{"id":1150,"date":"2024-11-01T15:03:19","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T20:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/?p=1150"},"modified":"2025-04-22T15:06:47","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T20:06:47","slug":"usac-meet-a-member-shelby-pendowski","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/usac-meet-a-member-shelby-pendowski\/","title":{"rendered":"USAC Meet a Member: Shelby Pendowski"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

What department do you work in and what is your job title?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Senior Communications Strategist, Facilities Department<\/p>\n

How long have you been a Vanderbilt employee?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Five, almost six years.<\/p>\n

How long have you been a part of USAC and how has it impacted you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was elected to USAC in the Summer of 2024, and it has already provided me with so much insight into other Vanderbilt departments and created new professional connections.<\/p>\n

What has been your career journey to lead you to where you are today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I graduated from Grand Valley State University with a bachelor\u2019s degree in journalism and began my professional career in print journalism as a newspaper layout designer and editor for Gatehouse Media, now Gannett. Later I transitioned from traditional, print media to broadcasting working as an Assignment Editor and Digital Media Producer for FOX17 in Grand Rapids, Mich. After a short period working in Public Relations for a private, health company I applied for a position as a Communications Coordinator with the Vanderbilt Facilities Department and have spent the last five years growing my career at Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n

What do you enjoy most about Vanderbilt? (i.e. missions, benefits, views of sustainability, community, etc.)?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Working for over a decade in the news, and media industry it was a drastic change joining Vanderbilt University. The university\u2019s dedication to its staff work-life balance and benefits is one aspect of what I enjoy most about Vanderbilt. However, it\u2019s my role in supporting the university\u2019s overarching mission that ignites my creativity which makes me love my job.<\/p>\n

Do you feel like you have a good work\/life balance?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am a mom to twins, and I can\u2019t boast enough how much I appreciate the work-life balance provided by my department. The university, and specifically the Facilities leadership, always support my mindset that my family comes first and allows me to thrive as a wife, parent and employee.<\/p>\n

What do you enjoy doing to relieve stress?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hiking with my dog Wednesday or spending time outdoors with my family.<\/p>\n

What did you want to be when you grew up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s Sunday Night, the 60-Minutes clock is ticking, and Steve Hartman spins a globe and flips through a local phone book to introduce Americans to a random family, couple, or person. As a kid, I loved the positivity and purity of this segment and being able to hear about real people \u2013 from that time all I wanted to do was to be able to spin a globe and tell people\u2019s stories.<\/p>\n

If you could visit any country with no budget, where would you visit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do I have to choose one? I would love to live abroad to immerse my family and kids in different cultures. If I must choose one, it would be Greece.<\/p>\n

What has been your favorite vacation you have ever been on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My favorite vacation to date was to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. My husband and I were a COVID couple so our large wedding was cancelled due to regulations. After postponing we decided to have a small, intimate wedding in Punta Cana.<\/p>\n

What are you most proud of in your life thus far? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Without a doubt, I am most proud of my twin girls \u2013 Kennedy and Sawyer. They are my greatest blessings and continue to challenge me to be the best version of myself.<\/p>\n

What is your favorite outdoor activity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I grew up in Michigan surrounded by inland lakes and Lake Michigan so to this day if I can spend a warm summer day lakeside or on my family\u2019s boat I am a happy camper.<\/p>\n

What skill or talent would you most like to learn?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am guilty of being a person without a hobby (I think a lot of people can relate). So I have trying out new activities to find that niche, and next on my list is pottery throwing. It has always intrigued me and I think it will be an entertaining challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What department do you work in and what is your job title? Senior Communications Strategist, Facilities Department How long have you been a Vanderbilt employee? Five, almost six years. How long have you been a part of USAC and how has it impacted you? I was elected to USAC in the Summer of 2024, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9295,"featured_media":1151,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meet-a-usac-member"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1150"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1152,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150\/revisions\/1152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/usac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}