00:43:28
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:43:28
Kara Graham
And so now, now it's more just kind of proving that I actually do know what I'm doing that just try, try this for me and see how let's, let's try and,
00:43:39
Kara Graham
see how we can, how we do and how we improve at this level, doing it this way. And then that's why though, if you don't have success as a team, that's why then some of those kids and parents are more difficult to, work with just if, if they think that the way someone else taught it to that kid is better than what you're doing.
00:43:57
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:43:58
Kara Graham
So that's what makes it more difficult, but.
00:44:01
The Jobs Podcast
Are most people that are coaches are in your line of work? Are they extroverted type personalities? Are they introverts that can fake it? Well, or is there a general personality style that you see in your career?
00:44:14
Kara Graham
I think there's a combination of those. There's some good balance. There's some, some real extroverts that just love people and want to be around and, and have no issue walking up to you and saying, what are you doing?
00:44:24
Kara Graham
Or, Hey, you look great today. Your, your, your, your effort and your work ethic is killing it today.
00:44:27
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:44:29
Kara Graham
And there's others that I have to remind them, Hey, that kid needs to hear to be communicated with. They need to hear from you that they're doing that. Well, you, You know, there's some more introverted people that think that if I'm not talking to you or an upset with you, you should just know that you're doing a great job.
00:45:07
Kara Graham
Kids need to know a lot more now as what again, why it is they're not playing or why it is we're not finding success or why does it feel like I can't make a free throw or why in the world?
00:45:13
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:45:20
Kara Graham
does this play never work in a game, but it seems to work in practice, you know, like it, whatever it might be, there does seem to be a need for more communication from coaches than it used to be.
00:45:54
The Jobs Podcast
And it does not a negative. It just doesn't mean that that's, they found what their, their thing is yet. Yeah. How do you or do you deliver that news? This really isn't for you.
00:46:05
The Jobs Podcast
Or do you just try and encourage them and bring them up? And, you know, how does that that coaching and teaching scenario play out? Because it's got to happen from time to time.
00:46:16
Kara Graham
Sir, I do think it's important to recognize like the age of the student and If there is still just some coordination that needs to be worked out to make sure you don't squash squash their dreams and give them the actual tools.
00:46:26
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:46:29
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:46:32
Kara Graham
The key, too, is like lot of coaches now to we Southeast were so lucky because I think we recognize have people in place that recognize that. And so as freshmen, when these kids are coming they're not just.
00:46:46
Kara Graham
you know, throwing in the towel on that poor kid long before they have an opportunity to grow and get better. And it might not even be coordination. It just might be a skill set that maybe that kid doesn't have and he really wishes he did.
00:46:58
Kara Graham
You know, some people love watching March Madness or they love watching college football. And so that means that's what I'm going to do. And it's just not there. That's not going to be it.
00:47:07
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. Yes.
00:47:09
Kara Graham
But to your point, at some point, I think, The more we encourage people, especially at the – again, middle school and high school is so fragile, right? The more you encourage them that they can be whatever they want to be, please understand reality as well. So like here's what you're squatting or deadlifting.
00:47:32
Kara Graham
here's what I need you to be squatting or deadlifting by the end of your sophomore year. And I'm just making up a weird example, which none of, but you know, here's what you have to do to get there.
00:47:39
The Jobs Podcast
No, I get it. Yes.
00:47:44
Kara Graham
Are you capable of, you know, there's always a, it's a, I can't, or I won't. Right. So eventually a kid is going to see that in themselves. I think one of the coolest things for me that I, I get to see though, is when coaches do a great job with it, those student athletes end up, cause you want to tell kids too. Again, my siblings are a great example because they just, they wanted to be a part of sports, but they just, it just wasn't their niche.
00:48:09
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:48:09
Kara Graham
And for whatever reason. And so But they loved it. And so now my brother's going to attend state girls basketball with me all week this week because he absolutely loves it. He eats sports up and he knows it really well, like knows it all, knows sports really, really well. just wasn't his thing for long time as a kid. And so.
