Growing With the Valley: Rebecca Hupp on Leadership and the Future of Boise Airport

This week on Nobody Knowz, we’re sitting down with Rebecca Hupp — Airport Director of Boise Airport. She’s a leader guiding one of Idaho’s busiest gateways, from new flights and expansions to the teamwork that keeps travel moving smoothly. We talk about leadership, community, and what it really takes to keep Boise connected to the world.

Transcript

Speaker: 0:01

Welcome to the Nobody Knowz podcast with Callie Zamzow. Join us for conversations with local change makers and hear the stories that don't always get told. It'll be honest, messy and beautiful. Touching and humorous. Slow down for a glass and pull up a chair. This is the nobody knows podcast. Welcome to the podcast. Nobody Knowz. I'm your host, Callie Zamzow. I always feel like this is like a moment. I start the podcast like, oh, this is a moment of reflection and like a beginning of another interesting conversation. And today I'm feeling it particularly strongly because on the way here, my father was giving me a lecture, and, you know, I spent most of my life being annoyed with my dad giving me lectures. Truly, if I'm if I'm honest, he knows this, by the way. However, now that I'm 50, I feel very differently about his lectures. I, in fact, I don't even really want to. I feel like lecture is not even the right word. Like, I feel like he's imparting wisdom. And yes, some of the wisdom has already been imparted. However, I it's I just take it differently now. It it hits differently and I feel like there's a part of me that is like I threw out the lecture and it's like I'm tapping myself on the shoulder to say, do not be distracted. Do not be annoyed. Do not read into anything. Just listen. Just listen to it. And so anyway, I'm kind of in that mood because, because this was a unique he doesn't do it as much as he used to. And, and it was a good lecture this morning, and I and I took some things from it that that will be very helpful for me. So I'm kind of feeling, I guess, and thoughtful. So which is not a bad place to start with, with, with the podcast. So, I want to start off by thanking our sponsor, Zamzows I'm going to talk a little. I'm going to talk about two things in our tip of the week. The first one is that, this is this is going to be airing mid-November. And so I wanted to give one last reminder that if you have not done anything to put your your lawn to rest, for the winter, there's still time. And even if a little snow flies and it and it, dries back up again, really in the month of November, you can still put down our final step of the lawn program. And you do not need to be a part of the lawn program. You can actually start with this as your first step. It's called recharger and it's the fifth step. And or your first step if you're going to begin the program or just again, you can buy it one bag at a time. But, what happens when we applied this particular product at the end of the season is that we are setting our lawn up to look wonderful first thing when the in the spring and not just look wonderful, you're actually going to be helping it become more healthy. So if you've had, especially if you've had a bad lawn year where you had maybe somebody burnt your lawn, with a chemical fertilizer that I saw a lot of that the summer. Or if you, if you had bill bugs or if you had things that that cause your lawn to not look great or even if your lawn looked fantastic. Regardless, this is a way to put your lawn to bed with particular nutrients, and they will, help build the root system. And, and then they will kind of be breaking down all winter long so that right when spring happens, your lawn will pop. So that's the first tip I wanted to give you. The second one is just a reminder. Again, the year is 2025. In case you're listening to this in the future, there's an at Christmas event that is coming up on November 29th from 12 to 6 p.m.. Santa Claus will be there with Mrs. Claus will be reindeer. They'll be, all sorts of fun things happening. It's at the chin band location. And so, you can look that up on our website at Zamzows.com. So there you go. There are my two tips of the day. Now I get to come to the part of the show with my favorite part where we could do to speak with somebody who's interesting and I, I've already confessed to her that I'm a little intimidated because of the job that she holds. And so welcome to the studio, Rebecca Hupp. She is the airport director at Boise Airport, which just I just don't even know what to do with myself right now. So welcome to the studio. Thank you for being here, Rebecca. Good morning. Thank you for the invitation. I'm flattered. Yeah, well, gosh, I, when when I realized that you had agreed to come up on the show, I was like, you know, it's like it's a mixed blessing. I was like, oh, this is super cool. And then I was like, I don't know, like what? What could I possibly talk to her about? That would be interesting. Except for that I was talking to my husband about it. I'm like, I have a million questions. And he's like, that's perfect. That's exactly right. And it's a great time of year to be talking about the airport and things that are happening there and travel. And it's an exciting time in the industry, so I'm happy to share it is okay. So I do have questions for you before we even get started, will you share with the audience your journey to to this point in your life? And it doesn't have to be I was born, you know what? But just give us some