20 under 40: ADRENNA ALKHAS

Favorite quote or saying, why?

I have two, can I do that? Ha!

1. “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been.” – William Gerald Golding, “Lord of the Flies” author

2. “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” – Matthew 10:16

Community or professional highlights:

I have been marketing and communication director for the Stanislaus County Fair for eight years. I enjoy teaching and I am adjunct professor at Modesto Junior College and lectured in the communication department at Stanislaus State. I attended MJC for a couple years; then transferred to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, but eventually graduated with my B.A. from University of the Pacific. I also graduated with my master’s in communication from University of the Pacific in 2004 and received my doctorate in educational leadership from CSU Stanislaus in 2011. I truly enjoy marketing and some of my marketing strategies and tactics for the fair have received several recognitions, the most recent being named “Publicist of the Year” by PR News. Other awards include, honorable mention for “Best Event Marketer” for PR News; 1st place awards through Western Fairs Association (WFA) for “Best Social Media Campaign” as well as second place awards for other social media categories through WFA. My team and I at the Fair also received recognition from PR News as a finalist in the 2013 Social Media Icon Awards, in the Twitter: Marketing Campaign category.

Your life changed when:

When my daughter was born. Women don’t have to “do it all.” We will drive ourselves crazy. Once you become a mom, a new woman is born. When my daughter was born, I had to prioritize what was important and not as important. I have turned down job offers and I have cut down on many activities or not attend functions because I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself or my family. Growing up I was taught that I could be anything, I didn’t realize that one day, I would have to make a tough decision in balancing work and children, I assumed that my first corporate job would be supportive. Now I have found that balance at the fair and with teaching. My fair family is extremely supportive and bringing my kids to work is never frowned upon; if I have to work from home, my CEO is fine with it. My point to us mommies is, always do what is best for your family and yourself, do not over do it.

What do you want people to know most about you?

I love reading, I’m a nerd at heart; I think I’m funny or I laugh at my own jokes (sad); and I love binge watching shows on Netflix when my kids go to bed; and I have no shame in telling people that I also love all the “Real Housewives” shows. But, I do have a few things I am passionate about:

1. I believe and would advocate for social media being banned for children 18 years and younger. Yet, although there are wondrous things about social media, there are extreme dangers. Suicide is now the second leading cause of deaths among teens. Kids ages 10 and older have social media in the palm of their hands and with a snap of a photo, a click of a button and hiding behind a keyboard, cyber bullying has become an extremely dangerous part of teenagers, which plays a huge part on their insecurities and depression. Just like there is age requirements for driving, drinking, joining the military, voting, or purchasing cigarettes/alcohol, there should be an age requirement to have social media accounts.

2. Maternity leave needs to be longer. This business of 12-18 weeks to be with your newborn is nonsense and the U.S. is the 2nd worst country in the world to provide proper maternity leave for new moms after having a baby. I have more on this topic, but this is a start.

What do you like most about living here?

I grew up wanting to live in the big city, like Los Angeles or San Francisco, then I married a Turlock boy who loves the farm life (although we don’t have a farm yet, he wants one). I enjoy the small town feel and living in Turlock, everything is five minutes away. We also have the best taco trucks in Turlock; best shopping experience is in our Turlock downtown area; and we have amazing restaurants that really cater to our demographic, such as Dust Bowl Brewery, Memo’s, Udder Place, Café Rome, Table 26, La Mo and so many more.

Why is community involvement important?

With the amount of resources we have and education, it is important to not only give back to those who are in need but to help my own people. Our Assyrian community is extremely big in the Central Valley and I do my best to be involved, whether it is through the Assyrian Festival, the Assyrian Church of the East, supporting our youth or donating to our Assyrian communities in the Middle East who are facing daily atrocities brought upon them because they are Christians. I try; I do my best to be involved.

Teaching is another way for me to stay involved within our community, especially in Modesto. I went to Modesto Junior College, and I love teaching the students there. I have hired many at the fair and keep in touch with many of my students over the years. I can see what a difference I have potentially made in some lives when I get that “thank you” email after the semester has ended or an email years later telling me how important that speech class was as they utilized those skills for their career.

Teaching young women to also get involved in their community is important to me and with the empowHER Lounge that I started last year at the fair, which is geared towards inspiring young girls to be great leaders in our community, we can educate them on those topics. If we teach our young women now to support each other instead of competing with each other it will set the tone for how they will be leaders of tomorrow. When women adopt leadership roles they can create a unique set of skills that can broaden the company’s environment.

This story was originally published August 24, 2017 at 12:21 PM with the headline "20 under 40: ADRENNA ALKHAS."