This past weekend, I traveled to New York City to attend The Stevie Awards ceremony. I was a finalist for Female Executive of the Year in the Business Products category for companies with less than 2,500 employees. As Clearfield is much smaller than that (there’s 227 of us now) – I didn’t think we had much of a chance of winning – but much to my surprise, and delight, we carried back the Gold Trophy.

In my acceptance speech, I acknowledged a few things:

1. We have grown from basic start-up to now nearly $300 million market cap company.
2. That kind of success doesn’t come without a lot of hard work and sacrifice by a lot of people.
3. It was doubly meaningful to have my parents in attendance, as they taught me the importance of commitment and hard work.
4. After 56 years of marriage, they also served as excellent role models for my husband and me – as we’re still newlyweds.
5. Besides hard work and sacrifice, one also needs support to succeed. And I certainly get that from my husband.

It was a beautiful ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. Other finalists were from Australia, Jordan, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, Japan, and beyond. (I learned that more than 1,400 nominations from 31 nations and territories were submitted this year for consideration.) It was quite a spectacular, international event held in heart of NYC’s Times Square.

This week is Thanksgiving – and at moments like this weekend, I am overwhelmed with how grateful I am to have the privilege to work within the Clearfield community. Together, we aim to provide a choice to wireline, wireless and cable broadband service providers on how to reduce their cost of optical fiber deployment.

While I am thankful for all of you everyday, at Thanksgiving, I am reminded to express that gratitude – THANK YOU! Please enjoy the Holiday with your friends and families.