About the owner
I believe that everyone should share their story so others can understand the context of what they do for a living, valuable lessons learned, and how they came to where they are today.
Here is my story. . . business development
My family are natives of the Rocky Mountains and have been self-employed for generations in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. I was born in Riverton, WY at the beginning of an oil boom. When the oilfields went bust, my family's business went bust with the Wyoming economy.
(https://wyofile.com/boom-bust/).
My family did what many families at the time did and moved to California for work. Even at a young age, I understood the sacrifices and issues my parents faced. I was determined to attend college so that, "this would not happen to me again". Naïve? Yes. Determined? Absolutely. Once my family saved up enough money, they moved us back to the Rocky Mountains and close to my grandparents in Montana. Mountains and the smell of pine trees are in my blood.
I completed the majority of my education in Montana. I graduated from Florence-Carlton High School and the University of Montana. My family did not have a lot of money so I put myself through college, sometimes working two jobs, and became my family's first-generation (both sides) to graduate from college.
After college, I married and did as many Montana kids must and moved away to bigger cities. While in Eugene OR, I became an expert in health insurance and provider contracting. I also worked for a micro-chip manufacture who went bust in 2008 with the rest of the economy and I lost a job I loved in Human Resources. Ironic? Yes.
(https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2008/07/eugene_chip_plant_hynix_will_c.html)
My husband and I were both looking for work and moved to California near his father. Again, to find work as my parents did when I was a child. I learned so much during my time in California and became a clinical operations trainer and expert in Medicare Advantage health insurance and clinical care of an aging population. I loved everything about my job and disliked a lot about where I was living. The mountains were calling me home.
I returned to Missoula where I began working in the family business as HR, Safety and general "keep your shit together" person. When working with my parents, I realized that Missoula and surrounding areas have a lot of small businesses that cannot afford a full-time HR person but have all of the same employee issues as large businesses.
ROI at Work, LLC was born and I began consulting. I also guest-spoke, volunteered, and was a member of many of the professional organizations within Missoula such as the Missoula Business Women's Network (MBN), Big Sky SHRM, One Million Cups, Blackstone Launchpad at UM, Western Montana SCORE, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), and Montana PTAC at UM.
I also adopted a crazy lab/griffon puppy, Olive, who had limitless energy. Winter was coming and I kept thinking about, "what do I do with Olive when it is cold out. I wish there was an indoor area for her". Wagg'n Indoor Dog Park was born. I was the owner and my husband helped me setup and run the park. Wagg'n was hugely successful until my husband started sexually harassing our employees. Nearly all kept secrets from me and told me lies so that I would be unable to address the issues appropriately. It was a very cloak and dagger situation.
The State said I went above and beyond in my efforts to prevent and address. Things turned ugly and dark in my life and I lost the business. I was smeared by the Missoulian. It felt like I would never work again or go grocery shopping without people pointing and whispering about me (yes, it was that bad). I returned to consulting and worked for some of my physician friends in Medicare Advantage and a few local businesses. My husband had mental health disabilities and successfully committed suicide on April 1st, 2020 after many attempts.
Broken and defeated, I have pulled myself up with my determination and dignity. I have helped several small, local businesses launch and become successful. I have traveled locally and nationally to consult and all while COVID peaked. I was busier during COVID than before the outbreak. I now reside near Hamilton, MT with my soon-to-be husband and our three dogs.
Olive now has a huge yard and still runs around like crazy. I continue to work in my consulting business and have launched two of my own photography businesses. Life is good again and I am ready to serve you and your business. Yes!