highlights so we understand a little bit about who you are and how you ended up where you are. Well, I remember being a young adult contemplating what I was going to do professionally for the rest of my life, as you often do in your late teens and early 20s, and I had no clue what I wanted to do, like so many people. And I really thought I wanted to be a pilot because I liked to travel. And then I started flying. And to the pilots who are out there who are listening to this, I'm very happy that you enjoy being a pilot. We need pilots. Very important role. It is not the right role for me. First of all, driving is not my favorite thing, so if you can imagine, I don't know why. I would think that flying would be the right thing for me to do. Really. I'm more drawn to the business side than the transportation side. And so being in airports really has allowed me to focus on running airports as a business. And I started my career in Kansas City, and then I moved to some smaller airports where I was the airport director, as the airport director in, small airport in South Dakota. And then I moved to Maine, where I was an airport director there in Bangor before taking the job in Boise. And now I've been in Boise 13 years. Oh, wow. And I have to say, it's been an amazing journey. And it's not the same place it was when I moved here. And hopefully I've contributed and made it a little bit better. Yeah. 13 years. I think about everything that's happened in the last 13 years at the airport, leave alone in this valley. And you were you you're at the helm for all of that? Yes. The airport's about doubled in size during my tenure. And so it's it's been a lot of fun. It's also been a lot of work. But, you know, I think it's just exciting for our community to see it evolve and grow. And we just want to make sure that we're evolving and growing in a way that is true to Boise and to the region. This is a little off script. I'm just feeling it right now. But I, I think about my role in a family owned business and what that all looks like, and all the moving pieces and who, who we're caretaking for and all just the moving parts there and I think about taking that to a much more public situation with vastly more people and vastly more I well, I just even the equipment, I mean, the biggest piece of equipment we have is our semi. But I'm just thinking about how how you manage all of that. What what do you ever stop for a moment and say, Holy cow, I'm, I'm I'm in charge of all of this. There have been moments where I've stopped and said, Holy cow, I'm in charge of all of this. And, you know, it's a great responsibility. It's also a privilege and an honor to be able to do that for our community and for our team. And there's lots of moving pieces and I always say your knowledge has to be about a mile wide and about a foot deep. That's well said I feel that. And, and then you have other people who, who can take the deeper part. Yes. You rely on them, I'm sure that's, that's probably I are you were a team maker. Is that kind of you're like are you. I do have a team. So we have over 200 employees that work at the airport for me. And then I have a core team of direct reports of about 5 or 6 people who report to me directly. And then the rest of the organization cascades and down through those leaders to other leaders, and then finally to frontline employees. That's amazing to me. And it is a well-run, at least from a traveler's perspective. I you know, I can say I literally just travel twice in two weeks. And they were seamless. And that's what the government shut down. So, kudos to you for healthy and to into your entire team. That's that's amazing. Our team really is outstanding. And sometimes I think we make it look easy, but it's the old adage of the duck on top of the water. They look calm, but they're paddling like crazy underneath. And I know that my team is continuously, you know, making things happen, you know, from the very front line employees, you know, from our equipment operators, you mentioned equipment. I think about the type of equipment that we have at the airport from very, very large snowplows to tractors to fire trucks. You know, it runs the whole range of equipment to people who are working in the terminal, to people who are building hundreds of millions of dollars worth of projects, doing design, making sure that things run smoothly from the baggage handling system to to everything else that happens behind the scenes that you don't see, to the things that are in progress and the things that are yet to come. So this is probably a stupid question. But who like what? What entity are you under? Like, who do you answer to? Does that make sense? When the question asking the question makes perfect sense, and it's one that I get pretty often. So the Boise airport is actually owned and operated by the city of Boise. Okay. And so I report, to deputy chief of staff and then eventually up to the mayor and city council. Okay. Okay. So I had to just give a personal thing here. I so I, I'm, I'm not going to be mean and actually mention the airport. But there's a, there's an airport that's back east. So in the last couple of weeks we were, we were there and I was coming, I was coming back and they were the most unhappy people I've ever been around. It was it was incredible. And both my husband and I, when we got through, we I mean, we just we almost want to take a shower. We just felt so just kind of roughed up and like, uncared for. And it was it was terrible. And