Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, welcome to the Vitamin D Podcast hosted by
Speaker 1: yours truly, Dan Day. I'm here to give you a
Speaker 1: multi vitamin for your mind and spirit. Don't worry, it's
Speaker 1: all natural. But y'all, today I'm pondering passions. What is
Speaker 1: it that intense thing that feels your heart that you
Speaker 1: feel like it's natural to you as breathing. Speaking is
Speaker 1: mine speaking and inspiring folks. It gives me life. Um,
Speaker 1: it fuels me. It's my why. But you know I
Speaker 1: following your passion text guts. It takes hard work because
Speaker 1: you will get a lot of naysayers, folks trying to
Speaker 1: tell you what you can and what you cannot do,
Speaker 1: And honestly, you can't fall them because they can't see
Speaker 1: or fuel your passion. Which leads me to my special guest,
Speaker 1: Violet Palmer, the first female referee in the n b A.
Speaker 1: Violet Palmer is a trollblazer whose passion is fueled by
Speaker 1: hard work. From a young age, she found a deep
Speaker 1: love for basketball, and when she was unable to pursue
Speaker 1: playing ball professionally, she still found a way to get
Speaker 1: in the game, or some may actually say that the
Speaker 1: game found her how fast can I learn? How good
Speaker 1: can I get? How soon can I get to the
Speaker 1: next season? Because I want to be better than I
Speaker 1: was last. Nevertheless, violence, hard work, and passion pushed past
Speaker 1: those naysayers who felt she should just go back to
Speaker 1: the kitchen, and she made history and paved the way
Speaker 1: for future female referees, not only in NBA but across
Speaker 1: male dominated sports in general. If that's not inspirational, I
Speaker 1: don't know what is. So I hope you enjoyed listening
Speaker 1: to this conversation as much as I enjoyed having it.
Speaker 1: So without further ado, it's time for your dose of
Speaker 1: vitamin D vitaminy right with me and get excited about Hello. Hi,
Speaker 1: how are you doing? Are you? I'm so good. It's
Speaker 1: so good to see your face. Oh, thank you. Wait
Speaker 1: a minute, Violet Palmer, May I just say happy anniversary
Speaker 1: to you? Well, thank you so much. I know twenty
Speaker 1: six years somebody is still putting up with me. How
Speaker 1: my wife, I have to say congratulations to you and Tanya.
Speaker 1: I saw you guys, and the grandma was like, wow,
Speaker 1: that's love at its finest. Oh, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: I'm blessed, No, no doubt, no doubt and I'm blessed
Speaker 1: to have you here right now because we've got some
Speaker 1: stuff to talk about. Okay, alright, already shooting birst female
Speaker 1: NBA referee, What yeah, that's me. Yeah, No, seriously, like
Speaker 1: what the first Yes, you know, money don I can
Speaker 1: honestly tell you that. Uh you know you're saying that now.
Speaker 1: It's it's come to fruition. I think when I started,
Speaker 1: I that was never ever even a thought process, because
Speaker 1: you know, when you're going through what you're going through,
Speaker 1: it was about work and survival and trying to make
Speaker 1: it and trying to just be the best that I
Speaker 1: could be. That I never even thought about first pioneer,
Speaker 1: barrier breaker, you go, I'm serious. I'm just being honest.
Speaker 1: We're not even on my mind, none of that. It
Speaker 1: was later in my career, were after you know, establishing myself,
Speaker 1: and everybody you know kept saying it, and I was like, wow,
Speaker 1: you know what I did do that? I am that one.
Speaker 1: I am that Yes, so I embrace it now, Yes
Speaker 1: I do, thank you, and I accept all of the
Speaker 1: accolades and I'll take it. And you know, it's just
Speaker 1: happy to be able to say something or do something
Speaker 1: to help some other young student athlete just get to
Speaker 1: where they want to get to. And and you know,
Speaker 1: I just felt like your story is not only for athletes,
Speaker 1: but anyone that has a dream, that's going after a
Speaker 1: passion or a purpose. That's what I said, right, I
Speaker 1: don't even disagree, And I can honestly tell you that
Speaker 1: I found my passion, no question about. Okay, So let's
Speaker 1: dive in. So first we must say we met through
Speaker 1: a mutual friend, Mr Timothy Snell. And actually when I
Speaker 1: was on his show Curvey Style with Timothy SNeW, I
Speaker 1: was getting I don't know if Tanya was doing my hair,
Speaker 1: did she touch up my makeup? But I remember her
Speaker 1: and I having like a whole dialogue. And then of
Speaker 1: course we're all hanging out and you know, just doing
Speaker 1: our thing, and that I met you, and I think
Speaker 1: we ran into each other a couple of times over
Speaker 1: at win nail spot. No, did you rever gonna win
Speaker 1: on welsher? You know what? Probably maybe I'm winning is
Speaker 1: one of your girlfriends, And I'm thinking of one. Her
Speaker 1: hair is like a honey blonde in this natural and
Speaker 1: I think she used to happen right my duty duty? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: I would always see them up there. So that's how
Speaker 1: we know each other and how we met. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm sitting here and I was thinking about, you know,
Speaker 1: the story and how how to inspire people because a
Speaker 1: lot of times people come about and they're not sure
Speaker 1: what their passion is, they're not sure what the purposes.
Speaker 1: They feel like maybe they can't They've got so many excuses.
Speaker 1: But it's something to be said when you are one
Speaker 1: that it's establishing the blueprint of it all. Thank you,
Speaker 1: because it's like, how did you fathom to imagine? We'll
Speaker 1: see when we talk about vitamin D, we talk about
Speaker 1: the inspiration that's from within. It is it is, but
Speaker 1: you most of us don't know how to find it,
Speaker 1: well hello, what it is? Or we don't know what
Speaker 1: we could do to get it. And I think for me,
Speaker 1: I can honestly say that I did. I I've found
Speaker 1: mine pretty early. Now. I didn't know how far it
Speaker 1: would take me, but I found it. And I just
Speaker 1: wanted to be the best in my profession. And you
Speaker 1: know what, I can honestly say, right place, right time,
Speaker 1: right gender. I took advantage of every single opportunity that
Speaker 1: afforded me. Wow, that's really literally you know. But again
Speaker 1: you have to kind of step out on faith and
Speaker 1: and want to be, you know, just be the best
Speaker 1: you can be. You know, it is a little scary too,
Speaker 1: you know, because I was established in my work career
Speaker 1: after graduating and got into officiating and it was I
Speaker 1: enjoyed it. It was easy money, you know, it was
Speaker 1: just fun for me. So let's talk about that. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about that because we think about it. You're from content,
Speaker 1: you know, you'd say you play ball yourself. You're a
Speaker 1: point guard, cal polly. So I'm interested to know because
Speaker 1: you look at your life in a span thirty forty
Speaker 1: years later, still being in the game. Right, Uh huh,
Speaker 1: how would you say or when did you fall in
Speaker 1: love with basketball? Oh? I was a young kid. You
Speaker 1: know my mom, I can honestly say she she tried
Speaker 1: her best. She you know, she put me in the
Speaker 1: in the yellow dresses and the pink dresses and then
Speaker 1: and the cute shoes and you know, do my hair.
