Under the wire

In 2008, I found myself newly graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University, a semester earlier than the traditional four-year experience, mostly friendless, and tired of binging Netflix alone on my newly purchased adult couch.

Growing up in Byron, I had known the commercial side of Rockford — Target, Kohl’s, AMC — but I was completely unaware of the local side of the region. The city I had frequented as a kid felt foreign as I forged out with my shiny new diploma in hand and no idea what I was going to do with this little ole life of mine. I had my new couch, a job I didn’t like (hello, Great Recession) and very few friends. It felt like my early 20s were starting miserably, nothing like what Carrie Bradshaw and friends had assured me my experience as a young adult would be.

As a millennial with a problem, I googled “how to make friends in a new city after college.” Google kindly recommended I find a young professional (YP) group to solve both personal and professional problems. And, after a few more googles, I discovered the Rockford Chamber was setting up a YP group and looking for volunteers. I emailed the executive director and made plans to attend the upcoming meeting at the YWCA. I moved heaven and earth at my not-sogreat job to make the first meeting… And I couldn’t find the YWCA. I drove up and down E. State Street, my GPS constantly exclaiming “I had arrived” while I sobbed in my Corolla, positive I was lost.

Fast forward 15 years and my journey with the Chamber has been a true success story. I was that young professional that planned to leave the region for the “big city” (whatever that meant) as soon as I found my footing. But, the more I explored the regional terrain, the more my footing felt steady here.

I’ve grown my career with the Chamber, from YP volunteer to chief operating officer and president of our 501c3, Rockford Area Strategic Initiatives, with many positions in between. I’ve completed two national fellowships in the industry, graduated from the U.S. Chamber’s Institute of Organization Management (“Chamber School”) and earned my Accredited Chamber Executive certification from the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.

My career at the Chamber has been full of growth — personally and professionally — and full of challenges and opportunities. I’ve grown up in the Chamber office. I trudged my way through dating woes, got married, had two beautiful kids, and so much more, all while a Chamber employee.

This December, I will hit a milestone — I will turn 40. No longer the young kid on the block, I’ve traded my youthful opinions for industry expertise. I’m honored to have recently been named by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives to the Forty Under 40 list of emerging leaders. (Yes, it was just under the wire.) This national recognition, combined with my milestone birthday, has made me ultra-introspective. It’s made me grateful for a career that has allowed me to make an impact, both in my community and my industry. As I close the chapter on my young professional days, I’m honored to be recognized for my achievements as a young professional with an organization that I joined because I was looking for a young professionals group. It just feels too serendipitous to ignore.

I hope to have a long life still ahead of me, and I hope to spend much of my working days fulfilling our mission to create a thriving business community. But I can’t help but pause and think what would have happened if I hadn’t googled YP groups. If I had given up and never found the meeting place. If I didn’t love what I do and tried to continue to give my best each and every day. I would have turned 40 regardless, but the rest could have turned out very differently.

So, thank you, GRCC. Thank you for good, honest work. Thank you for believing in me as a young professional, as a working mother, as an executive. Thank you for the opportunities, the laughter, and the endless networking opportunities. I’m here in the Rockford Region because the Chamber believed in me. I’m here at the Chamber because I believe in Rockford.

Cheers to the next 40 years of growth, opportunity, and laughter. May they be filled with good work, great people, and continued opportunities.