it was such a completely different experience than what we had had when we got on the plane a few days earlier in Boise and, and TSA experience and all of that. How do you because because really at Boise, they greet you. They they're, you know, they run a tight ship. But you know, so you're getting through in a quick way. But not they're not there's no yelling. There's no I mean, there was literally yelling at this Becky's place. And we were like, are they yelling at us or are they yelling each other? Couldn't tell because there was just so much angst and, and yeah, just people are not happy. So how do you build that into into what you're doing at Boise? Because whatever you're doing is, is working. Well, I'm sorry you had a bad experience at another airport, and I'm happy to hear that you do not have that same experience in Boise. And I think Boise is truly a unique and special place in that. I always say we're large enough that we have the resources that we can take care of one another, and we have the resources to do the things that we need to do. But we're also small enough that we know one another and we have to to work with one another. And these are our neighbors. These are people that we work with day in and day out. And we're not so big that I can be rude or disrespectful to you and not have it matter. And so I think we really see that culture within our organization. You know, airline to airline just is a very small example. One airline might be backing up and blocking in another airline. If that happens, those those station managers have to come together and have a conversation. We're not so big that you can get away with that type of behavior and not know that you're going to have to face the person that you impacted. And so we really have created a culture on my team, specifically about creating a positive environment and a working environment where employees are empowered, but are also held accountable. And we we do have very strong expectations. And then we work to build relationships with our federal partners. Specifically, TSA and air traffic control are on our minds during this federal shutdown. And then also our airline partners and our concessionaire partners, all of the different groups that we work with to really build those relationships. So that way we have positive working environments. And we're setting a great example. Well, you definitely are. In fact I I, I always think of and this is across the board with anywhere I travel, TSA people in particular. It's kind of just the facts ma'am. Let's get you through. We've got a lot of time. And at Boise there's been several times that and it doesn't slow the process down to be kind or to have a little comment about something. And there's a there's been times that as my ID is being checked, that the person behind has said something either cute or, you know, you know, just something toward that. I'm looking at TSA was they're being nice to me or they're funny or they're funny. Definitely. One, this has been a little while ago, was somebody that who knew my husband from, you know, years back. And, you know, there's a whole line of people, so he can't just stop and have a big, long conversation. But he did just enough that he acknowledged the relationship. And, it was a quick little smile. And it and, you know, you don't think about going through TSA on the other side with a skip in your step because you just had somebody do something that made you happy. Like, that's a rarity and understandably so. You're going you have so many people that you're trying to screen for the safety of everybody. It's hard to add in that little nice thing, but it happens at the Boise airport. It really does. And that's that's that's phenomenal. It really doesn't take any extra time to be pleasant. That's. But it's true. That is true. Well, we should talk to the people back east. I'm telling you. Well, after this is all over, I want you to tell me I will. I will, I will, I will spill the beans. I'll still beans on all of it. Okay. So during your time, the the city of Boise has grown tremendously, and the airport has grown tremendously. Can you talk to us a little bit about what that's like when something, when the growth spurt is I mean, it's been something. That's a good way to describe it. So to put it in context, the Boise airport during my tenure year here has really grown and almost doubled in size, literally in the last decade, the number of passengers who are traveling through the airports increased 82%. All. And that is a little bit of a challenge when you think about your airline partners who have a six month planning horizon. And for us to build new infrastructure, it's probably at least 3 to 5 years before we can build any significant and substantial infrastructure. Then when you take the broader look at our community, Boise specifically, but also the broader Boise region, so our community has grown 38% compared to the national average for the same time period of 8% whole. So we're growing 30% faster than the rest of the country, and we see it everywhere. I'm sure you see it in your in your business and in your life, and I see it as well. And so we always are focused on we, we, we really have a three tiered approach. And what I always tell my team is what are the things we can fix today. And it's probably, quite frankly, going to be the most expensive solution. It's things we're going to fix with adding additional staff, additional people. So I think if we have a long line, we're going