Jamie Salls works as an Executive Assistant in the Sentinel group and has been with National Life for almost six months.
As part of Administrative Professionals Month, she offered us some background about herself and her family.
Although born in Sarasota, Florida, I still consider myself a true Vermonter. I was raised from the age of five in the small central town of Stockbridge. My small school had a maximum class size of 11. My family spent the summers enjoying the local swimming holes along the White River and camping around New England.
I graduated from Whitcomb High School at the ripe age of 16. My ambition was such that I managed to skip an entire grade level. During high school, I veered away from mainstream athletics and found a love for all sports that included a board. My winters were spent snowboarding at Killington and summers off the coast of Rhode Island surfing. If you have ever been in Burlington and seen those maniacs bombing down the hill on their longboards, that was once me.
After high school, I attended Champlain College to study International Business. Big dreams of becoming a jetsetter and traveling the world were my aim. I spent two years studying and without much guidance decided that I wanted to “take a year off.” For the next year, you could find me in Siesta Key doing nothing but soaking up the Florida sun. After a year, it was time to return to the real world and I ventured back home to Vermont.
I began my administrative professional career at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph shortly after returning home. I entered Gifford as a medical secretary and quickly found out that I wanted much more. I took classes to become an LNA so that I could help room patients, and then went on to complete training and became a medical assistant. I worked in multiple clinics throughout the hospital and quickly fell in love with orthopedics. The fast-paced clinic and hands-on assisting was great.
Later I moved into a role in the pre-operative clinic working with one of the medical directors in order to “clear” patients prior to their surgeries. It was here that my full capabilities and immense amount of knowledge of the organization were recognized. I was encouraged to move into administration. I worked at Gifford for 10 years with my last role being the Executive Assistant to the Chief Operating and Financial Officers prior to coming to National Life.
My husband Adam and I have two amazing children, Maddox (11) and Kendal (2) along with our two labs Mylie and Zoey. We live in Randolph and bought our first home five years ago. We have slowly been renovating ever since. I secretly aspire to be Joanna Gaines, despite my husband’s threats of canceling the HGTV channel.
When we are not working on or around the house, we enjoy spending time with our family and friends. This month we will begin the first of our “National Park” family vacations by visiting Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.
At this point in my life, I never became a jetsetter and am now scared of heights (I am still in a bit of denial about this.) I am terrified of the ocean for fear that a shark will eat me and you would never catch me on a skateboard.
Instead, you can find me cheering on the sidelines of my 11-year old’s baseball game or chasing around our spunky 2-year old. Although this may not sound too exciting for some, I would not have it any other way!