2025 40 Under 40

Editor’s Note: Celebrating the present

As the team at Springfield Business Journal was compiling this publication, I was also preparing to participate in a panel discussion with fellow women leaders at Missouri State University.

One question for the panel stood out: What advice would you give your 20-year-old self?

The answer came to me quickly: Be in the present. Like any motivated young professional, at 20 years old I was so focused on the goals I wanted to achieve that I sometimes missed the opportunities and lessons that were all around me.

It’s a fitting reminder as we honor the new class of 40 Under 40. These individuals have achieved great things in their careers and in their community work. You’ll be impressed as you read their stories on the pages that follow. But we hope this honor allows them to pause and be in the present. This is a time to shine, as everything in their lives that they have experienced and accomplished has led them to where they are now.

The award is not about the hardware – it’s about that journey. So, as the honorees inevitably plan for that next goal, that next accomplishment, I also hope they take time to applaud themselves for how far they’ve already come.

Special thanks to the judges for their work selecting this year’s exceptional class. And congratulations again to the honorees.

Springfield Business Journal Executive Editor Christine Temple can be reached at ctemple@sbj.net.