As a child, my dream job was always something related to sports. I was a major sports fan, and my aspirations rotated between broadcasting and roles involving game statistics. The excitement of being part of that world fueled my childhood dreams.

Growing up, I was always interested in working with children. Whenever there were kids around, I would take it upon myself to care for them. Then, when I was in high school in Topeka, Kansas, someone came to talk to our class about earning college credits through the Washburn Institute of Technology.

Senior Interior Designer Allison Placzek grew up watching her dad work in the aviation industry. After getting her start in residential interior design, she jumped at the chance to create timeless looks for Cessna and Beechcraft customers.

After I realized becoming a professional baseball player just wasn’t in the cards, I considered being a teacher because I love helping others. But my career path took a few turns before I found myself educating people — and it turned out not to be in a classroom.

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do for a career. I worked at a few 9-5 jobs, but none of them were leading anywhere. Eventually, I got tired of the dead ends and decided to make a change. 

I started working with kids as a teen, helping out at a daycare before and after school. I kept working there when I graduated from high school and enrolled at Johnson County Community College, and I was sad to leave when I transferred to Kansas State University a year later.

I’ve had a talent for drawing from a very young age, and everyone who saw that told me I should be an architect. When some cousins who were also good at drawing went into graphic design, I started looking into that and it seemed like the perfect job.

I took a pretty unusual path to get to where I am today! 

I always knew the heating and cooling industry was an interesting field. So right after high school, I earned my bachelor’s degree in construction science and management. With that degree in hand, I started working in an office as a manager/estimator for CM3 Inc. in Wichita, which is a large HVAC company. 

I started to consider working at a bank shortly after graduating from high school in Topeka. I wanted to build up my resume and get experience in a professional setting. Plus, a friend had worked at a bank and told me they’d learned a lot of valuable skills there.