HPU Talent Acquisition Expert Dee Ann Turner Mentors Students
Dee Ann Turner, the former Chick-fil-A vice president for talent and sustainability who serves as High Point University’s Talent Acquisition Expert in Residence, visited campus on March 11 to encourage students who are interviewing for internships or about to start their careers. She spoke with senior entrepreneurship students about the value of making personal connections.
HIGH POINT, N.C., March 13, 2025 – Dee Ann Turner, the former Chick-fil-A vice president for talent and sustainability who serves as High Point University’s Talent Acquisition Expert in Residence, recently visited campus to encourage students who are interviewing for internships or about to start their careers.
During her March 11 visit, Turner taught a class of students who have been reading her book, “Crush Your Career.” She also spoke with senior entrepreneurship students, shared her own career experiences, provided an update on what graduates entering the job market can expect and offered tips to help them succeed in their first job.
Turner shared her childhood dream of being a writer and how she found an advertising job at an organization with a toxic culture after earning a journalism degree. She applied at Chick-fil-A because she lived in Atlanta, Georgia, where the restaurant chain is based, but was initially rejected. By happenstance, her husband changed a flat tire for a woman who was retiring from Chick-fil-A. His kind act resulted in changing Turner’s life path and led her to work 33 years in Chick-fil-A talent (human relations) and sustainability roles. She published her first book on her 30th anniversary with the company and has written two more books.
She stressed the importance of making personal connections, staying resilient and committed to lifelong learning. When she joined Chick-fil-A, an executive recognized her potential in human resources and set her on a path of building systems for hiring and developing talent, which led to her becoming the company’s first female officer.
“The most important decisions about your career are going to be made when you’re not in the room, so you need an advocate in the room for you,” Turner said. “You’re going to hit landmines in your career. It’s how you respond that will make or break you.”
Jackson Tuomey, a senior entrepreneurship major, asked Turner about Chick-fil-A’s best strategies for building customer loyalty. In addition to food quality and customer service, she said Chick-fil-A franchisees create customer experiences, such as those of other successful companies like Disney, Legos and American Girl.
“I think that’s the biggest piece I’ll be able to apply to my personal life,” said Tuomey, who is from Frederick, Maryland. “As a successful person herself, it was just very motivating. There’s a lot of work that you have to do, and you have to make good relationships.”
Tyler Lundy, a senior entrepreneurship major with a minor in psychology, was impressed with Turner’s response to his question about networking and the value of making personal connections.
“I feel like she put it in a different perspective, in the sense that a lot of decisions about your career happen when you’re not in the room,” said Lundy, who is from Ramsey, New Jersey. “You need to make a good impression on those people. You really don’t have a say in the decision, but you have more of an influence.”
Turner’s message also resonated with Nick Dellavecchia, a senior entrepreneurship major from West Chester, Pennsylvania.
“As she said, it’s not going to be impossible for any of us to get a job, but it will just be a different process for us than it has been for previous graduates,” Dellavecchia said.