Welcome to Veterans Radio. I am Jim Fossone. I'm the officer of the deck today.
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We want to welcome to Veterans Radio today Erica Robertson. Erica is a Navy
veteran which is what we're going to focus on today but let me just pretty
impressive lady so I want to give you some background here but before we
start Erica welcome to Veterans Radio. Well thank you Jim it's great to be here.
Erica is a Detroit Michigan native. She did some moving around with her mother
and family and spent a little time in Texas as a kid. Did her Navy stint, came
back and picked up a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and then
went on and got her MBA from the University of Michigan in 2009. She's
currently working on her doctoral degree from Vanderbilt in the School of
Education. She was in the Navy I think from 1994 to 1997 if I've got that
right. She's the founder of something called Education at Scale, a national
nonprofit organization focused on policy and research and recently has started a
publishing company called Little Black Girl Adventures and published a book
we're going to talk a little bit about. She's after her time at the University
of Michigan she's worked for some pretty impressive private sector employers
before becoming what I would call a K through 12 education crusader and change
agent. She's worked for folks like Accenture and Nike, Nike in Europe actually
Western Europe, Detroit Children's Fund and some other nonprofit so she's had a
big portfolio over time of different things and you can sort of see how life
has changed and she's focusing on education here. But I had the opportunity
here because I mentioned to you to read your book The Adventures of a Little
Black Girl, Detroit Girl Homecoming which was just published. Tell us
what the genesis of that was. Well thank you for that generous introduction Jim.
So The Adventures of a Little Black Detroit Girl really is my story and I
did publish it as a not a fiction young adult novel. I did change a few names
etc. But the genesis really you know was really my journey from when I was just a
Little Black Detroit Girl growing up on the east side of Detroit to now being a
you know grown Detroit woman coming back to the city and my journey in between
but specifically focused on my my life between 10 and 21 which was a very
challenging time for me and I wanted to be in education now I wanted to
contribute to some of the bigger issues in education that are important to me and
one is you know trauma resiliency and healing of our young people and I wanted
to as a way to enter that conversation I wanted to share my story my story of
trauma my story of healing my story of resiliency as a way to get into the
conversation and as a platform for young people to know that it's okay to talk
about the hard parts of their life and it's actually healing to talk about the
hard parts of your life and also to reshape your own personal narrative so
you may have a hard start but you can use those challenges you can use that
resiliency to create whatever type of life you want and I wanted to be I
wanted this book to be an example and an inspiration to young people. Well you you
say it's for young people which it certainly is and it's written in a way
that you could give it to your kids or your grandkids or your niece or nephew
and it'd be an easy read. It's very candid. It really talks about issues you
often don't find talked about so I think it's a great read and in reading it and
knowing a little bit of your backstory from some friends of ours you mentioned
how in those challenging years from 10 to 21 you became a mother at 18 that your
baby's daddy ended up in prison shortly thereafter and you sort of had to
reevaluate your life and think about how do I move forward from where I'm at and
it took you to joining 19 United States Navy and there's a few references in
the book to your Navy experiences and that's what we want to talk to our
veteran radio listeners today about Erica is tell us why the Navy and tell
us about those initial experiences of being in the Navy in the mid 1990s. Yeah
so so I have actually a funny story that I didn't capture in my book of how I
ended up in the Navy because I actually was ready to go and all set to go to the
Air Force like my mother but what happened so if I take you back a little
bit you know I you know was like you mentioned I was pregnant in high school
and to my my high school sweetheart and after I graduated from high school kind
of working some part-time you know jobs you know it's Kentucky Fried Chicken at
the drugstore and he was working at the gas station and you know I always had
even from a when I was younger just had big dreams and because I did run away
from home at 14 and because there were so many challenges I kind of have
forgotten about my dreams and what I wanted to do but you know as you read
in the story Jim I was I was my passion was reignited when I had met someone
that had been very important you know that played a very important role in my
life and I had decided at 18 that I wanted to you know revisit the dreams
that I had and I had to figure out how to do that in you know in light of you
know me having a young daughter and a boyfriend so I actually you know one day
I came home from work and I was talking to Anthony that was Chloe my daughter
you know her name is Zoe in the book of the father and I said hey we got to get
out of here and I said I have a plan I said I want to join the military like
my mom did get us out of here and he was in he was in college at the time he's
in community college I said you can finish college and I'll work and make
sure we have food on the table and then when you finish college I'll go to
school because I'll get the GI bill and then you know you can make sure that we
have food on the table and so he said okay that sounds like a plan and so we
we decided to get married I said hey we got to get married to do this and we
decided to get married and like you mentioned in the book Jim eight days
after we got married I was out visiting friends or family with my daughter and I
got a phone call that Tony had gotten to some trouble he had taken somebody's
