Real Success Stories

Meet real role models working in various industries who have found success through alternative pathways after high school — and what they like about what they do! Looking to dive deeper? Complete this scavenger hunt to help you explore the many paths to success.

Pili Barker

Manager, Special Missions Bids and Proposal

Pili Barker shares her journey of empowerment, from the strength displayed by her mother, to being empowered to succeed herself, to now being an inclusive leader for female voices on her own team.
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Tracy Leopold

Vice President of North America Customer Service Centers

Tracy Leopold knew she wanted to work in aviation since she attended airshows with her family as a child. Since starting at Cessna over 20 years ago, Tracy has served customers in every aspect and phase of their buying and ownership journey—from aircraft deliveries to Global Parts Sales. Today,...
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Dala Loomer

Middle Grade Math and Technology Teacher

“I’ve always loved school. I love fall. There is no better smell in the world than the smell of new school supplies. This fall, I’m finally fulfilling my lifelong dream of being a teacher for the first time, thirty years after I graduated high school. I’ll be teaching middle school math and...
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Kristin Jenkins

Early Childhood Educator

I was an Air Force brat for the first seven years of my life. My family was originally from Lincoln, Nebraska, but we lived all over. When my dad was deployed to Vietnam, my mom moved my brother and me back to Lincoln so she could go back to school to finish her degree at the University of Nebraska.
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Carley Scott

Phlebotomist

"When my cousin told me about her job as a surgical technologist, I thought it sounded like a really cool way to make a living. I began to wonder if a job in health care might be for me. One day, while watching Grey’s Anatomy, I decided to take the plunge.
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Matthew Hildebrand

Farmer/Rancher

“I’ve always loved every aspect of the farming profession, even as a young kid. Living in the country, taking care of animals, taking care of the land … I knew it was what I wanted to do. My dad was a farmer and rancher, and I wanted to be just like him.
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Joy Schmidt

Secondary Health Science Teacher

“As a teacher, I’ve always loved the fact that we’re the source of all other careers. In our classrooms, students learn the foundational skills of whatever they want to be, and we get to have a hand in helping them figure out what they want to do. It’s really rewarding to meet up with past students...
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Morgan Riat

Auctioneer

"When I was four years old, I attended my first auction. The auctioneer had a big smile on his face and appeared to genuinely love his job. Intrigued, I thought I might love it, too, and I decided then and there to become an auctioneer.
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Marley Baum

House Supervisor, RN

"When I was in the sixth grade, my grandfather was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and that really made me think about a career in health care. I wanted to know everything I could about cancer and about the medicine they were giving him. When he neared the end of his journey and hospice came...
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Renee McCartney

Respiratory Therapist

"The idea of working in health care never occurred to me until my mother went to nursing school in her late 40s. I was in my early 20s and had dropped out of college. I wanted a better life for myself, but had no idea what I wanted to do.
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