Equity, Access & Opportunity with Stephen Curry

we all have back just you know stories we all come from somewhere we're all representing families we're representing different experiences but we're all here for a specific purpose joining us on today's episode of the shift is Stephen Curry Golden State Warriors point guard and now four-time NBA champion off the court Curry brings the same transformational qualities of innovation and transformation to anchoring penny jar an early stage VC firm that supports category leading companies welcome to the shift we're very excited today to have with us Steph Curry thank you for having me I appreciate it we're going to start in 2018. they wrote an article in the players Tribune about pay equity and this was before it had really come on the scene in terms of a big topic and then fast forward three years you anchored the VC fund penny jar and you invested in San Diego which I'm the CEO of that company and we focus on pay equity and I'm just curious why was this a big deal to you so early what what's that about there's that saying like behind every strong man it's a strong woman and I really have had so many influences in my life matriarch you know my mom I have what my elementary school teacher was my aunt uh my grandmother was really influential in my upbringing um have obviously the strong wife sister plenty of women influences on my life that uh are not afraid to kind of share their opinions about what's going on you know in their worlds from their perspectives their Vantage points and you know I haven't been um in the NBA in 2018 for nine years at the time um especially out in the west coast Silicon Valley you kind of become aware of certain obviously describe a season issues that needed to be addressed and especially when it comes to the pay Equity conversation you realize you're in a place that even if you don't have all the answers um and you understand that there's a broad system that needs to be changed that you can be a part of that uh part of that movement a part of that change and and do something that can move the needle a little bit and so it developed a perspective of how do I leverage all the resources and um you know Avenues to do that um and become really intentional about it so um you know shout out to all the women in my life that have uh really you know been a huge part of who I am and it continues for me to this day and and now being able to be a part of a lot of different programs and amazing companies uh funds and uh just opportunities to continue to raise awareness change the game in that respect and hopefully continue to push towards a goal of true you know Equity across the board and a lot of different things it is more of a mainstream conversation now which is amazing um but I feel like there's still a lot more work that needs to be done you were years ahead yeah um in terms of gender equity in 2018 nobody was talking about no NBA players any um like your girls do the first of the women in your life and do your own daughters have any awareness of that has there been any surprising reactions from them from others the first time I actually realized that they were either proud or paying attention to the results of kind of just in my world how I could kind of um you know allocate the proper perspective resources was we did a a basketball camp pretty much obviously basketball is a huge part of our family's life and you know my dad used to run camps in Charlotte uh when I was growing up he used to to be a counselor you know in the Summers and you see 100 boys in the gym running around you maybe see four to six girls maybe playing right along with them um and it wasn't really kind of talked about as much as you know how can we create more opportunity there and it was able to work with the Warriors Community uh foundation and the uh the uh the Warriors camp organization um to run it's our game camp that was strictly all girls it was 200 plus girls and you know out of Oakland uh a free camp for them to come and have a two-day clinic and you know get the same access to me to you know the coaches that I I worked with the same uh skill programs and stuff and I got to invite my mom and my daughter to watch and there's the smile on their face to see you know that representation in that gym and see like they were prioritizing that World um it meant a lot like I don't know how many of those girls are gonna play professional basketball but for my my daughter to see that for my mom to be able to talk to parents uh in that form and for those girls to have an amazing experience and you know build confidence build you know a sense of teamwork find some type of inspiration motivation you know that could lead them to success and hopefully many different fields that you know that means a lot so that was the first time I really saw it with my eyes like my daughter's paying attention my my mom was there my wife I got to kind of walk around and talk to the girls and it was we did a panel with a bunch of women from you know the business of sports as well from a coaching perspective from marketing from um uh exec from the executive level it was it was awesome sounds like you're close with your mom oh absolutely she's an educator she uh uh found in a Montessori School in Charlotte when I was growing so I went there from first grade through sixth grade so now let's see moms he was the principal of the school and could never really get away from her so we'll do our next podcast your mom was your principal yeah he's a teacher exactly yeah um so you talked about this as a good transition so the next thing we want to