UMSL @ 60 - Allison Segura Balderrama

Kylie: Ok, so my name is Kylie Flynn, and today's date is Monday, November 27th, 2023. Today I am interviewing Alison Balderrama, a 2020 graduate of the Master's in Museum Studies, Heritage and Public History program at UMSL. And this interview is being conducted as part of the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of UMSL’s founding. Allison, can you please state your full name and spell it out for me.

Allison: Yeah. My name is Allison Balderrama, A L L I S O N B A L D E R R A M A.

Kylie: And I just wanted to remind you that you are being recorded today, and that you did sign our release form.

Allison: Awesome. Perfect.

Kylie: Um, so I guess we'll start with a little bit about your background, 00:01:00and if you'd like to talk about where you were born, kind of where you grew up.

Allison: Sure, yeah. So, I was born here in Saint Louis. I grew up in Hazelwood in North County and I have lived in Saint Louis most of my life. I left for undergrad to go to Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. But besides that, I have pretty much lived in Saint Louis the majority of my life.

Kylie: So, was that kind of I guess what drove you to go to UMSL for your grad program or?

Allison: Yeah. Yeah. So, I had known that UMSL had a museum studies program. I had done the teens make history program through the Missouri History Museum when I was in high school and at that time, the person who was running it was a graduate of UMSL’s program. And so that was when I first heard of it 00:02:00. I knew I wanted to go into history, but I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with that. So, as I did different internships and things throughout my undergrad, I started looking into master's programs and UMSL was a good choice. Both because of location, because my family's from here and I'm really familiar with Saint Louis, but also because of the assistantship program. I was really excited about that.

Kylie: Where did you complete your assistantship? Was it Boeing?

Allison: So, I did my assistantship at WashU actually, in their archives. Yeah.

Kylie: So, growing up, I mean, were you the only child or do you have any siblings?

Allison: Yeah. So, I have one younger sister. She is three years younger than me.

Kylie: Ok, did growing up, do you recall like having that infatuation for history or do you kind of remember when 00:03:00that came into play?

Allison: Yeah. So, I my dad has always been really big into history. He is an engineer actually, but he is super big into history. He was on, like the Missouri Archaeological Society, for a number of years. He's a member of the Missouri Aviation Historical Society, so he would bring me and my sister to a lot of those meetings when we were growing up. And we always would, like, go to museums and we were on vacation, so it was definitely something that was introduced to us very early on. I would say that I latched on to history a little more than my sister did. She also likes history, but I like went into history. And so yeah, I just always really enjoyed the stories and especially like working with artifacts and going to museums and like seeing all of these things that that people used in the past.

And yeah, that was kind of what got me 00:04:00interested in history was just having those experiences growing up.

Kylie: Awesome, are your parents from the Saint Louis area, then?

Allison: Yes. Yeah, so both of my parents grew up in Saint Louis.

Kylie: Cool and you said your dad's an engineer.

Allison: Yes

Kylie: And did his, I guess, you know, being in the aviation society and stuff, is that kind of what also brought you around to working for Boeing?

Allison: Yeah, yeah.

Kylie:...Fall in like that.

Allison: Yeah. So, I never really thought that I would end up at Boeing, especially when I went into history. It's kind of funny because, so my dad has spent his entire career at Boeing, and McDonnell Douglas before it became Boeing. And his dad spent his entire career also there. Also, as an engineer and so we're kind of like a Boeing family, but I was going into history, so I expected to work at, like, the History Museum or the Art Museum 00:05:00or, you know, something like that. But, Boeing actually has a museum that is open to the public during the summers, and so they hire on college students to give tours during the summers. And so, I knew about that because my dad worked there because we had gone there during, like Boeing Family Day and stuff. So, I applied when I was an undergrad and I got the job to work there for the summer and that kind of opened my eyes to, oh, this is like another part of the history world is like corporate history, in aviation history and that really resonated with me, especially because like I'd grown up learning about airplanes and things from like my dad and my grandpa because they're really into airplanes. And it was, it's fun because it's kind of like carrying on that family legacy, but without having to have all of the technical knowledge of being an engineer.

Kylie: Well, you're kind of bringing, like, a new twist, like a facet to it. 00:06:00So that's really neat.

Allison: Exactly, yeah. Yeah.

