More about Gloria

As we fairly often post profiles of some of the great employees and volunteers at Foodshare, some of the team have challenged me to answer some of the same questions.  Since they want me to answer a lot of questions, this is coming in two parts.  If you missed part one, you can find it here.  On to part two…

Name:  Gloria McAdam

Role at Foodshare:  President and CEO

How long?  I have been at Foodshare for 29 ½ years, first as Director, then Executive Director, and for a number of years now, President and CEO.

A personal/professional goal:  To retire in the next 5-10 years (personal) and to leave Foodshare in a strong position to continue our important work (professional)

What was the hardest thing you’ve had to learn at Foodshare? My first thought was patience.  But it’s not patience in a general way.  I’m generally a very patient person who can undertake long-term projects like making an afghan or doing a complex counted cross stitch piece and work away at it a little at a time until it’s done.  It’s about patience with process.  I’m action oriented and want to get things done.  But when you’re working in an organization, things don’t always move at the pace you’d like them to.  I’ve had to learn to step back and let group process work.

If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?  Why?  Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek Voyager!    I loved her example as a strong, but compassionate woman leader.  And besides, who wouldn’t want to, just once, sit in a starship captain’s chair and calmly say, “Battle stations.”

When in your life were you most afraid?  This was a challenging question for me to think about.  At first I was thinking of physical fear or fear for my own safety.  I was remembering backpacking trips in the northern Adirondacks as a single woman with children.  And yet, I couldn’t think of any time when I was really afraid – not when we met strange men on the trail, not when there was a porcupine in the lean-to that my son and the dogs and I were sleeping in, not even when there was a bear in our campsite (those may all be stories for another day!).  But when I thought about fear differently, it was all about my children.  I was afraid for my children’s emotional health and well-being when I was going through the process of divorce.  I was even more afraid when one of my children went through a very difficult time in the early teen years, even worried about the possibility of suicide.  The practical skills and common sense that got me through the porcupine and the bear were of little use in these cases.  And the outside help I engaged with via counselors only helped a little.  In the end, we only get through these things by letting go of the fear and of what we can’t control and by stepping out each day in the faith that things will work out the way they are supposed to, even if it’s not the way we want them to.

If you found out you only had a few months to live, what would you do with the time?  I’d clear out and sell the house, including giving my possessions to the people I wish to have them, so that my children did not have to deal with any of these issues.  I was lucky that I did not have to do this with either of my parents, but I did have to do it for my beloved Aunt Wanda, and it’s a chore I don’t wish on anyone.  I’d sing more, even though it might hurt your ears if you had to listen.  I’d dance more, even if I had to do it by myself.  And I would spend every possible moment with family and/or hiking/camping with my dog boys.
 

One word that you would use to describe yourself?  Compassionate.  I like that it includes the word passionate within it and think that both words describe me well.

What is your favorite book?  I don’t think I can answer that, for one of my life sayings is, “too many books, too little time!”  Books that have moved me, made me think or laugh, or affected my life in some way include:  Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach,  A Walk in the Woodsby Bill Bryson, and Excuse Me,Sir…Your Socks Are on Fire by Larry Weill (and I have a real story about my socks being on fire!).  And I could probably keep going with dozens more, but you don’t want to read all that!

What is your favorite movie?  Gone with the Wind – I love the sweep of history and human passions portrayed in this story.

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, what actress would you like to see play the role of you?  Kathy Bates.  Remember her as the unsinkable Molly Brown in Titanic? 

Share something about yourself that few people know.  This is really hard because I’m usually such an open book.  At our holiday luncheon for the Foodshare team, we played a game where everyone one wrote down one true thing and two lies about themselves and we had to guess which was which.  The only thing I could come up with for the truth (that I thought people wouldn’t already know) was that I got engaged to my high school sweetheart the night of our prom.  (We never did marry, though.)  So, while none of the staff guessed it that day, they all know it now!  But the rest of you probably did not!  How about this?  I totally love, love, love to square dance, though I seldom get the chance!