Working for a Living

At the time I graduated from William Jewell College (WJC) in May of 2004, I had completed three internships (St. Louis City--Mayor Slay's City View Initiative; Kansas City Missouri--Jackson County Prosecutor's Office; William Jewell College--New Student Orientation), had been honored as a scholar athlete four years, had gone to the NAIA Women's Soccer Final Four in Santa Barbara, had studied abroad in Madrid, Spain, and had coached youth soccer. Since 2002 when WJC had been named "Time Magazine's Liberal Arts College of the Year" it's prestige had grown.

These experiences on my resume helped me to get a job two months after graduation as a staff assistant working on the reelection campaign of Missouri's senior U.S. Senator, Kit Bond. I started working at the campaign headquarters on the tail end of the campaign in 2004. As a staff assistant on the campaign, I was responsible for office maintenance including answering phones, greeting visitors, and developing correspondence on behalf of the campaign. I also aided staff with documents, mailings, and event coordination.

When the campaign had ended and Senator Bond had been reelected to his fourth term I was offered a job on his official staff in Jefferson City, the Casework Office. Unlike other district offices, this office handled the case work load for the entire state. It was here that I developed correspondence, answered phones, aided staff with projects, and began attending events on behalf of the Senator. I was responsible for daily, weekly, and monthly reports on constituent concerns, media coverage, and incoming and outgoing mail.

Not long after taking on the Jefferson City position an opportunity for the Senator became open in Washinton, D.C. I went to Kansas City to interview for the position and was invited to come to D.C. and work in the Senator's Capitol Office in Russell Senate Office Building as the Staff Assistant/Tour Coordinator/Legislative Correspondent. Because the work I would be doing in D.C. would be different from that in-state, I was able to take advantage of a class put on by the Legislative Process Institute there in Congress called "Congress: An Introduction to Resources and Procedure." This class greatly added to my knowledge of the legislative branch. My position in Washington consisted of assisting tourists traveling from Missouri to Washington with advice on tours available, hotels, transportation, and other general (and specific) information. I was a U.S. Capitol Tour Guide and escorted Missourians and other VIPs on tours of the U.S. Capitol building. I was also responsible for researching policy and developing correspondence on civil rights, guns, crime, drugs, religious liberties, housing and urban development, and campaign finance. I also answered the main phone lines, responded to constituent concerns, and greeted visitors to the office. One of the many highlights of this time of my life was when Senator Bond asked me specifically to take foreign dignitaries and their wives on a tour of the U.S. Capitol with the Senator and his wife afterhours. I had been a favorite guide to many Missourians and the Senator had gotten word of this by mail from Missourians. I was happy to escort the VIPs on this very special night time tour of our nation's Capitol Building.

After soaking in the vibrance of D.C. for awhile it became clear to me that D.C. was not the place I wanted to make my home. My home had always been in St. Louis and I wanted to come back and work for the Senator there. However there were no jobs in St. Louis working for Senator Bond. There was one in Springfield, Missouri, and so I made my interest in this position known to the staff. It was not long that I was transfered to the Springfield District Office to work as the Field Representative, assisting the District Office Director. My duties included communication with area organizations who wished to apply for federal grant opportunities, researching federal grant opportunities for organizations in need of funding, and developing letters of support for those organizations on behalf of the Senator. I also was responsible for traveling a twenty-four county district to keep in faithful contact with elected officials, corporate leaders, and concerned citizens. I also recorded, investigated, and followed through on the concerns of these officials, corporate leaders, and citizens. I attened area legislative and civic meetings, ground-breaking ceremonies, memorial dedications, Troop Deployment and Welcome Home ceremonies, as well as federal funding announcements throughout the district on behalf of the Senator, as well as assisting in planning events for the Senator in the district.

The next position I took was working for the State Party in the midterm elections of 2006. I was the Field Director for St. Charles and Lincoln Counties in Missouri. I was sent to the State Party's Field School to prepare for the strenuous demands of the campaign. I directed all administrative and campaign support efforts. I was accountable to senior staff for weekly goals of voter contact. I was responsible for facilities management of campaign office, designating satellite phone bank locations, and managaing and creating volunteer activities to help in achieving weekly goals. I successfully planned and orchestrated the visits of U.S. Senator Jim Talent, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlmann, and Mrs. Brenda Talent. I also successfully oversaw all Party campaign activity for a two county area for State Party, including working with smaller races in the area. When the campaign was over, I was looking for work in St. Louis, and the search did not last long.

In January I received the opportunity to interview for a position working with a Political Consulting Firm in the St. Louis area. I was offered the position of Political and Events Associate and began working for John Hancock and Associates, a leading Political Consulting, Research, Lobbying, and Public Affairs firm. I provided high-level administrative support to the President, Vice President, Political Director, and Director of Research. I performed a variety of key functions, addressed inquiries of current and potential clients, and maintained a fund raising database. I acted as Associate Producer of The Perfect Plan Event Company, and made key decisions on event development and coordination. I was responsible for a 10% increase of database growth and I coordinated and hosted successful industry events, created invitations and promotional materials, and booked venues.

Since working for a living, I have become a solutions-driven professional with extensive experience in representing the U.S. Senior Senator for the State of Missouri in a variety of federal, state, and local settings. I am a results oriented self-starter with significant knowledge of Missouri, a demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks at once, and to build effective relationships. I am a resourceful, creative problem-solver with proven aptitude to analyze and translate complex inquiries and design and implement comprehensive solutions. I am a motivated achiever with leadership experience and regular promotions, and an articulate communicator, able to speak the language of both people and legislators, blending governmental knowledge with interpersonal skills for effective interaction. As fortunate as I have been, I could not help the desire to go back to school to learn how to teach, using the knowledge I have gained for the common good.