Kylie: Let's see, so I'm guessing was college something going back to your childhood? Was college something that you thought about while growing up? You know, since your dad was an engineer and it sounds like your family has had some further education, you know, especially to work with a company like Boeing.

Allison: Yeah. Yeah, so my family definitely always, at least in the last few generations, has always really emphasized going to college. So that was always something that was in the plan for me. For a while I thought I would become like a teacher. But yeah, eventually I landed on history and yeah, I don't think there was ever really a point that I didn't think about it. It was just kind of like, like I always assumed that it would just happen, yeah. 00:07:00Kylie: And do you think as far as you know leading up going into grad school, did you feel like you were as prepared as you could be? Or were there certain classes that you took that kind of helped lead you more into a history major for your undergrad?

Allison: Yeah, like classes like prior to college or classes in?

Kylie: Yeah, like prior to college, you know, was there anything that you remember that like really sparked and continued that flow for you?

Allison: Yeah, definitely. So, I remember when I was in high school, and I went to Cor Jesu Academy for high school. I had a teacher for my U.S. History class that I just got along really well with. He was a really great teacher. He was super into history and really encouraged me to pursue history as a degree because I kind of, like, knew that you could do history. But again, like, this 00:08:00was the same year that I did, that teens make history program at the History Museum. So, through that and through this professor kind of saying like, hey, you know, this is something you could do. That those two things really pushed me to actually think about majoring in history when I got into college eventually. And that professor specifically also talked a lot about the different things that he had done outside of teaching in the history field. Like he had worked in archive for a while for, like, the National Park Service or something. And so just hearing his own experience kind of showed me, like, oh, if you're going to history, it doesn't have to just be teaching like you can do other things too so.

Kylie: Yeah, no, there's definitely more to it. Let me see, so, you said you attended Benedictine in Kansas, right? And did your undergrad there and then kind of chose UMSL too really because of the 00:09:00location, it seems like was also really important. Did you have any other like knowledge or perception of UMSL before you came in and joined the program?

Allison: Yeah, so before I joined the program, I knew some about UMSL, but not a ton. I had gone to different things at like the Touhill center, uh, different performances over the years and I knew about the Mercantile Library. I had been there a few times. And I wanna say I think I toured it when I was looking for colleges for undergrad, but I wanted to go somewhere that wasn't in Saint Louis so didn't end up doing that, but. But yeah, I knew like bits and pieces, but I wasn't super familiar with UMSL prior to the program.

Kylie: And I guess, did that really have any effect on you choosing to go to UMSL? 00:10:00Or do you think you know the location and the fact that you can have an assistantship in this program, was that really a driving force for you?

Allison: Well, I would say those were probably the biggest driving forces. I remember, also like when I was looking at the program and applying to different programs for grad school, seeing on the website that they had like profiles of some of the different graduates over the years and where they were working. And I was like, oh, this is really cool to see like where people have gone with this program and it seems like a really successful program. So, I remember that was very encouraging to me when I was looking too.

Kylie: Awesome. How did you, how would you describe, you know, like your first year at UMSL?

Allison: Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I remember it was very different for me than undergrad because I was taking mostly like night classes because of doing the assistantship during the day. 00:11:00But I really enjoyed like the way that I could weave what I was learning in my classes into my assistantship. Like having that practical outlet to apply all of these things I was learning. I also, I really liked all of the professors that I had, I don't remember off the top of my head which classes I had the first year or the second year. But, but, I did I really enjoyed the classes. It was nice because my undergrad degree had been in just history and so it was a lot of just like straight history classes. Writing papers and doing research and stuff, and so the classes for the grad program were much more practical I felt like. Especially that first year I took the practicum course, and we created an exhibit for the Griot Museum. And that was one of my favorite classes that I took through the program, because we could actually make an exhibit that people were coming to see, 00:12:00and we got to work with people in the community. And I got to know the people in my cohort a lot better through doing that because we were working in teams to make all of the, the things for the exhibit. So, that was a really good experience too.

Kylie: Yeah. No, that, that makes a lot of sense. I guess that is kind of a good point too, do you think that UMSL did have like a big influence or any influence on, you know, going into a museum career?

