Dee Ann Turner Teaches Students About Emotional Intelligence as HPU’s Talent Acquisition Expert

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 discuss emotional intelligence and encourage students who are interviewing for internships or about to start their careers. She spoke to a large group of students inside the Callicutt Life Skills Theater.

HIGH POINT, N.C., Nov. 26, 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 teach about emotional intelligence and encourage students who are interviewing for internships and preparing to start their careers.

Emotional intelligence is the ability for people to understand, use and manage their feelings in positive ways to recognize, understand and influence how they affect other people, said Turner, who is one of dozens of industry leaders who regularly mentor HPU students as part of the Access to Innovators Program. Managing emotions requires self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills, she said.

“Ninety percent of top performers are said to have high emotional intelligence,” Turner said. “The good news is it’s not something you’re born with or without. It’s a skill that can certainly be developed.”

By building emotional intelligence, people have stronger relationships, greater self-confidence, better performance on group projects, improved stress levels and recover quicker from burnout in college or on the job, she said.

While on campus Nov. 13, Turner also taught HPU President Nido Qubein’s First-Year Seminar on Life Skills, shared lunch with Strickland Women’s LIFT Fellows, mentored students and spoke at a club leadership and exposition seminar.

Garrett Head, a junior business administration major, said Turner’s emotional intelligence presentation helped him understand more about empathy and how self-regulation can control the emotional tone of interactions. As a Bonner Leader who volunteers with West End Ministries, he related to Turner’s advice to act as a thermostat to set the tone in the room versus a thermometer to simply measure it.

“Being aware that our actions can affect them, taking that hour or 30 seconds for introspection before interacting with the clients can lead to a better understanding,” said Head, who is from Atlanta, Georgia, and aspires to be an attorney. “While you do have emotions and they have emotions, there is a proper way to guide and help them. Hearing her helped me with understanding that I can’t control everything, but I can self-regulate how I react.”

Turner’s session offered valuable insight into leadership, emotional intelligence and career development, said Clara Sessor, a junior strategic communication major. Turner also served as an example to students of what to strive for as a future leader.

“My biggest takeaway from this is to really put yourself out there, don’t be scared and get out of your comfort zone,” said Sessor, who is from Roanoke, Virginia. “Don’t stay with something just because it’s comfortable when it’s not going to help you grow. Always seek that new internship. Find something that’s going to help you go further in your career to shape you in your future.”

Yasmine Scott, a freshman mechanical engineering major with a minor in biology, said she learned from Turner’s talk about the importance of showing grace to herself, no matter how much stress she is facing.

“You have to give yourself grace, but you also have to remember that you can always go to the people closest to you for reflecting,” said Scott, who is from Catonsville, Maryland. “Being a mechanical engineering major is putting a lot of stress on myself, so I must find a specific time to decompress and reflect not only on myself but on a lot of team projects I do. Self-reflection is basically looking outside of the box and being the third view.”

Hearing Turner speak about the power of kindness, self-awareness and intentional leadership was inspiring for Alena Stokely, a freshman biology major with a minor in business administration.

“I left feeling encouraged, challenged and even more excited to grow into the type of leader who listens deeply and leads with purpose,” said Stokely, who is from Odenton, Maryland. “Working on self-awareness and self-confidence will help me in the long run when it comes to applying for jobs or mentoring others around me. Being self-confident will possibly inspire others to build their confidence and know they can do anything they put their mind to. Also, I learned instead of reacting to situations, you need to sit back and think logically. Rather than react in an aggressive manner in a situation, you need to sit back and find a positive response to change the tone. Her inspiring words really blessed me to do that in the future.”