Spectrum Center is run by a trailblazer. Meet Donna Julian, one of the first female arena GMs
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2024 National Girls & Women in Sports Day
To Celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day, we’re showcasing the women behind some of Charlotte’s sports teams whether it’s on the pitch, the ice or the court.
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Walking into Donna Julian’s residence, it’s relatively easy to see where her passion lies.
“Sports is always on,” the Spectrum Center general manager said. “You go to the Julian house, there’s always going to be a TV on with a sport on.”
Although many who’ve walked through the uptown arena’s doors don’t know Julian personally, there’s a good chance she’s lurked past them during an event or two during the past decade-plus. She’s been with Hornets Sports & Entertainment for exactly 19 years, serving as the arena’s management director since it initially opened its doors in 2005, helping host more than a combined 150 sporting events, concerts and other shows annually.
One of few women in her position in the industry, Julian’s deep love for athletics blossomed during her days growing up just outside of Baltimore, sparked by a father who couldn’t suppress his affinity for the city’s professional landscape. They were joined at the hip, often a frequent daddy-daughter pairing at Baltimore Colts games before the NFL team bolted to Indianapolis. And there were treks to see the NBA’s Baltimore Bullets prior to the team moving to Washington and changing its nickname.
Julian was the exact opposite of her sibling, creating a different bond with her dad.
“I had a sister who was not interested in sports at all, so I think he just dragged me to sporting events,” Julian said. “As long as I can remember, I was either going to see something or listening to something on the radio. Sports radio was just a comforting thing for me.”
Julian is an athlete at heart, having played tennis at Ohio University where she was a four-year letter winner and co-captain during his senior season. She found her calling there, too, earning a bachelor’s degree in athletics administration. It led to her landing an internship at the Washington Sports Organization.
“And man, oh man, I got in there, Julian said, “and I just loved it.”
She was hooked forever.
“I went into that arena bowl and one day it was like a Georgetown Hoyas game and the next night it was a Washington Capitals game,” she said. “The next day it was a Washington Bullets game and I’m like this is awesome and I can remember the feeling I got from just the events changing from event to event. So I said to myself, how can I have that sports feel … but these arena events are kind of cool, too.”
Julian sought out the advice of someone in the industry at the time she trusted, asking a gentleman named Barry Silverman for the exact title of the person directly responsible for the arena’s day-to-day operations.
“And he said, well you need to be a general manager,” Julian said. “And I said, ‘OK, that’s what I’m going to do, having no clue what that meant. But I was determined to figure that out. And that’s what I was going to do in my mind, there were no women doing that, there were no people of color at the time. But I said I’m going to figure this thing out.”
She did. Julian wound up spending 15 years as the general manager of 1st Mariner Arena — currently known as CFG Bank Arena — in Baltimore before an opportunity came up that she just couldn’t turn down. A new arena was being built in uptown because Charlotte was getting pro basketball back after the original franchise’s move to New Orleans in 2002.
The chance to leave her mark in the Carolinas arose and Julian jumped at it.
“I had other opportunities, but this was a combination of a new arena project and a new NBA team,” Julian said. “In the arena business, you’ve got the lottery right there. That’s huge. So, I said, ‘Let’s check it out. I love Charlotte.’ And we’ve been here ever since.”
Enjoying the Carolinas, settling down with her husband David, who works at Johnson C. Smith University, and sons Griffin (26) and Donovan (22).
Julian took time to chat with The Observer about her career path, her daily duties, what fans should expect with renovations shutting the arena down for the next two summers and more.
Q: What’s it been like to see the arena grow from your first day until now?
A: It’s been great. First of all, the experience of opening a building for the first time, and really coming up with opening up a new organization at that time because there were a lot of people, so that was great. But the feeling of opening up a new building was phenomenal. We opened with Rolling Stones. We had a Bobcats game early on. So those are very fond memories.
But to see the transformation of where we were there back in 2005 to where we are now getting ready to dive into these major renovations is obviously really really exciting. So much has changed. Back then, everything wasn’t on your phone. Now everything is on your phone technology. Has changed, but it’s a really exciting time for us right now.
Q: What’s the most exciting part about your job every day? What gets you going?
A: It’s funny because it’s changed a little bit. Look, I’m gonna look back on my career and say I’ve been here with this great organization. I’ve done the DNC, which was here in 2012. The NBA All-Star game, all the events. Just too many to name that I’m so thankful for. But when it comes down to it, it’s going to be about the people. I love the collaboration, working with people, my counterparts, developing a team, seeing those teams and people grow up and do different things.
It is about the people, the people that I work with and also the people that we have come to this building every day. If you think about it when people come in here, they have the highest expectations. They want to have a great time and our job is to exceed those expectations and I love that. I try to be in the lobby Almost as much as I can when doors open. Because that’s what it’s about — the people who are coming in that door who are so excited.
Whether it’s a family or a husband and wife, whatever. It doesn’t matter. A father bringing his son to the Bruce concert that he went to 25 years ago. I can really see vividly the different stories coming in, and it’s about the people. And so that’s like a good checkpoint for me to never forget what it’s. Really about, just the people who invested their time to come here.