life and he went to jail and I did not and I had already enlisted in the Air Force
I was ready to go I was two weeks out from the Air Force and but I wanted to
get out right away and part of the reason I don't know if I can say this now
Jim but part of the reason you know I wanted to move fast because I didn't
know if you know the Air Force found out that you know I had a husband that
went to jail if I was still gonna be able to go and that was my only way out so I
was like let me get out of here as quick as I can so I can have a chance and so I
remember going to see my recruiter there's a couple pieces of paperwork or
some stuff that he needed and I was waiting for him and the Navy recruiter
was actually there and he's like hey who you waiting for and I told him you know
and he's like well hey have you heard about the Navy and I said can I leave
tomorrow he was like yes I'm like okay sign me up and so literally then I just
switched from going to the Air Force to go into the Navy because I was able to
leave that week oh that's see that little part of the story is not in the
book very interesting I know I know so that was that was the why that was the
why okay now now I also want to make you talk about something else you
referenced that didn't get any development because when you we everybody who's
taking the oath ends up in boot camp somewhere and I don't know anybody who
thinks it's a pleasant experience it's just part of the process you know and
you talk about a particular petty officer in boot camp that you know
maybe saying being helpful was too kind of word but talk about that
experience at that time for you yeah yeah and you know what I actually Jim
would say helpful looking back now going through it I wouldn't say helpful but
you know looking back as a mature adult it absolutely was helpful it was
actually transformational for me which is why she's mentioned in the book but
you know going in you know it I was just turning 19 I don't think I was 19 yet and
being you know very independent spirit I mentioned that I had ran away from home
at 14 so I had been out and about on my own making my own decisions making my own
rules and you know it was already a fireball before I even left home and so
coming into the you know military where now you have to do as you're told there's
a certain way that they talk to you there's certain behavior and etiquette
as expected that was very new for me now it wasn't new as far as discipline and
structure because my mother was in the Air Force and my stepfather was an Air
Force I was used to that you know level of discipline but not not to the level
as an adult that what you're required to do in boot camp and so long story short
I used to get in trouble for everything from you know shoot my pediauxury used to
say hey Erica you know you need to go to the back of the marching line you
shouldn't be shaking your butt at the you know front of the line to you know you
know put in my hands on my hips and talking back to another company commander
and so I just and I did it not because I wanted to act out but because that was
just you know who I was and the Navy and the military in general they get rid of
that they want you to to to act walk talk like a soldier and that just wasn't
who I was at that point in my life but she did see something in me you know that
kept where she kept pushing and I don't just say me because I think one of the
special things about company commanders and folks that teach and lead in the
military is they know that the young people that come through you know they
know for the most part especially if you're enlisted you know you're there
because that's that's your only way out in a lot of in a lot of cases and so
they're not there to kick you out there they're really trying to figure out how
they can help you become an excellent soldier or excellent semen and so you
know she actually poured into me there's a few times where I was actually on the
cusp of getting kicked out of boot camp for you know insubordinate behavior and
she went to bat for me every time and over the course of I think was 12 weeks
or 14 weeks you know I went from this you know kind of silly you know insubordinate
young girl to a you know I would say now and what she said is an exemplar of
what you know that type of discipline and transformation can do for you and
you come to that you know change if you will reshaping your own narrative to use
your language over this three month period but you you know you you come to
that with if you will all the baggage that you were moving and getting away
from what and in your instance you know there had been an abuse of family
relationship that both your older sister and your younger brother yourself to
having a baby as an 18 year old I'm you you brought to boot camp if you will a
whole lot of baggage didn't you yeah absolutely absolutely and part of you
know the the great thing and I didn't know this but it was definitely a
blessing Jim is you know in the military and you don't know this I well and I
certainly didn't going in you just you just I saw it as a way out I was like
I'm just gonna get out of here this is a way out I'll keep pay for college that
was kind of where it was for me but once you get in you you start learning of
all the other supports and benefits there there is and being in the military
and one of the things that I learned about quickly when I when I got there
was they had you know you could see a therapist a counselor that was part of
the package for free and you know not even a couple of weeks after I got a
boot camp and got to my duty station in Groton, Connecticut I remember going to
see a psychologist and she asked me she says well Erica you know what brings
you in here and see them you know Seaman Robertson what brings you in here and I
said hey I don't want to be like my mother when I grow up so I knew that
there was something with you know wrong with me I knew and I'm not gonna say
wrong with you but I knew I had a lot of baggage I knew I had a lot of emotions I
knew I had a lot of feelings that I needed unpack and talk to someone and
being a young mom I knew that I had to do it for my daughter because I didn't
