Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/546729
32 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | AUGUST 2015 come easy, but they shouldn't be a surprise for a woman who's risen to become Vice President of Human Resources at Alaska Air. Cancer almost took it all away. "It was brutal," Tammy recalls. "Super aggressive breast cancer." Her new short hairstyle reflects her can- cer fight. Her diagnosis came in November 2012, followed by surgery in January 2013, 16 chemotherapy treatments, and daily radiation. She'll continue to take preventive medication for the next five to 10 years. Chatting over lunch in her office, she snaps open a pea pod. "I'm about the healthiest eater, exercised all the time, no cancer in my family. Who knows where it comes from." The cancer hit just two months into her role at Alaska Air. She worked through all of her treatment, typically spending several days after each round of chemo recovering with a laptop on her couch at home in Mag- nolia. "I've never looked at this as, 'Why me?'" she says. "What matters is getting treated in the best possible way and keeping myself as healthy as possible." In her office, she points to a small sculp- ture on her wall. It's a bronze figure climb- ing a rope, a gift from an Alaska co-worker who fought his own lengthy cancer battle. "When he gave it to me," her voice cracks. "He said, 'This is you, and you are going to make it to the top of the rope.'" TEAM LEADER Standing on stage with Russell Wilson would be enough to cause anyone some nerves. With a large contingent of Alaska Airlines employees looking on during a company event—Wilson is Alaska's "Chief Football Officer," after all—Tammy knew just what to say. Tammy: Hey, Russell, you and I actually have two things in common. I know you know one of them, but I don't think you know the other one. Russell: I'm game to guess. Tammy: The first one is … Russell: We're both Wisconsin Badgers. Tammy: OK, here's the other one. Nineteen eighty-eight is a really important year for me and for you. In 1988, I graduat- ed from the University of Wisconsin. What happened for you in 1988? Russell (smiling): I was born. Tammy's move to Alaska Air followed 25 years in finance, most spent on the hu- man resources side. After college, she spent 15 years with Arthur Andersen, first as a staff auditor in San Francisco, later as head C O U R T E S Y A L A S K A A I R L I N E S " I've never looked at this as, 'Why me?'" At home in the garden It's evident right away when you visit Tammy Young's home in Magnolia: She loves to garden. "I love being surrounded by beautiful things, and my yard is a great creative outlet," she says. Tammy grew up watching her parents garden and developed her own passion for it after buying her house, located just four miles northwest of the WAC, in 1999. "I dragged Hahns into gardening with me," she says. "He really takes pride in it, too. It's something we love to do together."