She said that she loved working in HAZMAT until she became pregnant, then the thought of getting up in the middle of the night and going out to check trucks entering the base while on-call became a bit harder. She worked with EOD members which she added “were a blast to work with… no pun intended.”
One incident that closed down the base for a short amount of time was when a box blew up when she touched it. It wasn’t a bomb but paint that was improperly packed and shipped. Laughing, she said, “the entire base was closed for a short time as I had paint all over me when it blew. It was pretty embarrassing.”
She was also the youngest instructor in the military at the Air Force’s Leadership School. Once again, the Air Force matched Thompson up with a job that she absolutely loved. “Because of my age, it kind of held me up for promotion a few times because I didn’t have enough time in grade, but it was one of the best experiences I have ever, ever, ever had,” she said.
She gives that job all the credit for her life today. “I feel that job is the only reason I am successful today.” Every six weeks, over 100 new students would come in and she would have to learn how to teach and write the curriculum. Afterward, she earned her Masters and is currently working on her Ph.D. but wants to get back to teaching, because, as she said, she loved it so much. Teaching leadership she said, “was one of the most rewarding things, I’ve ever done,” and some of her students still reach out to her today.
But after a five-year stint as an instructor, she made the tough decision to leave the Air Force. With two young children, the very thing she loved to do, which was to deploy, was now the most difficult to contemplate. “I just couldn’t leave my children at that point.” So that was the time for her and the military to part company.
But it was bittersweet, “the Air Force had given me everything,” she said. “And when I first got out, I regretted that decision for quite a long time.” At the age of 29, it was an eye-opening experience because as she puts it, she went in as a baby.
While she was in the Air Force, she was talked into getting a Health and Life License. Little did she know that it would build her next career. She was driving down the road when she saw a State Farm billboard that said: “Come in and ask me about your life insurance.” And as she says, it changed her entire life.
She pulled in and the agent there, Jeff, connected her with another State Farm agent named Chris who was opening up a new office. She immediately went to see Chris, and the two of them looked at each other “like neither one knew what we were getting into,” and they began working together. It was a perfect fit.
She left briefly to pursue her Masters and was really missing her job, but the local sales leader told her that the company would still be there. After obtaining her degree she immediately decided to go back and became a State Farm independent contract agent. ”[State Farm] is the best thing that has ever happened to me, besides the military… they are a good family,” she said.
“State Farm has taken very, very good care of me and my family,” she added.
She mentioned that the company is set up and designed exactly the way she taught leadership in the military. They value the military members because of their discipline and work ethic.
Click here to learn more about the State Farm agent opportunity.
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