to add people to help with cueing or directing passengers. How do we fill that gap? That's the immediate need. Then how do we repurpose our existing resources and implement technology? That's probably or 2 or 3 year planning horizon. And then what are the things we can be doing today for the 3 to 5 year planning horizon? And we have to be doing all of those based on whatever the pinch point is that we're working with. So are you. A I'm always fascinated with people's personalities. Are you very. Are you left brained such that that organization is it does that stem from you, or do you hire people that are very left brained who do that for you? Or is it maybe a combination because that Oregon I mean, that's a lot of organization. That's you've you've there's a lot of balls in the air there that you're talking about. I would say I tend to be very organized. And if you looked at my strike strength finders arranger is one of my skills. So I'm very focused on making sure that all the pieces come together in the right way. And we have lots of balls in the air. I tell my team, just don't drop any of the ones that are breakable. Oh, I like that. That's a great I'm still up. You go ahead. I think that's fantastic. It's not copyrighted. All right, all right. Very good. Duly noted. Okay. So what are some of the biggest projects that are either coming down the pike and or maybe you just because you just finished some. We are always working on projects and finishing some, and we are just wrapping up. You probably wouldn't see it or notice it, but we are just wrapping up a large aircraft parking apron project that we completed this summer, and it will provide three more parking places for aircraft and will also align with the future concourse that we're going to build. Because our most challenging pain point today is aircraft parking. And so that is an interim step that allows us to provide more overnight parking for aircraft. That's one exciting thing. We also are in the process of constructing a very large consolidated rental car facility. If you're approaching the airport, you can't miss it. It's right there as you're coming through the entry roadway, and that will open in 2026. Oh, boy. And then we have other projects that are in design and that will will start in 26, 27 and will come online in 28, 29, 30. And some will be infrastructure projects that will enable future construction and future, development. And then, you know, others will be more visible. Okay, so I don't I'm not familiar with with the land that is for the airport, but I think about like I look at sometimes like, for instance, I think San Diego is a good example where you are literally flying right into the city and like it's a whoop whoop, I that's a whoop whoop with an arm motion for those those people that are listening don't see this. Anyway, I, I'm, I'm wondering where like as far as the land that that is, is slated for the airport. Where else can we grow? Because obviously we've got to continue. We're going to probably have to continue growing. Right. So where where can we expect to see things get pushed out to? And so San Diego is an interesting comparison because San Diego, they have roughly 500 acres and everything is contained within that 500 acres. Compared to Boise Airport, we have 5000 acres. Oh, so the scale is very different. But San Diego manages to process tens of millions of passengers every year. I don't recall the exact number that they process in a year, but it's substantial. So I would say in Boise, we have done and our community has done a really amazing job of planning for the future, preserving land around the airport for future development. We are a little constrained between the airfield and the interstate. You know, as you think about as you cross the interstate coming down Vista into the airport, there's not a lot of space there between where the runways are and where the interstate is. When we have a substantial amount of infrastructure in that area. So parking, rental cars, the terminal. And so we are focused on maximizing the space that we have available and using it for aeronautical purposes. So very specific to processing passengers okay. How do you prioritize these projects that you're doing that how do you decide? I'm I'm guessing it's not all on you. You probably have a team of people doing it, but how how what's that process look like? So about every five years we update what's known as an airport master plan. And we're in the process of updating our existing master plan. It was last completed in about 2018, and it's already outdated. So in 2018, it identified a number of projects that we were going to need to do at some point over the next 20 years. And if you've heard me speak anywhere about things that are happening at the airport, I often like to make the joke that the 20 year master plan became our five year work plan. And you know, that is there are there are planning tools. We've identified key needs within that plan. And then we started to execute on those items that were identified. And it really is what is the most needed thing. And a couple years ago it was parking. And then, you know, as we look at it, there's things that we need to do to be able to do other future things. So, for example, as we're looking at building out concourse A, which I'm sure we'll talk about, it's very exciting coming up, as we're looking at building concourse A, there were projects that we had to do in order to make that happen. So we had to move employee parking. Well, we had to build a garage. So we built an employee garage. We had to move rental cars. And so we're in the process of building rent a cars. And so a lot of times there will be enabling projects that have to be completed before we can get to do to do the things that we really want to do. Let's talk about concourse A. Yes. Let's let's talk about it. Well, it's one of those things that we have a concourse B and a concourse C, and I'm often asked, why do we not have a concourse at Boise? What is going on. And that shows you how many people were not here when we had a concourse A because prior to the new terminal, which is now 20 years old, being constructed, there was a concourse A and concourse A was actually removed to make way for the new terminal that we have today. And new being, you know, subjective. 