talk about there's just a very authentic commitment from you to invest in underrepresented Talent um you know child is flying flying under the radar you know whether it's through um through the camps um through uh you know the black business initiative that you recently you know I'm like scrolling on my phone and just see see you with the podcast um interviewing a Cookie CEO um it just seems like you're very very committed to that where where does that I know your own personal story plays a role in that but can you say more about why that's important to you why are you doing things like funding you know golf programs at black colleges everything you do you want to build from an authentic perspective of knowing ways that you can truly impact and I know like like everything has like a social media element to it where you want to broadcast what you're doing and raise awareness and get eyeballs onto it but for me it's more about what's the actual you know sustainable impact that you can create so everything that I've done everything you kind of you know mentioned at a high level whether it's opportunity through golf on understanding the resources certain partners that I work with and companies that I work with that are like-minded and have a a servant kind of mentality of of ways that we can leverage not only building business but also you know create opportunity and give back um to underrepresented communities where Talent is you know present but there's no real pathway you know to kind of reach their full potential in that respect so either through my Foundation working with the Howard golf team bringing you know both the men's and women's division one uh was that always a plan for men and women or was that something oh absolutely um it started well that uh mentality started with our underrated uh basketball tour which um I can talk about but it basically was if we're going to do something in basketball that's going to be catered towards you know again giving the under uh represented the uh underrated uh athlete that exactly who I was I was a three-star recruit coming out of high school was just looking for an opportunity to be seen by the you know the scouts and the uh the uh the recruits that were making all these decisions and where scholarships are going like if we're going to do that on the men's side we're going to do uh on the on the women's side and you know Equity access and opportunity is you know the pillars of what underrated is uh for for how we show up so it was definitely um the equity piece on men's and women's side was there and wanted to bring that to Howard as well um and to see where that program has gone over the last three years I was just on campus a couple weeks ago and got to spend some time with both amendments and women's team while they were working out you can just feel the energy of they feel seen they feel supported they feel like they have a true opportunity to excel in the world of golf again whether that's playing on the tour or being a part of the business of golf and the access that they have to um that that specific industry it's it's a it gets you excited get your Goosebumps on you on your arms just knowing that you've uh you're actually changing the a life I don't know how many lives that will be in the future but it it's meaningful enough to keep them overdoing do you golf so your teammate was I was supposed to go off with Dre uh-huh uh we got rained out and as we were as we were getting ready to do with my first time golfing I'm thinking is this the guy I want to play golf with for the first time given how he talks given what you know I don't want to scar myself so we got rained out I was I was actually appreciative about going through a couple times since I'm not ready what was your outfit going to be because he he likes to bring the style to the course too my outfit was going to be my father-in-law giving me his uh I wasn't invested I'm not paying for anything until I know I actually want to do it right I'm super curious about your degree so you just finished your degree at Davidson so I want you to talk about why you were you felt compelled to go back and do that and then we pulled a quote from your thesis because I thought it was really just appropriate for this conversation so I'm going to read it it says because every day is when the pay Gap is affecting women and every day is when the pay Gap is sending the wrong message to women about who they are and how they're valued and what they can or cannot become What I Hear in that it's so much more than just equal pay for equal work which is you know that has become table space Stakes but it's more about opportunity and how are women gonna go see themselves and see their potential and see opportunity for themselves as they move forward in their career and life or in sports or or whatever so can you just talk about number one like what compels you to go back and get your degree and and why'd you choose this topic showed up at Davidson uh in 2006 I in my head I was signing up for a four-year ride and to fulfill my uh educational kind of Journey on that Friday the reason why I chose Davidson and to have both the academic and athletic experience at a very high level the NBA was a goal but it wasn't really in a rush to get there um and so as things kind of materialized throughout my career and I I decided to leave after my junior year I made a promise to my now wife my coach and again my mom who uh for her she made a joke about it during the ceremony that I had when I actually graduated she was like all the rings that you have are great in the banners but I'm glad