A little bit of background on me - I am a native of Iowa and grew up going to the University of Northern Iowa football games as my father was a member of the football chain gang. From the building of the dome in 1976 until 1986, he only missed two home football games. As a traveling salesman, he was frequently on the road and most of our bonding times surrounding going to the UNI football games. In going to those games, I was first exposed to the career of sports information as he would often get a copy of the game programs. My father also subscribed to the Sporting News filled with great writing and numerous statistics. My brother and I would often wake up early to read the local sports page which also sparked my interest in sports information. The Quad City Times (my daily hometown newspaper) and the North Scott Press (my weekly hometown newspaper) often provided exposure to the small schools, in addition to the larger NCAA Division I teams (Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa). In this pre-Internet era, my father also took the time to see where high school and/or junior college players had migrated to four-year colleges. We spent hours combing through his Street & Smith magazines and matching up their high school lists of four-year colleges. These times were my father are something that I'll never forget as he passed away in 2009. While in high school, I thought I knew what a Sports Information Director did but that was vague in comparison to what I am doing now 20+ years later. In high school, I was a three-year member of our high school television station as a sports reporter/producer and a two-year member of the school newspaper/magazine as a sports writer/editor.

After high school, I made some career-altering decisions and one of the most significant ones was to attend Columbus State Community College. At CSCC, I met many of my closest friends still to this day. They have always been there for me in my highs and in my lows of life. My third week of college, I got involved with the athletic department. I kept statistics for the men's and women's basketball team and was able to get them in the Columbus Dispatch, which was 'new' to the department. Also during my first quarter of college, I was exposed to CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) and found out that there was going to be a need for volunteers at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. I would not hear back for a few years but I was able to secure a volunteer position in the sports information center during the Olympics. Along with the upbringing that I had and this experience, it reiterated that this was a career vocation for my future. After coming back to CSCC in the fall to wrap up my degree, I decided to continue on to my four-year degree at the University of Toledo where under great mentorship and leadership, two years later, I had my four-year degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. Since earning my degree, my career has taken me to positions as an intern at both the Naval Academy and Indiana University; assistant director positions at Indiana State and Florida International University and director positions at Texas A&M University-Commerce, Wisconsin-Platteville, LeTourneau and presently, Pacific University.

Where I've been - As I mentioned before, you can tell with a long list of schools / employment, I have been able to be a part of institutions on the NCAA Division I, II and III level. For me, the focus has always been on the student-athletes, coaches and the staff. A selfless service model that my father instilled in me which made him a successful salesman and a father. In addition to these employment opportunities, I have also been able to be a part of events that include the PK80 basketball tournament in Portland, last winter; the upcoming NCAA Division I women's basketball regional that is coming to Portland in late March as well as helping out colleagues across the country when they are shorthanded. I still maintain communication with people who've influenced me, both personally and professionally. An elementary school friend has led our hometown high school girls basketball team back to the state tournament, this week and the numerous coaches as well as administrators that I have worked with through the years. Social media has advanced this level of communication. I often use my Twitter account to give a shoutout from time to time or drop a quick Facebook message of encouragement.

How I am making an impact on the SID World - Prior to taking my position at LeTourneau in September 2013, I came up with #GetSET as I was a human resources management and social media design major at a college in Columbus, Ohio. SET stands for Strategic • Engaged • Teamwork. Since the early days of my career in sports information, I have been an advocate and a member of committees related to job seeking and career enhancement. For the last two years, I have served as the chair of the CoSIDA Job Seekers Committee and been afforded an abundance of growth opportunities through the CoSIDA organization, especially through this committee. I have met many individuals, who I would now consider friends, rather than just colleagues. These friends have encouraged and pushed me to new levels of success, personally and professionally. My colleagues and friends know how active I am on social media, I use the #GetSET principles to keep me grounded in my personal and professional life. In being strategic as part of SET, I establish a culture supported by goals - short and long-term. Regardless of the size of the goal, I seek accountability both internally and externally with friends and mentors. Recently, I received an honor that brought me a lot of prestige but that was due in part to people helping me achieve my goals. The next part of having an impact on the SID world through SET and engagement is how I interact and communicate with individuals. I have often told others that the scoreboard does not indicate nor dictate our efforts. We strive to have positive interactions and communications for our coaches and student-athletes to be successful. Lastly, through teamwork, I am making an impact on the SID world continues to be through social media, e-mail, phone calls, handwritten letters are to be a source of collaboration. We have a bulletin board in our office that is a dedicated checklist for all to see where and what we are doing. I also try to keep levels of communication open between myself and outside individuals. My involvement in Twitter chats is across the multiple landscapes and has introduced me to many great individuals, who in return are helping me and affording me opportunities to help others.