Born: I was born July 3, 1973, in San Antonio, Texas.
Education: I attended Texas A&M University for two years and finished my bachelor’s degree at the University of North Texas. I have a business degree in marketing with an emphasis in sales.
Family: I am single and have two children. My daughter, Sarah Claire, is a freshman at Ole Miss studying marketing and sales. She was a lucky recipient of a Gulf Coast Chapter scholarship last year. My son, Owen, is 14 and headed to high school next year.
When and how did you come to work in a job related to the recycling industry? I have been in sales for over 20 years, mostly in the legal and tax vertical for F500s. A few years ago I was looking to make a change in my career. A previous manager of mine was running the Remote Video Monitoring sales team at Kastle and hired me.
What is it about the recycling industry that appeals to you in your job? Without a doubt, it is the people. I have never enjoyed a career more than this one. I get to wear jeans and baseball caps and meet extraordinary people, many of whom have grown up in this business. I’ve been welcomed with open arms, and it feels like a big and somewhat crazy family. That suits me well.
What have been your most rewarding professional achievements? Personal achievements? My most rewarding professional achievement is not once missing my quota in 21 years of sales. I surpassed my quota through 9/11, the 2008 economic crash, and now COVID-19—all challenging times for sure, but COVID is the hardest by far. Couple that with my clients experiencing hurricanes, riots, the great Texas freeze—it has been difficult to say the least.
As far as my personal achievements, I would have to say my children. While they are certainly not perfect, they have huge hearts and kind souls. They are intelligent, funny, and irreverent.
What are you passionate about? I’m passionate about helping my clients. By securing their yards in a better and more cost-effective way and detecting fires at the earliest stage possible, we can directly and greatly reduce overall liability for our clients.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people. I am at least a sixth-generation Texan with a long family history in farming and ranching. My dad was a peanut and watermelon farmer and also had cattle. I worked with him constantly and was especially good at tagging and branding cattle by the time I was 8.
If you could improve anything about yourself, what would it be? One word—patience. Not my strong suit.
What do you like to do in your free time? I love traveling, especially to the beach. I own a boutique with my sister here in Dripping Springs, and we have just launched a travel agency. Seems like a bad time for that, but people are climbing the walls to plan their first vacation in over a year.
When and why did your company decide to join ISRI and the Gulf Coast Chapter? My company joined ISRI in 2015 after accidentally realizing what an excellent fit we are in this vertical. I would say 90% of our current customers have come directly from our involvement with ISRI. It is by far the best trade group I have ever been involved with. I decided to join GCC after meeting [GCC First Vice President] Nidhi Turakhia and [GCC Communications Chair] Brandi Harleaux last year at an ISRI event. I wanted to be part of ISRI’s Women in Recycling Council and to work with others that have taken on leadership positions in the organization.
Have you held any leadership positions within GCC? I am Membership Chair for GCC. I wanted to help the organization that has helped me! Most of my business comes from ISRI, so it is just an absolute no-brainer. I am also very involved with the Women in Recycling Council.
What benefits have you received from your GCC involvement? Friendship, new clients, and an easy avenue to get information about Kastle’s core competencies out to the market.
What are the major challenges facing your company and the overall recycling industry today? From my perspective as a vendor to this industry, one of the biggest challenges is fire prevention. Per ISRI, the five-year average cost of a yard fire is $450,000. Helping our customers understand their options, and the tremendous value of our solutions, is a challenge. Many potential customers are willing to take their chances rather than make a serious investment in fire prevention. If the insurance underwriters were open to working with vendors for prevention, we would all win.
