January 2017 marks 15 years on the job for Wendy Thomas, Leadership Tulsa’s executive director. To celebrate her milestone anniversary we asked her to answer a few fun questions.

What’s made you stick with Leadership Tulsa so long?

The People and the Purpose!  In what other job could you meet so many people of good intent who come together to form a learning community to better themselves and their community. We attract the very best people to the classes, to our board and to our LT staff team.  They bring the best of who they are to the organization every day.  We have a culture of fun, where we take the work seriously but not ourselves. There is a lot of laughter at LT days and around our board table.  And most of all, there is our purpose of helping people develop their leadership skills in a way to promote their passions and the betterment of our community.

What are you doing when you are not doing LT?

Anyone who knows me, knows I do a lot of volunteer and board service.  I especially like to volunteer with arts organizations, my first passion, and with organizations that are in a period of transition, growth or even starting-up. But when I’m not working or volunteering, I enjoy camping in our travel trailer in Oklahoma’s State Parks or in the mountains of Colorado.  I also have a number of creative hobbies and have recently taken up a little painting.  I proudly point out that making art is good for your mental health, even if you’re not good at it, with emphasis on the not being good at it part.

Did you make any new year’s resolutions this year?

After having failed the Marie Kondo “Magic Art of Tidying Up” challenge in 2016, I have decided to take on the “No New Clothes in 2017” challenge instead.  Besides the fact that I have more clothes than any human actually needs, I was shocked to see just how much money I might be able to save by purchasing anything I need second hand and being much more considered about my needs versus my wants in general. Of course all bets are off if I should miraculously achieve that other perennial but illusive new year’s goal of losing 20 pounds. Check in this time next year to see how I did!