Allison: Yeah, I would say so. I think that it really gave me like both the practical experience and just the knowledge that I needed to succeed in a museum career. I think that you know, prior to learning more about all of these programs, I didn't really realize how much there was to learn about working in a museum and so many different aspects of it. 00:13:00And specifically, so I worked at a different museum right after graduating, called the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, also in Kansas. And at that museum I wore, like a million different hats. And it was so nice having the knowledge of the different things I learned at the, in the program, like grant writing and specifically, I had taken a digital history course my last semester with Doctor Kelland and that class was super helpful too, because I was like our social media manager and I was running events online because it was still during COVID and that was just super, super helpful for that position.

Kylie: Oh, I can. Yeah, I can imagine. Especially with a lot of museums, you know, you have to be able to, like, adapt and take on all those roles. So, it sounds like UMSL, you know the program was really helpful that kind of giving you a little bit of everything.

Allison: Exactly.

Kylie: And I know you said since you are from the Saint Louis area, do you recall, like, were you very involved in campus life, as you know, a commuting student, I assume.

Allison: Yeah. So, I - I wouldn't say I was super involved really. I did stuff with like my cohort and with the different people that I had classes with, but I didn't really go to events on campus, and I feel like part of that too, was that most of the time that I was on campus was in the evenings. And like after work and so, at least for me, I felt like a lot of the events that they were putting on were more geared towards, like undergrads rather than grads. But maybe that wasn't the case. I don't know. But I would say I did more stuff with just the people in my program as opposed to stuff like around campus, if that makes sense.

Kylie: Yeah. No, that makes perfect sense. 00:15:00Also, I guess leading into that, you know your cohort and the individuals you studied with, or maybe even professors. Was there anyone in particular that kind of helped impact your experience while you were here?

Allison: Yeah, I would say as, the people that I had classes with, like my cohort were really awesome. I felt like it was a really cool experience to be able to be with all these different people who wanted the same types of things as me. Professionally, at least when I was an undergrad, it was harder because a lot of the other people who were studying history were wanting to go into teaching or like law school or something like that. I was the only person in my class who wanted to go into like museums or public history or anything like that. And so, it was just very encouraging to have these different people around me 00:16:00who were pursuing the same sorts of things. And especially, I would say in the practicum, like the people who were in my class at the practicum, making that exhibit were the people that I ended up being the closest with over the two years. And then as far as professors go, I would say Doctor Hurley was probably the one that I was the closest with because so when I started the program, he was like the interim director with, I want to say the other interim director was Doctor Zarucchi, maybe? But Doctor Hurley was like the main interim director, and so he was like the one that I had corresponded with the whole time that I was applying. And then he was the one who led, like, the practicum and so got to know him a lot better through that. And then he taught my, oh, what was the name of that class? I think it was Introduction to Public History or something like that. 00:17:00But that class was probably one of my favorites just for all the different things that we talked about and learned. And that was the class where we learned about grant writing, and that was hugely helpful for when I worked at the Amelia Earhart Museum, so yeah.

Kylie: Also, too, was public history like something you had learned about in your undergrad, or do you think that was something that really started to come into play with grad school?

Allison: Definitely came into play with grad school. I didn't really know what, like I could infer what public history meant, but I had never like sat down and learned about like, oh, this is what public history is until I got to grad school. So that was hugely helpful for me.

Kylie: And it sounds like you did from what you've told me, it sounds like you've had. You did have a really good experience on campus. Were there ever, do you remember anything ever being, like, challenging? Or is there anything that you would have 00:18:00changed about your experience on campus at UMSL?

Allison: I’m trying to think, nothing like negative really. I feel like the biggest challenge was, so my last semester was when COVID happened and so naturally that just was hard because everything went online and nobody really knew what was going on. And that was tough, because then we weren't able to kind of like close out the program in person. It was just kind of like an anticlimactic ending to the whole thing, but it presented like helpful challenges in the end because we were able to figure out how to navigate all of these things online. And that was the semester that I was taking that Digital Public History course with Doctor Kelland, and so that worked out well because a lot of the stuff we were doing was online anyway. But yeah, I would say that was probably the biggest challenge that there was during my time there.

Kylie: No. Yeah, I, get that completely. But it does 00:19:00sound like it did in the end, you know, it kind of it helped lead the way, you know, as far as being remote and being flexible.

Allison: Definitely.