Speaker 1: And I can literally remember God once, you know, and
Speaker 1: I kind of went from that little girl and I
Speaker 1: and my brother was three years younger than me, so
Speaker 1: we were two peas in a pot, and all we
Speaker 1: wanted to do together was be outside playing with our friends.
Speaker 1: And literally I tried every single sport. I played everything,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't like at that moment as a kid
Speaker 1: growing up it was just basketball. I did them all.
Speaker 1: I read track in school, volleyball, um softball. I mean
Speaker 1: I was a really really good softball player. Literally thought
Speaker 1: I was almost thought I was a better softball player
Speaker 1: and the basketball player. But my love was basketball. So
Speaker 1: of course, obviously, once I got um to high school,
Speaker 1: I had a really really good high school coach who
Speaker 1: took a lot of time with me and really helped
Speaker 1: with as far as recruiting, because you know, in today's world,
Speaker 1: for for at that time, Title nine had just kind
Speaker 1: of kicked in and understanding that possibly I could get
Speaker 1: a scholarship to college. Now, for those who are unfamiliar,
Speaker 1: what does Title nine mean? Title nine is what what
Speaker 1: came about to help women in sports? Or oh yeah,
Speaker 1: we women were not receiving scholarships. So of course, once
Speaker 1: Title nine kicked in, it really provided funds for universities
Speaker 1: and colleges to now allow women and for all the
Speaker 1: sports and colleges to now be provided scholarships to be
Speaker 1: a of us go to school for free. So I
Speaker 1: was one of those students. I went to school for free.
Speaker 1: My cal Poli Pomona paid my tuition. The only thing
Speaker 1: that my parents had to help me with was my books.
Speaker 1: I had housing, I had uh food state in the dorms.
Speaker 1: All of that was paid for from athletics. So let
Speaker 1: me ask you this though. If they had to pass
Speaker 1: something called the Title nine just so that females could
Speaker 1: get scholarships to play sports, what was it like being
Speaker 1: a female coming up playing sports in general? Was it accepted?
Speaker 1: It was accepted, but there wasn't you women couldn't go
Speaker 1: to different universities and have it paid for. Yeah, they were,
Speaker 1: they were, you know, of course women could still play.
Speaker 1: But here again we had different rules. There was not
Speaker 1: there was funds, you know, there was no funding and
Speaker 1: title When Title nine came in, it really helped with
Speaker 1: the funding. And of course now we already know that
Speaker 1: it's pretty equal for young boys and young girls wanting
Speaker 1: to make it in college. Now you can go to
Speaker 1: I mean you can get a scholarship and probably basket
Speaker 1: weaving if we're good at it, you know, for just
Speaker 1: a good example. But all sports now provide young girls
Speaker 1: and opportunity the same opportunities that men and young boys
Speaker 1: are provided, women and young girls are provided, which their
Speaker 1: title nine kicked in. So for me, you know, it
Speaker 1: was one of those where in high school and thinking,
Speaker 1: you know, if I can, of course get a scholarship
Speaker 1: to school and my parents don't have to pay, and
Speaker 1: this is what I love to do, it's a win win.
Speaker 1: I get a free education, I can play a sport
Speaker 1: that I love. And for me, I just thought there
Speaker 1: was no w n B A if you once you
Speaker 1: finish school, you know, if you still love the game,
Speaker 1: you would have to go overseas and play, and of
Speaker 1: course for me, I didn't want to do that. So
Speaker 1: I'm thinking I graduated, it's time for me to get
Speaker 1: a job. Um kind of dibbled and dabbled in officiating
Speaker 1: because because of my major in school and just being
Speaker 1: an athlete, and found once I kind of got my
Speaker 1: feet wet in officiating, it was over. I felt it.
Speaker 1: It was it was like a lightbulb just came on.
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh my god, I love this, this is exciting,
Speaker 1: it's different, it's fun. I can, I can And initially john'
Speaker 1: don I'll be honest, I just really wanted to stay
Speaker 1: in shape, stay close to the game that I love,
Speaker 1: and make a little extra money. Okay. So it was insane, like, oh,
Speaker 1: I want to play ball like that is the dream.
Speaker 1: It was just something, okay, absolutely not had no idea
Speaker 1: that officiating would afford me. I'm saying even before officiating,
Speaker 1: because I'm thinking to the point of how you stay
Speaker 1: connected with the game for so many years, the love
Speaker 1: of just playing ball. Right, So I'm imagining you go
Speaker 1: ahead and you're in the n C Double A Championship,
Speaker 1: you won eighty six right, Uh huh I did did
Speaker 1: you did you feel like, oh my gosh, because you
Speaker 1: didn't want to go overseas that you feel depleted? Did
Speaker 1: you feel like it was over? Because I'm thinking, like,
Speaker 1: you're in the rush every time you get on the court,
Speaker 1: you got the fans screaming at you, the blood is
Speaker 1: pumping in your veins. To like, not that it's anything wrong,
Speaker 1: but maybe going to an office job, right or perhaps
Speaker 1: was that an adjustment, you know what? To be honest
Speaker 1: with you, when I um, when I of course graduated,
Speaker 1: there was kind of a pause for me saying, Okay,
Speaker 1: now what do I do and now and of course
Speaker 1: that pause being okay, it's time to go in the
Speaker 1: real world. It's time to get a job. Um. And
Speaker 1: that's where the officient payment because that was like a
Speaker 1: part time still can be a part of the game.
Speaker 1: Still love it, still make a little part time money.
Speaker 1: And that's really where the officiating part kind of transformed
Speaker 1: for me personally. Where with that transition, once you know,
Speaker 1: I knew that I love the sport and it afforded
Speaker 1: me a phenomenal education which was free, which really helped
Speaker 1: my parents because of course, after talking to my parents,
Speaker 1: they both said, you know what, thank you, because we
Speaker 1: didn't know how we were gonna pay for your education.
Speaker 1: We didn't know if we were gonna have to possibly
Speaker 1: take a second out on our home, you know, to
Speaker 1: do whatever they had to do to help my brother
Speaker 1: and I get to school. Luckily, we both received basketball scholarships,
Speaker 1: which was awesome, you know, um. But after that, it's
Speaker 1: where the officiating came in and where the love of
Speaker 1: a different aspect of basketball came from. Because for me,
Speaker 1: it was like the lightbulb came on. It was instant.
Speaker 1: I love it, I'm passionate about it. I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: six as full, still not knowing how successful I was
Speaker 1: gonna be, because at this point I didn't have any
Speaker 1: aspirations to get in the NBA. I didn't even really care.
Speaker 1: I was. I was very very happy being a collegiate
Speaker 1: women's basketball official, very very happy with that. Could have
Speaker 1: I would have been doing it to this day, right
Speaker 1: right to this day, I'm sure if the NBA hadn't
Speaker 1: knocked on my door. But again, I go back to
Speaker 1: right place, right time, right gender, because during this whole
Speaker 1: collegiate you know, time frame, and I think I spent
Speaker 1: eight eight years being a collegiate official and and working
Speaker 1: my way up, and that's how I you know, I
Speaker 1: was able to work five the final fours and the
Speaker 1: championship games, and and still being one of the best
Speaker 1: in the country on the college side, afforded me this
Speaker 1: opportunity to have an opportunity to re for in the NBA.
