Indiana Electric Cooperatives President and Marshall County Director

Who is your professional role model?
My grandparents and parents

What is your philosophy on meetings?
Meetings need to be concise, transparent, insightful, and educational.

What is the first thing you do when you get to work?
I greet my coworkers and plan the agenda for the day’s work.

What is the worst job you ever had?
As a veterinarian, euthanizing animals and being empathetic with grieving owners.

If you could instill one piece of wisdom in every new employee, what would it be?
New employees should practice “the Golden Rule” with coworkers and members.

What’s a skill you would love to learn if you had the time?
I would learn to be a better golfer.

What’s one thing you wish you had known earlier in your career?
I wish I had been more patient and a better listener.

What are the core principles that guide your leadership decisions?
Be fair and truthful. Always seek the best outcomes for the majority of the group while remaining open to the views of the minority.

What’s your favorite civic contribution you have made?
I have enjoyed being on the scholarship selection committee for the Community Foundation.

What is the hardest thing about being a leader?
Dealing with close-minded individuals. Change is inevitable, and dealing with it correctly can be a positive thing.

If you could travel and visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I would visit all the state and national parks in this country.

What is on your office walls?
Mostly family pictures

What is something about leadership in a rural electric cooperative that you believe only other co-op leaders truly understand?
It’s a member-focused business versus a stockholder-minded business model — that is truly special, which co-op workers only fully understand.