Tanya Hagen

Office Administrator
269-983-3304

A selfie of a woman and her dog.

 

Tell me an interesting/fun/cool fact about yourself.
I absolutely love taking sports action photos. I have been taking photos since my oldest was 8 years old. I started taking photos so I could remember the small moments during baseball games and then I found myself photographing the entire team because if I couldn’t remember anything then there had to be other parents who wanted. My favorite sport to photograph is baseball but I love capturing football, basketball, soccer, wrestling and have started trying to capture new sports like volleyball, cheerleading and track. I look for the moments that no one else might see to Capture Small Moments That Become Big.

Give me a snapshot of your work history.
I have worked in essentially a fruit basket of different jobs. When I first graduated from college I was convinced I was going to be a big advertising executive in Atlanta, however my first job at an ad agency was creating and writing recruitment and help wanted classified ads. I quickly learned that life was not anything I ever thought it was going to be and moved into B2B telecommunications for a national company. Since moving to the Midwest I have worked in corporate marketing and then became the Development Director at the Montessori Academy of Edison Lakes. Most recently I was a team trainer at Whole Foods Market where I loved helping customers, the community and the environment. 

Give me another snapshot of what it is you do here at BCF.
I am the Office Assistant at BCF and handle the day-to-day administration functions including coordinating and scheduling meetings and events, greeting our guests, ordering supplies and assisting any of the team members with special projects as needed. 

A group photo including a woman holding a camera and a young boy in baseball uniform.How do you get involved in the community?
Our family is a baseball family so anything baseball related I try to get involved. I do as much youth sports photography during spring, summer and fall as I can in between my boy’s schedules. In my ideal life I would volunteer at the animal shelters, but I don’t do that as I would want to bring them all home!

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?
I’m either at one of my kids sporting events (they are soccer and baseball players) or I am photographing someone else’s kids. When I’m not doing either of those things I prefer to stay home with my dogs (I have two Boxers – Max and Bryzzo). 

What kinds of activities energize you?
I have always been the mom who wants to create memories for her and I don’t like to sit still so I find different activities, community events and fun things to take my kids. 

What’s something you’ve done, but you’ll never do again?
Make Honey Glazed Carrots. When I was dating my husband I thought I would “wow” him with honey glazed carrots but I didn’t actually know how to make them. To this day the running joke in our house is “don’t try to kill us with your glazed carrots,” whenever I make something new because they were awful. 

What’s your favorite place to eat around here?
I love tacos and could eat tacos every day if I had the opportunity. El Amigo Pepe and Don Chepe in Niles are my favorites. But I also have a sweet tooth and love coffee so Red Coach Donuts, Sandra Kay’s bakery and local coffee roasters.

What is the one thing you cannot resist?
Peanut M&M’s, which is very ironic because both of my kids have peanut allergies. Thankfully their allergies are not airborne and I can still eat peanut M&M’s around them.

What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had?
When I was in high school I was a hotel housekeeper and cleaned hotel rooms for an entire summer. I am a queen at making a bed using hospital corners. 

What’s one of your favorite parts of your job?
Learning about the different individuals and organizations who are passionate about our community that they are invested in making a difference in Berrien Community. 

What makes you excited to work at BCF?
I love being able to make a difference in our community and finding ways to support and meet community specific needs.