Speaker 1: What what okay? Where are you? What happened? Where are
Speaker 1: you when you get this inquiry? This request? This is hilarious?
Speaker 1: I am I had. I was at home received the
Speaker 1: phone call true story from the late Dr Aaron Wade.
Speaker 1: He was Dale Garrison's assistant at the time. Dale Garrison
Speaker 1: was the head of the officials in the NBA doc Damn.
Speaker 1: Dr Wade caused me on the phone, he says, um
Speaker 1: Ms Palmer. He introduced himself, told me who he was,
Speaker 1: and I'm sitting there on the hold the phone, don
Speaker 1: and I go, yeah, right, someone's calling me. They worked
Speaker 1: for the NBA, you know, trying to scout women to
Speaker 1: see if they would like to be in the program.
Speaker 1: I honestly thought it was a joke, so I really
Speaker 1: was like really he and he kind of chuckled because
Speaker 1: he said, you know, um, and he and he kind
Speaker 1: of had this slow drawl the way he spoke, and
Speaker 1: he said, you know violent, Um, most people that when
Speaker 1: I called them, they're like so excited, because of course,
Speaker 1: as soon as you say NBA, everyone's like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I'm in. And he goes you you were like, uh really,
Speaker 1: And of course we kind of chuckle. But he he
Speaker 1: went through to explain that they were looking to train
Speaker 1: some women. I was one of those women. Would I
Speaker 1: be interested? Um. He asked me to send him a
Speaker 1: couple of videotapes from my college games. He actually saw
Speaker 1: me and he was recommended from book a Turner, which
Speaker 1: was another big time college referee at the time, and
Speaker 1: one of my mentors so received my information from him,
Speaker 1: called me explained the whole program. After I knew it
Speaker 1: wasn't a joke, I of course said, of course I
Speaker 1: would be interested. It was free, didn't cost me a
Speaker 1: dime other than my time. Of course I'll try it.
Speaker 1: So literally us been known to me. A week later,
Speaker 1: I received NBA rule books Wow, an NBA UH jersey
Speaker 1: to referee in, and some whole packet telling me, and
Speaker 1: I think it was a three week span or might
Speaker 1: have been two weeks two to three weeks span, that
Speaker 1: I would now be going to Salt Lake City, UH
Speaker 1: for an NBA referee training for like eight days. And
Speaker 1: that's how it started. And I said, I'm in why not?
Speaker 1: And that's literally how I received a phone call and
Speaker 1: the opportunity, and that's kind of where everything started for me.
Speaker 1: So how many of you all are there? Is it
Speaker 1: just you and d cancer? Is there a g? What
Speaker 1: is this great question? It was just her and I
Speaker 1: and we were in training with I think it was
Speaker 1: about fifteen guys in our in our in our particular session. Um,
Speaker 1: and what they have you do is you know, like
Speaker 1: even now like in Vague and of course obviously we
Speaker 1: didn't have it this summer, you know how they have
Speaker 1: that summer pro league like invents and all. So that's
Speaker 1: the same training that I actually attended. I just attended
Speaker 1: mine in Salt Lake City and I was of course,
Speaker 1: which was great for me because I was able to
Speaker 1: stay home. It afforded me to go to law because
Speaker 1: we had a summer pro league here in in Long
Speaker 1: Beach as well at the Pyramid. So I actually attended
Speaker 1: both of those um with the same guys. So literally
Speaker 1: you it was her and I and these fifteen men,
Speaker 1: and we had classroom in the morning from about eight
Speaker 1: thirty until about noon, and your games started. You had
Speaker 1: a lunch break and you're the game started about two thirty.
Speaker 1: There was four games a day, so you either worked
Speaker 1: the first game, second game, third game, or fourth game. Um,
Speaker 1: it was all the proteins with all their free agents,
Speaker 1: the draft picks, um, the players from overseas that are
Speaker 1: trying to get in the NBA. So everyone of course
Speaker 1: obviously within this whole summer summer Pro league are trying
Speaker 1: to get into the NBA as well as officials. So
Speaker 1: It's like you have the officiating side and you have
Speaker 1: the basketball side. And that was the opportunity. Literally walked
Speaker 1: into a classroom, had no idea what to expect, um
Speaker 1: met these fifteen guys, and I can honestly say that
Speaker 1: those fifteen guys are some of my best friends right
Speaker 1: to this day. So you guys were welcomes with open arms.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say welcome with open arms. I would say
Speaker 1: had to earn your stripes respect right. Absolutely. It wasn't.
Speaker 1: It was one of those where, of course we you know,
Speaker 1: everybody was polite and nice and you know, it wasn't
Speaker 1: anything like that. But as far as putting in the
Speaker 1: work and going on the court and refereeing and all,
Speaker 1: you had to earn the stripes. You had to learn
Speaker 1: the NBA rules, who had to learn the mechanics, and
Speaker 1: you had to go out every single night and prove
Speaker 1: and well, I should say improve every single day, because
Speaker 1: if you didn't, you wouldn't be asked to come back.
Speaker 1: So it was either it's either used. This was like
Speaker 1: a survivor before with survivor you know, cotta sorta kinda
Speaker 1: survival for officiating. In so many words, um not as
Speaker 1: dramatic as like surviving as a show, but in our way, yes,
Speaker 1: it was because if you didn't perform, if you didn't
Speaker 1: do well, then you wouldn't be asked back. And I
Speaker 1: actually did that for three for three summers. Wow, I
Speaker 1: actually got hired by the NBA. Wow. Yeah, I did
Speaker 1: it for three summers now and again. So here you are,
Speaker 1: so at the time that you're doing the training, are
Speaker 1: you as well as officiating still in the collegiate level
Speaker 1: with the women, Yes, I am so, which was great
Speaker 1: for me. Um. I was able to in the wintertime
Speaker 1: do all my college stuff. I still had my full
Speaker 1: time job, might do all this. I'm still working for
Speaker 1: the City of Love, so I still I had my
Speaker 1: full time time. I'm officiating my college stuff. And then
Speaker 1: the summertime, I spend the entire summer training UM with
Speaker 1: for the NBA to try to be an NBA referee.
Speaker 1: So during this time it was kind of a whirlwind
Speaker 1: for me those three years. Was I had a lot
Speaker 1: going on. Um. I can honestly say, you know time
Speaker 1: you thought I was crazy, you know, And it was
Speaker 1: so funny because I remember telling her like that last year,
Speaker 1: I go, you know, it's really not that bad. I
Speaker 1: just you know, hopefully, you know, things will It'll change
Speaker 1: because I was super busy. Um and even that last
Speaker 1: see that last summer, I threw the w n b
Speaker 1: A in there because I worked. I worked first um
Speaker 1: inaugurable season for the w n b A, so it
Speaker 1: was almost like full time job collegiate referee. Summer started,
Speaker 1: did this, did my summer pro league? The w n
Speaker 1: b A started, did did my w NBA season? And
Speaker 1: luckily knock on wood October, the NBA called and said,
Speaker 1: you're hired. Wait a minute, where you at. What's happening?
Speaker 1: What is going on? You know you that's a great question.
