Carolyn Chrisman – President of the Board of Directors and Executive Director of Kirksville REDI, Innovation Center and the Small Business Center in Kirksville, Missouri

Email: cchrisman@kirksvillecity.com

GMLC Year and a best memory:  GMLC 2015.  Getting to use the Boeing simulator was awesome!  Preparing a meal at Harvesters Food Bank was eye-opening.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?  I love helping my community prosper economically so that all citizens can have a better life.

Book recommendation:  I just completed “Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss.  It provided great advice on how to negotiate on various things–like a pay increase!

Listening to: I like the “Best of Both Worlds”.  It is two working moms, who share how they make the best of their work and family world.

Best voting memory of voting: This is from when I was a teacher in 2008.  I only live 30 minutes from Iowa.  So I was able to go to both to the Republican and Democratic caucuses in Iowa that year to record how they worked.  I created a class lesson to share with my students.  Totally awesome!

The hardest thing you ever did and what you learned from it:  My hardest decision was to leave teaching, which I loved, to pursue a new career in economic development.  It has been a great decision!