JoAnne Bass

You know, we've got to figure out where does that make sense?

Yeah.

I would say that, you know, what I recognize is it's funny, right?

Like hindsight is 2020.

What I recognize now is.

is that leadership is absolutely a journey.

And now I can look back at over 30 years and see that every assignment that I had, every duty title that I had, every work team, every team that I worked with, it was all a setup for the next chapter that was coming.

And so I

I've learned that.

And leadership is about, you know, reps and sets, right?

Like you don't just go in there, right?

If I evaluated myself based on, you know, me 20 years ago, like I'm a completely different person.

The foundation is still the same, but the reps and sets that you build and that experience is huge.

I will never forget.

It was my birthday, June 15th, 2020, when I was sitting in Biloxi, Mississippi at my previous assignment, Kiesler Air Force Base.

And I was, you know, one of the last few that were being considered for Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.

I already had a blessed, wonderful career, by the way.

And at that particular time,

myself and my husband, we were looking at property for when we retire because, you know, just like any other job, right, there's kind of a hierarchy and it just gets fewer and fewer.

And so we thought, you know, hey, we've had an amazing career.