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Welcome to Veterans Radio. I am Jim Fossone. I'm the officer of the deck today.

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We've got some great programs for you. I think you'll find very interesting. We

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about them by going to vetbizcentral.org 810-252-6200 and now on to our programs.

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We want to welcome to Veterans Radio today Erica Robertson. Erica is a Navy

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veteran which is what we're going to focus on today but let me just pretty

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impressive lady so I want to give you some background here but before we

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start Erica welcome to Veterans Radio. Well thank you Jim it's great to be here.

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Erica is a Detroit Michigan native. She did some moving around with her mother

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and family and spent a little time in Texas as a kid. Did her Navy stint, came

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back and picked up a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and then

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went on and got her MBA from the University of Michigan in 2009. She's

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currently working on her doctoral degree from Vanderbilt in the School of

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Education. She was in the Navy I think from 1994 to 1997 if I've got that

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right. She's the founder of something called Education at Scale, a national

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nonprofit organization focused on policy and research and recently has started a

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publishing company called Little Black Girl Adventures and published a book

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we're going to talk a little bit about. She's after her time at the University

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of Michigan she's worked for some pretty impressive private sector employers

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before becoming what I would call a K through 12 education crusader and change

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agent. She's worked for folks like Accenture and Nike, Nike in Europe actually

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Western Europe, Detroit Children's Fund and some other nonprofit so she's had a

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big portfolio over time of different things and you can sort of see how life

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has changed and she's focusing on education here. But I had the opportunity

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here because I mentioned to you to read your book The Adventures of a Little

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Black Girl, Detroit Girl Homecoming which was just published. Tell us

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what the genesis of that was. Well thank you for that generous introduction Jim.

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So The Adventures of a Little Black Detroit Girl really is my story and I

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did publish it as a not a fiction young adult novel. I did change a few names

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etc. But the genesis really you know was really my journey from when I was just a

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Little Black Detroit Girl growing up on the east side of Detroit to now being a

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you know grown Detroit woman coming back to the city and my journey in between

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but specifically focused on my my life between 10 and 21 which was a very

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challenging time for me and I wanted to be in education now I wanted to

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contribute to some of the bigger issues in education that are important to me and

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one is you know trauma resiliency and healing of our young people and I wanted

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to as a way to enter that conversation I wanted to share my story my story of

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trauma my story of healing my story of resiliency as a way to get into the

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conversation and as a platform for young people to know that it's okay to talk

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about the hard parts of their life and it's actually healing to talk about the

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hard parts of your life and also to reshape your own personal narrative so

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you may have a hard start but you can use those challenges you can use that

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resiliency to create whatever type of life you want and I wanted to be I

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wanted this book to be an example and an inspiration to young people. Well you you

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say it's for young people which it certainly is and it's written in a way

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that you could give it to your kids or your grandkids or your niece or nephew

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and it'd be an easy read. It's very candid. It really talks about issues you

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often don't find talked about so I think it's a great read and in reading it and

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knowing a little bit of your backstory from some friends of ours you mentioned

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how in those challenging years from 10 to 21 you became a mother at 18 that your

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baby's daddy ended up in prison shortly thereafter and you sort of had to

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reevaluate your life and think about how do I move forward from where I'm at and

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it took you to joining 19 United States Navy and there's a few references in

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the book to your Navy experiences and that's what we want to talk to our

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veteran radio listeners today about Erica is tell us why the Navy and tell

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us about those initial experiences of being in the Navy in the mid 1990s. Yeah

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so so I have actually a funny story that I didn't capture in my book of how I

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ended up in the Navy because I actually was ready to go and all set to go to the

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Air Force like my mother but what happened so if I take you back a little

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bit you know I you know was like you mentioned I was pregnant in high school

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and to my my high school sweetheart and after I graduated from high school kind

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of working some part-time you know jobs you know it's Kentucky Fried Chicken at

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the drugstore and he was working at the gas station and you know I always had

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even from a when I was younger just had big dreams and because I did run away

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from home at 14 and because there were so many challenges I kind of have

