Her Story
About Comfort
I have spent nearly 19 years in the environmental sector, with my last decade focused specifically on healthcare. My main area of expertise is Environmental Health and Safety, with a particular focus on waste management, environmental compliance, risk mitigation, and incident investigations. I wear many hats in my role - I provide professional education to employees on environmental sustainability, and I serve as a regulatory liaison between organizations and government agencies including EPA, OSHA, the County Unified Program Agency, CalEPA, and the Department of Toxic Substances Control. My work helps organizations understand regulations, mitigate their risk, and avoid fines. Throughout my career, I have worked across different sectors - the last 10 years in healthcare, and prior to that in waste management and logistics/transportation. This diverse experience has given me a wealth of knowledge that I now use to train and educate people who are less experienced than I am. I am passionate about lifting as I climb, and I take pride in leaving people more educated than they came into a conversation with me. I teach people how to fish, and when I mentor younger or less experienced environmental professionals, I give them information that can support their growth within the industry. I am also a board member of the Alliance of Hazardous Material Professionals, a global organization, and I am a member of a national civic engagement and advocacy organization. Beyond my professional work, I am a former professional athlete and runner at heart, and I am also a community leader who does work outside of the environmental space.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Comfort
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'm rooted in my faith - that's definitely one foundation of my success. But I'll also say that I grew up in an overachieving household, and that is definitely a driver for me. Some people might frown on this, but mediocrity is not accepted. The bar was already set from childhood for me, so I have aspirations to exceed what my parents have achieved as well. That's where I attribute my success.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received comes from my grandmother, who told me several years ago: do what you can, when you can, while you can. While it might seem like a personal quote, I see it as professional as well, because we have talents, and sometimes our talents just allow us to shine in the right field. When you're good at what you do, it becomes effortless, and you will find one thing that is effortless for you when it comes natural to you. So my advice, whether to a young person or anyone, is to be unapologetic about trying. It's okay to try something new. If you haven't found that thing that you do naturally, keep exploring and keep asking questions.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If you haven't found that thing that you do naturally, keep exploring. Continue to be intellectually curious and ask questions. When you're good at what you do, it becomes effortless, and you will find one thing that is effortless for you when it comes natural to you. So keep going, keep exploring, and keep asking questions until you find what comes naturally to you.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges I see in my field is the demographic gap. There are a lot of baby boomers retiring in the environmental sector right now, and actually in healthcare too. It's about two things. One is succession planning - I believe this is a challenge where you have the older generation holding on forever, rather than identifying talent they can pass the baton to. And two, it's the potential knowledge gap that could be lost, because when people retire, we leave with that experience. You have to make it attractive these days for certain demographics of people, like Gen Z or Alpha. A lot of them want to be in the creator economy, and they want to do the fancy, cute things, and we are losing a certain part of our workforce to a more attractive career path. That's what I'm seeing. So companies need to be a bit more creative in what attracts talent to a particular industry or field.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I value respect - that's a big thing for me and it's definitely a foundation where a lot of things unravel. If you respect me, then you are going to pay me what I'm worth. If you respect me, you're going to listen to what I have to say. I also value loyalty. I know a lot of folks give a lot to their companies, and I would hope that's reciprocated. I know a lot of times people say you have to leave a company within 2-3 years or so, but there are companies out there that I believe reward loyalty, so loyalty is a two-way street. I value self-development and growth. Another thing that I value is being mission-aligned. I have personal missions and goals that I want, and I want to make sure that wherever I'm at, I am intentional and I'm staying mission-aligned to also my own individual goals that I want to achieve outside of just the work setting.
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