Creating community: Carli Yim

Carli Yim has done a lot in her life. As a current account executive for Apple, she’s working a dream job for many. Having heard Yim’s story, it’s impressive to see how she was once an inner-city kid, something she proudly embraces, and now a high-level executive, akin to a character you’d see on Suits or Silicon Valley. But at the core of Yim’s personal journey, both in business and outside the office, is a commitment and love for the power of community. 

Growing up she was a basketball player, and sports represented a way to stay busy while her mom worked long hours as a single parent. Through this, Yim discovered the community of sport, building connections with kids from similar and diverse backgrounds on the court. As she approached her high school graduation, she found volleyball. And once again she was drawn to the sport because of the people around the game.

“I found there was a great community within the volleyball world. People really encouraged me and really said I had a future in playing volleyball in post-secondary. I was torn because I didn’t know what team to try out for!” Yim said with a laugh and smile.

When she arrived on TMU’s campus Yim wanted to take advantage of every opportunity she could. She volunteered and organized with different groups and even ran in student elections. Mindful of embracing every opportunity, Yim eventually tried out for the women’s volleyball team to maintain “good volleyball shape” while waiting to play volleyball in the summertime, something she still does to this day.

While with the women’s volleyball team, Yim would be named captain for her final two seasons, no doubt a result of her tireless efforts to create community within the team and within the university community. As a result, she was honoured in her senior year with the OUA’s Women of Influence award, given to female athletes in the OUA who “excelled in sports, academics and community involvement”. In her final year of school she mentioned how difficult it was to leave everything she had helped build behind.

With her strong connection to the TMU community and having put down roots, Yim was asked to serve as an alumni ambassador to the women’s volleyball team. The role was designed to help keep former players connected to the team, through a variety of different initiatives. She talked about how as she moved further away from the “TMU chapter” of her life, how it became harder to keep the connection to a place that meant a lot to her.

That’s when Brett Hagarty, TMU’s women’s volleyball lead assistant coach, asked Yim if she’d be interested in coming back as a coach. It was part of an effort to re-establish the alumni network, something that’s taken place across all the varsity teams this season.

“You kind of need both sides working. You need your alumni network but also the current staff to sort of bridge that gap. I came back as an assistant coach because I think it’s really important for people to see that when something has impacted your life or played a big role in your life, coming back to give back is really important and meaningful.”

Yim is looking forward to the challenge of continuing the alumni network and setting it up on a new path for success. She says that she wants to ensure that the girls that graduate as members of the volleyball team enjoyed their time wearing the blue and gold, and hopes they cherish the time they spent competing together.
 

Having served as captain of the team for her final two years of undergrad, Yim had experience in a leadership role. However, she admits that there are some nuanced differences between how she leads as a coach versus as a captain.

“I loved coming back this year, partly because we had such a great group of athletes. I very quickly loved the entire team. Coming back, the role you play as an assistant coach or back when I was a player, the common denominator is leading by example,” said Yim on the transition. 

“I think it changes when you’re an assistant coach because it’s not about you, it’s about the athletes, and what they need at a certain moment. Sometimes that leadership or coaching style is direct and sometimes it’s ‘hey you need to give them some space.’ As an athlete you’re trying to perform at your best, as a coach you’re trying to help your athletes perform at their best.”

In speaking with Yim it’s clear that her main motivation is to simply help the team navigate the same experiences she had. She mentions that being a varsity athlete and embracing everything that university had to offer her has given her a mindset of “leaving no stone unturned”. She says that the resiliency and determination taught by sports are lessons that she wants to pass on.

“Sports in general, there’s a lot of time when things go wrong. There’s a lot of times when you lose points, there’s a lot of times when you make a mistake and you don’t have a lot of time to get yourself together before that next serve comes. Being able to figure out how to mentally switch and move forward is something we all need to figure out how to exercise more in our everyday lives.”

When asked if there’s a single moral she wants people to take away from hearing her story, her answer is simple yet eloquent, and perfectly captures the way Yim impacts the communities she’s involved with.

“Never forget how impactful you can be in someone’s life. Treating somebody with kindness and having generosity can not only be fulfilling for you, but completely change somebody’s day. A simple ‘hi, thank you, how are you?’ goes a long way and you never know what someone’s going through.”

Despite having done a lot, from high powered executive to volleyball captain and coach, Yim’s message is one we’ve all heard before, but one that rings true in every situation we find ourselves in.