you got the the uh diploma Championship um as something that was really important to her and to me obviously so uh it was a 14-year journey to get there Davidson um it has a standard of how you can uh you know pursue you know finishing your degree when you're not on campus so I had to kind of you know go through that process but um to be able to again finish what you start uh my kids are a little older now so we're kind of going to school at the same time it was kind of fun for them to ask questions about what is like school like for you type of vibe and even though the 10 7-4 I think my older like my girls so the older two um could take a little bit away of how important their education is and the focus on you know bridging all their different interests and making School fun and and uh it's something that's that's important not just something to do uh so that whole process was amazing and then to pick you know gender Equity as a a topic for a thesis that I wanted to kind of study it was built on the things that I had done since I left College uh everything we kind of talked about in terms of the programs and initiatives and things that I've um been been blessed to be a part of and kind of you know leverage within within uh you know my off-court expression and I feel like to really understand you know the the systems behind how we got to this place and what we can really do to continue to to to make the necessary changes um it would only help you know kind of continue to submit and motivate the work that I've been doing so the whole process was amazing uh you know the quote that you kind of talked about it it does speak to pay Equity is huge it's everybody wants to be paid whatever what they're worth and when it comes to you know equal work equal pay and that being a standard across the board it's also the the the the sentiment that every room um in every position or team of leaders you know from the c-suite all the way down you know how companies are run like you need women in those rooms to to level up the company to level up you know the direction of what our business that you're building and to really value that perspective and that input and and what uh women can bring to the table and not being an exception to the rule that they're being you know what the expectation is and so uh we've seen that in sports now um especially and I know you know the Warriors have been at the Forefront of um opening up positions and roles that have been predominantly male you know uh nominated and and run even from from a coaching perspective from an analytics perspective to the sports performance and and uh and training perspective all the way down so uh I think all that's kind of hitting a uh an Reflection Point on really seeing the results should publish a thesis I'm really working on it I want to make sure it's digestible enough uh it's not just Maria's a good proofreader so she's two guys um all right so we've we're like 15 20 minutes in uh we haven't talked about basketball I'm a very native lifelong Warriors fan it was dark for 25 years and then you showed up um thank you it was it was a long couple decades but um we talked about everything but basketball three kids going to school with them running you know your eat learn play Howard golf all these off the court things and it seems like over the past two years you've taken all that to the next level like our best in class at that while also winning the championship so it hasn't been to the detriment of your actual day job um that type of Excellence is is so rare what are the keys to that how you actually what's the key to balance I've got three kids and a job I don't have three kids and a job and going to school we had all those you know and you know here in Minnesota negative 10 degree weather uh how are you balancing this is there a real such thing as bounce I'm gonna throw the question back because it's kind of like uh I see some nods off camera but it's like that is the goal that I feel like you're able to um you know have the ultimate focus with all the different hats that you have to you know bring your best energy your best self uh to be present in the rooms that you're in and to understand how your time is allocated um there should be return on that from not just a business perspective but a peace of mind and a happiness perspective as well so I feel like that evolves over time and it's always kind of reiterating itself like what life was like a year ago is totally different than what it is now and you have to make the necessary adjustments so that you're always kind of um answering that question uh I worked with a professor uh as part of my thesis who's out at Stanford we all work with the family I shout out yeah absolutely so Jennifer Acker Smith who there's like a five uh the part questionnaires one word like has your life giving you kind of your space to uh uh pursue what you want to pursue like how to and have Beautiful Moments the Beautiful Moments and a time and like basically the health have her process was to self-assess all the time constantly self-assess um kind of those things of you know happiness being you know Purpose Driven uh feeling like you're around people that uplift you and all those type of things in all areas of your life so uh I feel like the balance has been built on a lot of mistakes and a lot of kind of overextending yourself and having to kind of pull back a little bit and also giving yourself Grace at the same time of I know we're all in this room because we're highly motivated highly self-driven um want to be great at everything that we do uh and when you don't hit