Getting to Know our Office Team

Can you share an example of a project or accomplishment that you are particularly proud of?

The accomplishment I’m most proud of is doing 20 years in the Air Force. It was my first job, and after many deployments and years away from family, I was able to retire from the Air Force and come work for SAM.

What are you looking forward to at SAM?

leap of faith. It was everything I could ask for.

Can you tell us about your military experience?

What does your day-to-day involve as an Office Technician?

My day-to-day involves helping other technicians or project managers with license issues and sometimes hardware or software problems. As an Office Technician, I’m receiving and copying raw data from the field and ensuring we have all the required data for our projects. I also frequently assist with project setup in GeoCue and MicroStation 3D CAD software, monitoring and cleaning up old project folders to help with file space.

What is your favorite part about SAM?

My favorite part about SAM is how friendly and helpful everyone is plus there’s always food and employee engagement events! It’s amazing how relaxed everyone is, and they truly care about you. I know that sounds cliche, but I really feel like SAM truly cares. It’s also very flexible, and management wants to see you progress and succeed, which I appreciated and it excited me about working here.

I was an Aircraft Electrician for 14 years where I worked on five different types of planes including fighter jets and cargo planes. Afterwards, I was a Medical Administrator in the service for 6 years. My experience with taking on big tasks, working with teams, and managing people has prepared me for any role I take. I also think it’s amazing that SAM has their own core values. As a former service woman, I was a little surprised to know that they kind of correlate to some of the core values of the military, but I think what I like most is that it shows SAM cares about their employees. How do you think your military experience has shaped your work ethic and approach to teamwork, and how do you apply these lessons at SAM?

The military was the first job I’ve ever had; everything I know about work ethic and teamwork has come from being in the military. Integrity, excellence in all we do, and service before self are core values I still live by. Teamwork is always important, and it comes down to good communication and respect for your fellow teammates. There are probably over 100 veterans working at SAM. It's very important to me and to our communities that SAM hires veterans and helps them transition into civilian life, and especially providing them resources at every level of the process.

What excites me the most about my career here at SAM is the future. Even in my short time here, I’m already being asked what my career plans are and what goals I have. They’re always preparing you for what you want to do next, and honestly, I'm excited about that. I want to help the company in any way I can, so my next step is to look into continuing my education and training. In the military, my goals were always things like make rank, get those next medals, and stuff like that, and now that I'm at SAM, I feel like that alone was a significant goal that I achieved. Now that I am in civilian life, I couldn't dream of a better company to be working for.

If you could switch lives with anyone for a day, who would it be and why?

If I could switch lives with anyone for a day, it would be Meghan Markle. It’s a crazy story to me being an American girl in your 30’s and marrying a prince!

What's your favorite book, and what makes it special to you?

My favorite book would be John Grisham’s “A Time to Kill”. It’s my mother’s favorite author and growing up we would read all of his books, then spend all night talking about them. We had our own little John Grisham book club.