“One of the best things I like about management work is, we are the platform. Nothing happens on the policy side unless management officers get the buildings out there, hire the people, make sure you get the right people for the ambassador, make sure that you’re getting everyone paid and that you’re getting them paid as well as they can be paid.”
“I’ve always told people interested in what we do that there are there’s one key work in what we do and it’s service. I don’t care if it’s the Foreign Service for those who have a vocation to serve abroad or it’s the Civil Service. I think people working for State have a distinct ethos and it comes across.”
“To me there’s something unique about consular work. There is no other government in the world that takes care of its citizens the way America does — so I feel pretty privileged to be an American consular officer.”
“I think of the livelihoods of the people who work back in America, the people that I grew up with, the people that I serve as a public servant. And what I do overseas makes it so that they have a better economic future and their children and my children have better economic future.”
“It’s a team effort, whether in the operations center or an embassy. Everyone from all of the career tracks has a critical role that they play in the conduct of diplomacy.”
“I went up to see the king. Now I was forbidden to touch him, so I didn’t shake hands or anything, but I made a little speech. ‘I’m proud to be here on behalf of the United States government, and return this important and sacred object to you.'”
“Coming from the private sector background where I was dealing with all of those issues and trying to understand them, it was really intriguing to me to move from understanding them to helping to impact them and improve them and working for U.S. interests.”
“I think a lot of times, people sit on the sidelines and are frustrated with the way the world is going or the directions we’re going as a country or the different policies we have, and this career gives you the ability to make a real difference, and you can touch people’s lives.”