I was born and raised in Great Falls, MT to two young, hard working parents. I was eventually the oldest of three kids and took my oldest sibling job very seriously! I have always been a part of a Union family…my mom worked in the bakery at various grocery stores and was a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers while my dad was a member of the Carpenter’s Union, traveling to build new grocery stores. I also had Grandparents that were teachers and was surrounded by people that believed in hard work and doing whatever it took to provide for their family. I worked as soon as I could starting at the Dairy Queen and after graduating high school in 2004, I moved to Pocatello to begin college at Idaho State University. While going to school, I got a job working in the office at the Pocatello Fire Department. They were Union and it was my first real experience learning about what a Union actually is and their purpose. At 20 years old and not wanting to take out student loans to finish getting my degree, I decided to join the Montana Air National Guard. I was a weekend warrior for 6 years and it was such a rewarding experience. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be when I grew up but I knew I wanted to help people. After changing my major a few times – yes, it’s okay to change your mind about things! – I eventually graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor’s in Business Management with an emphasis in HR. It was time to find a real job and after finding the job posting for the Local Teamsters office, I excitedly applied and accepted the position at the end of 2010 as the Office Manager. At the time, there were three of us, the Secretary-Treasurer, a business agent and myself. I got married to the most supportive man in 2011 and toward the end of 2012, the S-T was retiring and the Local’s best option was to not hire another agent and just operate with two employees. I became a “part-time” business agent and took over representing UPS and our freight companies while also managing the office, TITAN and the bookkeeping. I thought I was busy then until I had my first baby in 2014 and then another (& last!) in 2017. Not working was never an option in my mind and I continued working, sometimes with a baby at my side, hoping to teach my girls that you can be successful with hard work. Eventually the Local was at a place that we could hire another agent and after some begging on my part, we hired LaWanda Ellsworth at the end of 2020. Now we were three with a membership of about 850 members. Here we are today in 2022, with me as the first female Secretary-Treasurer of this Local alongside two other amazing women representing and supporting our growing membership. This Local and the membership has been a major part of my life and I have many goals and ideas to help improve it and the quality of lives of our Union family. I’m so grateful for this opportunity and the support of my Teamster family, both near and far.