Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/546729
34 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | AUGUST 2015 live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where Tammy grew up. Her older sister lives in Minneapolis. Tammy and her partner, Hahns Burg, have been together nine years and split time between Magnolia and the Eastside. Hahns' daughter Olivia and son Peter, twins, are ju- niors at Bellevue High School. Hahns works at Microsoft and also has an older daughter, Ellie, a sophomore at Washington State. NETWORK CENTRAL At Alaska Air Group, Tammy leads a human resources department that supports 14,000 employees nationwide. Her focus on lead- ership training and company diversity have helped Alaska remain Seattle's top airline. "Being a leader doesn't mean making people happy," she says. "Sometimes you have to make tough decisions. At Alaska, nearly every step in our operation is timed down to the minute. But if you lean too hard into metrics-driven performance, you lose focus on the people side of things. So it's that balance. "The other big thing we've really been leaning in on is diversity and inclusion, really looking at ourselves hard in the mirror." As WAC Chairman, she'll keep her eyes on those same things while also fo- cusing on how to grow membership through recruitment and retention. "It's a critical focus," she says. "We have to make every member a salesperson for the Club. We have to make sure people are sharing their WAC enthusiasm and their WAC pride because we all know the Club sells itself once you see it." Tammy makes a point to use the Club for meetings whenever she can. That includes work and volunteer efforts. She sits on the board of directors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County and is passionate about the organization. "Kids who come to the club after school two or more times a week are significantly more likely to have academic success, have personal and social success, and graduate from high school and go on to college," she says. "It makes a difference in kids' lives. That's the bottom reason why." Holding meetings at the WAC gives her the added bonus of showing around pro- spective members. "All my networks kind of crossover, and the WAC is in the middle of all that," she says. "When I really think about the value proposition of the Club, that's what a lot of it is for me. It's a hub of so many different networks." 'ENOUGH ABOUT CANCER' Before cancer came, Tammy regularly spent mornings working out in Women's Fitness, followed by a light breakfast and coffee in Torchy's. Throughout treatment, she also continued regular Saturday workouts with WAC personal trainer Scott Spraggins. Their only break came during radiation, which left Tammy beyond exhausted. "Tammy is courage in motion," Scott says. The weekend before we met at her office, Tammy was cleaning up some files around her house. A tote bag full of cancer paper- work grabbed her attention. "I used to have my head in that bag all the time," she recalls. "Now I'm ready to let go of it. Enough about cancer." Enough, indeed. —Darrick Meneken is Managing Editor of WAC Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @WAC_Editor.