Victoria was born in Belleville, Illinois and moved to Warner Robins, Georgia when she was five and lived on the Air Force Base there where her father was enlisted. She graduated from Warner Robins High School and attended college locally before moving to Athens to attend the University of Georgia. Victoria graduated from UGA with a degree in history and then earned a master’s degree in Adult Education. She worked at UGA for many years then quit in 2019, went into recovery and then worked for a while at the Athens Area Commencement Center before deciding that she wanted to focus on promoting the town she loves and giving something to her community that would be useful. She decided to focus on kindness in the community, feeling that is something we can always use more of. She launched the podcast Little Decisions on July 1, 2021 and produces one or two episodes a week. You can listen on streaming platforms or on the website littledecisionspodcast.com. Victoria lives in Bogart with husband, Micah and daughters Zora (9) and Korra (6).

 

 

 

 

What do you love most about the work you do?

 

What I really love most is talking to people. I do interviews with locals so I get to find out all of the different things that are going on in our community that I wouldn’t have otherwise investigated or researched and I get to find out how it impacts me and what I can do to make that better. I love that. I love being able to incorporate action into my interviews and into my podcast so it makes it not just a listening experience but something people can take and do more with. I think that is valuable when it comes to kindness, just being able to have action in general in your community. I think that is the action that we are all looking for.

 

When you are not working, what are some of your favorite things to do in Athens?

 

I love going to different local things. We went to Winter in Winterville and that was really fun. We also went to the Bear Hollow Zoo during the day to check it out. We missed the light show. I just love going to local events. We took the kids to the Botanical Gardens WInter Wonderland which was just beautiful. We really enjoy going around town and just seeing events whether they are free or generally family-oriented where we can expose our children to different things. The Georgia Museum has Family Day and it is a fabulous opportunity to combine art and learning. There is just so much going on in this town that we get to take advantage of. There is always something happening.

 

If you could see any band or show or musician anywhere, who would it be and where?

 

I am such a music person but I love all kinds of music. It was a goal for me and my husband to go in our youth and we just never made it, and we kind of bonded over this band, and it is the Dave Matthews Band. I would love to actually see them in Athens. I have been fortunate enough to see some bigger bands in Athens like The Killers and things like that so it is wonderful when they come to Athens. I would love to see Dave Matthews Band in Athens!

 

If you could give advice to your younger self, what advice would you give her?

 

It will get easier and you will get more comfortable. I don’t know if this is true especially for women or for everybody, but it took me a lot of years just being comfortable in my own skin. As I approach forty in the coming year, I have gotten a lot better about recognizing that I only have this one body and I only have this one life and I need to be in sync with it a little bit more. I like the approach that I have had and I like that feeling it brings me. I wish I had it a lot longer.

 

Do you have a favorite book or a book you find yourself rereading, referencing or gifting most often?

 

I do not have a favorite book because I love to read so much, but I do love giving books in general. I try to give books to people that make them think a little bit but still have fun and something they are interested in. When I give books, I really like to take the time and think about it and oftentimes that means reading books I would not normally read to see if it is good enough for somebody, which is really fun.

 

Do you have a favorite movie or remember the first movie you saw in a movie theater?

 

It is going to sound funny but one of my favorite movies, which is going to age me a little bit or a lot, but I have to say it was Titanic. That was such a good movie to see in a theater. It was really sad but it was really well done. It was just a good movie, which is why I remember it.

 

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

 

I really want to go to China. It is not a place I have been yet. I have never gone further than Europe and I would like to go that far. I think that I am a little intimidated about the language barriers and the culture barriers just because I am not as familiar with them and I want to make sure when I travel that I try to be respectful and kind in those environments.

 

What is something interesting about you that maybe most people don’t know?

 

Most people don’t know that I am actually really sensitive. I am pretty good at putting on an entertainer’s face and smiling and making people laugh, at least trying to, I don’t always hit the mark, but I try to. I am really sensitive and I take words to heart. I have a segment on my podcast that is called Words Matter because I think every word we choose to use matters. I think I have been hurt by words in the past so I try to show more of the sensitive side of me because I think it is good for people to see that. But, it is difficult and it is not something people see that often.

 

If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and where?

 

It would have to be someone famous. I would like to have lunch with Sun Tzu who wrote The Art of War and talk about that book. I would love to do that. It would be amazing! I guess I would let him pick where we eat, because he probably knows better than me. That would be a wonderful conversation about how he wrote that book. It is still instrumental today. Maybe we would have sushi, that sounds appropriate.

 

What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word “home”?

 

I am going to say three words that are also associated with my podcast because that is how I came up with those words. And, that is kindness, connection and community. I really think that home is something that is not just magically there you have to invest it and work on it, but it is there for you to do that and it is always a kindness when you do it and investing in those connections is how we build community and how we make a home.