Kylie: This would be a good lead to learn more about your career and stuff since you've graduated from UMSL. Did like, I guess going back and thinking when you had first graduated, especially with COVID and all of that going on, did you imagine yourself going where you did, you know completing your degree?

Allison: Yeah, good question. So, I didn't really know what was going to happen at that point. So, when I graduated, I was actually working part time as like a contract hire at Boeing in the archives. So, kind of similar to what I'm doing now, but 00:20:00getting paid a lot less for it. And they had been thinking about bringing me on full time, but with it being such a big company, they had to go through like all these different approvals and whatever. And then COVID happened, and so they're like oh everything like is frozen, we can't do anything at all. So, I was still working part-time, but applying to museum jobs like all over the place and I really did not know what was going to happen because nobody was really hiring. And, but then I just kind of happened across the Amelia Earhart job in Kansas. It's in the same town as the college that I went to, so that worked out pretty well. But yeah, when I graduated, I would never, I mean, I guess like I thought that I might be working for Boeing full time, but not really in the position that I'm in now. 00:21:00Because if they were going to bring me on full time at that point, it would have been still as a contract higher and just working in the archives like scanning stuff. But now, I I'm pretty much in the role of the person who was my boss at that point because she retired. I yeah, it - it worked out really well.

Kylie: Well, and I was looking at like your LinkedIn and you've done like you've had a lot of a museum experience, especially like considering I, you know, you started towards, towards the end of high school, you said or in high school program. Do you have I guess like any advice, as far as you know, putting yourself out in the field, especially when you're young and new to those experiences?

Allison: Yeah, definitely. I would say it's something that helped me a lot, was seeking out internships that pushed 00:22:00me outside of my comfort zone, because something that I really tried to do especially throughout undergrad and grad school, was finding internships that pushed me outside of what I thought I wanted to do in museums. Because when I first started out, I was thinking oh you know I want to just like make exhibits and work with objects. But I did different internships like giving tours and working in like specifically archives. And I did do an internship working with collections, and I did one like working in a research, the research library at the History Museum. And then I did one working at the Missouri Humanities Council. And so, it was just really helpful for me to, like, do all of these different like pieces of public history and kind of find where I felt most comfortable and what really stood out to me. And then also, 00:23:00what I really didn't like, because it turned out, I - I enjoyed working with objects and things but, I when I first started, I thought, oh I think I want to be like a registrar and just work in the collections room all the time, like with the collections. And that did not end up being like what I wanted to do the most, and now and the job that I have, I like half the time I'm giving tours to people and giving presentations and the other half, I'm like doing research requests and working in our archive. And so, it's pretty different from what I had originally envisioned for myself, but it was helpful for me to like kind of get my feet wet in all of these different types of internships and kind of figure out what I liked the best without having to like commit to a job and something that I ended up hating. So, so yeah.

Kylie: No, I completely get that. And I just thought it was really neat seeing how many different positions you've done. 00:24:00So, I was curious kind of as to your approach to doing all of that. So, thank you for sharing those.

Allison: Absolutely, yeah.

Kylie: I guess too at Boeing is, you know, what is your favorite job or aspect of your job that you get to do?

Allison: Yeah, good question. I really enjoy... So I am like the manager for our museum there, and so, whenever people come to get tours, I get to give the tours. Um, and that would probably be one of my favorite parts of the job is just like being able to share the artifacts that we have and share the different stories that I've learned with people. For a while, my favorite tours were like the little kids because they're just so funny and they have the best questions and things. But the more that I've given tours, I think that I've kind of shifted and I really enjoy doing like the senior citizen groups 00:25:00because they just are so interested in everything that I have to say. And half the time there are, like Boeing or McDonnell Douglas retirees in the group, and they have stories that are way better than mine, and so, I get to learn so many more cool things from them. And so that's probably my favorite part, is just being able to like share those things and then learn stuff from the people who come to visit.

Kylie: I love that I was going to say I'm sure you get a lot of different stories and feedback, especially with the company that's got, you know, a big history. So, I kind of want to shift I guess to more about you and also how UMSL has kind of been faceted in other parts of your life. So, I guess I'd like to start with. 00:26:00Do you? Sorry. Did you? I guess you talked a lot about your cohort and stuff. Did you feel like that sense of community at UMSL? And also, have you, you know, maintained any of those friendships you've formed at UMSL?