those marks is becomes frustrating at times you kind of have to pull back and and again give yourself Grace To Know that's okay like go back to the Drone board figure out what changes you need to make so um helps to have an amazing partner in my wife who's kind of on that same Journey with me uh it has been since day one since uh we started on this on this you know on this journey in life is not anything like we expected it but um that's why I said I don't know if there is a balance but it's also just again uh that self-assessment issues Janice is an advisor to all of us and then I think we all have incredible partners that we lean on and accelerate the things that we do I just you have to have that I think when you have so many balls in the air if you don't have that Equitable partnership it's really tough no doubt and you know I know you're surrounded like we we shot it out Jennifer but like she's a symbol of team right you have to have a team around you and nothing that you do great in this world you do by yourself so and that invest in that because that's huge will teams have coaches and uh uh your former teammation Maria actually interviewed him at our Summit and he talked about Steve Kerr and his approach to to values values driven coaching um and the importance of that and you've talked about the importance of coaching actually uh personal coaching in your life and I'm actually gonna um read it because these are your words not mine but you wrote to excel at the highest level or any level really you need to believe in yourself and hands down one of the biggest contributors to my self-confidence has been private coaching can you talk a little bit more you touched on it with with Jen um but how is private coaching just been such a critical aspect of your life and your success I felt like one of my biggest strengths is being able to be coachable and be able to be open-minded about uh different perspectives and and be challenged in that way obviously having a strong conviction of who I am as a person what my strengths and weaknesses are but you also have to be open to you know either experts in the field or in the ability is for somebody to kind of pull the best out of you um and throughout my life I can look at every level that I've been at even in education as a teacher but especially in sports with you know the coaches that I've had mentors that I've had along the way that have been they're playing some amazing seeds and and watered them you know uh through those different stages and I carry a little bit of that every single step of the way so from you know high school with my coach Sean Brown to college and Bob McKillip and even their coaches I've had in the NBA and all five four of them before yeah it's Don Nelson Keith smart Mark Jackson and Steve Kerr they're all and I guess Luke Walton and hopefully they always say that I was coachable in the sense that it they could one hold me accountable uh uh whether it was one to one or me in front of the whole team because you know I'm not above anything that you know a coach could tell me in that setting but also that uh I responded to it will and obviously there's different styles of coaching and mentorship as well but figuring out what what works for you and how and what you respond to um it all matters because you you can drive yourself to a certain point but you need that outside perspective I think to level up to your full potential we were talking a lot I did the interview at Concrete Rose their Summit of Sean he was talking about Steve Kerr and he was talking about his four values but he specifically focused on his value of joy and how he really had it when times were good when times are bad winning losing and it's something Sean and I talk about a lot because I think going back to workplace Equity a lot of companies right now it's a volatile time people are cutting their diversity Equity inclusion programs they're de-prioritizing them so how do you do that like as a leader on the court as a leader in general if you believe that your values are these certain things like how do you hold tight to those when times are tough that's the daily challenge right um I think Coast Guard does an amazing job of uh reminding you through all the turmoil and and ups and downs just how blessed you really are if you take a second just to think about your place in life and society and um you know what's got you to this point like don't ever lose sight of that but uh he's very honest about um the state of the team at the particular time the the individual relationships that he's managing uh throughout the organization throughout the team and finding ways to connect on a human level um I heard uh Joe Missoula the head coach of the Boston Celtics the other day he was actually talking about uh The Tyree Nichols situation and somebody asked him that kind of that similar question like how do you lead a team as a head coach like how do you see yourself and he actually said I'm not a head coach like I was just I'm a guy that cares about people and can try to connect with people and make uh them a little bit better each and every day I'm paraphrasing but I actually resonated with that because I feel like that's how what coach Kerr would say in the sense of like you have to connect on a human level first and I think he does an amazing job with that from day one when he took the job with with me and the leaders and everybody that's come in uh he's just kind of an open book on that front and so once you have that connection it helps get through some of the uh the emotional roller coasters of success and failure and Good Times