Matthew 17:20 If ye have the Faith of the tiniest mustard
seed nothing shall be impossible unto you.
As I have tossed this article around in my head the last few
days this verse rings out in my mind. Calls to me as only a few biblical verses
I know well do. The wisdom in this Matthew verse is one of dreamers. One of go
getters and achievers who hit walls and climb mountains and fall down. It’s a
verse of those who get up and brush themselves off and don’t ever give up.
We all know dreamers. We all are dreamers however few of us know someone who has dreams that we imagine
only in our personal world (actually most of you reading this I’m assured will know her). Dreams outside of our
day to day lives of just wanting to get by, have a good life, a good love and a
wonderful family. Few know those who reach for the stars let alone those who
walk with them.
Especially in small towns like where I come from. In technicality
it’s a village, it no longer has a school, just a post office two churches, two
bars, and a post office along with a handful of other home business. Population
inside the village limit doesn’t reach much higher than 300 people. Or even in
our local county, that hosts only one high school do we find these kinds of people.
Those who have left the home nest and have chased and caught dreams while still
holding true to their family and their selves.
I grew up knowing of Liz Duggan. She was a few years older
than me but like I said it was small town and everyone knows everyone else. By
my freshman year of high school her younger sister had become one of my best
friends. So constantly being at the Duggan household, even with Liz away at
school, she quickly became someone I admired and liked and then became envious
of.
So in short- this article is really all about her and a
recently interview I got to conduct with her, because 1: she’s interesting as
all get out and 2: she’s letting me practice on her for my writing and
interviewign skills. ( =] )
Unfortunately she was unwilling to share information
pertaining to Luke Bryan’s contact information, hotel room numbers, personal schedule
etcetera. So sorry ladies!
Moving Up!: “Can
you give the readers some background on what you do for these companies, your
degree (because my sister has been nagging me to ask) and the like?”
Liz: “College-
University of Illinois, Springfield (Highly recommend this school. I went to
SIUE my first year and it was just too big for little ol’ me.)
Degree- Business Administration, Minor in Management
Information Systems
Cities Lived- Springfield, IL; Nashville, TN; St. Louis
(Brentwood), MO; and soon to be living in Denver, CO
Position at each company-
2010 CMT: I was an intern for Special Events Management from
Jan-June. I was then hired on for freelance through the end of the year.
2011-2012 St. Louis Rams: Account Executive
2013 Cabela’s: Brand Experience Specialist”
Moving Up!: “What
has been your favorite company/position so far?”
Liz: “Interning
for CMT was the best thing I have ever done for my career. It was a big leap of
faith because the internship was unpaid but I believed in myself enough to take
that risk (Matt 21:22)
(Moving Up! Note:
Matt. 21:22 reads “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in brayer,
believing, ye shall receive.” KJV Did I not say that Matthew was for the
dreamers?)
Liz continuing: “It
gave me great experience and was a big reason I was hired for my current
position with Cabela’s. I really love my current position because I get to
enjoy the outdoor world and the country music world all at the same time. If I
could write the perfect job description for myself it would be for my current position.”
 |
| John Anderson |
Moving Up!: “Have
you ever been ‘star struck’ and by who?”
Liz: “Not really...
At each of my jobs I have been around and worked with celebrities but I have a
very different way of thinking about it. To me, they are just my co-workers.
Although, backstage at the CMT Awards I did pass John Anderson in the hallway
and that made my night.”
(Moving Up! Note:
John Anderson is a REAL country music star and classic country music he has
over 40 singles on Billboard in his 30+ years of music including songs like “Swinging”
“Wild and Blue” “Straight Tequila Night” For more modern music lovers he
co-wrote John Rich’s 2009 hit song “Shutting Detroit Down”.)
Liz continuing: “A
quote that really helps puts things in perspective and that I love from C.S.
Lewis is, “He who has God and everything else, has no more than he who has God
only.” With that said, I can appreciate someone’s talent but I’m never going to
be a person who idolizes celebrities. I just figure, most of us have to work
for a living so I might as well do something with my career that I’ll enjoy.”
Moving Up!: “Luke
Bryan! I know you said you wouldn’t go into detail about the celebrities but
how does it feel to be one of the most envied girls in America who gets paid to
be around him?”
 |
| Well we all just like to look at Luke! |
Liz: “Haha! I
hear that at every show from the fans I meet. He’s a pretty popular guy.”
Moving Up!: “You
are/have worked for three big name companies; did you ever imagine working for
any of them?”