Allison: Yeah, good question. So, I feel like we, we did a really good job of doing stuff like we would get together pretty regularly while we were all at, I'm still, but I would say since graduating, we have not all kept up super well. I feel like part of it was the fact that COVID happened, and we never were able to like get together. Like when we graduated or like shortly after that, but also a lot of people have just like scattered to wherever they have their jobs now in different states and things. So, I keep up with like a couple people on an individual basis, and other people, I just kind of like see what they're doing online and we'll comment on 00:27:00it so, that kind of thing. But, I have always thought it would be cool if we could all like meet up at a conference or something like that, because I really did enjoy, like the friendships that I made there and it's always nice to have those connections with those people.

Kylie: Definitely, and as you've talked about too, like even the field of history, it's very diverse and people can go down, you know, many different routes, yeah. Was there? Since you know, you were interested in history and stuff in particular. Do you remember? Like, was there any events at UMSL that were related to, like, cultural heritage or, you know, the history between UMSL and like, where it's located?

Allison: I'm trying to remember. I remember there was one 00:28:00event that UMSL sponsoring, I want to say at the History Museum that we were all going to go to, but then it snowed really hard and so we didn't end up going. But I remember, like all of the professors were talking about it, and they were really encouraging us to go, and it sounded really cool. But then we didn't end up being able to go. But that is the only one that I remember, like event wise.

Kylie: I guess too, like in your free time, even when you were in grad school, or now. Are there any, I guess places you go to, to learn more about cultural heritage or cultural ideas? Or are there any like certain forms, cultural forms that you lean to?

Allison: Yeah. So, 00:29:00are you want like more like history type stuff?

Kylie: Oh, yeah. Or like, music, art, any like creative expressions along those lines?

Allison: Yeah, let's see. So, I don't get out a ton outside of work stuff because I have two kids now, and so that eats up most of my time. But I do really enjoy, I try to like watch a lot of webinars and things because those are the easiest for me to access, while like, either after the kids go to bed or like during work. If it's during the day. Let's see. Yeah, I - I don't do a ton of like music or art related type stuff, but I watch a lot of webinars around like museums and archives and just like best practices and things, there's The say what's it called? Texas Historic Commission or something like that. 00:30:00Like their statewide agency puts out free webinars like pretty regularly, and so I, I try to watch those pretty often. So that's something that I, I keep up with.

Kylie: No, that's, that's really neat. And that's also, I think, another good aspect of us being, you know, becoming flexible from COVID and having those accessibilities to the online information. I guess too you said you have two children now. How old are they like? Are they, I guess, exposed to any of your work that you do? Or do they have any of that like interest in history, you think?

Allison: Sure, yeah. So, they they're pretty little still. So, one of them is 2, and the other one is she was just born four months ago. So, she's little little, but my 2-year-old I brought to, 00:31:00to the museum at Boeing a couple of times and he really enjoys it. At this point, because there's cool looking airplanes and rockets or whatever. But I'm hoping to kind of do like the similar thing to what my dad did when I was growing up, and just like, expose them pretty young to museums and get them excited about history. Because I feel like a lot of people grow up being like, ohh, history that's so boring. But at least for me, like, I grew up with a parent who was like, oh, it's so exciting. And my mom was never like that into history, but my dad was always, like, history is awesome. So, I feel like a lot of it is in just like, how it's presented can kind of shift the perception. So, I'm hoping to instill that in my kids and my husband is also really into history, so hopefully with both of us being into it, we can instill that pretty young, so yeah.

Kylie: That's really cool and did you guys, I guess? Did you and your husband meet while you were UMSL, or post UMSL or 00:32:00 pre?

Allison: Yeah. So, we met during undergrad, so we went to the same college for undergrad, and then we actually got married while I was at UMSL. Well, it was pretty crazy because about half my cohort got married this summer in between our two years and at upsell. And so, the whole first year that we were all there, we were all just talking about like all of our like wedding plans and different things. And then everybody got married over the summer and we all got back. Got to talk about your weddings and things, it was pretty fun.

Kylie: Well, and I can imagine that's a, that's a busy schedule. You know, doing an assistantship, getting married, being in school. And so, I guess too, like with your husband, you know, having an interest in history, do you think that you have, you know, influenced anyone else in your life to either, like, pursue history or, 00:33:00you know, look, even looking into attending?

