Back in college, I worked for theUniversity of Missouri, and to this day, the coolest job I've everhad was working as an event manager for the Hearnes Center. This iswhere the magic happens when it comes to concerts and sportingevents. During that time, I got to work with some amazing people,one of whom happened to be Bob Dylan. And as Bob once said, “Forthe times they are a-changin.” As benefits professionals, boy,don't we know it!

I've had a lot of great rolemodels in my life and one of my most incredible ones has been mymother. Like me, she was an entrepreneur. She owned a Merle NormanCosmetics Studio and a travel agency in my hometown of King City,Missouri. My mom had worked for a number of years in the travel industry with American Airlines andAuto-Train (later sold to Amtrak) in Washington D.C., beforerelocating to Missouri with my father and working for a smalltravel agency. She later opened her own, and I remember that shesaw a major shift taking place in the industry when the airlinesdecided that they were no longer going to pay travel agents fees onairline tickets. She made the decision to start charging fees and Iremember her telling me, “If you don't value your time, no one elsewill.”