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forgotten about my dreams and what I wanted to do but you know as you read

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in the story Jim I was I was my passion was reignited when I had met someone

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that had been very important you know that played a very important role in my

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life and I had decided at 18 that I wanted to you know revisit the dreams

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that I had and I had to figure out how to do that in you know in light of you

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know me having a young daughter and a boyfriend so I actually you know one day

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I came home from work and I was talking to Anthony that was Chloe my daughter

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you know her name is Zoe in the book of the father and I said hey we got to get

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out of here and I said I have a plan I said I want to join the military like

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my mom did get us out of here and he was in he was in college at the time he's

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in community college I said you can finish college and I'll work and make

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sure we have food on the table and then when you finish college I'll go to

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school because I'll get the GI bill and then you know you can make sure that we

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have food on the table and so he said okay that sounds like a plan and so we

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we decided to get married I said hey we got to get married to do this and we

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decided to get married and like you mentioned in the book Jim eight days

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after we got married I was out visiting friends or family with my daughter and I

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got a phone call that Tony had gotten to some trouble he had taken somebody's

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life and he went to jail and I did not and I had already enlisted in the Air Force

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I was ready to go I was two weeks out from the Air Force and but I wanted to

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get out right away and part of the reason I don't know if I can say this now

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Jim but part of the reason you know I wanted to move fast because I didn't

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know if you know the Air Force found out that you know I had a husband that

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went to jail if I was still gonna be able to go and that was my only way out so I

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was like let me get out of here as quick as I can so I can have a chance and so I

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remember going to see my recruiter there's a couple pieces of paperwork or

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some stuff that he needed and I was waiting for him and the Navy recruiter

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was actually there and he's like hey who you waiting for and I told him you know

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and he's like well hey have you heard about the Navy and I said can I leave

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tomorrow he was like yes I'm like okay sign me up and so literally then I just

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switched from going to the Air Force to go into the Navy because I was able to

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leave that week oh that's see that little part of the story is not in the

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book very interesting I know I know so that was that was the why that was the

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why okay now now I also want to make you talk about something else you

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referenced that didn't get any development because when you we everybody who's

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taking the oath ends up in boot camp somewhere and I don't know anybody who

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thinks it's a pleasant experience it's just part of the process you know and

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you talk about a particular petty officer in boot camp that you know

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maybe saying being helpful was too kind of word but talk about that

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experience at that time for you yeah yeah and you know what I actually Jim

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would say helpful looking back now going through it I wouldn't say helpful but

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you know looking back as a mature adult it absolutely was helpful it was

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actually transformational for me which is why she's mentioned in the book but

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you know going in you know it I was just turning 19 I don't think I was 19 yet and

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being you know very independent spirit I mentioned that I had ran away from home

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at 14 so I had been out and about on my own making my own decisions making my own

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rules and you know it was already a fireball before I even left home and so

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coming into the you know military where now you have to do as you're told there's

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a certain way that they talk to you there's certain behavior and etiquette

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as expected that was very new for me now it wasn't new as far as discipline and

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structure because my mother was in the Air Force and my stepfather was an Air

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Force I was used to that you know level of discipline but not not to the level

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as an adult that what you're required to do in boot camp and so long story short

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I used to get in trouble for everything from you know shoot my pediauxury used to

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say hey Erica you know you need to go to the back of the marching line you

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shouldn't be shaking your butt at the you know front of the line to you know you

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know put in my hands on my hips and talking back to another company commander

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and so I just and I did it not because I wanted to act out but because that was

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just you know who I was and the Navy and the military in general they get rid of

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that they want you to to to act walk talk like a soldier and that just wasn't

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who I was at that point in my life but she did see something in me you know that

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kept where she kept pushing and I don't just say me because I think one of the

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special things about company commanders and folks that teach and lead in the

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military is they know that the young people that come through you know they

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know for the most part especially if you're enlisted you know you're there

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because that's that's your only way out in a lot of in a lot of cases and so

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they're not there to kick you out there they're really trying to figure out how

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they can help you become an excellent soldier or excellent semen and so you

