Who Is Justin Carrier? Only the Coolest Guy in the Cheer World!

Who Is Justin Carrier? Only the Coolest Guy in the Cheer World!

Justin Carrier is a household name if you’re a coach in the competitive cheerleading world. He started working for NCA as a high school graduate and has ste

Mar 7, 2016 by Vicki Dill
Who Is Justin Carrier? Only the Coolest Guy in the Cheer World!
Justin Carrier is a household name if you’re a coach in the competitive cheerleading world. He started working for NCA as a high school graduate and has steadily became one of the strongest forces in cheerleading. Although he is only in his mid 30’s, Carrier is now the Vice President of NCA/NDA and Varsity All Star and respected by the industry. He is a Houston native, an identical twin, a family man and well known for his quick wit and smart banter. Learn a little more about the man who makes things happen in this fast paced sport of cheerleading.  

Tell us about your history with NCA? How did you get started?
I started teaching camps for NCA in 1995, right after high school graduation. I missed my senior prom to go to our staff training. I fell in love with the company immediately. I got to travel EVERYWHERE and the people I worked with were all one of a kind and had great personalities.

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What is your role with NCA & Varsity All Star now?
I am Vice President of NCA/NDA and Varsity All Star. On the NCA/NDA side, I oversee our events and championships department. We produce six national championships (NCA High School, NDA High School, NCA All-Star, NDA All-Star, NCA/NDA College, NCA All-Star Prep) and roughly 30 one-day events around the country. On the Varsity All Star side, I oversee our all star scoring department. I’m responsible for updating the scoring system on a yearly basis and communicating all things related to scoring and judging to the all star community.

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Give us some insight into the different responsibilities you have regarding NCA Nationals?
The pre-planning for NCA All-Star Nationals begins the week after competition is over.  While it's still fresh on our minds, our team at the office meets to review the strengths and the challenges of the previous year’s events.  We have different people ultimately responsible for different areas: registration, logistics, marketing/signage, judges, coach's experience, etc. In the summer, I oversee the registration process.  For the past few years, we’ve reached capacity at a record setting rate, so navigating through how to handle registration, deposit deadline and our waiting list has been a new challenge.  As the event draws closer, I become the point of contact for most coaches as they prepare for the event.  This event is so intricate and complex, we go overboard in communicating with customers in hopes that we meet everyone’s expectations of a smooth weekend.

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What is your favorite part of your job & least favorite part of your job?
Favorite part of my job is interacting with others who are as passionate about what they do on a daily basis.  Sometimes that is a customer and sometimes it is co-workers. But it doesn’t FEEL like work.
I also love announcing awards from the arena floor at our National competitions. Every time I call out the National Champion and they celebrate around me, I feel like I won, too. Sometimes I even cry with them!
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For the last three years, the least favorite part of my job is telling a team that our event is full and we can’t let them in.  A lot of people have said, ‘That’s a good problem to have,’ but it hasn’t felt good when a gym owner and their coaches have to go back and tell their parents that they won’t be making the trip to Dallas afterall.  I love what the event stands for and I wish that everyone who wanted to experience it would have that opportunity.

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Professionally, is there a moment or event that you are most proud of?
I can’t think of a precise moment .
I know there have been several moments where I have been undeniably grateful for the chance to work for a company that actually STANDS for something.  We have a mission focused on helping young people prepare for life in the real world and I feel like that mission plays a role in every decision we make.
What is a typical day in February like for Justin Carrier, leading up to NCA Nationals?
The month of February is spent going through every little detail surround NCA All Star Nationals. I reply to approximately 100 coach's emails a day. My email inbox is my to-do list, so I’m a little OCD about keeping that list at a manageable size. It’s easy to focus all energies on NCA All-Star Nationals since the event is so big and important, but we also have to keep focus on the other moving parts and events taking place in the weeks to follow NCA All-Star Nationals, like NDA Nationals in Orlando and NCA/NDA College Nationals in Daytona Beach.

Are there a few people that have inspired you or motivated you in this industry...if so who are they and tell us about their role in your life?
Karen Lawrence – Former NCA Senior Vice President: she spoke at one of our first NCA head instructor staff meetings when I was 20 years old.  In my opinion, she embodies what the ‘love for NCA’ means.  She spoke with such heart and passion that she motivated me to try and love NCA as much as she does.  I left that meeting wanting to change the world!

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Jeff Webb – CEO Varsity Brands – after NCA merged with Varsity during my 20’s, we sat in our first meeting to discuss our next steps as one company.  He kept asking and challenging us to think about what we wanted NCA to be in 10 years. Up to that point, I had been so concerned with whatever project was right in front of me—or the year that was in front of me-- that I hadn’t ever stopped to think about long term goals and objectives. It was great to have a manager focused on long term success and who was willing to make short term sacrifices to get there. 
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Obviously you have to be extremely organized to pull off an event like NCA All Star Nationals. Can you give us three tips to organizing an event of that magnitude?
  1. Work from a timeline.  Everything I do on a daily basis in January and February is scheduled 10 months in advance.
  2. Delegation. It would be impossible to pull off an event without having the right people own their portion. For example, our Registrations Director is the best at what she does, our scheduling manager is the best at what she does, and our logistics manager is more meticulously detailed than anyone I know.  I feel like we have the right team playing off individual strengths.
  3. Communication and Transparency – there’s almost always a reason for every decision we make.  I have found that sharing those reasons with customers earns their respect and trust.  They may not always agree with a decision, but as business owners, they usually respect how we got to the where we got in the decision making process.

It seems that you are very dedicated to what your job. What do you do in your off time from the cheer world?
Other than work, all I do is spend time with my family.  Over the past 13 months, I’ve had two children, both within weeks of All Star Nationals.  Raising them with my husband is an adventure and I learn something new every single day.
I’m well aware how great my life is right now.  I’m exactly where I want to be professionally and my family has been an absolute gift.  When I get older, I have no doubt that I’ll look back on this time period as the absolute best time of my life.