Blog

This is one in a series of question and answer sessions with Family & Children’s Place Ambassadors, young business and community leaders helping build support for and awareness of the agency and its work.

Question: Why did you get involved as an Ambassador with F&CP?
Answer: My sister-in-law was in the Ambassador program last year and could not say enough great things about the program and the agency. When I began learning about F&CP and took a tour of some of the facilities, I knew this was a mission that I needed to be involved in.

Q: What’s your day job?
A: Internal auditor for First Savings Bank and First Savings Financial Group

Q: Who do you consider your greatest influencer in terms of your own personal values?
A: Both my grandmother (gramma) and my mom are two women that did not have it easy but always put their family first. They have both been true examples of selfless love.

Q: What do you hope to achieve by 50?
A: I hope to be enjoying life with a happy and healthy family, collecting memories, not things. I want to travel as much as possible, bungee jump (even though I’m deathly afraid of heights), learn a new language and learn to cook healthier options for my family. I also want to be making a difference and giving back to the community in as many ways as possible.

Q: What’s your favorite local restaurant, and why do you love it?
A: River City Winery, because it has great pizza and great wine, which are two things that I love after a long day.

Q: What does a perfect day look like to you?
A: The perfect day would be my husband and I sitting in beach chairs under a Tiki hut watching the waves roll in while I read a good book.

Q: What teacher in school made the most impact on you and why?
A: I’ve had a lot of really great educators, but the one that made the biggest impact will remain nameless because they actually were not one of my favorite teachers. One of my accounting professors was pretty tough and would constantly talk about the number of students to fail or drop his class and change majors. While I really didn’t like his approach, it provided a fuel that made me not only want to pass his class but excel in it. It was a good reminder that we don’t grow when things are easy; we grow when we face challenges.

Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of so far in your life?
A: I didn’t have many family members to attend college, let alone graduate. My own college graduation was the first one that I attended and I’m very grateful for the doors that my degrees opened for me at FSB.

Q: What is your best childhood memory?
A: I grew up in Erie, PA and always had fun at Lake Erie. My fondest memories were playing all day at Avonia Beach, one of the beaches only locals really knew about, and right by our family cottage. We would go back up to the cottage for the biggest bonfire we could build, shuck some farm fresh sweet corn and have Smith’s hotdogs!

Q: When you were little, what did you want to be?
A: First, a cashier, then a lawyer, and eventually an auditor.

Q: If you could have lunch with one person (alive or dead) that you look up to, who would it be and why?
A: There are a lot of historical figures I would love the chance to have lunch with, but from the time when I was 16 and toured the Secret Annex where Anne Frank hid, she has been at the top of my list. To endure so much hate at such a young age, I think she would have a lot of advice for young people today.

Q: What is your favorite hobby (outside of Family & Children’s Place, of course!)?
A: I haven’t had a lot of spare time for hobbies after just finishing planning and celebrating a wedding, and now devoting most of our time to the fixer upper we bought, but when things calm down, my husband and I love to unplug from society for a weekend of camping. We love floating down Blue River in a canoe and enjoying the day together, surrounded by calm water and nature’s beauty.