Speaker 1: I was literally in Salt Lake City. Uh, I had
Speaker 1: a exhibition game. You know how the preseason we called
Speaker 1: an exhibition season. Everybody else kind of calls it the preseason.
Speaker 1: So I was literally had a game, uh the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 1: It was probably, I think my fourth exhibition game that
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the season. So I was in
Speaker 1: my hotel room. Lock Thorn, he was the vice president
Speaker 1: of operations for officials at the time, called me on
Speaker 1: the phone and said, Uh, are you sitting down? I
Speaker 1: said no, I said, I was staying and literally knock
Speaker 1: on wood, what a blessing told me that the NBA
Speaker 1: was hiring me. I dropped the phone started, Oh my god,
Speaker 1: I can't believe it. Um, I was elated. I I
Speaker 1: really I pitched myself to really of course for me
Speaker 1: to to to say, this is really happening. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm really gonna get this opportunity. But again I knew it,
Speaker 1: you know, not knowing, you know how you know something's
Speaker 1: gonna happen. I just don't go in because I had
Speaker 1: done the work, I had worked hard. I was at
Speaker 1: the top of my class amongst these my guys, um,
Speaker 1: and just wasn't sure if the NBA was gonna pull
Speaker 1: the trigger. And I can honestly say that I have
Speaker 1: to thank David Stern because at the time mccare us
Speaker 1: again he's passed away. He gave me an opportunity that
Speaker 1: changed my life. Wow, changed my life literally. I took
Speaker 1: a leave of absence from my job. I didn't quit
Speaker 1: right away because I was able to take a leave
Speaker 1: of absence. So because I wasn't sure, you know how,
Speaker 1: you're just not sure. I'm like, at the at that
Speaker 1: point in time, I think I was with the City
Speaker 1: of l A for nine years, so they allowed me
Speaker 1: to take a leave of absence. I did that and
Speaker 1: started the NBA season and it was very, very blessed
Speaker 1: to have a nineteen year career um until of course
Speaker 1: my knees started killing me, which they of course eventually.
Speaker 1: That's what that's why I retired. It had nothing to
Speaker 1: do with anything else other than my body just said, okay,
Speaker 1: miss lady, it's time. But but you know, that's what
Speaker 1: happens to all athletes. And I think you know, even
Speaker 1: you know, when getting down, need to think about athletes
Speaker 1: and you think about the passion. One thing that you
Speaker 1: said is that you showed up. And I want a
Speaker 1: lot of people to realize you gotta show up and
Speaker 1: be your best. You didn't say, Dawn, I want to
Speaker 1: be the best female officient And you just said, official,
Speaker 1: you want to be the best in the world. The
Speaker 1: woman right, you're you're you're hitting it right on the head.
Speaker 1: Had nothing to do with being a woman, now, min
Speaker 1: we already know, yes, and I can I praise that
Speaker 1: at this point, yes I can. But going through at
Speaker 1: that time, me being a woman had nothing to do
Speaker 1: with where I was trying to get to. It was
Speaker 1: about being the best, being at the top and receiving
Speaker 1: and taking everything of every single opportunity because you know,
Speaker 1: and I say this kids all the time, you have
Speaker 1: to put yourself out there because you really don't know
Speaker 1: what's on the other side of that door. And you
Speaker 1: don't follow your passion, follow your dreams, then you know,
Speaker 1: you gotta keep button heads you don't know, and you
Speaker 1: can't be afraid. You have to trust that you're gonna
Speaker 1: do the work, and you have to have that confidence.
Speaker 1: And I can honestly say that that was never really
Speaker 1: my issue, my problem for me. And you know, I
Speaker 1: see that a lot in your story because I found
Speaker 1: something that I was really good at. And that's the
Speaker 1: other thing that you asked when you say, follow your
Speaker 1: passion and follow your dream because if you do that,
Speaker 1: you will be successful. Yes, are you gonna have stumbling blocks.
Speaker 1: Of course we all do, but those things will not
Speaker 1: stop you from getting where you want to get to.
Speaker 1: And let's talk about some of these stumbling box Yes,
Speaker 1: you were the first to come in there, right, I
Speaker 1: can imagine and and and sometimes I think people call
Speaker 1: the shape people say so hate to ration. Sometimes we
Speaker 1: fear what we don't know, we dislike, but we don't
Speaker 1: know things that are different and unfamiliar. While I'm sure
Speaker 1: that some people's opinions and views have changed once they
Speaker 1: saw your worth, ethic and what you are doing on
Speaker 1: the court. When we talk about stumbling blocks, what are
Speaker 1: some of those stumblings that you happened to, uh, come
Speaker 1: face to face with, whether we're comments from you know, commentators, athletes,
Speaker 1: what happened? How about? I received them from all of them,
Speaker 1: and I can start with even once we got hired,
Speaker 1: it was the players, you know, because again it's the unknown,
Speaker 1: it's change, and as we go in today's right today,
Speaker 1: change is scary for people. And I think one thing
Speaker 1: that I can honestly say that I knew that all
Speaker 1: these comments had really nothing to do with Violet. These
Speaker 1: people didn't even know me. It was just something different,
Speaker 1: and I had to understand that I was going into
Speaker 1: a good old boys club, and the good old boys
Speaker 1: club as far as on the player side, a good
Speaker 1: old boys club. As far as the sixty guys that
Speaker 1: I had to work with night in and night out,
Speaker 1: it was the unknown and and they you know, it
Speaker 1: was so funny because after I was sit and talk
Speaker 1: with them, and I go, fellas, what is the problem?
Speaker 1: They A, well, you know, we don't know, we don't know.
Speaker 1: We have to change because you're around. Can't patch you
Speaker 1: on the buckhead? Can we touch you and we curse?
Speaker 1: Can we you know, still make the our comments? You
Speaker 1: know how men are. And I said this, I said,
Speaker 1: how about this? I said, you don't have to change
Speaker 1: the thing I'm not asking. I said. All I'm asking
Speaker 1: for is for you to be respectful of me as
Speaker 1: a woman. That's all I ask for. I said, you,
Speaker 1: if you want to talk about the girl in the
Speaker 1: fourth row with the big boobs, I'll tell you whether
Speaker 1: or not I think she's cute. I don't have a
Speaker 1: problem with that, as long as just respectful now. And
Speaker 1: the other thing that I can honestly say, as far
Speaker 1: as with my guys that once I allowed them to
Speaker 1: get to know me and I for a lot of us,
Speaker 1: you know, we we we women, we tend to be
Speaker 1: kind of a little arms distance. I wasn't. I said,
Speaker 1: I want you, guys, I want you to get to
Speaker 1: know Violet, because once you learn me, it's either you're
Speaker 1: gonna like me, you're gonna find out the type of
Speaker 1: person that I am, or you're gonna dislike me just
Speaker 1: because you want to. Because I know that I'm a
Speaker 1: good person. I know that I am out here every
Speaker 1: night just like you guys, busting my butt, working hard.
Speaker 1: We're all trying to make it. We're all at this
Speaker 1: point because you have to realize there's a big difference
Speaker 1: between officiating for your livelihood and officiating collegiate. That's the
Speaker 1: difference between college. And we'll talk about it because see,
Speaker 1: now college I I still have my full time job.