00:48:31
Kara Graham
I want to encourage kids that they don't have to give up dreams. It just, it's just going to get morphed into something else. Right? Like he, just because you're not the college athlete doesn't mean you couldn't be a coach one day.
00:48:42
Kara Graham
Like you could be, you could be me.
00:48:43
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:48:44
Kara Graham
Why don't you become my manager and almost be like a student? You call them a student coach instead of a manager just for, Just for their own ego, right? Their own self-esteem and turn them into a person who just really loves it and supports you and would go through a wall for you as a coach and, and we'll do all the dirty work, but you're, you're encouraging them that, that they can do, they can do whatever they want.
00:48:51
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:49:06
Kara Graham
It just not, might not be as a varsity player at this level.
00:49:09
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:49:11
Kara Graham
and try not to squash those dreams, which sometimes Tim, you just, it just happens, right? Kids feel like they just didn't make the team and they thought they were good enough.
00:49:16
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:49:20
Kara Graham
And so it's the coach's fault. And, and you just hope those kids find something else that, that brings them that, that same self-esteem and joy.
00:49:29
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:49:36
Kara Graham
Okay. Sure.
00:49:51
The Jobs Podcast
Is it you're a teacher and then you also take on the
00:50:03
The Jobs Podcast
Or how does that typically go?
00:50:05
Kara Graham
Yeah, I think one of the things that is always dependent on too is like where you are in the country.
00:50:12
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, sure.
00:50:12
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:50:13
Kara Graham
Here in the Midwest, in this area, you know, you get, you get your, your pay is really as a teacher. So I think starting pay for instance, right now as a teacher in Lincoln, Nebraska is $45,000 or something like that with obviously increases throughout.
00:50:29
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Okay.
00:50:31
Kara Graham
It has a whole ladder system. And then if you get your master's degree, you get even more money than that. If you get a doctorate, you get a little more than that on top of your teaching salary. But,
00:50:42
Kara Graham
But the coaching part of that is what they call a stipend. And so depending on what level you're at, if you're a freshman coach, reserve coach, JV coach, and then varsity coach, that number increases.
00:50:55
Kara Graham
At the high school, same thing at middle school, it's going to smaller stipend. But it's just a little – it's basically they're saying, here's some extra money for your time, even though they have no – there's no concept of how much time you actually spend with coaching.
00:51:09
Kara Graham
Yeah.
00:51:09
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:51:10
Kara Graham
Because it's not just during your season, but you're doing off-season workouts and in the summer doing clinics and all that stuff. And there's not a lot of extra pay there. Now, I would say, so you really got to love it.
00:51:20
Kara Graham
That's of things I like about it, actually. If you're here for the money, you're in the wrong one. But if you love it, if you love seeing just a – I remember my first year – sorry for the tangent, but my first year as a teacher at the elementary school – Watching a kid try and learn how to jump rope and then for weeks, not just not get that one time they finally get it.
00:51:43
Kara Graham
The pride that I feel in watching them light up is what you do it for. Like if you go home every day and think, gosh, I don't make enough money, then yeah, education might not be it.
00:51:54
Kara Graham
But you make enough. And education is also wonderful in retirement.
00:51:58
The Jobs Podcast
Yes.
00:51:58
Kara Graham
But I would say this too, Tim, like if you're in Texas and you're a football coach in Texas.
00:52:04
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:52:06
The Jobs Podcast
You're going to be making some decent money.
00:52:07
Kara Graham
You're going make decent money just for coaching, and you may actually not have to teach at all. You may be like the equipment manager, too, or something. You might be in charge of something else. That's different.
00:52:17
Kara Graham
So depending on what part of the country you are in, maybe that's – I would say most places, though.
00:52:21
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:52:25
Kara Graham
Most places, you're teacher first. And we sometimes have to remind coaches of that. You get paid the most for teaching for a reason. You're a teacher first and then you're a coach second, which is for me, it's great for me as I lead people into that is that we're telling kids the same thing. You're a student first.
