Growing up in central Ohio, public schools were something my family always supported and were very important to my overall decision to run for Columbia Public School Board of Education.  After graduating from Miami of Ohio in 1988, I began a great career with State Farm that lasted over twenty years.  Moving around in Ohio with my career, and then to Illinois and finally here to Columbia, MO, taught me a great deal of diversity of thought and ideas as it relates to all aspects of life.

In 2002, I began a two year term on the Board of Directors at Columbia Montessori School.  What I didn’t know until then was that working to better the education of children and volunteering my time were real passions for me.  This term lead me to an overall stay with CMS of five years on the board.  While volunteering at CMS, I also served for four years as Chair of the Partners in Education Committee at State Farm, working really closely with our partner, Rock Bridge High School.

Currently, I am active in Assistance League of Mid Missouri, Columbia Youth Basketball Association, PTA at Paxton Keeley Elementary and coaching various teams with my children.  My hobbies and interests, in addition to hanging with my husband Alan and two kids – Nicholas (11) and Emily (9), are running and all types of physical activity, reading and spending time with our great group of friends.

What do you think are the biggest challenges for professional women today? This is a difficult answer for me because I have only worked in the private/large corporate sector of the world, but also had experience in High School and College with a locally owned health club.  Women, in general, tend to analyze issues, concepts, ideas, conflicts, interactions much differently than men.  Consequently, I’ve found many times, in my professional life and even in my work thus far as a volunteer, both men and women need to take the time to understand how each communicates.

In my opinion, neither women nor men can “have it all”.  Both men and women need to prioritize what is most important.  I found with myself that even though I could prioritize, I still wanted to be everything to everyone, and do everything in all areas in my life.  Later on in my professional life, learning to say “no” and taking the time to re-evaluate my life was critical.  Women, since they are usually the nurturers and caregivers of families, really need to take time on a periodic basis to look at their lives and take stock in where they are now.  I am not convinced the business world allows employees, especially those in management, the time and support to do this when it comes to their total well being.

Women sometimes can be their own obstacle and worst critic.  Women need to give themselves more praise, love and acceptance for what they are doing given the hours in the day.  When I worked full time, I also volunteered about 15 hours a week for Columbia Montessori School, did most of the “stuff” at home, kept in shape physically and took kids to activities.  But what I always found myself not doing was saying “wow, you accomplished a lot and look how great everything turned out”.  I found myself thinking “I should have done more, I should have done something different”.

What is something you wish you could change about your self? I have always believed some of my strengths are also some of my weaknesses.  I tend to think while I talk and have really worked hard to make sure the world does not hear my thoughts.  Additionally, I am somewhat trustworthy from the start, and really want to get to know people.   But have learned, especially now, it is important I understand  who I am talking to, my audience, and whether I need to respond to a comment or question.  Finally, having a nine year old girl is teaching me a great deal of patience and the importance of loving myself – I want to set a good example to Emily so she has a great self image and loves the person she is becoming.

Name one thing not many people know about you. Two things – I played college basketball at Miami of Ohio.  Second, as social as I am, and “don’t know a stranger”,  I am very much a home body and receive energy from quiet time at home.

What is the best business advice you’ve ever received? Many people have given me timely advice and have been helpful during my career and currently with my role on School Board.  Each day I remind myself I  will never make all the people happy, and when the focus is too much on making people happy, more people become upset, angry, etc.  Along with this is trying not to manage to the few people who are speaking the loudest – either positively or negatively.  For example, especially with CPS, while we may have a few people really angry or happy about a particular item on our agenda, we need to be able to step back and ask how are we really doing, and what is the evidence to support the choices?   And finally, when dealing with any situation, whether it be personnel related or other, I try to ask myself “what would I do if this were my business, my money, my employees?”

How would you describe your leadership style? Given my background in sports, I have a great understand and appreciation of accepting criticism and praise because it will help me as an individual, but then in the end will help the team succeed.  While supervising employees, I always tried to be direct and timely with both praise and correcting behavior or other.  However, given how I struggled sometimes with juggling “everything”, I worked closely with each employee on their needs, desires, and aspirations.  Another description to my style would be that of coach.  When dealing with my volunteer work, I value the relationships formed and how everyone leads each other in order to benefit the overall outcome of the team.

