Chris Lodman

Background

About Chris Lodman

My story: I started working as early as fifteen; I soon worked my way up to becoming the head cook of a baseball stadium; I quickly learned to keep people smiling and ensure satisfaction despite selling $6 burgers. Eventually, the team moved away, and I needed something more permanent. I applied for a coffee shop, and that's when I developed my passion for people and coffee. I worked through challenging situations at my job and formed relationships with regulars, lawyers, hotel managers, and arts council coordinators. Every day people opened opportunities for me. Some options included hosting events, taking engagement photos, and other full-time jobs. After transferring to the University of Montana to study journalism, I stuck with my company for four consecutive years. If you were to ask me why I became a barista and later a journalist, to sum it up, I like people and wanted to be in the people business. A perk of mine as an ENFP personality is that I can work with just about anybody and form to fit their needs to create a positive work environment. I learned how to develop this early on by earning partner of the quarter from my coworkers. My early start in the workforce helped me develop skills that nobody else has at my age. Now I am on track to becoming a photojournalist; I use my people skills often in my career and am good at listening to people no matter their mood. I've put work out on the Missoulian and Montana PBS. I have also been a staff member at the Montana Kaimin, the University of Montana's student-run newspaper, for about a year. The biggest thing I've learned is that professionalism and diversity help the paper flourish and it's important to hear from as many people as possible when covering important stories. I'd love to tell you more about who I am, so please feel free to speak with me.