Ellen Gregory likes change and finds her new job as vice president for marketing and communications at Midway College full of new challenges and projects. After more than 12 years at Preston-Osborne, she made the move to Midway to cut down on travel.
"With three young children and renovating our historic home in Midway, there was never enough time in the day. Now I live three blocks from my office on campus," she said.
Upon graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1990, Gregory moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked at a law firm in the accounting department. Soon enough, she returned to Lexington to pursue a master's degree at the UK Martin School of Public Administration. At the same time, she worked as office manager for Price Waterhouse, and later as marketing coordinator with Commonwealth Technology. She and her husband spent a year in Hawaii, where his work was located.
Gregory credits Winchester native and journalist Helen Thomas as having been a major inspiration for her.
"Helen Thomas never backs down from the people she's interviewing," Gregory said. "She's worked hard to earn the respect she's now given, and she sets a great example for women."
A high priority for leaders, she said, is to listen.
"We need more listening and less talk," she said.
Gregory is proud of her work with Preston-Osborne.
"One of the last projects I worked on was helping the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau with their branding effort, which led to the Big Lex blue horse campaign," she said.
Gregory was recognized for the launch and educational outreach for Congressman Hal Rogers' PRIDE environmental clean-up project and for her work with the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP).
Her concerns these days are with education.
"We need to provide the right educational opportunities to meet the region's workforce needs. Also, there's a growing need for education to match the needs of students who require flexible schedules and Ö programs that help them in the industry sector where jobs will be," Gregory said. "Technology will play a big role in the future in terms of online classes, which add to the convenience factor for adult students."
Asked how she manages it all, she replied, "You can never do it all alone. It does take a village, and there is a life outside your office."