Age: 32 Business: Key Appraisal Group Job title: Owner, certified real estate appraiser Why are you working in this industry? I was approached by a customer, in my previous profession in Fort Worth, about becoming a trainee with his appraisal firm. After working with his firm for two years, we moved to Abilene and, shortly after, we started … Continued
Age: 30 Business: Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Abilene Job title: Human resources director Why are you working in this industry? Hospitals have an uncanny ability to connect people regardless of their socio-economic status, innate abilities, influence, etc. Working in healthcare as a human resources professional both satisfied my aspiration to serve others, as well as, provide them … Continued
Age: 32 Business: Hendrick Provider Network Job title: Physician, internal medicine Why are you working in this industry? The relationship between a patient and his/her healthcare provider is uniquely intimate. Being in medicine allows me to truly see a person’s thought process, emotions, support system, family dynamics, and (not to overstate it) their heart and soul. While forming … Continued
Age: 35 Business: Monks Coffee Shop Job Title: Owner Why are you working in this industry? Simply put: I love coffee, and I love the incredible sense of community that can be created around coffee. Nothing else I’ve encountered has quite the same ability as a good cup of joe to foster moments of genuine connection between people … Continued
Beth (Hull ’01) Daugherity was vacuuming when it happened. A strange, unmistakable twinge in her ribs that crackled, like Rice Krispies in milk. Over the next several days, her discomfort grew. She couldn’t sleep on her left side and wondered if she had pneumonia even though she wasn’t coughing. An x-ray revealed a … Continued
Not everyone who needs a lawyer can afford one, and sometimes their stories are the most heart-breaking: A single mother who found herself homeless and her two children placed into foster care because of a clerical error a local public housing authority refused to fix. Or an 80-year-old retired teacher who lost her apartment after … Continued
Caution: If you don’t want to get involved with an endeavor that might seem outlandish, maybe even risky, but for a good cause, stay away from Chris Field (’06). This is a man who has set four Guinness World Records – all involving people he got to join him – run 22 marathons, made almost … Continued
Eean Cochran took five years to graduate from Abilene Christian University – and for good reason. He was getting an incredible head start on his musical theatre career. During his sophomore and junior years, Cochran was cast in Broadway tours of Dreamgirls and Bring It On, and had to juggle his coursework around … Continued
For eight years, sisters Summer (Pierson ’99) Walters and Kate (Pierson ’03) Stover have built their company on the idea of “Reduce. Reuse. Resell.” My Sister’s House, a pop-up consignment sale hosted by the two Wildcats with a passion for giving, got a running start by winning the Springboard Idea Challenge sponsored by ACU’s … Continued