20 plus years ago. But we are now looking at expanding and building concourse A, which will be built to the west side of the airport. So if you can picture the Boise airport and going through security screening, most of the time you are either going to the left to go on concourse B or alternatively, you would be going downstairs to concourse C. Now, if you think about where Barzani is, if you were to go to the right, there will be a concourse going that direction. Ooh, which is very exciting. And we'll be adding up to ten aircraft parking positions. So we'll use the same security screening checkpoint. We'll use the same ticket lobby. Baggage claim will not change, but we will be making some improvements to the circulation for the meter. Greater area. And exiting the terminal, but will also be adding again up to ten gates. And so that process we're in design right now. So we're we're in the very early phases. But we've been laser focused on putting together our team. So we've hired an architect. We've hired a contractor. We've hired an owner's representative to guide us through the process and to be our sounding board and expert advisors as we move through this project. And so we're gaining momentum, and we're starting to see the results of that in terms of design, product and cost estimates and developing a phasing plan. And so we'll be breaking ground on that in the near future. I'm not going to give a date, but we will be breaking ground on that in the near future. And opening up hopefully prior to 2030. Is the goal nice? That's very exciting. It is very exciting. We do have some other work that we need to do again, more enabling work and more enabling projects that were not necessarily forecasted or foreseen. And because of the size of the project, and also because the fact that we do have some substantial aging infrastructure, again, our new terminal is 20 years old, so and it's already constrained. So we're looking at adding capacity in our infrastructure and utilities. So we'll be looking at a future central utility plant not super exciting for the public or public facing. But I will tell you that electricity and running water is very important in running an airport. So essential. And then also we'll be upgrading our baggage handling system, which was installed in the early 2000 and does not meet current demand or will not meet demand, especially when we add on concourse AA. So those are a couple of enabling projects that we'll be working on prior to the build out of the concourse, but it will all come together over the next five years. That's really cool. I so I took my daughter to college at the end of August, and so we, my husband and I and my daughter flew out beginning of August and came back. And then, just like I said, in the last couple of weeks, some two weeks ago, I'll just say I flew again. But I hadn't flown in that short period of time in that window. There was so much change that took place in a really like thoughtful cool. And it was it was the it was actually it's and there's still you're still working on some of the stuff isn't open yet, but it was about like the food and the like the shops and whatnot inside. And so can you tell us about that? Because first of all, it happened. Super cool. I mean, you've got your team has worked very quickly, which is awesome. And number two, the choices of the of the things are wonderful upgrades and some of them are not again like not open yet, but I'm really excited for when they are. How often are you excited about an airport opening of certain stores? But I'm really excited about it. I'm really excited about it too, and there is a definitive process that goes into that. There's a lot of planning and work that goes behind the scenes, and I'm happy to hear you say you thought it went very quickly. It felt like an eternity to me. But we are we are getting there. So the process, as you can imagine, we want to make sure we have the right resources for our traveling public. So whether that's retail and gift, food and beverage, we really want to make sure that it's reflective of our community. Also has some national brands and recognitions for maybe people who are coming to Boise for the first time and aren't familiar with all of the great options that we have here in our community and also our travel friendly. So it's quick, it's portable, very, price sensitive. And so we go through a process about once every ten years where we will solicit what we call request for proposals, and we separate it by retail and gift and food and beverage. And so we put out a proposal for a ten year contract. And then proposers will bid on it. And there are specific companies that do this type of