Allison: Yeah. So, I actually have a gosh, I don't know if I would say, I guess, like an acquaintance. It's the person who was dating one of my interns this past summer. Is looking into the program because so her boyfriend was one of my interns over the summer and I was telling him about how I ended up at Boeing and I was telling them about the program and he said oh, my my girlfriend's looking into doing some sort of history master's and she didn't even know that was an option to upsell and so I don't know if she, I haven't kept up with with the status of that, but I know that at that point she sounded really interested in it. And, and then I had another friend, a family friend, who had been at UMSL. I think she's still in undergrad now, but she was looking into different options 00:34:00for continuing education and she was thinking about the, the master’s program as well. Because she was doing anthropology or something like that but had an interest in history too. So yeah, a couple people, yeah.

Kylie: Let me see. So, as far as growing up, I know you said that history was involved, and I feel like you, you said that it was like a very encouraging environment. Was there anything else like while in college that helped change, you know, the way that you viewed the historical world? 00:35:00Or like you know, navigating your way into that that path.

Allison: Yeah, good question. Let me think for a second.

Kylie: It's kind of a big.

Allison: Yeah, it's a good one though. Yeah, I feel like... so I, I've grown up Catholic my whole life, and I went to the college that I went to was Catholic too. And so, when I went to UMSL, that was - not that I like, didn't know people who weren't Catholic before, because there were people who weren't Catholic at my college, and I had a lot of friends growing up who weren't. But that was the first, like institution, I guess that was the first like school I got into that wasn't Catholic. And that was really cool because I knew that like I wouldn't work at like a Catholic institution in museums, probably. And so that was really 00:36:00nice just to like, meet a lot of different people and have a lot more diversity in like the mindsets of people that I was meeting. And just have like, really awesome, like, honest and open discussions about different belief systems and things. And so, I think UMSL was really helpful in that. Especially now, working at a place like Boeing, that's like this big corporation that has so many different people and such a diverse workforce. And just being able to have those conversations and having that groundwork that I laid with the different people that I met at UMSL. That was something that's been really helpful, I would say.

Kylie: No, I that's a really good point because I think we, we also were trying to kind of understand too you know if...UMSL, I feel like brings together a large variety of people. 00:37:00Kind of how, you know, did your personal interaction with different faiths or different cultures and how that goes on, you know, further down the road. I mean, with things like, especially with Boeing, a company as you said that's super diverse; that kind of helps lay that foreground.

Allison: Definitely, yeah.

Kylie: And were there any like fundamental beliefs that changed during, you know, grad school or anything like that? I know you said it was kind of different to go from just a Catholic school to a public university.

Allison: Yeah. I - I wouldn't say there were any, like fundamental belief changes for me. Mostly just like having a lot more conversations about different beliefs. Does that make sense?

Kylie: Yeah. No, that makes perfect sense. Let me see. And I feel like too, especially with a history background, 00:38:00you know, those conversations are very valuable. Do you think? Let me see. Sorry, let me get back on track.

Allison: You're totally good.

Kylie: Ok, as far as you know, values and beliefs, do you think there was there any like habits that you picked up in your grad school career that stick with you today?

Allison: Good question. Yeah, I feel like in grad school I became a lot more outgoing. I've always been like a very introverted person and never really enjoyed like talking in front of people and stuff. But now I give tours for a living, which is pretty different. But yeah, I - I feel like UMSL really pushed me. Especially like coming into a program not knowing anybody and that's kind of the same with undergrad too, but like 00:39:00coming into the program and working in the assistantship and doing all these different classes with people who some of them were my age and some of them were much older, like doing the kind of like a second career. It just really pushed me to be more outgoing, and like, become a little more extroverted and get a lot more comfortable with speaking in front of people from different presentations that we had to give. And I think it also just gave me a lot more confidence about speaking on historical topics and things, because even if even if I don't necessarily know for sure that what I'm saying is right, I can say, you know, I went to school for this and, and you are trusting me to be an expert in this. And so, it's nice to just like have 00:40:00that added confidence from the program to be able to do that.

Kylie: No, definitely. And I appreciate you for sharing that too because you know, it can be kind of I guess kind of scary too, when you have to continue to like challenge and push yourself, but it sounds like too, you know, really pushing outside of your comfort zone has helped you lead you to where you are now.

