Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living magazine. Today I have Donna O’Brien with me. Welcome to the Project.
Donna O’Brien: Thanks, Toni. It’s good to see you.
Toni: Same. One of my favorite people in Berks County. So, Donna, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Donna: Oh, let’s see. I am Vice President of Travel at AAA Reading-Berks. I’ve been there 49 years; not all full-time, but 49 years. I started at the age of 10. I have two children, great children, three grandchildren, and I love them all to death.
Toni: That’s fantastic. You’ve lived in Berks County for 49 years, correct?
Donna: Yes.
Toni: Okay. That’s what I thought. All right. So, let’s go into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Donna: Oh, there’s so many things that come to my mind when I think of inspiration. I think of freedom, creativity, and part of me also says being a little bit competitive, because you strive to do things.
Toni: Do you know when you’re inspired?
Donna: I think so, yes.
Toni: Is it a feeling? Is it a sense? Is it a, “Oh!”? Does it make you want to do something? What happens when you know you’re inspired?
Donna: It makes me want to do something.
Toni: Really?
Donna: Yes.
Toni: Do you remember the last time you were inspired?
Donna: That’s a very good question. Last time I was inspired was probably last week.
Toni: What happened?
Donna: Now, this is where my competitive side comes out, okay, Toni? Somebody else had a different project going on, and I thought AAA Travel could do better than that.
Toni: And you were inspired to do better?
Donna: That’s right.
Toni: That’s fantastic. That’s a great example of inspiration. All right, so that somewhat answers the second question, but maybe you could give me another example. When you are inspired — and I like the freedom piece of it, too, so let me just go back to that — how do you equate inspiration to freedom?
Donna: We’re so lucky, Berks County, all over the place, to live where we are. There are a lot of super nice people here, and we all have the freedom to express ourselves, so I think that’s part of being inspired is being free to do that.
Toni: That is a great answer. So, how do you take that freedom, that moving you to do something, the competitive side, and how do you take all of that and when you are inspired put that into practice in Berks County?
Donna: Primarily with business. That inspires me probably the most. I’m driven to reach certain goals, although I might be a little shy before I retire, but it still makes me go, go, go all the time.
Toni: Do you find yourself having to be re-inspired sometimes, because maybe you took one path but you see a better idea, and then it re-inspires you to do differently?
Donna: Oh, absolutely. I think people would be foolish to think they’re immune to that type of situation.
Toni: I know that you have a team of people that you work with.
Donna: Correct.
Toni: So, I would imagine one of the ways that you put inspiration into practice is that you inspire your team.
Donna: I’d like to think I do, and I’d like to think I’m compassionate as far as each individual. They’re all different, so they all operate differently, and they all have their pluses and minuses, and to focus on their pluses.
Toni: And so you need to inspire them to keep moving.
Donna: Correct.
Toni: Okay. Do they inspire you?
Donna: Yes. Some of them really do.
Toni: Yeah?
Donna: Yeah, because they’re such a super group of people to work with. They really, really are. So, that to me is inspiration, too.
Toni: How about the public, since you’re in a public business? Do you ever get inspired by stories of people and travel?
Donna: Not necessarily people in travel, but let’s say people I’ve met while I’ve traveled.
Toni: Fantastic.
Donna: Their experiences and their points of view on certain things.
Toni: So, who in Berks County inspires you?
Donna: You know, it’s funny you ask that, because I looked at this question for a long time, and to be honest, the person that has inspired me most was my dad.
Toni: Really?
Donna: Yeah.
Toni: How so?
Donna: Well, he was a teacher. He was a coach. He was a disciplinarian at school. Sometimes when they’d say, “Oh, I think I know your dad,” I’m like, “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” But most of the people I’ve come in contact with, he inspired them to do their best.
Toni: Do you find that those characteristics and attributes of your dad you find in other people who inspire you, that you’re drawn to those attributes?
Donna: Yes.
Toni: There does seem to be a common thread sometimes, doesn’t there?
Donna: Yes. There really is.
Toni: That when people walk around like that and they’re driven and they’re honest and they get things done like that, that you’re inspired by them.
Donna: Yeah.
Toni: I would imagine you do the same to your team. So, what would you like your legacy to be?
Donna: I thought about this, and my legacy really is to make sure that my children, grandchildren grow up to be nice people, because in the long run, that’s all that matters. You don’t have to make a million dollars. You just have to be nice and treat people the way you want to be treated.
Toni: And you’re doing that now, aren’t you?
Donna: I hope so.
Toni: Yeah, you are. Well, I can attest to that.
Donna: Thank you.
Toni: Thank you so much for showing up for the Project, Donna.
Donna: Sure.