work all over the country. And then my team works to pick the best proposal. And proposals are rated on a variety of things, including creating a sense of place. So local brands and concepts, their ability to deliver the product and their experience working in an airport environment. Of course, the revenue that they generate, for the airport, because we are self-sustaining, we solely survive on revenues that are generated at the airport. We're not we're not supported through local tax dollars at all. And then also, what is their investment in the airport, airport look like? And I'm incredibly excited about the new food and beverage concepts that are coming online. And today we have Waffle Up in the still, which are some local favorites which we hit while we were there. Fantastic. Good choice. And then we also have a bar now on the lower level that will serve not only wine and drinks, but will also serve food and sandwiches on the lower level. We used to just have coffee and retail in gift and then upstairs we just recently and you probably experienced we have the Pizza Hut, blue Sky bagel and Protein Bar and Kitchen. That was an underutilized space before that now has concessions. So do you go to other airports and check them out? And I do go to other airports. And the truth is I am a little bit judgy when I'm there. I love hearing that. I can imagine. Right. You're because it's I mean, you're are you have an eye for things that other people wouldn't see. There are things that I pay attention to that, probably your average passenger is not looking at mostly on the taxiway in, looking at the airfield and the lighting and the painting in the markings, because there are some very specific standards related to that. But then also the yes, the passenger experience in the terminal and narrow lines at concessions, for example, is is another issue that I'm always paying attention to. And then, you know, they're seating and the, you know, just all of the things. How do their restrooms look? Are they clean? Are they being cleaned by airport staff or have they contracted it. So there are a number of different nuances that I probably, as an airport person, am looking at very differently than your average passenger, I would imagine. Do you have a favorite airport, one that you think has done something like done done Boise Airport? Well, of course, I guess this is it. Other than Boise, you're right. I hate to to pick one airport, but when I'm traveling I do prefer to travel Minneapolis, Saint Paul or Salt Lake. Both very new, beautiful facilities. But also, and perhaps even more importantly, I experienced fewer delays. And therefore therefore better connectivity. And that's always the key priority when you're traveling, when you're traveling, you want to get where you're going. And so I try to avoid airports where I've experienced chronic delays. Yeah, I missed connections. But I think even from an esthetic perspective, if you've been through either of those airports, Minneapolis has gone through some upgrades several years ago. The beautiful art in their terminal. It's very clean, wonderful retail, obviously a much larger airport than Boise. Salt Lake just recently completed a huge upgrade, since the pandemic. And they're continuing to open new concourses and new shops and just new gates. It's phenomenal in terms of cleanliness and brightness and just the way that it reflects their community. I think they've done a really nice job. I haven't been to that airport since the upgrades, but I just have lunch with some friends recently who specifically brought that up because they had just flown to and they were like, it's phenomenal. It's really, really beautiful. And then the other one that I just experienced was Portland. Yes. I have heard great things about the Portland remodel, but I have not been there yet. I if I sound speechless, I'm a little speechless about. And you know what I my husband's like there is it there's all these folks. It's all look, they choose all local places to like. The food is like it's all about the food. And I was like, it's about the fact that they have trees inside. Like real trees inside. Yes. So it feels very I mean, it feels very Portland. It's super like earthy. And you know, I it was it's a very cool airport. I was blown away by it. And I the last time we'd flown through had been a few years. And so it's such a huge difference. And again, what's felt like a short amount of time I think it was years. So it did take them some time to do it, but it was pretty cool. Well, and the construction there was congested and it was it created some challenges because they were redoing existing spaces in Portland. And so I've heard phenomenal things, and they were very intentional about creating an airport that was focused on Portland and was a reflection of Portland. Yeah, they did a good job of that. Yeah. I'll pass that along to my colleagues. Yeah. And Portland, so the the airport is it's often kind of the first and the last impression of Boise. So there's there's something there to the fact that people are having to kind of have to go through that unless they drive in, obviously. So how do you take that into consideration for things that they're literally representing our, our city? Well, in all of the things that we've already talked about. One, making sure that it's a pleasant experience to the extent that we can, you know, in partnership with our airline tenants and our TSA partners, but also food and concessions, I think plays a