Brandi Kirk

Education: Studied Music and English at Pensacola Christian College and Culinary Arts at University of Alaska Anchorage. Currently pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration at Alaska Pacific University. Certified Professional of Human Resources by Human Resources Certification Institute

Community work: Anchorage Chapter of the Society of Human Resources, Catholic Social Services, Anchorage Workforce Collaboration Training Group, Anchorage Rotaract, United Way of Anchorage and Food Bank of Alaska

Family: Parents Ronald Kirk and Cynthia Masera, brothers Nicholas, Ethan and Taylor

Hometown: Boonville, NY

Best stress reliever? Cruising to a secret off-road location on my motorcycle to enjoy the stunning beauty of Alaska and journaling along the way.

Favorite place in Alaska? Seward was the first place I lived in Alaska and it will always hold a special place in my heart. Lived in a tent, worked 16-hour days slinging salmon at a fish plant. Snagged winter food supply at the waterfall, watched eagles eat salmon, forced myself to walk to the outhouse in negative-degree weather… it was a perfect few months.

Your most memorable experience that could only have happened in Alaska. I lived in Seward in a cabin with no running water and a wood stove. I needed someone with a chain saw to help me prepare for winter. An acquaintance from the fish plant where I worked offered to help in exchange for a home-cooked meal. Years later, I noticed his picture on the front page of the Anchorage newspaper. Turns out he murdered his friend.

Name the person you most respect and why. The first requisite for success is to develop the ability to focus and apply your mental and physical energies to the problem at hand. Because such thinking is often difficult, there seems to be no limit to which some people will go to avoid the effort and labor that is associated with it. — Thomas Edison

Famous quote to live by: "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." — Theodore Roosevelt. "Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it." — Charles Swindoll

How did you make your first dollar? Doing chores (aka shoveling manure) at the neighbor's dairy farm.

What did your pet or child teach you about business? Be filled with curiosity about the world. Remind the people in your life that you love and care about them. Rest when you need to. Be patient with yourself and have a little bit of fun every day. Go outside.

What is the best moral lesson learned from a character in a book? "Charlotte's Web." We must work together to help others and always keep our eyes open for small miracles that are happening around us.

What was the least intelligent thing you've ever done or seen and what did you learn from it? "The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one." — Elbert Hubbard, "The Note Book"

Describe something you learned as a child that made a difference in your later years. I have learned that endless curiosity, wonder, and learning should not end with childhood; it is a lifelong journey that we must cognitively decide to incorporate into our lives. Always live life to the fullest and to thine own self be true.