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"...from a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island..."
I am the oldest of four. My dad was a police officer in Nassau County and my mom stayed home until I was 12 when she went back to work as a paralegal. My dad is the most influential person in my life, even today. But it is my mom who I channel when I need to be strong. I usually don't employ the Queens accent anymore though. -
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Holy Family, Holy Trinity and Siena College
I attended Catholic School for sixteen years, starting with first grade. Attending a Catholic College was not optional in my parent's eyes and they found Siena because Sister Jean (my first grade teacher) had a brother who attended. I was the first kid in my family on either side to go away to a 4 year college straight out of high school. -
Holy Family
My sixth grade class. I am still in touch with many of the kids who went to Holy Family. Almost all of them are still on LI and many of them have their own kids enrolled in HFS today. -
What Are You Going To Be When You Grow Up?
During 4th grade my father told me, "You are going to be a lawyer!" While I doubt he meant me to take him literally for the rest of my life, I am a rule follower and I always did what my dad told me to do...so I'm a lawyer. My kids know this story and each of them, in fourth grade, asked me to choose careers for them... -
I'm a Working Woman! Um...girl?
I started working as a babysitter in Freshman year of High School to earn savings for spending money during the HS trips. I babysat every Friday from 3:30 pm until well after midnight. I was paid $2/hour. In August of 1986 I was 14 and began working at McDonald's. I was promoted to Shift Manager when I turned 16 (I was amazed) and I worked at that McDonald's until my senior year of College. I learned that a smile can go a long way -
Canada and Europe
My High School held field trips over Easter Break each year as part of our history and language education. I traveled with the French Club. During my freshman year the school was reluctant to put kids on planes, so the trip included Quebec and other Canadian cities. Sophomore Junior and Senior years brought us to Europe. You've never experienced Europe until you have experienced it with a gaggle of nuns! -
...Only the Good Die Young...Siena College
Two teachers at Siena influenced me greatly. Dr. Cutler and Dr. Zaas. Dr. Cutler because I learned in his pre-law classes that this stuff was actually doable and sort of fun. Dr. Zaas was a religious studies professor who taught me to think about things in a different way, to challenge my closely held beliefs and to stand up to societal norms and expectations. -
Aix-En-Provence
During my Junior year of College I studied abroad in a little town of Aix-en-Provence. I lived with a local family. The rule was that no English was to be spoken at the house except for emergencies ... and that I must be home for dinner every night that I was not traveling! -
Backpacking Alone!
Although I arrived in France not knowing a sole, I made several very good friends at the school I attended there. We traveled a lot during my time in Europe - good old fashioned backpacking, sleeping on trains and in hostels. After the school year ended my girlfriends and I explored Italy for a few weeks. When folks started going home I continued on alone to Greece. I stayed in Greece for about three weeks before making my way back to Paris to catch a flight home in July. -
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Law School
Moving to the Midwest had a pretty significant impact on my life. -
My dad's adversity
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Thomas Burdelik and Associates
One of my first legal mentors was the attorney whose name was on the door of the first firm I litigated with. Tom taught me perseverance in the face of adversity, and that one loss is simply the opportunity to improve the next time around. Funny story about my first day as an attorney... -
Changing Jobs
I worked for Allstate for almost 12 years, from 1999 until 2011. During that time I held a lot of different positions.
-litigation
-TDY
-Law and Reg
-ADS'
(I'm breaking all kinds of trademark rules by displaying the mark below!) -
TDY
In February 2002 my managing attorney asked me to take a temporary duty assignment in Allstate's Home Office. That TDY turned permanent and until September of 2003 I worked for a man named Bob Moore. During my time in the business world we closed a lot of offices and laid off a lot of people. Others received huge opportunities.
Big Change scares people but there are ways to make it easier.
Traveling for work is not really all that glamorous.
Corporations exist to make itself money. -
Allstate Law and Reg
In 2003 I was asked to apply for a position in the L&R Department. There were folks who did not think I was "pedigreed" enough to join the division and made that clear to me. I had lots of great champions who taught me to be a corporate attorney.
Donna Limperes
Karen Morris
Steve Ihm
Steve Sheffey -
Ellie!
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Losing Friends Really Sucks.
I have lost three very close friends.
My best friend from law school, Mark Krzaczynsky died in April of 2004. Mark helped me see the humor in the very serious business of learning the law.
Leslie Weber, a friend from Allstate's law division died on Jan 1, 2014. Leslie tried very hard to teach me that hugging people is a good thing.
Lisa Duncan-Kulak was one of my best friends in HS and one of the biggest reasons I moved to AZ (she was in Anthem). She died October 13, 2015. Lisa was my rock. -
Marc!
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Allstate's Credit Division
Wanderon. People love Tony or they hate him. He remains one of the people I admire most in the world today. Tony expanded my mind about what a corporate lawyer should be (and I expanded his in the same way) and he taught me about being a part of a real team.
Not everyone has to like me.
Hard Work can be fun.
Sales is a LOT of Fun!
Working collaboratively toward a common goal makes work feel like play.
Sometimes it is difficult to stand up for what you believe to be the right thing. -
Christmas 2011
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CNA National Warranty Corporation
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Priorities
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Re-married
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Here we are today!
So, that's me. I face adversity as a challenge to be overcome, failure as an opportunity to be better. I hold myself to the highest standards and I always do whatever it takes to get the job done BUT I don't love face-time and busywork (not that we have much of it) because my kids want nothing more than time with me. I prefer people get along but I have no problem with constructive conflict. I have zero patience for lying, laziness or liability (and I live for alliteration).