Allison: Definitely, yeah.

Kylie: And so, I guess one of my other questions too, as far as where you are now at Boeing. Did you I mean; did you see that coming like full circle? Did you expect that to happen?

Allison: Yeah, not really. I - I mean, I'm really glad that it has happened. But whenever I was at the museum in Kansas, I kind of thought that we might stay there for a lot longer than we did. Because I really enjoyed that position 00:41:00and it was really cool, just like wearing a lot of different hats and being able to like, work with artifacts and work on social media and give tours of the museum, but also like work in the gift shop. And just so many different things. And it, it kind of felt like I was, I don't know, I guess like like on the front lines of the museum world. Like, really, just like working at a nonprofit, not earning very much money, just like doing all of the things. And it was a really exciting time because it, it was a new museum, and so we were kind of like growing things from the ground up. But yeah, I - I didn't really expect to kind of come full circle back to Boeing. Because I thought that after the Amelia Earhart Museum, I would go to like another similar type job. Like wearing a lot of different hats or go to another like nonprofit type place. But the timing just ended up working out really well for. 00:42:00They, they had an opening at Boeing at the same time that my husband got a job offer at another place in Saint Louis, and so the timing just kind of fell into place. But yeah, I never would have expected. Especially like, back when I first started looking into history that I would have ended up working at Boeing, I would have thought like I would work at some dinky little museum somewhere, but.

Kylie: Well, and like I - I think it's really cool how your - your grandpa and your dad have both, you know, been a part of Boeing. You - you know, you did early on in your career and now you've come back to it, I guess do you, is there like any piece of advice you would give someone that is looking into, you know, like the nonprofit world or, you know, a really I guess concise field, like museum studies 00:43:00or public history?

Allison: Yeah, I think that something that helped me was just being very open. Especially, like right after graduation, when I was applying for jobs all over the place at a lot of museums, I had never heard of and stuff just like. Being open and willing to get your foot in the door in some way, shape or form, and knowing that, like, not everything has to be forever. Like I - I we moved to Kansas kind of randomly it felt like. Like oh, this is falling into place and nowhere else is hiring, so we're just going to move there and figure it out. And it ended up being awesome. Like it was such a cool experience and I really enjoyed it. And so, I think like just having that open view towards working in places that you may not have thought you would if the flexibility exists, you know. 00:44:00But yeah, that has that was something that's been really big. And then also just like knowing, especially in the nonprofit world, like knowing that money isn't always everything. Because yeah, like working at that museum was really awesome, but they really did not pay very much. But you know, it was, it was a balance for sure of like knowing that I was really enjoying what I was doing, but also knowing when the time came to move on to something that would be better for our family because by that point, we had already had one kid. But yeah, knowing that you know, especially at the beginning, like the money might not always be there in such a niche field. And especially in a field that I feel like is becoming more and more over saturated. There's definitely going to be like an uphill climb at the beginning for a lot of people like there was for me and so, I guess just like having an open mind 00:45:00about all of that.

Kylie: No, that's a very good piece of advice to have is to definitely be open to those changes and to be open, you know, to new possibilities. I guess my last question would be, is there really anything else that you would like to share with us? Or is there anything else that we should know about your experience at UMSL?

Allison: Yeah, let me think. I guess just like reiterating how much I appreciated the fact that UMSL has like the assistantship, because that was such a cool program. And not even just mine, but how everybody’s like created this link between UMSL and a lot of the different like cultural institutions around Saint Louis I thought was really cool that we had all of those connections and that we would be talking about these different institutions 00:46:00in our classes, and somebody would be working there. And so, we could have kind of like an inside scoop of how that different these different museums or archives or things did things that was just such a cool part of the program for me. And the fact that we could, like, gain that professional experience while we were going to school was huge. And so, I just I really, really appreciated that part of the program.

Kylie: Yeah. No, I completely get that. And it sounds like too, you know, your hands-on experience was a huge benefit, you know, to your career.

Allison: Definitely.

Kylie: And so, I guess, thank you. We'll wrap up and say thank you and I really appreciated hearing about your experience at UMSL and you know how you've navigated such a unique field and success at Boeing. It was really cool to hear your story.

Allison: Thank you. Yeah. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

Kylie: 00:47:00No problem. Thank you.