Alexa Arnold

What has been a particularly rewarding moment in your career?  

Helping people has always been the general underlying theme, either creating or finding solutions or tackling complex problems/questions. A former manager of mine once referred to me as a pit bull. The expression on my face must have said it all as he quickly explained that he could give me any challenge and I could wrestle it to the ground with great success. That moment gave me additional pride, courage and confidence to achieve great things in my career including managing a global IT department for a privately held investment advisory business.

When you’re not working you’re…? 

Learning and teaching self-defense classes or yoga, riding my motorcycle, spending time with my fiancé and doing projects around the house. I am not a very idle person, so I am always up to something.

How do you do good in your community? 

When I was young, my mother volunteered at a women’s shelter. That really stuck with me and is one of the things I continue to be passionate about, so I volunteer at a local shelter every now and then. Growing up with three older brothers and a neighborhood full of boys, I was a tom boy. The first time I moved out on my own, though I was capable of defending myself, my mother suggested that I take some self-defense classes. Years and a 3^rd degree black belt later, I have a fervor for teaching self-defense classes to women.

Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?

I grew up in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. We spent time visiting our families in northern Wisconsin, summers camping and winters snowboarding out west. Now the warmer mountains of western North Carolina are my home.