One of our goals for this Blog is to help keep Alumnae connected with one another. I contacted three alumnae who I know have been up to big things since Graduating from UF and leaving Gamma Iota. Over the course of the blog I hope to have many more Alumnae Spotlights for you, but for now, check out what these three Real. Strong. Women. have been up to...
Anne Helliwell: NMC' 69
The day after graduation Anne moved to Orlando and began working at Walt Disney World in the merchandising division. She loved every minute of it but after a year felt like it was time to think about doing something else. “Aka a real job,” Anne says. So, she moved to Miami and began working in a bank.
After 12 years in banking, she accepted a position with Junior Achievement of Greater Miami. JA is a non-profit organization that partners with schools and businesses to teach young people workplace readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. Anne’s first position was Endowment Director, but later moved to the program side and eventually became the Vice President of Operations overseeing all the programming and volunteer training.
While working Anne began to get involved in various community organizations and boards. Since retiring about 10 years ago, Anne has truly been able to focus on her community and has on the boards of Youth Crime Watch of America (served as National President for 3 years) and the Junior League of Miami and volunteered with the American Cancer Society and the Miami Museum of Science. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of The Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and also of Casa Valentina (an organization which works to help young women transition from foster care to independent living) and a member of P.E.O. (a philanthropic and educational organization).
One of the first things Anne did after moving to Miami was to join the local Alpha Chi Alum Chapter and the local Alumnae Panhellenic Council, both of which she is still active in today! In Anne’s words, “I have always made time for AX. I can also say Alpha Chi also always made time for me, allowing me to be involved as much as I could depending on what was going on in my life.” She served as an Alumnae Chapter Officer, was Province Alumnae Chair for South Florida and now is the Chair of the Alpha Chi Omega Foundation nationally. Anne says, “Everything I have done with AX from the local to the national level has helped me in both my professional and volunteer life. I have met sisters from all over the country and even re-connected with sisters I have not seen since my days at UF.” Besides all the great things Anne has done for her community and our Alpha Chi community, she loves to travel: “Near or far it doesn’t matter, just tell me when and I am ready.” She loves going to the theater and thinks she might have a suppressed desire to be a Broadway star… if only she could sing our dance! Despite her years away from Gainesville and UF, watching Gator Football is still one of her favorite things to do!
Anne says she would love to connect and re-connect with her Gamma Iota sisters at ahelliwell@aol.com.
Also see her bio on Alpha Chi's National Website: http://www.alphachiomega.org/index2.aspx?id=67
Kristen Soltis: NMC'02
When Kristen first graduated, she began working at The Winston Group, a political consulting and research firm in Washington, D.C. Five years later, she is still with the same company and feels like they’ve become a second family! Within a year, Kristen had the chance to write up major reports for clients and start writing about politics for media outlets. Now, she runs entire major projects while also having the freedom to do some fun stuff on the side!
Over the last three years, Kristen’s started to get more into the political commentary world. She wrote a thesis for her Master's program about why the Republican Party was losing young voters. The thesis opened up opportunities for her to write opinion pieces for newspapers and blogs and eventually opened up the door to doing TV and radio commentary. You might have seen or heard Kristen on MSNBC, CNN, PBS, NPR and/or BBC Radio!
In addition to her thesis, she’s had a chance to be a panelist at think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute, and to publish some research in an academic journal. Kristen says she feels very lucky to have a job where she gets to work on some fascinating projects for corporations, campaigns and non-profits while also having a chance to do commentary. While she loves her work, Kristen loves living in D.C. too. She works with the Junior League of Washington and was even in a band that recorded a music video and two songs! Kristen is newly engaged to her boyfriend of four years, Chris. Kristen and Chris are looking forward to getting married, but since Chris is a Georgetown grad, they are hoping that Florida and Georgetown will not be facing each other this year in the NCAA Tournament! Finally, Kristen gets to spend a lot of time with her best friend and Big Sis, Mary (Harding) Bell, who has recently returned from a tour of Baghdad with the US Air Force. (We are very happy to hear she’s come home safe and are very grateful for her serv
ice!)
Kaycee Smith: NMC '05
After graduating in May of 2008, Kaycee spent a year working and saving her money before moving out to Los Angeles. Shortly after her arrival in California in June of 2009, she accepted a position in NBC-Universal's West Coast Page Program. The Page Program is a year-long early career development program aimed at helping its participants find their niche within the entertainment industry.
Within the Page Program, Kaycee assumed the role of backstage manager's assistant at The Jay Leno Show and had the fortune of meeting several celebrities including Bill Cosby, Brooke Shields, and Oprah. The highlight of her celebrity encounters came from an unlikely source as she became totally star struck when she met Tonight Show correspondent, Ross Mathews. Having followed "Ross the Intern's" blog on The Tonight Show's website during school, he had always been a source of entertainment and inspiration for Kaycee.
During her stint backstage at The Jay Leno Show, Kaycee experienced television's late night conundrum first-hand. The battle between Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno played out right in front of her. Kaycee says, “It was a truly fascinating time to be 'coming of age' in the television industry.”
During Kaycee's time as a Page, she discovered her real passion- comedy. Acquiring a full-time Production Assistant position at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Kaycee didn't waste much time before she pitched her idea- a blog on The Tonight Show's website featuring herself as host.
"On the Lot with Kaycee" took “3 months of planning, 2 more months of courage accumulating, and 1 rather interesting pitch meeting to get off the ground.”
Now, nearly 2 years after moving to LA, Kaycee works part-time as a production assistant and part-time as a web correspondent for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She also performs stand up comedy and is currently enrolled in improv classes. You can see episodes on her blog on The Tonight Show's website at http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/onthelotwithkaycee/ (or simply onthelotwithkaycee.com)
If there's an Alumnae you know of that have truly been seeking the heights since moving on from Gamma Iota please let me know at: ufaxoalumnae@gmail.com