00:52:45
Kara Graham
You're an athlete second. The word student athlete is in that order for a reason, young people.
00:52:48
The Jobs Podcast
Yes. Right.
00:52:50
Kara Graham
Right. So you you're a student first. It's the same thing for coaches. You're a teacher first. And then your coaching is is a fun bonus. And it's just a little bonus financially, but it's a bonus big time for for other things.
00:53:19
Kara Graham
Thank you.
00:53:20
The Jobs Podcast
You are in your lane in life and you're just smooth sailing. You're rolling, you know, and you're in your wheelhouse.
00:53:36
The Jobs Podcast
What would that career have been other than the one that you mentioned about the sports broadcasting?
00:53:41
Kara Graham
Well, first of all, I appreciate that. I love it when someone recognizes that I do love what I do because sometimes you're having a rough day and it may not seem that way on your face.
00:53:46
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:53:50
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:53:50
Kara Graham
But I do love it. I quite honestly just can't imagine being in a profession that wasn't surrounded by athletics.
00:54:00
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:54:01
Kara Graham
My dream job, if I'm going to be honest, my dream job has always been since I started coaching probably in the last 20 years is I w I want to be like a behind the scenes person for a big time basketball program that just watches film and comes up with scouting reports for you.
00:54:18
Kara Graham
Like I want to be one of those videographer people like behind the scenes that literally watches film. I'm going have 15 different screens. I'm going watch Iowa State play Nebraska, and then I'm going to watch Iowa State play UConn, and I'm going to be able to tell you the strengths and weaknesses of Iowa State so that you can go beat them.
00:54:37
Kara Graham
Like, I want to come up with scatter reports for basketball programs. But outside of anything, outside of sports, honestly, I don't even have guess what I would do.
00:54:49
The Jobs Podcast
Well, I mean, it sounds like you're really satisfied in what you're doing. So why even look elsewhere? You're doing what you're meant to do. And it's just, I can tell that you're into it.
00:55:01
The Jobs Podcast
Like you're committed to it.
00:55:02
Kara Graham
Yeah, I do.
00:55:03
The Jobs Podcast
This is my thing. And this is where I'm at.
Current Role and Future Aspirations
00:55:05
Kara Graham
I do love it.
00:55:06
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:55:06
Kara Graham
And I also, was always a person too, who really quickly recognized when I wasn't good at something. My sister's a nurse and see blood and I want to like literally squeal. So like, I'm very aware.
00:55:17
Kara Graham
brother's brilliant, like a computer programmer and brilliant.
00:55:21
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:55:21
Kara Graham
And I literally, had to call him to ask him how to turn on this podcast.
00:55:25
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:55:26
Kara Graham
So, you know, like there's things that I'm very good at recognizing what I'm not good at.
00:55:31
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:55:32
Kara Graham
So, and I stay away from those things. And that's maybe cowardly. That's my one maybe crutch in life. But I avoid things I'm not good at. And so that's something I could improve on. But what I am good at, I hone in on and I really do work to become better at and as good as much of an expert as I could be in that area.
00:55:52
The Jobs Podcast
Well, I don't normally give people advice, but I'm going to throw this out there.
00:56:19
The Jobs Podcast
You are clearly into it. You know what you're talking about.
00:56:38
Kara Graham
I love that. I love that. I could do that. I'll look into it.
00:56:43
The Jobs Podcast
All right.
00:56:43
Kara Graham
Thank you for that advice. Are you going to want some sort of stipend if that goes well?
00:56:44
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, yeah, well.
00:56:48
The Jobs Podcast
Not a stipend. Just remember me when you become famous and everything. Just say, hey, I got my start on the jobs podcast.
00:56:53
Kara Graham
Got it. All right.
00:56:56
The Jobs Podcast
But hey, thanks for your time today. I really appreciate it. I really enjoyed talking with you. There's a lot of interesting information. And anybody out there listening, that's some solid advice to follow your career.
00:57:09
Kara Graham
Thank you so much. I appreciate the opportunity.