Making communities better places for families to live, work and play has been a passion of mine for a very long time. It has guided many of the personal and professional decisions I’ve made and continues to lead me to new challenges and opportunities.I have worked with nonprofit and for-profit organizations, managed large facilities and events and built companies from the ground up.Some of the earliest years of my career were spent coordinating events for Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. The job involved hosting large occasions for extremely diverse, and well-known organizations and people. There were University of Kentucky and NCAA basketball games, shows for Paul McCartney and Garth Brooks, annual gatherings of the International Equine Association and meetings of the Worldwide Church of God. The common thread that tied all of these occasions together was the need for expert management and precise detail in coordinating vast numbers of personnel across multiple sites. My team and I never let them down.I was with the University of Kentucky’s Center for Rural Development for about 12 years as Director of Facilities, Sales and Events. I managed cross-functional operations and a team that had more than twice as many volunteers as full-time employees. I met the challenge of getting the volunteers to show up every day, keeping paid staff members motivated and bringing everybody together as a cohesive and cooperative group.During my time with UK, I always exceeded annual sales objectives, and raised revenue from around $170,000 a year to over $1,500,000. I developed strategic partnerships with local and state organizations and handled all marketing and public relations programs.I was also Assistant General Manager and Director of Stadium Operations for the Nashville Sounds baseball team, and worked as Marketing Associate for Texas Rangers Baseball.More recently, I also managed 22 acres of grounds and athletic facilities, fundraising, construction and more.