Speaker 1: This was fun. Now that I'm in the NBA, this
Speaker 1: is my livelihood. I now have to take care of
Speaker 1: my family doing this. So for me, it was about business.
Speaker 1: I gotta be good at what I do. I gotta
Speaker 1: stay physically fit, I gotta stay healthy, have to stay
Speaker 1: in shape. I gotta become one of the best because
Speaker 1: we're grade at night in and night out. I didn't
Speaker 1: want to lose my job. Most most people really don't
Speaker 1: get into that aspect of possibly not living up to
Speaker 1: are not being graded the way at the highest level
Speaker 1: that you can lose your job. Wow. Yeah, so that's
Speaker 1: a whole another issue. But for me, I wasn't worried
Speaker 1: about it. I'm like, you know what hard worker, confident
Speaker 1: athlete knew that I could do it study, just like
Speaker 1: for any other profession, that I was gonna be at
Speaker 1: the top of my class, and that I was gonna
Speaker 1: stay at the top that once. Once I made that
Speaker 1: decision and going to the NBA, I said, oh, the
Speaker 1: NBA met a big mistake. The mistake was they gave
Speaker 1: me an opportunity. I ain't going nowhere, and to go
Speaker 1: back to having people tell you that you were not
Speaker 1: going to be successful really put more fire under me.
Speaker 1: You know, I experienced my boss is telling me I
Speaker 1: never forget. At one point, one of my bosses said,
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't really think you were gonna make it.
Speaker 1: I said, shame on you to your face. Oh absolutely.
Speaker 1: You know. We had the fans, you know, go back
Speaker 1: to the w n b A, go back to college,
Speaker 1: you know. And you have to realize too, when you're
Speaker 1: a referee, you it's it's kind of a negative profession
Speaker 1: period because you have to realize, we're the ones that
Speaker 1: everybody wants to yell at, We're the ones that are
Speaker 1: always wrong. We're the ones that you're either fifty percent
Speaker 1: wrong fifty percent right. When you're a hundred percent right,
Speaker 1: because it depends on what side, either there for the
Speaker 1: visitor or there for the home team. So who they
Speaker 1: gonna blame you or I would say me, that's what
Speaker 1: referees have to deal with. So you really kind of
Speaker 1: get used to blocking out all that stuff, is what
Speaker 1: I call it. All the you know, you you tend
Speaker 1: to learn how to you know how your your parents
Speaker 1: used to tell you girl nothing. So of course for
Speaker 1: me learned that at a very early age, which I'm
Speaker 1: sure we all, you know, we we were all kind
Speaker 1: of raised the same. You know, your parents said, you
Speaker 1: know what, girl sticks in stone, they break my bones,
Speaker 1: but words or not. So as a referee, you can
Speaker 1: say you could do all the talking you want. Doesn't
Speaker 1: bother me. So of course for me going out on
Speaker 1: the on the court didn't matter if I'm in an
Speaker 1: arena with two hundred or twenty thousand, it's the same noise.
Speaker 1: So let me ask you this because somebody will say,
Speaker 1: and I've had people that are just you know, I
Speaker 1: find that oftentimes and not saying this is related to
Speaker 1: your story, but people say, you know, um, God doesn't
Speaker 1: call the qualified, He qualifies the call. And so with
Speaker 1: that being said is sometimes you don't have everything figured out,
Speaker 1: sometimes you don't have the blue print. But it's like,
Speaker 1: what is that thing for you that that assured you
Speaker 1: that you on the right path when everybody is saying no?
Speaker 1: Because I think sometimes people think that it's an easy ride,
Speaker 1: like because oh, this is not for me, and it's like, well,
Speaker 1: who told you it was gonna be easy? Did you
Speaker 1: think it was gonna be easy? I did not, and
Speaker 1: didn't even care because here here again, if you, if
Speaker 1: you have the confidence within yourself, if you're following your passion,
Speaker 1: if you if you want to be the best, that's
Speaker 1: in you, that's in your mind, that's in your heart,
Speaker 1: and that's what you have to rely on. All that
Speaker 1: other stuff it's just background noise. And for a lot
Speaker 1: of us we get caught up in the background noise
Speaker 1: and forget that. You know what, how about let me?
Speaker 1: All idea was focus on me. I didn't care the naysayers.
Speaker 1: I didn't care about the guys who didn't like me.
Speaker 1: I said, if you don't like me, you that's a
Speaker 1: you because I'm not doing anything to make you dislike me.
Speaker 1: I am just being myself. And that's the other thing
Speaker 1: that that a lot of us we we we have
Speaker 1: a problem with because we try to change to make
Speaker 1: people like us or changed to be in a particular
Speaker 1: situation or a particular job. I never changed who I am.
Speaker 1: This is it for me. I haven't changed one bit.
Speaker 1: And I said either that's when I go back to
Speaker 1: either you're gonna accept me for who I am or
Speaker 1: you're you're you're never going to accept me, and we're
Speaker 1: just gonna be on opposite ends. Who told you that
Speaker 1: you could be that way? You know what? I have
Speaker 1: to say that my mother and my father were probably
Speaker 1: one of the best. My parents were so positive, and
Speaker 1: you know what, go out and follow whatever it is
Speaker 1: you want, whatever you feel in, whatever there, whatever whatever
Speaker 1: it is you're good at, go try it and allow
Speaker 1: myself my brother and my sister allowed us to do
Speaker 1: that and be okay about it and not worry about
Speaker 1: what the stumbling blocks are gonna be. Don I never, Yeah,
Speaker 1: did I know? Was I you know a little bit like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, if this this doesn't work, what am
Speaker 1: I gonna do? Never ever put that in my mind.
Speaker 1: It wasn't part of division, right, So why do we
Speaker 1: entertain Absolutely I'm like it can't be. This was about
Speaker 1: how fast can I learn? How good can I get?
Speaker 1: How soon can I can I get get to the
Speaker 1: next season because I want to be better than I
Speaker 1: was last season. Foom, wait a minute, I felt something
Speaker 1: on that one stop it get get through the season.
Speaker 1: And it was crazy because you get through your season
Speaker 1: and you get to the summertime and you train. I
Speaker 1: had trainers, I had weight trainers. I had to you know,
Speaker 1: trying to eat right, trying to stay stay physically fit.
Speaker 1: You have to do all those things so that when
Speaker 1: you started the next season, when they you know, it's
Speaker 1: here's what was interesting being a woman because as soon
Speaker 1: as they saw me the next season, they go, well,
Speaker 1: damn you know what you you look good? Oh killing it.
Speaker 1: Because most people, and I say this the kids all
Speaker 1: the time, you have to want to do the work.
Speaker 1: Hello ah, but here's can I'm jumping in. Let me
Speaker 1: just say this something that was so on target, on
Speaker 1: point when you're talking about seasons, like for you, you
Speaker 1: knew your training season. You knew that it was gonna
Speaker 1: take a little bit of work or a lot of
Speaker 1: work that was going to take a level of exertion
Speaker 1: so that she can prepare you for the next season.
