Terri Tobey - A Career Woman On The Rise
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
WRITTEN BY BROOKE ROMNEY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL SEBRING
Featured in the July 2008 Issue of Go Gilbert
In order to be a successful career woman in a male
dominated world, you have to be passionate and fearless—
which is exactly what Terri Tobey, the senior vice
president of business development and community
relations for UTAZ, is.
“I sold books door to door in college, and I had
to push through my fears,” says Tobey. “At my first door I
knocked, then ran and hid in the bushes.”
A person like Tobey doesn’t hide easily—this charismatic
woman was born to change the business world.
“Being a career woman was not my plan. I thought I
would stay at home and raise my three kids,” says Tobey.
However, the universe had its own plan for her. As a
suddenly single mom of three, the passion she usually
put in to raising her children quickly became a fire to
provide for them.
She took her first chance on the business world with
a job at NightRider in San Francisco. “It was the hardest
and the best decision I’ve ever made for us,” she says.
Since then, her charmed career has taken off in every
direction and she has found a way to be tough and feminine
while climbing the corporate ladder.
“I’ve never apologized for being a woman in business
or tried to be a man. God made me feminine for a reason,
so I’ve learned how to be fearless and strong without
giving away my femininity,” she says.
This subtle, self knowledge has allowed her to take
chances and tackle unknown arenas, which happened
again when she took a job with a small company called
InVision, in the tiny suburb of Gilbert, Arizona.
“When I came to Gilbert, it was realistically a crazy
move for me, but the owner of the company told me,
‘You have a fire in your belly and you don’t know where
to put it; I’ll give you somewhere to put it.’”
She planted that fire in Gilbert and she and her kids
feel this is home.
“I love Gilbert. It’s our safe place and a great place
to grow up because it’s a little town in a big town and
has a small town attitude. People come here to plant
roots and raise families and I love being a part of that,”
she says.
Because of her love for the city and her fearless attitude,
Tobey recently ran for the Arizona State Legislature.
It was nothing she’d ever dreamed of doing, but
felt her voice should be heard and was passionate about
taking part in the political process.
“I was never afraid of losing, and I’m so grateful for
what I learned from that experience,” she says.
During her campaign, one of her supporters was Craig
Willett, the President and CEO of UTAZ Development
Corporation.
He said he was praying she would lose so he could
take her analytical mind and perfect poise and make her
the face of UTAZ.
“I was never going to work for anyone again, but Craig
helped me see I was a perfect match for UTAZ. I’d always
dreamed of helping small businesses succeed, but didn’t
know how to do that and provide for my family. In UTAZ
I saw the potential to do both.”
UTAZ offers small businesses a way to own what they
work their lives for, and Tobey saw that as inspirational.
Today she works with high profile clients and economic
development committees to make Gilbert as business
and development friendly as possible, especially for
small businesses.
But this girl isn’t all corporate. Her tanned, toned
body makes it very obvious she doesn’t just sit behind
a desk all day.
“I love to do everything: golf, tennis, snowboarding,
horses, motorcycles, music, working out,” she says, and
has the bruises and sprains to prove it.
While business and hobbies are important to her, her
piercing blue eyes start to sparkle when she talks about
her greatest achievement, her three kids.
“My kids are what I am most proud of in my life,”
Tobey says. Jessica, Lucas, and Mackenzie Smith are all
smart, successful and loving people, already fearlessly
planning on success.