Life and Work with Aimee Davison

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aimee Davison.

Aimee, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I went to college at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, but graduated with a degree I knew I’d never use. I was hired at CCU a few months after graduation and spent the next 16 years there working in Athletics. I love sports and so of course I loved my work, and as a coach and an administrator I was able to invest in the lives of students in the most special ways. The long hours kept me away from my family, however, and when my own kids grew old enough to start playing their own sports I knew it was time to make a decision. I left that career promising to not miss another of my sons’ events.

Soon after I accepted a position at Valor Christian High School, leaving the world of college athletics to organize missions and academic experiences for high school students. Though it can be intense and stressful to send more than 400 students around the world each year it is also richly rewarding. This past summer I got to trek a portion of the Camino de Santiago in Spain with 14 students and three other leaders. It was one of the most impactful and moving experiences I’ve ever been a part of.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For a long time, certainly through my 20s, my work was my life – it was where I found my worth and value and so of course became where I spent all of my time. Things really changed once I had kids. All of a sudden I’d found the job I really loved and the place my heart wanted to be. I started to feel the tension of wanting to be present for my boys while also valuing work – hard work. I began feeling like I was failing at everything. It took effort, but I soon learned the importance of boundaries – that if you’re intentional about them you can find new rhythms of balance and experience success on both sides of the threshold.

Please tell us about your business.
The Discovery program at Valor Christian High School is a distinctive which offers academic, service and missions experiences locally, across the nation and around the world. Since its inception in 2008, more than 2,900 students have traveled to 37 countries on Discovery experiences. On a normal year, 400 students will serve on 25-30 teams in places like downtown Denver, Houston, Thailand, Panama, India, Peru and the Czech Republic. Our students are expanding their opportunities and world views through experiential learning, and they’re serving the poor and marginalized through things like food ministries, home builds, education and outreach. The breadth of experience offerings and the number of students participating make the Discovery program unlike any program offered at another school in the country.

Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well positioned for?
Most of my professional life was spent working in a field generally dominated by men, however I had the benefit of learning from and working alongside women who had significantly impactful roles. From them, and in my own experience, I’ve learned that hard-working women who value the grind and see the value in the struggle are blazing trails, achieving, and setting examples. Hard work is the equalizer. It makes women as well-positioned for a role as any man.

That’s something I’m always trying to instill in my kids, and it’s one of the reasons I love sports so much. Sports have a way of teaching you that – the longer you’re around the more you value the tough opponent and the brutal competition. It’s certainly the harder of the two roads, but you come out on the other side better, more polished, sharpened, readied and with greater perspective. I want to raise kids who work hard and who value the struggle that hard work entails, because that will be the one trait they can rely on to take them places for the rest of their lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.govalor.com/discovery
• Instagram: @valordiscovery
• Facebook: @valordiscovery
• Twitter: @valordiscovery

Image Credit:
Alex Hearn (the individual photo, not the ‘action’ photos)

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.