Hannah Hornsby, Lakeland Alum, has been out of school now for only a little under two years and is making her name known in Sheboygan County.
Originally from a small town in Indiana, Hornsby wanted to branch out from the norm of going to their small-town college by coming to Lakeland. Hornsby described Lakeland as such a welcoming place where students are lucky to be able to experience what they do.
Hornsby got the chance to meet and become close with Reverend Julie Mavity Maddalena, who was one of her professors while she attended school. She described her as a very wholesome person who is accepting of all people and made the class feel like an experience rather than something students must do. Hornsby went on to add that “Mavity treats everyone like family.”
Even though she enjoyed the school setting, one of her favorite memories from Lakeland occurred while she was a player for the softball team.
“Hitting 3 runs in one game was probably one of the most exciting things I got to experience. I think it was pretty funny that I was going like 0 for 32 the games before that, and I was just enamored because it was my first full season of softball.”
Hornsby, then, talked about advice that she would give students enrolled currently, which would be to go outside their comfort zone because students won’t know what to enjoy doing unless they branch out and go beyond what is considered comfortable.
She opened up and said she didn’t think she’d do a lot of the things she did while in attendance at Lakeland until she decided to go out of her comfort zone. “I wish I would have taken more of a leadership role at Lakeland where I could’ve influenced people more, and that is something that I encourage students to do as well,” Hornsby added.
Currently, Hornsby is working at The Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake. She is the Training and Education Specialist and is one of the youngest executives to be on the board. Some of the work that she does includes customer service, public speaking, and conference talks/speeches on leadership and motivation, communication, excellence, and how to own the jobs that people have.
She not only inspires people in hospitality, but she inspires people across all different workforces, students, athletes, and especially women. She gave insight into the new book that she is writing titled, “Just Let the Women Do It.” It’s about young women in leadership roles and how women aren’t given the same opportunities as men are.
“The first time I gave a speech in front of people, I noticed that a lot of the women were interested and intrigued by what I was saying, but the men weren’t paying attention and were in their own little world.” Hornsby described this as a huge inspiration when thinking about writing her book. She wants to inspire women, especially in the corporate world filled with opportunities that men receive more than women do.
“I’m doing this, and I’m a woman. I pushed really hard to get to where I am, and I took this job and made the best out of every opportunity I have received.”
