Mari Ann Callais, Ph.D.

I attribute my success to my parents and grandparents teaching me that there was nothing I couldn't do. They never told me there was anything I couldn't do. My parents never said that because we were girls, we couldn't do something that was typically something that boys would do. We never felt like they treated us like we were girls, so we couldn't do something. We didn't grow up being afraid to try things that were different. My parents and my grandparents always exposed us to things that would allow us to push those boundaries, and I think as a result, it allowed us to feel confident in what we were capable of doing. My mom and my grandmother were my two folks who really helped guide me on what I was capable of doing. Having a dad that believes in girls, like, as a little girl, that makes all the difference. My dad would take us on his boat shrimping. Growing up with a dad, specifically, who always just taught us what we needed to know instead of doing it for us, that gave me all the courage to say I can believe that I can do something, and then I can actually do it. Girl dads, great girl dads, I think are some of the strongest, most amazing men in the world, because they give the world a special gift. When dads love their daughters and encourage them, it's a game changer.

I think for me, when I look at my career trajectory, I had no idea this is where I was going to end up. I didn't even know that you could work in higher education. It was always about where can you have the greatest impact with the gifts and the talents that you have. For the folks who influenced me as a young adult, there was a high level of accountability to try to be the best at whatever you were going to be about, or whatever you were going to do. I think it was about work ethic. It was about really committing to something and becoming good at it. I wanted to know and to be the best at whatever it was that I could do. The other thing, especially in today's world, is that it's not just about the degrees that you have, or the experience, but it really is about the relationships you develop. Relationships take you on a journey in life. Every job I've ever gotten is because someone helped me get there. Whether they recommended the job, whether they hired me, whether they made the phone call, whether they made the introduction, whatever that was. I think all of those things go back to growing up in a small community where everybody knew everybody. My job was to help somebody benefit and move forward, and then, as a result, you too would be successful.

If you're going to be in higher education specifically, or in this space, go as far as you can from an education perspective, because in higher ed, a doctorate is still a launching pad for opening doors. That's the first thing. Second thing is, if you have an opportunity to bring other women along, bring them along. Because that's the only way that I've gotten to where I am today. I think the third one is to be willing to work hard and accept that when you do something well, recognize that you did the work. When you tell a man he did a great job, he's like, oh, thank you very much, I worked really hard. When you tell a woman that she did a great job, she's always like, oh, it was a group effort, there were a lot of people who contributed. We never want to take the credit. Another thing is be a woman. You don't have to walk into a leadership role and try to be in the male persona. The gift of women is to develop community, we bring people in. I think that is our superpower, is that we want people to be included. I like being in a room where I'm not the smartest person, because I can continue to learn. Why would you want to be in a room where you're the smartest person in the room? The other thing is, don't ever have to depend on someone else to take care of you. You should always be self-sufficient.

I think one of the greatest challenges right now is, what do you do if there aren't policies and departments or whatever who are holding businesses and corporations or communities accountable for equitable experiences? Universities have been getting rid of DEI offices, and policies are changing as it relates to DEI. A lot of people don't understand that DEI does include women. I think today, it's about not depending on policies or positions to open opportunities. It's about women and men opening opportunities for people who don't necessarily have a place at the table. To me, that's the only way any population is going to move forward. The greatest challenge now is how do you continue to open spaces for people who may not have a natural trajectory into those areas or into those spaces. I think in higher education especially, it's kind of a mess in some regards. Faculty members would hate that I say this, but one of the things I love about Holt International Business School is that they don't have tenure. In the age of technology, you can't just keep doing things the way that you've always done them. Where higher education is struggling is that it didn't have to for a long time. Now in the industry of workforce development, you have to be innovative. You have to be open to new ideas, and you have to be open to the fact that the generations who are coming to us today are so smart, and they just want somebody to listen to them and respect that they know some things too. Instead of looking at what divides us, if we could look at what could bring us together, that would be so much more productive. We have to figure out how to continue to evolve as the students who are coming to us are evolving. If not, they're going to go get that experience somewhere else. If you can't embrace people who are different than you, you're going to struggle. Our differences are what makes us stronger. It's not what makes us weaker.

Everything is about showing up for people. Being able to trust the human, the folks that you work with, that you live with, all the things. I think it's really about having a sense of responsibility in being responsible for what you say you will do. Family, faith, love, all those things have always guided my purpose in life. And I think that's what's important to me.