very big role in that. And then as we go into concourse A, we'll be looking at the design of the concourse to make sure that it does reflect our community. And also in the artwork that selected, we really want to showcase Boise and the greater region, as well as the entire state of Idaho. Because we are the largest airport, I think about 80% of all the people who come to Idaho come through the Boise airport. Let's talk about your leadership for a moment, because so I said in the beginning, I was a little intimidated by you, but now what? I'm just fascinated. Sometimes. Sometimes I want to focus on, somebody's femaleness. In this particular case, I kind of do. I guess, because I think you having the position that you have now is something that even 30 years ago, might not have been a thing based on the fact that you're female. And that's not the case now. And so I'm wondering, is there is there something that you like, if there was a young woman listening right now who's kind of thinking about what they want to do and they're listening like, this is this is kind of cool, what what advice would you give that? And, you know, I honestly forget the female thing because if it's there's a male who thinks you have a cool job and what kind of like, let's just forget the sex part. So that is an interesting question. I do often get asked for advice from people who are aspiring leaders in our industry, and I think it holds true whatever industry you're in, one is do the best job you can at the job that you have today, and be a subject matter expert in whatever it is that you're doing. Always be willing to do a little bit more and be willing to learn about things that you don't know about. And the other piece is build your network so you have connections. So that way if you don't know the answer, you know where you can go to get the answer in it. That could be within your organization. It could be someone within your community, or it could be someone who is in a similar industry. Whether it's for example, in airports, maybe it's not another airport, but maybe it's someone else who's in the hospitality industry and really build your network and then be willing to take a calculated risk, but make sure it's calculated. You know, you really you can't be afraid to try new things or go new places, but make sure you do it based on good, solid data. Not not just a whim. I guess those would be the three pieces of advice that I would give new people who are coming up. And then in terms of the airport specific, I think it is important to recognize that if you want to be an airport director, you probably are going to have to move within your career, and that can be a challenge if you, especially if you are a female and you have a spouse who is going to follow you, or spouse and children who are going to follow you. I was very fortunate that my husband has always been incredibly supportive of my career, and his career has been flexible enough by design because he worked at it, to be able to follow me. So I would add that. And then the other piece I would add is, if you want to be an airport director, you just need to understand that it is a 24 hour a day, seven day a week operation. And so it is not Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. And as long as you know that going into it and you're willing to make that commitment, I think it's a great it's a great industry and I've enjoyed every minute of my career. That's cool. I hope somebody is listening. I was like, that's what I want to be when I grow up. Very cool. That's that's awesome. All right. I, going to take just a moment here to thank our sponsors. So this episode of Nobody Knows is brought to you by Zamzows, your local source for garden, pet and planet friendly products. Whether you're taking off on a new adventure or just touching down at home, Zamzows helps you stay rooted where it matters the most. Visit Zamzows.com or stop by one of our 12 local locations? Nobody knows like Zamzows. We're shifting gears. We're now heading into, and the part of the episode where we call sharing is caring. It's kind of a rapid fire questions, if you will. They're never rapid fire. So if it's not rapid, that's fine too. But it's just just kind of a set of, of quick, quick questions for you. Okay. So are you ready? I hope so, okay. First question, one of the Boise's spots that you always recommend to out-of-town visitors. Oh, that's an easy one. So whenever I have people who are wanting to come to Boise and visit Boise, I always recommend that they come in late August, early September, and then they go to the Boise Balloon Classic. Oh, that is pretty great. You can't get that anywhere else. It's phenomenal. That's a great answer. I love that. Okay, how about a travel tip that you swear by when you're on the go? I have toiletries packed in multiple bags, so that way I don't have to repack them all the time. Ooh. So I have a couple of carry ons, and I. Depending on what I'm doing, I'll take one of about three different carry ons. And I leave my toiletries packed in each one of those. Nice. Are you. This is not part of the script here, are you? Are you, do you check bags or do you carry on? I am strictly a roller board. Carry it on kind of person. Amen. Sister. I do not want to check my bag. I don't want to wait for it. And I want to know that it is going to be with me when I get there. Yeah, that's always my big thing, too. My other tip, people may may appreciate this when you think about how much stuff you pack. I