Speaker 1: But once you got to the next season, you weren't
Speaker 1: thinking about the last season because you're not there. And
Speaker 1: I feel that a lot of times, whether you're interested
Speaker 1: in basketball or not, under stand the season you are
Speaker 1: in your life. There you go period. That's I mean,
Speaker 1: and and and again, of course I can I'm talking.
Speaker 1: I put it in the terms, of course, in the
Speaker 1: laymen's terms of officiating, because that's where my passion is.
Speaker 1: But I think this conversation is for anyone in any profession.
Speaker 1: It doesn't really matter because the goals are still the same,
Speaker 1: your aspirations are still the same. It doesn't matter. And
Speaker 1: I think the one thing that I learned being around
Speaker 1: some of the best athletes in the world, there's no
Speaker 1: way that you look at Lebron James, the late Kobe Bryant.
Speaker 1: You know, these guys put in the work and you
Speaker 1: can see it season after season. So of course, and
Speaker 1: these and we're talking about naturally talented because we all
Speaker 1: have a God given talent. But if you don't do
Speaker 1: anything with it, it's not gonna flourish. And you know
Speaker 1: what I call that, hard work speaks talent. When talent
Speaker 1: doesn't want to work hard. Hard work beats talent. When
Speaker 1: talent doesn't want to work hard, girl, you better preach. See.
Speaker 1: And that's the that's the one thing that we have
Speaker 1: to instill in our in children. When I'm speaking to
Speaker 1: young kids, I go, you know what, all of your talented,
Speaker 1: but if you don't want to do anything with it,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna flourish. You're not. And I think for
Speaker 1: most of us, a lot of people just want it easy.
Speaker 1: They want everything easy and and nice. And you know,
Speaker 1: let me just go through with no bobs, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: no no. The reason why we are who we are,
Speaker 1: it's because of perseverance, come on, hard work. It's because
Speaker 1: of you know, the whole foot on the throat. We
Speaker 1: have lived it. Listen, we have lived it. They say
Speaker 1: pressure makes diamonds. What you're saying, And here's the thing.
Speaker 1: Always have this metaphor. I say, you know what allows
Speaker 1: a diamond to shine are the multitudes of cuts that
Speaker 1: have been placed within it, right and all in there?
Speaker 1: What you from this saying to this sing? But what
Speaker 1: did you say? You said you knew who you are,
Speaker 1: who you who you're meant to be. And that's just
Speaker 1: the same as a diamond. When that diamond steps into
Speaker 1: the light, as you step forth in your truth, baby,
Speaker 1: it's nothing but salute and respect. There you go. But
Speaker 1: here see, with that, we have to remember that if
Speaker 1: you haven't trained, if you haven't studied, and you know
Speaker 1: that done the offseason work, so that when you get
Speaker 1: when of course, when you get in that lovelight and
Speaker 1: all the lights come on, you're gonna be okay if
Speaker 1: you if you haven't done that work, those are the
Speaker 1: ones that don't make it because they think, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I'm just talented. I'll get through. It doesn't work that way,
Speaker 1: and it it is night in and night out. You
Speaker 1: have to put in the work. And even like to
Speaker 1: this day, where I've already retired, I'm doing you know.
Speaker 1: Of course, when it comes to officiating, I have my
Speaker 1: own referee school. I still I'm a collegiate um supervisor
Speaker 1: where I have what forty five Division one schools um.
Speaker 1: You know, I have three conferences that I'm responsible for.
Speaker 1: You know. Of course, for me, I retired, but I'm
Speaker 1: still working, which is great. I can work from home now,
Speaker 1: said my own travel schedule. Everything is is wonderful. But
Speaker 1: having all these opportunities. And I say this to to
Speaker 1: my referees. I'm in charge of about a hundred, almost
Speaker 1: two hundred referees. I tell them, like, the one thing
Speaker 1: you guys have to understand, you will never outwork me.
Speaker 1: And I'm the boss. You will ever outwork me. Because
Speaker 1: this is what I've been doing my entire life. It's instilled.
Speaker 1: I know what it takes to be successful. So you
Speaker 1: can't you sat up in front of the room, and
Speaker 1: you try to tell people how to be successful. What
Speaker 1: what are the best the best leaders or what examples?
Speaker 1: The best leaders are examples. And if you can stand
Speaker 1: up in front of a room and be that example
Speaker 1: and show them that you can be successful, people will follow.
Speaker 1: So what's so hard work, dedication? What's the secret juice
Speaker 1: to being successful? You have to be given an opportunity,
Speaker 1: but you actually have to kind of put yourself out
Speaker 1: there to receive it. You know a lot of times
Speaker 1: we well, you know what, I'll wait till tomorrow. Tomorrow
Speaker 1: becomes six months, six months becomes a year, a year
Speaker 1: becomes five years, five years becomes ten. You end up
Speaker 1: being that hamster in the little thing going around in circles,
Speaker 1: not getting anywhere that it just it's just a freaking nature.
Speaker 1: And they say fortune favors the bold. There you go,
Speaker 1: you hit it on the head, there you go, and
Speaker 1: it takes you know, I even said to myself, and
Speaker 1: I look at this process of coming out with this
Speaker 1: podcast and having my weekend segment, were times when I've
Speaker 1: sat down and I cry because I don't know what
Speaker 1: I'm doing, but I know that I have to. And
Speaker 1: it's like that's the fuel that you just gotta keep
Speaker 1: tapping into. The people are like, we'll dawn, how do
Speaker 1: you get to happier? How do you know when it
Speaker 1: feels good? Just keep running towards that right? Oh no,
Speaker 1: because trust me, you keep doing what you're doing. You
Speaker 1: have to realize too, by you're doing this, you're reaching
Speaker 1: young men and women who need to hear this, who
Speaker 1: need to see you. And I were young, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. They need to see that. You know what,
Speaker 1: if God did it, if Violent is doing what she's doing,
Speaker 1: I may have a shot, you know, because of course
Speaker 1: that's what we viewed. You know, you we all use
Speaker 1: people that can fuel how successful we become and all
Speaker 1: of those things. But again, you still kind of have
Speaker 1: to put yourself out there to be an example for
Speaker 1: all of the young men and women becoming behind us,
Speaker 1: you know, and I look at that too, I go,
Speaker 1: you know what, at least I know that I can
Speaker 1: take the time to help somebody every day. Okay, So
Speaker 1: tell us about you have actual you have a organization
Speaker 1: you were talking about, your official school. Tell us about it.
Speaker 1: What's it called? Well, it's it's actually called Basic Referee School. Um,
Speaker 1: I didn't put it. I didn't name it after my name.
Speaker 1: I didn't, you know, that just wasn't wasn't me. But um,
Speaker 1: it's a referee school that I hold in the summertimes
Speaker 1: of course, because of training. Referees have to train in
Speaker 1: the summer. And I trained young men and men who
Speaker 1: are looking to better themselves on the collegiate level. Um.
Speaker 1: Because again, once I retire from the NBA, going back
Speaker 1: to the collegiate level with that's pretty much where my
Speaker 1: my feet are right now. Um, And I can help
Speaker 1: train and develop and of course for me, I'm always
Speaker 1: looking for new up and coming young referees that possibly
Speaker 1: could work for me. So it's kind of twofold. You know.
Speaker 1: I killed quite a few birds with one stone. I
Speaker 1: can train, develop. I love to teach. I'm mentoring um.