bad times and all that type of stuff um and to Sean Lewis's point uh his core values he'll write him on the board he's gonna be mad because I remember three of the four right now but like the joy and mindfulness and competitiveness those three like mindfulness has such a broad term of like how do you exist in this team atmosphere that takes you outside of just yourself like we all have back just you know stories we all come from somewhere we're all representing families we're representing different experiences but we're all here for a specific purpose and he reminds us of that on a daily basis so um that helps you know get through the along 82 game schedule and year after year after year um because it is stressful like we we all again hold ourselves to a high standard and we want to be great but how you get there is is uh is the secret self any recent yeah back to Jen and her idea the beautiful moment like any recent beautiful moment you can share that you were really present in that moment and sort of it registered that this is one of those things this is one of those moments I don't want to forget the ones that are broadcasted everywhere like obviously Championship serum celebrations and all that are great but this is not going to be a glamorous answer we had a players only meeting the other day it's usually never glamorous and uh it was the first time this year that we've all the second time this year we've all been able to uh kind of lay everything out about kind of what I just talked about of like what everybody individually was going through what we all see it being an open form and a non-judgmental area of unless I'll just put this on the table and figure out you know what we're gonna do with it to you know turn our season into something that's gonna be worse than all that uh it's just again a reminder of the human element of uh of what basketball is and what our careers are and what it takes to you know achieve anything special at this level because everybody's talented everybody is um capable of having a great night but like to sustain at the level that we've had you have to have those moments and everybody has to be president and everybody has to be willing to kind of put themselves out there so uh Draymond has reminded me over the course of these years uh the beauty of what we've built in our culture is that nobody has to be anything other than themselves and that's such a powerful statement because we all accept each other we're all so different like and we're not perfect by any stretch but we are who we are and what we've brought it all works and as long as we keep doing that then uh you'll be proud of the result no matter what it goes in that moment to your question about that players only me reminding me of that uh of that part of the journey so I real glamorous answer in terms of with them that's an amazing smile yeah it's real yeah so we do a speed round at the end of our podcast so we're gonna run into the speed round and then just thank you I'm not sure the first matches I hope you're writing all this down or I hope you journal or something because this is uh you know you're definitely in a flow that um you see with very few people and it's pretty amazing how you articulate it um it's something that's really hard to communicate and this master phone the way that you actually I'm blown away right now in a way that you've actually listen we're all in a similar you know that's the way yeah but you sound like a Buddhism now I appreciate that it's real though all right speed bro best parents oh I want this one because I got seven kids so I need the parenting advice or maybe I should give you parenting I would take something advice right now what are the best parenting advice oh uh don't do anything that'll make your put your make your kid have to make the decision to not like you in the sense of like that that discipline right like we're not supposed to be their best friend or anybody any stretch but don't act out of anger that you'll regret how they look at you first concert Janet Jackson that was my first concert Rhythm Nation yeah it got a little it got a little Frisk I had a couple of my mom going like this a couple times yeah uh who who is your highest your your non-basketball non-family hero oh it's a huge name drop this Barat yeah I mean I knew that was gonna be an answer but enough we actually predicted your answers before we have a bet going so all right then which stadium has the best popcorn so we have a a whole list it's probably changed since the pandemic but top three were Dallas Miami uh Missing uh Dallas Miami oh well Golden State at home we do because our uh shout out to Bert Ortiz Jr he's gonna love he makes the best popcorn in the league but Dallas and Miami have uh top three popcorns love the winter hate to lose I love the wind best thing you've bought in the last year best purchase you made I got me and my wife's uh first dance song on a vital with the lyrics on it I got a nice little frame to put it up there thanks for doing it thank you so much [Music] thank you so much for tuning in to this week's episode of the shift and a special thank you to Our Guest Stephen Curry for joining us we'll see you next time as we continue to explore how companies leaders activists and employees are tackling inequity in the workplace make sure to tune in on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcast

Channel: Syndio

Views: 12,496

Keywords: Syndio, The Shift Podcast, Stephen Curry, Steph Curry, Workplace Equity

Id: zMxsvNn0deM

Length: 29min 47sec (1787 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 27 2023