always wear my largest pair of shoes. And then I pick a color theme, and I either normally will pick, like a very neutral navy black, gray. And that is the theme for the week. I'm not bringing multiple pairs of shoes. That's great. Yeah. I think you and my husband are very similar with your packing style. I think he's he's you know, it's interesting about my husband, Clint. He actually lived in New York City when the plane was landed in Hudson, and he was working on the Hudson River at the time. And he actually, like, when they heard about it, they all ran out and they actually watched the plane float by. And he saw the people on the wing and everything. So his his packing and what he does is always for if he ends up in the Hudson like he is, like he does not screw around and like if I help, sometimes I'll like be wearing flip flops and he's like, you're not wearing flip flops. Like you're going to get frostbite if you end up in the Hudson River. That is very intense. It's very intense. Yeah. He's, he's a planner. All right, you're welcome. Clint. Okay, so how about a book, a podcast or a leader who is infinite and who is influencing how you think about leadership right now? You know, I've had the opportunity to hear many great speakers and leaders. And last year, I had an opportunity to hear Will Guidara speak about, unreasonable hospitality. And that was very interesting and obviously applicable to, the work that we're doing in airports. I also, several years ago, had an opportunity to hear Simon Sinek speak in person. And I he what his message was really resonated with me, which was people should love what they do and they should love their job. And I try to create an atmosphere where people maybe they don't love their job, but they at least love working for us. And, you know, it's really hard to love some of the things that we have to ask our team to do. But if they feel valued and they know that we appreciate them and we recognize the work that they're doing, then they can love working for us. And so that's something that I've really tried to focus on and implement in our organization. Awesome, awesome. I almost wasn't gonna ask this question exactly. Like, that was a beautiful place to end, but I just I'm curious about it and there may be nothing to it. We may have to cut the segment if there's nothing to it. But I heard that when you're in the Boise airport, you know that, like, open like circle, that cancer that there's something like, if you stand below, there's some like some sort of an echo chamber or something about being in the center. There is there's something kind of no, no. Well, it's you know, it's funny, I heard about it. And then I kid you not, this weekend when I landed, we were walking past and I saw people down there going, hello, hello. And so I was like, maybe there is something that is to that. I mean, maybe it echoes a little bit. I don't personally spend a lot of time standing around saying, hello. Hello. You know, when you asked me that question I was thinking about, you hear the stories about, like, it's the first Independence Hall where if you say something in one spot and you whisper it, you can hear it all the way over on the other side of the room. I thought maybe that's what you were getting. And that's what I think it. I think that's what I thought it was, too, but I don't I don't think that that okay actually happens at the Boise. Okay. Well, thank you for solving that problem. I will not go down and do that now in the future and see if it works. I will save myself the humiliation. Thank you for the Intel on that. Okay, now is the part of the show. This is the question we ask everybody at the end. There are no rules. Answer it. However, you like. Okay. Question is what is something that nobody knows? Oh, I feel like maybe that was on the list of questions. And I should have read that a little more carefully. You're not the first person I mean. And remember, you can answer however you want. There could be people who know it. That's okay. I think one thing that surprises people about me that they don't expect is I was an Army officer for 13 years, and that is how I paid for college, I did ROTC. It was funny because I was recently at a dinner and I was with someone, and he was talking about when he had been commissioned, and he was very proud of the fact that he had been an Army officer. And I said, oh, really? That's great. Me too. And it was really I was a little bit surprised by that and taken aback. So I would say, and that there are definitely people who know that, but people who don't know me, that is an unexpected twist. It is. Love it you and thank you for being here. This has been a great conversation. I feel like I, I learned an awful lot about the Boise airport, and I feel really grateful for you and for your team. Well thank you. It it's been really fun to be here with you, and hopefully I wasn't as intimidating as you thought that I might be all night. And I really appreciate the opportunity to share about the great work that our team is doing at the Boise Airport, and just how we're contributing to our community. Wonderful. Thank you again for being here. It's great. If you enjoyed today's conversation, make sure to follow the podcast and leave a review. And next time you fly out of Boise, take a moment to notice the teamwork and the planning that help keep our community moving. Next week, we'll hear from another incredible voice shaping the Treasure Valley. Until then, thanks for listening.