Speaker 1: So it's the way for me to kind of give back.
Speaker 1: But it returned still training and develop officials that could
Speaker 1: possibly referee on my staff. Wow. And here's the thing
Speaker 1: that I found so amazing too. I was reading, um,
Speaker 1: you were actually uh d was there for a bit
Speaker 1: of time, and then she departed after five years and
Speaker 1: then you you held, you reigned in your court for
Speaker 1: thirteen years before the next woman came in. Well, actually
Speaker 1: she only made it for you for excuse me, what
Speaker 1: not she made it for and don I can tell
Speaker 1: you that. Uh. Let's see, I retired in twenty twenty fourteen.
Speaker 1: They hired Lauren hole Camp, one other woman. So I
Speaker 1: was very very happy that at least because I wasn't
Speaker 1: one and done, because for a lot of years I
Speaker 1: didn't think that they were going to hire another woman.
Speaker 1: And I thought, you know what, gosh, I want to
Speaker 1: stay long enough for them to hire another woman, because
Speaker 1: that again solidified all the work that I had put
Speaker 1: in because again I made it so comfortable. I made
Speaker 1: it easy, you know, for her to to be given
Speaker 1: an opportunity. So for me, that was another acculate in
Speaker 1: my you know, a feather in my cap um, which
Speaker 1: was which I'm very very proud of because even now
Speaker 1: the NBA they have three women, oh yes, that are
Speaker 1: on staff. So here again, if I had not been
Speaker 1: as successful, done as well that I had done in
Speaker 1: my nineteen years, those women would not be receiving an opportunity.
Speaker 1: And I can tell you that when I got hired on,
Speaker 1: there were no there was uh Shaw Miller was the
Speaker 1: only women commentator. And now you look at male and
Speaker 1: and she was doing basketball. But see now we literally
Speaker 1: have a woman in every single sport and you wow, yes,
Speaker 1: so you know there there's a lot of things that
Speaker 1: I can sit back and look at it. Go you
Speaker 1: know what, I had a little hand in that. Now
Speaker 1: that there's there's a female official in footballs it's soccer,
Speaker 1: you know these yes, and I go, you know what,
Speaker 1: thank you very much, you know, and those things will
Speaker 1: sit back and no one has to say a word.
Speaker 1: But I know because if I hadn't have done as
Speaker 1: well as I've done, what's as successful as I was,
Speaker 1: those women would not be receiving their opportunities to this day.
Speaker 1: And I it what's crazy is that I received, you know,
Speaker 1: emails or phone calls from different people to say, you
Speaker 1: know what, thank you because you paved the way for
Speaker 1: other women and and officiating and male professional sports to
Speaker 1: have an opportunity. And that's all we're asking for, you know,
Speaker 1: we just want to want to just do will work
Speaker 1: as hard, will do your work, will do all those
Speaker 1: things that we need to do. Just give us an opportunity.
Speaker 1: And I am thankful that I was as successful as
Speaker 1: I was to give other women that opportunity. So with
Speaker 1: your school, are you looking to possibly on the search
Speaker 1: for the next possibly female NBA referee? Is that an
Speaker 1: option when people are in your school to guide them
Speaker 1: in that direction? You know what? There are options, yes,
Speaker 1: because here again you know what different different people have
Speaker 1: different aspirations. And of course if I come across any woman,
Speaker 1: and I have and in a lot of cases where
Speaker 1: women will come to my school and say, hey, you
Speaker 1: know a violence, what do I have to do to
Speaker 1: to to try to to go on the professional route?
Speaker 1: I help them with that, no different than I would
Speaker 1: help you on the collegiate side. It really really doesn't matter,
Speaker 1: you know, most women or or and I won't just
Speaker 1: say women because it can be then our women at
Speaker 1: this point, I'm not you know, I'm kind of a sexist,
Speaker 1: but you know I don't have any gender biases. I
Speaker 1: will help whoever needs help when it comes to officiating,
Speaker 1: So it really doesn't matter, um what level. When you
Speaker 1: come to my school, you can tell me where your
Speaker 1: aspirations are and I can help you get you know,
Speaker 1: kind of guide you in the right direction. That's pretty
Speaker 1: much my job. Wow. Okay, So for anyone's out there
Speaker 1: that's possibly interested in your school, can you give up
Speaker 1: the information? Absolutely, it's it's actually um Basic Referee school
Speaker 1: dot com and you can get all the information you
Speaker 1: need Basic Referee, Basic Referee School dot com and it'll
Speaker 1: guide you in the right direction. Wow. Okay, So we're
Speaker 1: for slowly wrapping up for I was wondering, what is
Speaker 1: something that you would say to younger violent looking back?
Speaker 1: What would you say to younger Violet. What would you
Speaker 1: say to young v out there on the cor or
Speaker 1: in the backyard, be in the backyard. I would say,
Speaker 1: continue to work, continue to dream, follow your path ashion.
Speaker 1: That's the number one key. The second thing is that
Speaker 1: I and I have lived by this. If you dream it,
Speaker 1: you have to have you have to dream it. You
Speaker 1: can be it. If you dream it, you can be it.
Speaker 1: And I think for me that was something that I
Speaker 1: held onto from the time that I started in my
Speaker 1: career up until this day, and I can honestly say
Speaker 1: there's not like some magic potion that that. You know,
Speaker 1: it's called hard work, it's called perseverance, it's called putting
Speaker 1: yourself out there, it's called not being afraid. You know,
Speaker 1: all these things play into this being successful. But you
Speaker 1: gotta want to work, and a lot of us don't
Speaker 1: like to do. That's the hard part. You have to
Speaker 1: want to do the work and be as as good
Speaker 1: as you can be, because you know, it's so competitive.
Speaker 1: You know, in the real world it's extremely competitive, and
Speaker 1: of course it's even more competitive when you're talking about
Speaker 1: adding money to the pot. When you start adding more
Speaker 1: dollars to it, it becomes more competitive, more cutthroat, more scary,
Speaker 1: more everything. So, of course, but if you have done
Speaker 1: your work, you gotta always be at the top. You're
Speaker 1: not gonna worry about who's coming behind you. You know,
Speaker 1: most people all you know, you you're like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: somebody's gonna knock me off my throne. Come on, I
Speaker 1: can knock you off your throne because I'm sitting on
Speaker 1: my throne and I'm I'm good exactly. And I tell people,
Speaker 1: I go, I said, tone young officials, you know in
Speaker 1: my class, I go. One thing, you guys have to understand,
Speaker 1: you can never ever ever be violent. Palmer me thanks
Speaker 1: one Dawn. That's said. So you can try to be
Speaker 1: like me and it which is fine, But there is
Speaker 1: only me. There's only one me, and that's the reyalty
Speaker 1: and that's the realty right there. But you have to
Speaker 1: find yours. And I think for young you know, men
Speaker 1: and women, that's what they're you know, that's what they're do,
Speaker 1: what they have to strive for. They have to find
Speaker 1: their inner self. I love that, and you know, I
Speaker 1: hope you know, whoever is you know listening to this
Speaker 1: right now, could even look at this season where we're
Speaker 1: in right now, with everything that's going on with this pandemic,
Speaker 1: that's looking at your story of being the first female
Speaker 1: to do it, to run the gang, to be the
Speaker 1: queen of your own court, to find time to find you.