want to have her grow up in a household similar to what I grew up in I wanted to
be a better version of my mother and so it was through that introduction and that
free counseling I got you know I received counseling my entire tour in
Connecticut and then the 15 years after I left the military because it was a very
healing opportunity for me well and you point that out in the book and you
actually give this Navy therapist some some kudos for saying you know this
helped me move forward on the right path and obviously it must have been
advantageous at the time that you were doing the counseling you could see the
benefit of it you weren't being denigrated for it your your performance
reviews weren't being impacted by it it must have fit right in with what you were
doing at your duty station absolutely you know and the thing is when when you're
that young and you have what we call trauma right and that's what my the
book is really about when you experience a lot of trauma a few things happen and
one of the biggest things that happens is it diminishes your self-worth it makes
you you blame yourself for the things that happen you don't think highly of
yourself you don't think highly of your contributions and by you know getting
therapy and talking through what you're experiencing helps you realize that
you're you're a value it helps kind of clear away all that noise of you know
your in the doubt you have about yourself and it helps you dream again it
really and especially when you're when you're younger and you have so much you
have these dreams inside but you have all this other stuff that's kind of
clouded your judgment and piled on top of you it helps free you it was a very
freeing experience and then I started really dreaming big about what I wanted
to be when I grew up and you know that counselor really helped me you know I
started going to you know community college while I was in the Navy right and
started dreaming about where I wanted to go after that so it really was a very
beneficial experience and of course these things are confidential so even
within your you know your company or your department and the Navy folks don't
have to know that you're you're seeing someone it's a very confidential very
safe and very freeing environment well and I think at times people don't
understand how much the military is there to support its members as you
pointed out in boot camp they're not looking to kick you out they're trying
to mold you if you will to reshape you into what is an ideal soldier or semen
they're trying to give you medical and health care services again for that same
purpose but I think oftentimes today whether it's kids thinking about joining
the military or their or their parents and support structure their family
thinking about their kid going into the military they don't necessarily see all
the advantages do they yeah they don't and part of it is just is just the
unknowing you know especially if you're if you have two scenarios one year you're
a kid you're trying to figure out where you're going you may or may not have the
guidance you know of a parent who has the knowledge and so you know all you know
is you know there's a military there's a chance that you may or may not go to war
and you know you still have that information it's an I think it's better
now and again I've been out of the scene for such a long time but you know just
like you know when you go to college and you know you have recruiters come on
college and they talk about you know going to you know various either graduate
schools or various companies they recruit you they woo you they show you all
the ins and outs and they give you all the details I think what's missing from
that sales gimmick from from the military perspective is going in depth
about all the extra stuff right so they tell you you'll get a call you know you'll
get experience you'll travel the world you can go to a school you can you know
but they don't tell you all the other stuff that's really helpful and I think
the way in which it's packaged there there is an opportunity to package it a
little bit more to provide more transparency and I know one of the
things that really helped me Jim when I when I when I did get out and we didn't
talk about this at all in the military was the VA loan I actually use the VA
loan to buy my first house and it was amazing but but going in all I knew it
was a wait out so I just think there's a there's an opportunity to maybe do more
you know as far as marketing and communicating and sharing all the
benefits of of of the military well I want to talk about your particular job
or MOS in the military because I don't know that I've ever talked to somebody
who was a journalist and in the military as an enlisted person and who had her
own biweekly column calls ask Erica so for the for this fireball 19 year old
kid out of Detroit getting into public affairs and getting into writing like
this probably was turned out to be kind of a dream job it was a dream job it was
it was cool and I have to say I was the envy of most and even in boot camp and
again you know I have to give some grace to God because I just I do believe that
he's been the author of my story as well but even in boot camp you know you get
to you know you in the Navy and I'm not sure how it is in other branches but at
the end of a certain amount of training you have to work and most folks go to the
galley or they go to master to arms which is like the brig but I was chosen to go
to the public affairs office and in boot camp I think it's two or three weeks and
I really liked it and so just getting that exposure in boot camp when I did
get to my my duty station in Connecticut you know you can think about
what you want to do and the thing about the Navy is if you could choose to go
to like a school but if you go to a school which is you actually learn a
trade you go through the classes you go through the curriculum they add on so
three years is the minimum you have to serve but then if you go to a A school
depending on what type of job it is you need to stay in an extra two one two
three years and so I learned that you know the journalism you you could go to
an A school but then you have to stay in longer and I really just came in to you