Liz: “I always
had big goals when it came to my career. I visited Nashville for the first time
in my Junior year of college. Before then, I really had no idea what exactly I
wanted to do. I saw George Jones play at the Ryman and that was pretty much it
for me….. I knew I wanted to move to town. I then set my sights on an
internship with CMT. I was chosen by two departments but in the end Special
Events seemed like a better fit for me. I got the call late in December on my
way to take a final and accepted the position (needless to say, I didn’t do too
hot on my final haha). I moved to Nashville 2 weeks later. I guess to answer
your question in the longest way possible, haha- I’ve always had big dreams and
I just go for them because I don’t ever want to wake up one day and wish I had
tried. With all of these jobs, I have no doubt that, God has a plan for all of
us. For me, all of these experiences are part of his plan.”
Moving Up!: “What
has been your favorite event to work so far?”
Liz: “I would
have to say the CMT Awards. In 2009 a few friends and myself went to the CMA
Fest in Nashville, which is always the day before or the day after the CMT
Awards. After the Fest, we all watched the CMT awards, just like I do every
year and have since I was pretty young. So in 2010 I had a moment when I was
backstage at the awards and it just hit me- Wow, last year at this time I was
in my pj’s watching this show and had no idea I would be working backstage the
very next year! Moments like those just make me realize my hard work has paid
off and that I am very blessed to be given these opportunities.”
Moving Up!: “Clearly it’s not easy living away from the Village and
the family, but you are moving to Denver for your new position. What’s living
in a “big city” in a whole different geological regions like?”
Liz: “I’m not
moving to Denver until the end of April. However, I am really excited to meet
new people and start a new adventure. Living in Nashville was a great experience.
Coming from a village of 300 and knowing the name of every person in town…..it
was a little out of my comfort zone to not know who anyone in a big city
(except for Megan Taake’s sister and brother-in-law, Jake Maurer go check out
his music- great stuff! Jakemaurer.com). Although, when/if I get married and
want to start a family I will not be raising my children in a city!”
Moving Up!: “What’s
something you look forward to as far as your new job with Cabela’s this year?”
Liz: “We are
doing an event in a couple weeks in Vegas for the ACM Awards so I am pretty
excited about that. Be sure to tune into the show on April 7th to see the
footage.”
Moving Up!: “If
Cabela’s is sending you on hunts do you yourself actually get to do some
hunting? And if so is there any big game you expect to be pursuing anytime soon?”
Liz: “I do! I’m
so excited about that because I’ve never actually shot at an animal, just
clays. I believe the first hunt is going to be a turkey hunt sometime within
the next couple months. I need to start doing some target practice! As far as
big game…. I think I’ll just start with turkeys…. But I do think a big-o deer
head would look great in my new apartment!”
(Moving Up! Note:
Liz Duggan! How? What?! Why? If I didn’t know better that would have Yuppie
girl written all over it! You’ve never shot at an animal… the things you learn!
Glad at least Cabela’s can get you to remedy that problem! =] … Also, fans of Duck Dynasty and Phil note that ‘Yuppie’
is actually a real word. I discovered this when Microsoft Word didn’t yell at
me with a red squiggly line.)
Moving Up!: “You
have worked with a lot of big household names – does it ever become natural? I
mean we all assume their people just like us, but are they really?”
Liz: “They really
are. Not all the aspects of their lives are as glamorous as one would think. I
guess you could say it’s natural. I just try to treat everyone I meet,
celebrity or not, with the same respect.”
Moving Up!: “What
has been your most horrifying experience working these big events so far?”
Liz: “I really
don’t have too many horrifying stories…. Although, I had a pretty crazy one. I
won’t mention which job it was or any names. It was the day of an event and I
had to pick up an important person and take them to the event. A lot of streets
were closed off and I had to flash my credential to get into most of the
streets. The person I was driving was in a hurry and we were going through very
tight spaces in order to get them to the event and they kept wanting me to go
faster…. I was only going about 10 or 15 but I was trying to get in between these two
big dump trucks. There was a guy who was hopped up on the side of one of them,
and was grabbing something out of the back….. well, he hopped down and landed
right on my car. Moral of the story is: I basically hit someone while
chauffeuring a big shot. I have nervous laughter so I’m sure that seemed pretty
inappropriate at the time haha! The dude I hit had dreadlocks all the way down
his back. I asked if he was okay and he just said, “No worries”. Haha”
No worries… be happy!
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