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know she actually poured into me there's a few times where I was actually on the

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cusp of getting kicked out of boot camp for you know insubordinate behavior and

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she went to bat for me every time and over the course of I think was 12 weeks

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or 14 weeks you know I went from this you know kind of silly you know insubordinate

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young girl to a you know I would say now and what she said is an exemplar of

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what you know that type of discipline and transformation can do for you and

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you come to that you know change if you will reshaping your own narrative to use

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your language over this three month period but you you know you you come to

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that with if you will all the baggage that you were moving and getting away

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from what and in your instance you know there had been an abuse of family

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relationship that both your older sister and your younger brother yourself to

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having a baby as an 18 year old I'm you you brought to boot camp if you will a

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whole lot of baggage didn't you yeah absolutely absolutely and part of you

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know the the great thing and I didn't know this but it was definitely a

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blessing Jim is you know in the military and you don't know this I well and I

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certainly didn't going in you just you just I saw it as a way out I was like

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I'm just gonna get out of here this is a way out I'll keep pay for college that

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was kind of where it was for me but once you get in you you start learning of

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all the other supports and benefits there there is and being in the military

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and one of the things that I learned about quickly when I when I got there

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was they had you know you could see a therapist a counselor that was part of

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the package for free and you know not even a couple of weeks after I got a

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boot camp and got to my duty station in Groton, Connecticut I remember going to

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see a psychologist and she asked me she says well Erica you know what brings

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you in here and see them you know Seaman Robertson what brings you in here and I

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said hey I don't want to be like my mother when I grow up so I knew that

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there was something with you know wrong with me I knew and I'm not gonna say

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wrong with you but I knew I had a lot of baggage I knew I had a lot of emotions I

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knew I had a lot of feelings that I needed unpack and talk to someone and

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being a young mom I knew that I had to do it for my daughter because I didn't

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want to have her grow up in a household similar to what I grew up in I wanted to

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be a better version of my mother and so it was through that introduction and that

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free counseling I got you know I received counseling my entire tour in

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Connecticut and then the 15 years after I left the military because it was a very

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healing opportunity for me well and you point that out in the book and you

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actually give this Navy therapist some some kudos for saying you know this

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helped me move forward on the right path and obviously it must have been

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advantageous at the time that you were doing the counseling you could see the

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benefit of it you weren't being denigrated for it your your performance

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reviews weren't being impacted by it it must have fit right in with what you were

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doing at your duty station absolutely you know and the thing is when when you're

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that young and you have what we call trauma right and that's what my the

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book is really about when you experience a lot of trauma a few things happen and

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one of the biggest things that happens is it diminishes your self-worth it makes

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you you blame yourself for the things that happen you don't think highly of

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yourself you don't think highly of your contributions and by you know getting

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therapy and talking through what you're experiencing helps you realize that

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you're you're a value it helps kind of clear away all that noise of you know

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your in the doubt you have about yourself and it helps you dream again it

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really and especially when you're when you're younger and you have so much you

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have these dreams inside but you have all this other stuff that's kind of

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clouded your judgment and piled on top of you it helps free you it was a very

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freeing experience and then I started really dreaming big about what I wanted

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to be when I grew up and you know that counselor really helped me you know I

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started going to you know community college while I was in the Navy right and

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started dreaming about where I wanted to go after that so it really was a very

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beneficial experience and of course these things are confidential so even

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within your you know your company or your department and the Navy folks don't

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have to know that you're you're seeing someone it's a very confidential very

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safe and very freeing environment well and I think at times people don't

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understand how much the military is there to support its members as you

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pointed out in boot camp they're not looking to kick you out they're trying

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to mold you if you will to reshape you into what is an ideal soldier or semen

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they're trying to give you medical and health care services again for that same

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purpose but I think oftentimes today whether it's kids thinking about joining

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the military or their or their parents and support structure their family

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thinking about their kid going into the military they don't necessarily see all

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the advantages do they yeah they don't and part of it is just is just the

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unknowing you know especially if you're if you have two scenarios one year you're

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a kid you're trying to figure out where you're going you may or may not have the