Q: If you could pick a favorite event or certain time period, what sticks out most?
A: I will give you a couple of events. But I think the biggest thing for me is what happens at an event. It’s the feeling that occurs at the event. So, when I can look out into that arena bowl, and you see people all celebrating, or having a good time, enjoying the event together. … You may not know the person, but you’re dancing in the seats, you’re cheering together, it kind of brings out the best of us in these sporting events and arena events, and that’s the part I love.
So, it’s more about the feeling of the event that I love. Now we’ve been fortunate to have so many great people here. I’ve seen Stevie Wonder, got to hear his soundcheck. I’ll never forget that. That was incredible. It’s also getting exposed to an event. I might have never seen Pink and now I’m a huge fan. So, I think it’s just so many different things that I’ve got a chance to work, but it’s really the feeling that the building takes when people are kind of enjoying something together that I love the most.
Q: What’s it like to see the bowl change fit events and what about the people who do the work behind the scenes to make it all happen?
A: That’s that whole people thing. So first of all, the beauty of what we do, we know the Spectrum Center is an asset to the community, and we are very strategic and making sure that things that come in, this building represent the community. So, there should be something for everyone. So, when I look at a schedule and whether it be a Hornets game or an R&B show to a comedy show, when I can look at a variety of events, that’s what we are trying to do, right? So, you are getting all these people coming in and different genres, which is great. But it’s not possible to do that without a lot of people.
So you’re right, you have the people on the operation crew. And they got to come in and change from event to event changing courts to courts. As you may know, because you’re here for Hornets games, it’s the collaboration, which is another thing I love about my job. But those people are vitally important. The people that are cleaning up know that we could not be successful without them. And I think it’s a fun business to be in so I think they enjoy it, but it’s hard work. And we appreciate everything they do because we couldn’t do it without them.
Q: What should fans expect with the renovations and the arena closing it doors for the next 2 summer?
A: I think it’s a couple of things. It’s tough to shut down, right? Obviously, not something that we would ideally do. But ownership has been very clear that this is really important to get a world class arena and facility. And this is the first step in that. So we know it’s important. It’s a long term play. I would say We are trying to get as much content in during the season. We are working really hard, and promoters are being really responsive to that, so that’s exciting. I think what people are going to see is there something for everybody that comes. The guest experience is so important to our organization, so we are very focused on making sure there’s something for everybody.
A couple of things to highlight: One, is just going to be opening up the bowl a little bit more. So, you are going to get some more visibility, some more gathering spaces, which is really important. And that’s going to be on all levels, including the Uptown concourse. The food and beverage experience, we spent a lot of time on how can we be more efficient, how can we give people more of a variety of options to eat, but get In and out of the lines? So, you are going to see marketplaces grab and gos, those types of things.
And just simple stuff, to me, that’s important is lighting and signage will help with the experience a little bit. Obviously, we are adding some hospitality spaces on our event level, adding a new vomitory out of the bowl, which is going to be great To get people in and out a little bit easier. But I think whatever we are going to do it’s going to be impactful for everybody that comes to the doors, and that’s really one of our main objectives.
Q: How important is the arena to area’s success?
A: One, it’s really important. We go back to when I got here in 2005, we’ve seen a lot of changes since 2005, and the arena has been kind of a cornerstone of all that. We bring people Uptown. We bring people to restaurants and bars, and that’s an obligation that we have. We take that seriously. We want to do that, but I think just creating that overall experience is important.
We are going to be hosting the men’s NCAA first and second rounds. People love doing these tournaments here in this city because of that feel, so that is very important. And we need to continue to work on that because we need to be competitive for many, many years to come to get those top-notch events.
Q: How much do you relish the opportunity to inspire others of color to do what you do and make sure that people not only see you?
A: Absolutely. I’m not one of those people that always puts myself out there a lot, but I do realize it’s important for people to see me, it’s important for a young woman of color to see me doing this job so she realizes she can do whatever she wants.
On a personal level, I’m a Big Sister. I’ve been a part of that organization for many years. I’m a Big Sister to a young rock star named Hannah because I think it’s important first of all to give back to the community and let people know they can do whatever they want and they can dream big. If you told me back when I started this that I’d be doing this, I would have never even dreamed this. I’ve exceeded my dreams, but at least I felt like I could do something and that’s really important. So I think it’s very important for me to be out there and for people to realize you can fulfill your dreams if you work hard.
Q: Do you deal directly with promoters? What is your involvement there?
A: It comes a couple of different ways. Kind of yes and no. So, basically we have someone on our team that is the vice president of booking and he and I work really closely., so we are talking to promoters all the time about bringing content. You see we had UFC recently here, we had a K-Pop show recently. So, we are constantly trying to get different promoters and acts to come here. Yeah, so we are rocking it. We want to keep this building as busy as possible.
Q: What’s been the most challenging event?
A: I don’t know if I can name one because each one has its own unique challenges, or as I like to put it, opportunities to succeed, and sometimes the smaller ones can be a challenge, too. So, I think it all depends. But it’s a lot of logistics stuff and we have a great team of people who work hard to make sure that we get the promoter what they want and the entertainers are getting the experience they want and their fans want. But yeah, they each are kind of fun.