Has your career path held surprises along the way? Yes, very much so.  I found myself at various times during my career doing the things a company told me to do or wanted their employees to do in order to get ahead.  That isn’t a bad thing unless that does not make someone happy.  When I finally realized I didn’t want to “move ahead” any more, and wanted to focus on the things in life that really mattered to me, I became much happier.   My thought was I would retire at State Farm, but instead I chose to leave after 20 years, become a member of the School Board, become much more involved in my children’s lives and begin volunteering more in this community to help make it better.  Sometimes the road you don’t think is possible or exists, is the best road travelled.

What do you do to relax? This is easy – I run and try to do something physical…When I go a day without working out or excercising, I notice my stress level increase.  But I have learned how to plan and manage better if I don’t get the good sweat in once a day!

What is one personal goal you haven’t yet achieved? Most runners, whether casual joggers or more advanced, dream of running a marathon.  I have run several half marathons, but have never made the jump in training to enter and compete in a full marathon.  Will have to get back with you on my goal and time frame for the goal, but this is definitely something on my list.

What is your workplace pet peeve? With larger companies, the issues are different than smaller, even locally owned businesses.  For me, frustrations were high when expectations or directions changed quickly, and then everyone was supposed to understand and apply the changes immediately.  We need to understand that people comprehend and learn at different rates and with different styles.  As leaders, we need to adapt our style to the needs of the individuals we are supervising, teaching, educating, or in whatever field.    The other pet peeve is not listening to the people who are constantly doing the job.  This is the same for large companies and for our large district of teachers. That being said, the key word is listening.  If we, the business or CPS, choose not to act upon what we heard from the employees, it is important to somehow communicate the why’s behind actions.  Most times, people are frustrated with direction because they don’t understand the background and ‘why’s’ behind the decision. My short time on CPS BOE has reaffirmed that.  Many times someone may read a portion of what is going on due to an article in a newspaper.  However, once a full explanation of the real story is provided, the individual may not agree with what we did, but they understand and have a different perspective.

Who do you consider a career mentor and why? Actually, I have several mentors in various aspects of my life.  My father was always a huge mentor to me – and even though he passed away in 2002, I still remember and cherish things he taught me.  My father was very hard working, quiet and yet gentle and loving.  He suffered as a child with stuttering so he learned to think about what he wanted to say and when – and he taught me to do that as well.  My father was fiercely loyal to those around him, which sometimes today you don’t see as often.  One of my mentors at State Farm, Ellen Kesterson, is now on the School Board of Southern Boone, so hopefully our mentorship is a full circle.  Lynnanne Baumgardner really helped me when I was considering running for BOE..She also introduced the Assistance League to me and is a great resource for me to call and ask questions and guidance.

Honestly, I try to use everyone around me as someone who can teach, guide, lead and encourage me.

What is your dream job? Owning and running a health club…When I interviewed for Procter and Gamble in college, they asked me this question but added “what is your dream job in 10 years”.  I answered with great enthusiasm and excitement “owning and operating a health club” and didn’t get the job.  But, I love training and teaching people.  That is one thing I have taken notice of with all my jobs, passions, hobbies.  I tend to gravitate toward jobs in which I can help coach, teach, or train people.  When I was an instructor and trainer back in the 1980′s/90′s I loved helping people feel better about their bodies and getting physically fit.  When I taught Claim School in Illinois for State Farm, I loved every aspect of helping the employees understand the policy contract and become better claims employees.  So, over the years, I have always gravitated toward positions in which I can help train, teach and assist people.  So, owning my own health club would be the best of all worlds!!

What do you hope to be doing in 10 years – personally and professionally? Personally, my two great children will be in College, so that will be an experience.  Also, I hope to remain very involved in the community through volunteering.  This town has such great and passionate volunteers and I have loved the friendships formed due to my experiences.   My goal is to remain active and on the School Board, but also, will need to know when it is time to move on and broaden my experience base.  Professionally, I am still trying to figure out what my next career will be other than my volunteer work.  This could involve going back to school, or who knows, owning my own health club!!

Comments are closed.