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guidance you know of a parent who has the knowledge and so you know all you know

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is you know there's a military there's a chance that you may or may not go to war

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and you know you still have that information it's an I think it's better

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now and again I've been out of the scene for such a long time but you know just

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like you know when you go to college and you know you have recruiters come on

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college and they talk about you know going to you know various either graduate

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schools or various companies they recruit you they woo you they show you all

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the ins and outs and they give you all the details I think what's missing from

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that sales gimmick from from the military perspective is going in depth

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about all the extra stuff right so they tell you you'll get a call you know you'll

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get experience you'll travel the world you can go to a school you can you know

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but they don't tell you all the other stuff that's really helpful and I think

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the way in which it's packaged there there is an opportunity to package it a

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little bit more to provide more transparency and I know one of the

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things that really helped me Jim when I when I when I did get out and we didn't

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talk about this at all in the military was the VA loan I actually use the VA

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loan to buy my first house and it was amazing but but going in all I knew it

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was a wait out so I just think there's a there's an opportunity to maybe do more

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you know as far as marketing and communicating and sharing all the

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benefits of of of the military well I want to talk about your particular job

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or MOS in the military because I don't know that I've ever talked to somebody

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who was a journalist and in the military as an enlisted person and who had her

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own biweekly column calls ask Erica so for the for this fireball 19 year old

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kid out of Detroit getting into public affairs and getting into writing like

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this probably was turned out to be kind of a dream job it was a dream job it was

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it was cool and I have to say I was the envy of most and even in boot camp and

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again you know I have to give some grace to God because I just I do believe that

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he's been the author of my story as well but even in boot camp you know you get

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to you know you in the Navy and I'm not sure how it is in other branches but at

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the end of a certain amount of training you have to work and most folks go to the

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galley or they go to master to arms which is like the brig but I was chosen to go

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to the public affairs office and in boot camp I think it's two or three weeks and

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I really liked it and so just getting that exposure in boot camp when I did

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get to my my duty station in Connecticut you know you can think about

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what you want to do and the thing about the Navy is if you could choose to go

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to like a school but if you go to a school which is you actually learn a

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trade you go through the classes you go through the curriculum they add on so

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three years is the minimum you have to serve but then if you go to a A school

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depending on what type of job it is you need to stay in an extra two one two

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three years and so I learned that you know the journalism you you could go to

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an A school but then you have to stay in longer and I really just came in to you

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know get some college money and get out of Detroit and so I didn't want to stay

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longer but I learned that you could also strike a rate and what that really means

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is you can work as an apprentice under someone do the studying so do the

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self-study with the curriculum take the assessments necessary to pass kind of

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like if you take in you know like a GMAT or GRE or even the bar or you know your

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medical and you can then become you can get into this rate so I can't remember

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the length of time but I did I did apprentice under my chief petty officer

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over public affairs you know for a period of time I want to say it was 10 or

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12 months could have been longer and I studied both journalism and photography

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so after you know that period of apprenticeship and the passing the

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test I officially became a journalist and photographer and I did work for the

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Navy paper the dolphin and I did I learned how to write you know very

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concise you know information and more importantly as a photographer you know I

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had a chance to kind of go out and interact with just a bunch of different

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people I love interacting with people and I actually had a car I didn't know at

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the time but I actually had a company car so I was one of the few enlisted you

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know enlisted men that had a car that I could drive around and go to the

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different venues to write my story and take pictures so it was an absolutely

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amazing experience for me well let me bring this full circle before we won't

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run out of time because I want to think about this 19 or 20 year old

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fireball from Detroit who becomes this journalist writing stories and today I'm

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talking to that same Erica Robertson who not only has published her own book

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she's now owner of a publishing company again talk about dreaming big from I'm

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gonna write some articles for the dolphin to I'm gonna own a publishing

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company I'm pretty impressed on the full circle yeah you know you know when

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you said it like that Jim I just got goosebumps because you're right my life

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has you know come full circle and you know I you know I just believe in God

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and in the Bible it says nothing wasted and I believe all these experiences

