Vocation and Calling | Tammi Fries

In the Fall of 2020, Campbell staff members invested in themselves and their coworkers by taking part in a virtual cohort on a quest to illuminate their gifts and career paths. The staff members used their reading and discussion groups to get to know one another, telling stories from their own lives and the lives of others who made an impact on them. 

Led by Vice President for Spiritual Life and Campus Minister Faithe Beam, the cohort met in two groups of six and was funded through a $10,000 grant from NetVUE (Network for Vocation in Theological Education) to engage staff in the process of vocational discernment. Participants read “Let Your Life Speak” by Parker Palmer, which shares insights and wisdom on the learning from our core attributes and following a sense of meaning and purpose. They also discussed their faith journeys and the integration of their spiritual lives at Campbell. 

Cohort discussion encouraged personal spiritual formation, interdisciplinary exploration of the meaning of “calling” and new ideas and practices toward engaging students in career discernment.

When Tammi Fries (‘04) took part in Campbell Spiritual Life’s vocation and calling cohort, she was in her fifth year of service as her alma mater’s director of annual giving.

A native of Winnabow, North Carolina, she came to Campbell as a student to play volleyball and went on to coach the sport for nine years. Her natural gift for encouraging others led her back to Campbell, where she transitioned from motivating players to motivating the donors who support Campbell students and programs every year. 

Over the year-long cohort, Fries reflected on her time as a volleyball coach, her journey to annual giving, and the people who helped her along the way. She gained a new understanding of her vocation as an encourager and mentor, and learned that she can live out her faith using those qualities regardless of the field she is in.

Today, she serves as Recruiter Coordinator for Triangle Volleyball Club, combining her love of volleyball with her unique understanding of collegiate affairs and her personal calling to encouragement.