know get some college money and get out of Detroit and so I didn't want to stay
longer but I learned that you could also strike a rate and what that really means
is you can work as an apprentice under someone do the studying so do the
self-study with the curriculum take the assessments necessary to pass kind of
like if you take in you know like a GMAT or GRE or even the bar or you know your
medical and you can then become you can get into this rate so I can't remember
the length of time but I did I did apprentice under my chief petty officer
over public affairs you know for a period of time I want to say it was 10 or
12 months could have been longer and I studied both journalism and photography
so after you know that period of apprenticeship and the passing the
test I officially became a journalist and photographer and I did work for the
Navy paper the dolphin and I did I learned how to write you know very
concise you know information and more importantly as a photographer you know I
had a chance to kind of go out and interact with just a bunch of different
people I love interacting with people and I actually had a car I didn't know at
the time but I actually had a company car so I was one of the few enlisted you
know enlisted men that had a car that I could drive around and go to the
different venues to write my story and take pictures so it was an absolutely
amazing experience for me well let me bring this full circle before we won't
run out of time because I want to think about this 19 or 20 year old
fireball from Detroit who becomes this journalist writing stories and today I'm
talking to that same Erica Robertson who not only has published her own book
she's now owner of a publishing company again talk about dreaming big from I'm
gonna write some articles for the dolphin to I'm gonna own a publishing
company I'm pretty impressed on the full circle yeah you know you know when
you said it like that Jim I just got goosebumps because you're right my life
has you know come full circle and you know I you know I just believe in God
and in the Bible it says nothing wasted and I believe all these experiences
whether they're challenging or whether they're exciting whether they're fun or
whether they're you know they're sad they all work together you know to create
what you know whatever future you want to create if you allow it and I just
believe that all the different experiences that I've had and they you
know and they did start with the military you know I believe I was given
you know preferential treatment getting into University of Michigan you know
because I was a veteran I believe that you know in certain jobs that I went to
I was given preferential treatment because people really saw that as a value
add and so I just think you know starting off with that you know the discipline
and then also the pedigree that you carry with you for the rest of your life
as a veteran really really does really has been really helpful to me and using
all the different resources that the Navy provided me from you know the GI bill
to you know my VA loans really has you know helped me build a life that that's
lacking nothing you know it's it's the it's the envy of many believe me yeah
before we want to run out of time I do want to have you tell folks if there is
life has come full circle not only in this publishing world but you've gone
back to education your K through 12 education crusader and change as I
mentioned and you took advantage of education throughout your military
career whether it's studying at the community college while you're in the
Navy or studying to under the chief petty officer to become a journalist tell
folks now how they can find the book find out what you're doing in the
educational field and and keep track of Erica Robertson yes so so the book it
has just released in July so it is available on my website and my website
is www.littleblackdetroitgirl.com and what I will add to that is I'll give it
again www.littleblackdetroitgirl.com is you know this book is just the first of
what I'm trying to build into your point earlier Jim is I really do want to build
a publishing empire that can really empower little young you know boys and
girls and I have boys and girls of color but it's all little boys and girls to
be bold enough and brave enough and you know to share their story to own their
story and to reshape their story any way they want to so the book is just one
of several things that I have in the pipeline for young people we also have
curriculum that we have created for schools for middle school high school and
college as well as virtual book clubs to have a platform for young people to
learn more about resiliency and how to build it in their lives so lots going on
so if you go on the website you can sign up to learn more about everything we
have going on and you could pick up a copy of the book Erica we appreciate the
time that you've taken with Veterans Radio today and certainly your service
in the Navy and as you know we talked earlier what we're trying to do on
Veterans Radio is tell real stories that maybe can get passed along to kids
grandkids nieces and nephews to say hey maybe here's a you're something you didn't
know about in an opportunity that might exist and I think your experiences in
the Navy and what you what you've been able to accomplish from that foundation
are really inspiring well thank you so much I appreciate you having me I think
this show is wonderful to highlight stories of Veterans to inspire others and
I will say that you know the Navy for me was a game-changer it was a game-changer
and I hope that you know more of our young people consider it as an option
for their future as well and I want to thank everybody for listening to
Veterans Radio today I am Jim Fawson it's been a pleasure to be your host I'm a
Veterans Disability lawyer at Legal Help for Veterans and you can reach us at
800-693-4800 or LegalHelpforVeterans.com on the web you can follow
Veterans Radio on Facebook and listen to its podcasts and internet radio shows by
going to veteransradio.net and until next time you are dismissed.
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