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whether they're challenging or whether they're exciting whether they're fun or

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whether they're you know they're sad they all work together you know to create

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what you know whatever future you want to create if you allow it and I just

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believe that all the different experiences that I've had and they you

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know and they did start with the military you know I believe I was given

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you know preferential treatment getting into University of Michigan you know

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because I was a veteran I believe that you know in certain jobs that I went to

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I was given preferential treatment because people really saw that as a value

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add and so I just think you know starting off with that you know the discipline

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and then also the pedigree that you carry with you for the rest of your life

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as a veteran really really does really has been really helpful to me and using

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all the different resources that the Navy provided me from you know the GI bill

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to you know my VA loans really has you know helped me build a life that that's

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lacking nothing you know it's it's the it's the envy of many believe me yeah

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before we want to run out of time I do want to have you tell folks if there is

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life has come full circle not only in this publishing world but you've gone

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back to education your K through 12 education crusader and change as I

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mentioned and you took advantage of education throughout your military

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career whether it's studying at the community college while you're in the

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Navy or studying to under the chief petty officer to become a journalist tell

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folks now how they can find the book find out what you're doing in the

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educational field and and keep track of Erica Robertson yes so so the book it

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has just released in July so it is available on my website and my website

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is www.littleblackdetroitgirl.com and what I will add to that is I'll give it

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again www.littleblackdetroitgirl.com is you know this book is just the first of

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what I'm trying to build into your point earlier Jim is I really do want to build

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a publishing empire that can really empower little young you know boys and

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girls and I have boys and girls of color but it's all little boys and girls to

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be bold enough and brave enough and you know to share their story to own their

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story and to reshape their story any way they want to so the book is just one

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of several things that I have in the pipeline for young people we also have

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curriculum that we have created for schools for middle school high school and

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college as well as virtual book clubs to have a platform for young people to

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learn more about resiliency and how to build it in their lives so lots going on

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so if you go on the website you can sign up to learn more about everything we

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have going on and you could pick up a copy of the book Erica we appreciate the

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time that you've taken with Veterans Radio today and certainly your service

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in the Navy and as you know we talked earlier what we're trying to do on

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Veterans Radio is tell real stories that maybe can get passed along to kids

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grandkids nieces and nephews to say hey maybe here's a you're something you didn't

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know about in an opportunity that might exist and I think your experiences in

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the Navy and what you what you've been able to accomplish from that foundation

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are really inspiring well thank you so much I appreciate you having me I think

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this show is wonderful to highlight stories of Veterans to inspire others and

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I will say that you know the Navy for me was a game-changer it was a game-changer

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and I hope that you know more of our young people consider it as an option

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for their future as well and I want to thank everybody for listening to

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Veterans Radio today I am Jim Fawson it's been a pleasure to be your host I'm a

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Veterans Disability lawyer at Legal Help for Veterans and you can reach us at

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00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:09,800
800-693-4800 or LegalHelpforVeterans.com on the web you can follow

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00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:15,480
Veterans Radio on Facebook and listen to its podcasts and internet radio shows by

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00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:21,640
going to veteransradio.net and until next time you are dismissed.

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If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans Appeals contact Legal

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00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:31,520
Help for Veterans at 1-800-693-4800 they're experts in handling cases

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00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,760
before the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims their number again

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00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:42,600
1-800-693-4800. Veterans Radio needs you if you like our shows that are informative

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00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:47,440
surprising stories and relevant information on what's happening at the VA

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00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:53,360
in the military we'd like your support individual support of $5 to $50 a month

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00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:58,600
or corporate sponsorship of a thousand to ten thousand dollars would be welcomed

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you can go to veteransradio.net click on the sponsorship or support tab pay

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online and keep Veterans Radio on the air. Let's talk about Medi-Cal you have a

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choice and Melina makes it easy especially when it comes to the care you

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manage your health let's talk about your needs now and for the future nobody

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knows Medi-Cal better than Melina it starts with a phone call call 866-420-5330

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or visit meetmelinaca.com let's talk today this is the smell of the leftover

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