Position: Vice President of Operations and Event Manager Employer: Sherm’s Catering Age: 36 When Becky Eppig was hired as part of the office team at Sherm’s Catering, she had no idea she would one day become the company’s vice president of operations and event manager. In those roles, Eppig oversees the company’s daily operations, event and wedding sales, and customer communications. She also leads more than 40 team members and coordinates event details with couples, customers and vendors. In Eppig’s time with the catering business, they went from doing fewer than 20 weddings and large events per year to now doing more than 52 in weddings alone. When the pandemic hit, Eppig reached out to engaged couples daily, working with them to replan or postpone their weddings rather than canceling them outright. The pandemic also presented an opportunity for the catering company to give more attention to efforts they had previously put on the backburner, such as individual meals, family meals and date nights. Sherm’s Catering was able to offer free lunch to the community for 13 weeks. Although the company had to cut back on staff in the early parts of the pandemic, they have since been able to invite back all of their staff. After Eppig’s mother left her with a social worker at the age of 2, her grandparents took her in and raised her. Now, Eppig speaks at a local women’s and men’s detention centers a few times per year to share her story and inspire others to create a life for themselves unfettered by any mistakes they have made. Eppig also serves on the board of Face the Facts, a community thinktank formed to destigmatize addiction and provide support to people experiencing addiction, their families and people who have lost loved ones to the disease. She also serves on the board of Hope Street, a local grassroots agency focused on addiction policies and reforms. Eppig’s passion for visuals and coding has allowed her to design websites for multiple small advocacy groups. She is also handy with a set of tools and can complete most household repairs and diagnose HVAC system issues.