Where Are The Herd Now: Cindy (Dawson) Carlisle

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – One of the core values that Marshall University President Brad Smith has consistently sought to instill in both students and faculty at Marshall is that "You can get there from here" – a signature message during his "Marshall For All, Marshall Forever" tour to show that greatness can be achieved through our university.

Born from that inspiration, one of the new initiatives from Marshall Athletics is a "Where Are The Herd Now" segment, which highlights student-athletes who came to Marshall with academic and athletic dreams and have used their education and experience gained at Marshall to become leaders in their field.

"Our 'Where Are The Herd Now' initiative will shine a spotlight on the career pathways of our student-athlete alumni, celebrating their remarkable achievements and the incredible ways in which they have chosen to make an impact," said Christian Spears, Marshall's Director of Athletics. "It's a testament to Marshall University in so many ways. To a person, our alumni acknowledge the opportunities Marshall provided and how it transformed who they would become and how it led to an amazing career outcome.

"I hope our community will join us in acknowledging these people and drawing inspiration from their success stories."

The first installment in the "Where Are The Herd Now" segment features Cindy Carlisle, a former Marshall track athlete from 1993-98 who was recently named as Foot Locker's Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer.

"I absolutely love this new alumni feature we have started here at Marshall and we are honored that former Track and Field student-athlete Cindy Carlisle is our first profile," Spears said.

Matt James, Marshall University's Executive Director of Alumni Relations, said that Carlisle's success on a national scale and continued passion for Marshall are incredible assets for the university.

"Cindy exhibits all it means to be a proud Daughter of Marshall," James said. "We are amazed by her professional accolades and demonstrated leadership. She represents the very best of everything our current students aspire to be. We are so proud that she never forgot her Marshall roots, and we celebrate her recent appointment as Executive Vice President at Foot Locker."

As Cindy Carlisle finished her Friday workout and got ready to discuss her new position as the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer for Foot Locker, there was only one item that felt like the proper attire for the discussion – her Marshall University hoodie.

For Carlisle, that hoodie represents much more than just the school for whom she ran track from Fall 1993 to Spring 1998.

It represents the place where Carlisle – better known as Cindy Dawson during her Marshall track days - gathered critical leadership skills, an inner drive to be the best, a keen focus and discipline and self-motivation that has carried her throughout her career.

And that career has been an impressive one as she takes on her new role with Foot Locker. In 2019, Carlisle was named as one of Savoy Magazine's "Most Influential Women In Corporate America" and HR Magazine featured her for her unique background as an HR leader driving business transformation. In 2022, OnCon Icon named Carlisle as a '2022 Top 50 Human Resource Professional Award' winner while working for Stryker Corporation where she served as Group Vice President of Human Resources for the Global Quality and Operations organization before accepting her new role with Foot Locker, which was formally announced on March 13.

The new challenge with Foot Locker marries together Carlisle's passions: an avid love for cultivating talent and building positive culture within a company that emphasizes the importance of teamwork and, of course, sports.

"I will be doing all kinds of projects that will be all about enabling people to do their best work – to be empowered, to drive innovation and to spark discovery for a tremendous customer experience," Carlisle said. "That is just exciting even thinking about that. As it relates to culture and talent, it is about creating a diverse workforce that represents the customers which we serve, and also about creating policies, procedures and processes that create equity for everybody while creating an inclusive culture where people have a sense of belonging where they feel that they can be their best, authentic self."

So where does Carlisle's inspiration and passion come from? Simple. It first came from her father who was a "Girl Dad" with three girls and made sure to consistently lift them up by reinforcing that they could do anything in life that they wanted to do and to always settle for nothing less than being the best.

"That mindset, that positivity and inspiration that he instilled in me has actually paid off because I've been like, 'I can do more and I can achieve more,'" Carlisle said of her father's wisdom. "Moving into this position has made me think I'm achieving at the highest level in the corporate environment. There are so many people who are like, 'I can't believe you are able to do that. There's so many glass ceilings and barriers' but I go back to what my Dad said – 'You can do anything you put your mind to."

The next biggest factor was her experience at Marshall as a track and field athlete where the Cincinnati, Ohio, native earned MVP honors in 1995, the Arlene Stooke Leadership Award in 1996-97 and 1997-98 and also was recognized with All-Conference awards in the 55-meter dash, 55-meter hudles and 100-meter hurdles in 1997.

For Carlisle, the parallels between competition as a track and field athlete and the corporate world are glaring.

"The track is where I learned about life – I mean, really learned about life," Carlisle said. "Every time you lace up those sneakers or spikes to get on the track, it's an opportunity to prepare yourself for competition or to compete.

"Life is like a race. You are constantly dealing with moments while you're running the race where you have to strategize how you are progressing while thinking about the competition – all at the same time. My best advice is that you have to stay focused on getting to the end of the race."

As Carlisle pointed out, just like in a race, if you continuously look behind, you aren't going to move forward at your desired speed. You must keep focused forward.

"Once you finish that race, guess what – another is going to start," Carlisle continued. "That's how life is – you start something and you work really hard at it, then you finish it and you're really excited or, sometimes, you may not feel really good about how you progressed, but then you've got to jump back into another race…

"Always be in the mindset that each time is an opportunity to be better and it's an opportunity to improve and say, 'I'm going to be excellent in this.' That's not just in competition, but in practicing, too."

Track and Field is one of the most unique sporting ventures that an athlete can choose because it combines the principles of discipline and self-motivation in individual sports with the leadership and motivational principles of team sports, as well.

For Carlisle, being a self-starter and a great teammate are not only qualities she learned at Marshall as a track athlete, but also those that she seeks for her new team at Foot Locker.

"That's how work is and that's how life is," Carlisle said. "There will be times that the team is relying on you to deliver on the expectations that they have for you. Not only do you have to do that, you have to take it a step further and you've got to encourage, motivate and inspire those on your team. I get chills when I watch relays because you really see the sense of commitment and teamwork and the desire to be the best. That's why I love track and field and cross country."

In addition to her athletic accolades, Carlisle served on the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee from 1995-97 and was selected to represent Marshall at the 1997 NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum. She graduated from Marshall in 1997 with a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting and later in 1999 with a Master's in Adult and Technical Education.

Carlisle was also inducted into Marshall University's Black Legends Hall of Fame in 1999 and is currently a member of Marshall's Champions Advisory Board. Over the last 25 years, Carlisle's reputation in the human resources field has grown through her work for companies such as Stryker Corporation, the Roche Group and Johnson & Johnson.

Carlisle and her husband, Lee, whom she met at Marshall while he was playing football for the Herd, have two kids: a son, Lee II, and a daughter, Elise.

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