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Cynt Marshall, the NBA's first Black female CEO, recounts her journey in a new memoir
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Updated September 13, 2022 at 1:48 PM ET
Cynt Marshall is a business titan, people person, cancer survivor, devout Christian and history maker, among many other things.
In 2018, after nearly four decades in leadership at AT&T, she became the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks — and the first Black woman CEO in NBA history. But that journey wasn't without its challenges.
Marshall grew up in a public housing project, with an abusive father who once broke her nose when she was a teenager. She suffered four second-trimester miscarriages and the death of her six-month-old baby (she later adopted four children). And she went through a dozen rounds of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer — "one lymph node away from Stage 4" — just over a decade ago.
It was that experience that first motivated her to share her story with others.
"I started this book mission for the sole purpose of publishing my chemo journal," she says. "When I was going through chemo, I used the CaringBridge site and I published an update every round of chemo. So 12 rounds of chemo. And over the years people have asked me to send that to different people because they just found it inspirational, they found it informative. Because of course, as you know, I just tell the good, the great, the bad and the ugly."
As Marshall set out to turn that diary into a book, she also began to reflect on the other life experiences that had shaped her outlook and, in particular, her optimism. The end result is her new memoir, You've Been Chosen: Thriving Through the Unexpected.
And Marshall herself is an open book, as she tells Morning Edition's A Martínez.
"If it comes to my business, I will talk about it because I believe the Lord has given me a very special journey," she says. "And I'm willing to share with people for the hopes of inspiring them and encouraging them along their journeys."
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Interview highlights
On what Marshall wants new colleagues to know about her
I'd like them to know that I was raised in a public housing project. I'd like them to know that my parents came from Birmingham, Ala., and that's where I was born, so the civil rights movement is very much a part of my history. I'd like them to understand I am a Christian woman. And sometimes when people think I should respond a certain way, I'm trying to be patient and pray about things.
On why she finds personal stories so important in her career
I had been asked to take out my braids or tone down some of the things that I say, especially some of my words, like "blessed," et cetera. It got to the point where I had to just let people know kind of who I am. And I especially do it now, sometimes as I've climbed up the ladder and had people talk to me a certain way, I had to let them know that my father used a bad tone all the time. I don't respond to yelling and screaming. I just like people to know who I am because it just helps them understand how to relate to me. And in turn, I like to know who they are too, so I can know how to relate to them. I just think that's important in relationships.
On how her abusive father shaped who she is today
It gave me a lot of faith. When I look at what my mother went through and then, of course, what some of us went through. I look back at it and I'm very grateful ... first of all, that she ended up leaving. But I'm also very thankful that she showed us what resilience looks like. She showed us how to really thrive through the unexpected. And so that's what I have taken from all of that.
On setting and accomplishing career goals
My father made some predictions about the future of my life for me and my younger sister. And so I was definitely determined to keep doing what my mother told me to do and keep my head in the books that she put in front of me.
He said we would be hookers on the street without him. And I knew that was not going to happen. I responded right then to my sister that that's not going to happen, that we were going to go to college and graduate and we were going to help my mom get out of the projects ... and that I would be the president of something one day. And so when I ended up being the president of AT&T North Carolina, that was a dream come true.
On maintaining her faith through all of the challenges
I often say sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is a train. I mean, sometimes it really is a train. Something is coming to roll you over, but the Lord is always there and He shows up faithful and He always shows up and He always has great people to show up in my life.
On how she interprets the book's title
Everything I've gone through in my life, I think it was just a set-up for the next phase of my life. It was a set-up to help me get through adversity the next time or a set-up to help me achieve great things with people the next time. I don't think anything happens just arbitrarily. I believe that the Lord has chosen me to be in every particular situation that I've been in in my life. And I think He's also chosen other people to show up for me and to be there with me. So I think we're all chosen for our journeys and we're all chosen to help other people on their journeys.
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