Destiny K. Brown

I'd say a very strong foundation within my parents and family. That's been a huge one for me. Everything I learned and all of the experiences I've had, especially being someone who was born and raised in Texas and had only been outside the country once to Mexico before going to Switzerland, that experience completely opened my eyes to so many new ways of life, to different languages, to the importance of health and living in beautiful environments. I would say that transformed my life. The care people have for their environment and others in Switzerland is just a different level, and that experience, combined with the strong foundation from my family, has been instrumental in shaping who I am today.

Be open to the dream not looking exactly how you expected. This advice has really resonated with me throughout my career journey, especially as I've navigated different roles and opportunities in emergency management and communications. It's helped me stay flexible and embrace opportunities that may not have been part of my original plan but have ultimately shaped my professional path in meaningful ways.

I'd say, as in kind of akin to my time in Switzerland, it's like being the Swiss Army knife of not only emergency management, but any field. Emergency management specifically entails so much, and it's somewhat a new field, so you never know - you can walk in, and your job description can say one thing, and you can end up on a multitude of project areas. So just be open-minded, sharp, and adaptable. That's a huge thing. You have to be ready to wear many hats and take on different challenges, because that's the nature of this work, especially in a field that's still evolving and defining itself.

I would say navigating training resources is a major challenge right now. For instance, FEMA offers on-demand, self-paced trainings that emergency managers honestly need to be great at their jobs. When those systems are shut down for 7 plus days, that's 70 plus days that a country of emergency managers aren't getting the trainings that they need. So navigating under different political pressures is a big one. It's not to make it a political post or anything, but these are real challenges we face in ensuring emergency managers have access to the critical training and resources they need to do their jobs effectively and serve their communities.

I'd say wellness is huge for me. We're always going to be there kind of thing, so it's really important, especially when you are a hard worker. Wellness outside of work, knowing your worth outside of work as well, is critical. I also value integrity and honesty. I think it's essential to maintain balance - I'm huge into fitness and I'm also a huge foodie, so I use one to balance the other. More recently, hot yoga - I'm really into yoga and doing those kinds of things, not only for physical health but because I notice it helps with my mental health as well. I think that's really important.