We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful MICHELE MITCHELL. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with MICHELE below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have MICHELE with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I’m almost 62 so both parents grew up during the depression. What they learned in real time and imparted to me was to give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. No short cuts, no excuses, and mostly, as a barometer for self-worth.
Neither came from money, and mom was a typical 50’s educated gal with a teaching degree who was a stay-at-home woman who’s husband was an attorney. It would have been the ideal, until he died with no life insurance. At that point, and with three daughters, she went back to Law School. With the help of grandparents and working three jobs, she attended school at a time when men were returning from the Korean war and heading back to school on the G.I. Bill. It was at the University of Arizona School of Law that they met. Dad was from a big family of immigrants raised by a strong mother, so wasn’t afraid of a smart woman with kids. After a brief courtship they married, and both graduated from school and had me.
Both knew hard work, and only hard work, would support the family. Thus, an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay was the mantra that applied to school, activities, or friendships. I didn’t know it at that time, but it would become the North Star of my own work ethic and be taught to my own children as well.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I took a circuitous route to end up at the Executive Director of the Mission Viejo Nadadores Foundation in Southern California. I started working at age 14 because I loved the independence money gave me. Throughout high school and college I always worked: movie theaters, coaching diving, sandwich shops – it was always fun for me.
In 1983, after a successful collegiate athletic career, I headed to Mission Viejo, California to join the renowned Nadadores diving team and train with the likes of Greg Louganis, Megan Neyer and others vying for the 1984 Olympic Team.
The summer of 1984 was magical as the “unknown from Tucson, AZ” (as I was dubbed) won a Silver Medal in Los Angeles. In ’85, our coach, 8-time Olympic coach, Dr. Ron O’Brien moved to a new opportunity in Florida, so we headed to Boca Raton, Florida to follow him. While there, I won another Silver in Seoul, South Korea in 1988.
Through those years, my work – as a secretary, a coach, camp counselor, teaching swim lessons, marketing director, sales director for pool rentals, etc. – gave me a foundation in sports management that was learned in real time.
At 32 I was offered a Head Coach position at my alma mater, the University of Arizona. With a grandbaby in tow, we moved to Tucson, and I became one of only three female college diving coaches at the NCAA level. Along the way I had two kids, a wicked divorce, worked on my master’s degree and then my doctorate, lost my mom to Alzheimer’s and my dad to kidney failure, agreed to send my daughter to West Point and my son to the Navy. All the while navigating single parenting and being a sole bread winner while developing international Olympians and National Champions.
After 17 years I left the pool deck and became a college administrator for the next five, then retired from Arizona to head to Mission Viejo as an age group coach at the newly remodeled aquatic facility in Mission Viejo.
I was tasked with rebuilding a dying team, cleaning up its culture, and rebuilding relationships with the City of Mission Viejo. Within three years the team grew from less than 50 to over 200, the budget doubled, we remained open during Covid, and the team won its first national team title in 18 years! However, since my arrival I had told the Board of Directors that, with growth, there was a need to create a new position, Executive Director. After a number of interviews, I was hired as the first ED in 50 years for the Mission Viejo Nadadores Foundation.
My focus is on culture, quality programming, staff management, and of course, business. It’s exciting for me because the community gets so much from the Nadadores. We use aquatics to teach children life lessons in resiliency, winning and losing with humility, teamwork, work ethic, and all the lessons sport involvement teaches. With a dedicated staff and a fantastic facility capable of bringing the world to our doorstep for events, the organization and its PEOPLE have a direct effect on today’s youth.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Leadership – I always volunteered for leadership roles and then taught myself whatever needed to be learned to lead from the front.
Digging in to get a job done – Not backing down from a challenge or obstacles.
Surrounding myself with like-minded people who were “worker bees” too.
Today’s kids are often afraid to fail. I say, “give it a try and if you fail, learn from what went wrong”. I often advise kids to volunteer at something they like or are interested in, pay attention to what the leaders are doing, and be present in the moment to learn all you can. Yes, sometimes it’s boring, but life is not always rainbows and unicorns. No one starts at the top. I’ve cleaned many a coffee pot and dirty toilet; you have to be ready and willing to do anything if you want to be seen as a leader.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
My greatest growth since taking on this role has been learning about HR (it’s complicated in California) and the nuances of programming vs. budgets.
Our organization has 1300 members and between 80-100+ staff, so understanding HR, how to approach conflicts with staff or members and understanding the budgets that make it all run, is fascinating to me. Coaches are often fabulous with children, but don’t know the first thing about business, budgets, and how it all marries together. And, offering parents programming opportunities which ultimately help their children, in an environment where we all feel safe and “seen” while making business sense, is the daily challenge.
Contact Info:
- Website: missionviejonadadores.org
- Instagram: missionviejonadadoresdive, mission_viejo_nadadores
- Facebook: mission viejo nadadores
Image Credits
Michele Mitchell Brian Earley Liz Sanches Karen Hamman
