Name: Kathy Olson
Job Title: Assistant Director (or Associate Director, depending on the day…)
Where do you hail from:
Lincoln and Grand Island
What is it they say you do:
Overall, I try to keep everyone at CCFL in the best position to do their work every day. Lately, with the movement of legal team members to other projects, I am doing much more legal training on the HHS contract. Thanks --and a shout out -- to Eve, for taking over many of my administrative responsibilities which has allowed me to do training.
Who are your early influences/who inspired you most:
My grandmother who came to live with me and my father after my mother died of cancer when I was three. She shifted her life completely, and made sacrifices that I only appreciated as an adult, in order to raise me with my dad, as services for single parents (especially fathers) were largely non-existent in the 60s.
What has been your greatest source of career satisfaction/ proudest achievement:
There are two proudest moments in my career so far. One is recent, with the efforts of all of the CCFL staff on the successful bid for the HHS training contract, not only for the outcome, but the way everyone created energy and magic as a team during the process. The other is when I see the “CCFL Linchpin” plaque on my wall. The biggest surprise and most meaningful event of my work life was when Barb and others presented me with that “award.” I strive to live up to that honor every day.
What has been an unexpected detour/ greatest frustration/disappointment:
What I thought was a disappointment at the time turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me. I had been practicing law for two years out of school when Juvenile Judge Nurenberger in Lancaster County asked me to be his associate judge under a law allowing that at the time. Shortly before I was to start, the law was changed to no longer allow associate judges. Had that law not changed, I would not have been part of the creation of CCFL….so I’m so grateful in retrospect that my judgeship didn’t work out.
What is your passion/what you are drawn to/what motivates you/where do you hope to be in five years:
I hope that I am planning for retirement in five years. (But don’t tell anyone – ha!)
Family life/hobbies /community involvement:
My husband, Rand (who many of you know), and I only had furry children in our marriage (38 years so far – which is hard to believe). So family life is rather “tame” with one cat and two dogs right now. Playing golf with my girlfriends is my hobby.
The pictures I included are of my husband and our golden, Mattie, and my golfing buddies on our annual trip to Arizona.
The quotation I live my life by is......
I’m sure many of you already know this, as I refer to it all the time: “Always take the high road, because the low road is so crowded.”