Speaker 1: That's the answer, and that's the thing that you said
Speaker 1: from the very beginning of this interview, you said it
Speaker 1: was about what I loved staying true to me. They
Speaker 1: true to me that you know what. And I try
Speaker 1: to say this to young young student athletes, young you
Speaker 1: know what I'm when I'm always talking to kids. That
Speaker 1: is the one thing that I tried to say to them.
Speaker 1: I go, you have no idea and and in today's
Speaker 1: you know. And it's different for kids now versus when
Speaker 1: I was young, because now there's opportunities for everything, but
Speaker 1: you have to get out and find it. You can't
Speaker 1: wait for someone to give you something. You have to
Speaker 1: go out and find it. Always tell people, I'm like,
Speaker 1: if you really want it, there's nothing that you can't have.
Speaker 1: And I feel like sometimes we get de frustrated, we
Speaker 1: get discouraged. It's because you're telling yourself that you wanted
Speaker 1: but you don't really want it, because you're not pulling
Speaker 1: in the work. You go, doctor door, Yeah, you're right,
Speaker 1: you are right, and you gotta put your hand on that,
Speaker 1: not turn and over through. And I literally there's something
Speaker 1: else that I can honestly say. I went, you know what,
Speaker 1: how about the n B A thank you for cracking
Speaker 1: the door, But you know what, I knocked that damn
Speaker 1: door down. See there's the difference see here's here's my
Speaker 1: thing and I and I can honestly attest to this. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they opened it a little bit, they cracked it, but
Speaker 1: I put my foot and knocked it down. Damn Yeah,
Speaker 1: here me is done? Copy? What? What? What? What? There?
Speaker 1: You go? What I'm talking about? Yes? You got to
Speaker 1: thank you so much because I'm sure there there are
Speaker 1: so many people that we're just afraid to be who
Speaker 1: they are. And when you talk about success, it's just
Speaker 1: the money? Is it? What is it? And I'm like,
Speaker 1: if you can't see you, what does that matter? You
Speaker 1: know what? All of that will come if you see
Speaker 1: you come And I like that. I I may have
Speaker 1: to steal that one. I love it. So let me
Speaker 1: ask you this. Where can people follow you and contact
Speaker 1: you if they want to see you? How can you
Speaker 1: be reached? Well, you know you of course Instagram, Uh, Facebook,
Speaker 1: I'm on all of it, you know. And it's so funny.
Speaker 1: My my my wife actually gave me my Instagram name,
Speaker 1: so I'm I'm NBA Underscore Lashes, which I think it's
Speaker 1: kind of cute. So you know, it's kind of you know,
Speaker 1: being a woman. And I can honestly tell you it
Speaker 1: came from because you know, I'm not a big makeup girl.
Speaker 1: Never happened big tom boy, you know me. But when
Speaker 1: I got married, my wife made me get lashes. So
Speaker 1: that's where the NBA lashes came from. Because you know,
Speaker 1: of course it's you know, still still kind of me,
Speaker 1: but you know, not too much over the other side,
Speaker 1: just a little something. And so I thought that was
Speaker 1: really really a kind of a cute name that I
Speaker 1: kind of fell in love with. So of course for me,
Speaker 1: you can follow. Um. I really try to kind of
Speaker 1: give some inspirational stuff. I do talk about my I
Speaker 1: put stuff about my camps. I put stuff about officiating,
Speaker 1: I put stuff about you know, anything can that I
Speaker 1: feel that it's motivating that could help anyone who follows me.
Speaker 1: That's what I do. Okay, And you know you've given
Speaker 1: you've given so much inspiration, but you're the very first person,
Speaker 1: but not like you're not used to being the first
Speaker 1: where I'm implementing this. But as you know, this is
Speaker 1: called vitamin D and it's all about having a dose
Speaker 1: of inspiration. And you know, we get vitamin D from
Speaker 1: the sun and we're shedding light into people. And you know,
Speaker 1: my name happens to be done, so you know, just
Speaker 1: the reflection love it, you know what, because I think
Speaker 1: when we were uh uh the one rest and we
Speaker 1: went to I can't remember when we go through the
Speaker 1: kitchen and that, but I remember you you mentioning to
Speaker 1: me that this was something that you were kind of
Speaker 1: working on. Just so you know, I do remember that
Speaker 1: you were trying to get some things off the ground.
Speaker 1: And now sitting here talking with you, I can honestly say,
Speaker 1: you go, girl, oh my good miss Vitamin D. I
Speaker 1: love it, you know what, And that's for you. That's
Speaker 1: what you have to do. I think, you know, most
Speaker 1: most people just don't want to step out on faith.
Speaker 1: And I commend you, don I commend see here again,
Speaker 1: I commend you on your perseverance to get me on
Speaker 1: the show. But that's what you gotta do, and most
Speaker 1: people don't want to do it. You go, you know,
Speaker 1: I once stump me block, I don't care another one.
Speaker 1: I don't care another one. I don't care. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: get it done. And those are the stories. And I
Speaker 1: want to thank you because those are the stories that
Speaker 1: our young men and women need to hear. That's awesome.
Speaker 1: That's just touched part because that has to be at
Speaker 1: least three or four years ago at least absolutely, no, yes,
Speaker 1: it was clear leak, definitely, no doubt that at least
Speaker 1: three at least three. And Lizzy yeah, yeah, well, thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you for speaking life and to me. Well, you
Speaker 1: know what, we we do it to each other, that's right, Yes,
Speaker 1: And I'm very very happy. Thank you for just having
Speaker 1: me on, you know, just Karen, just wanting to share
Speaker 1: some warm, wonderful, inspirational thoughts. I I appreciate it, so
Speaker 1: I just want you. I was very very happy to
Speaker 1: do it, and thank you for having me on. Well okay, wow,
Speaker 1: listening back to this convo and from the other side,
Speaker 1: I can't help but feel that everything, like everything comes
Speaker 1: down to the work you're willing to put into it.
Speaker 1: I know I said it during our conversation, but here
Speaker 1: this hard work beats talent when talent doesn't want to
Speaker 1: work hard. Looking back at violent and so many other
Speaker 1: people that I've met and have achieved so much success
Speaker 1: in their lives, but I'm a denominator is always that
Speaker 1: they were willing to put in the work and the
Speaker 1: extra work and the extra extra work, and that work
Speaker 1: is fueled by passion. So, like Rihanna said, work work, work,
Speaker 1: work work. So now, if you're interested in following Violet
Speaker 1: or finding out more about the art of officiating, you
Speaker 1: can find her on Twitter at n b A First
Speaker 1: Lady and on Instagram at n b A Underscore Lashes.
Speaker 1: As always, you can catch us on the I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts each and
Speaker 1: every Monday with more inspiring conversations and insight. And always
Speaker 1: if you're looking for more vitamin D in your life,
Speaker 1: you can always follow me on all social media at
Speaker 1: Dawn day Speaks. That's Dawn d a i Speaks on
Speaker 1: all social media. And until next time, always remember you
Speaker 1: are your greatest stass at