People to Watch 2012

By Mary Thayer Haugen
Photography by Jamie Turner

A police officer, a teacher, a veterinarian … No, it’s not the start of a joke; it’s just part of this year’s “People to Watch” class. Once again, Frederick Magazine is proud to highlight some of the best and brightest minds in our community, people who serve in different ways and with different skills, but all of whom contribute to make Frederick County a better place.

To showcase this year’s class of “People to Watch” winners, we wanted to photograph them in style. So, with late-1950s/early-1960s style being so hip these days, we found a retro-inspired chair that takes you back to the days of Mad Men … minus the ashtrays and Scotch. Many thanks go to Pure Home in Downtown Frederick and owner AnnMarie Farran for providing this too-cool chair that you will find on the following pages and the cover of this magazine.

Keivettea Hammond

In just seven years, Keivette Hammond has transformed Frederick High School girls’ basketball program from a legacy of losses to a tradition of excellence, including winning a state championship in 2011.

“That was really exciting,” Hammond recalls of the title run, which was followed by another trip to states this year. “It was the first time the girls had ever won a state championship, so everyone was really happy about it.”

Hammond came to Frederick from Alabama where she was an assistant women’s basketball coach at Birmingham-Southern College. In fact, before coming to Frederick High, she had only ever coached college players. She applied for the job in Frederick as a way to be closer to her family in Baltimore.

“High school is a different experience. In college, you are out there recruiting players so you have some idea what you’re getting. In high school, you coach whoever shows up,” Hammond explains.

But it didn’t take her long to adapt. She started at Frederick High in 2005 and garnered her first “Coach of the Year” award for the 2007-2008 basketball season. Since then, she has been awarded the honor two more times.

Coaching high school basketball was only the first change for Hammond when she came to Frederick. “I applied for the coaching job, but after they saw my credentials they offered me a teaching job, too. I always thought I’d just be a coach, but being offered a chance to teach turned out to be a blessing,” says Hammond, who teaches physical education at the school.

“I really like it. I enjoy helping the students, not just my players, but all the students I come in contact with.”

It’s possible that teaching turned out to be a natural fit because it’s clear that Hammond has her eye on more than one ball. She puts as much emphasis on academics as she does on playing well on the court. She offers study halls for the players and monitors their grades. If she discovers one of the girls is having difficulty, she calls a meeting with the teacher and the player, and together they work on a plan of improvement. “I always tell the girls the better you are in the classroom, the more options you’ll have,” Hammond says.

She makes a point of taking her current team to see former players competing for their college teams. “I can talk ’til I’m blue in the face, but when they see girls that have walked the same halls they’ve walked, go on to college and play—that is priceless,” she says.

Hammond has already had many success stories coming from her program, including a girl from her first year of coaching who went on to play for Georgetown University. That player is now attending Columbia University to earn her master’s degree. “My goal is always to develop all-around athletes that become productive citizens,” she says.

And yes, her success has brought many offers her way, but at the moment she is not inclined to accept. “I’ve always wanted to make a difference. I had a coach who did that for me at one point in my life,” Hammond says. “She could have been doing something else, but she wasn’t. She was there for me, and that’s what I want to do for others.”

Nick Damoulakis

Nick Damoulakis is one of the few people who could put an overachiever to shame. A quick glance at his list of accomplishments and one may wonder when he finds time to breathe, but he insists that it all comes down to time management—and a great partner.

“First of all, my wife Amy is fully supportive. I could not have done any of this without her,” Damoulakis says. “I have a lot going on, but when I come home, everything gets turned off. I don’t even have a computer at home.”

That’s saying a lot given that Damoulakis is the owner of Orases, a company that develops software and creates websites to help businesses and organizations get online and run more efficiently. He has more than 400 clients, including the NFL. 

Given his success, one would never guess that he failed his high school computer class, which was a matter of logistics rather than a lack of aptitude, according to Damoulakis. “I was really lucky growing up that my Dad had a job working with computers. Eventually, he started giving me his old ones and I would literally pick them apart. I think that early exposure really helped me later on,” he says.

Even so, his original life plan was to play his guitar and become a rock star. “My Dad was the one who filled out my college applications and woke me up one day and said, ‘Come on. You’re going to college,’” Damoulakis says.

One of his first classes at Frostburg State University involved creating a website, which turned out to be wildly successful. That led to a job with the college, building websites for small businesses in Western Maryland. He’d found his career.

After getting a master’s degree at the Rochester Institute of Technology, he came to Frederick and opened a business. Since then, his business has grown so much, he’s had to move it twice.

All the while, he immersed himself in the Frederick community. Among his many activities: he is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club and serves on the board of directors for the Entrepreneurial Council of Frederick County. “Frederick has a lot of unique, small companies with great ideas. The Council helps them by giving them the tools they need to be successful,” Damoulakis says.

He is active on the Parish Council at Saints Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church and currently serves as the president; under his guidance, the Frederick Greek Festival has had record-breaking profits in recent years. He is also one of the founding board members of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) chapter in Frederick. AHEPA promotes education, philanthropy, civic responsibility and family and individual excellence in the Greek-American community.

Through his company, he has authorized more than $100,000 in web services for local organizations, non-profits and churches by way of direct donation or discounted rates.

But one of his greatest passions is education. He mentors high school students one day a week and provides two educational internships a year. Ultimately, his dream is to start a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) charter school.

“I really believe our future is in STEM. If we’re going to be competitive in the world, we’re going to have to do more with education,” he says.

Damoulakis attributes his results to one thing that can be applied to all situations:

“I have a formula that works for everything,” he says. “I help people find a vision and encourage them to be the best they can be. It works every time.”

Stephanie Phillips

Veterinarian Stephanie Phillips grew up in Frederick County near Burkittsville. She was always surrounded by animals. She even helped milk cows on her neighbor’s dairy farm. So a career with furry friends seemed inevitable. “I can’t ever remember a time when I didn’t want to become a veterinarian,” says Phillips. “I just always knew that’s what I would do.”

After completing veterinarian school, she decided to extend her education to become board-certified in internal medicine. “I did a residency in internal medicine, just like a human doctor would do,” she explains. “So, I have the training to do more extensive diagnostics and treatment for small animals.”

Phillips met her current business partner, Kelly Gellasch, when both were on staff at an animal hospital in Ohio. Gellasch is a veterinarian and a board-certified surgeon. When Phillips was looking to move back to Frederick County to be near family, Gellasch was also looking to make a move.

The two opened Crossroads Animal Referral and Emergency (CARE) in Frederick in November 2010. It is the only integrated pet hospital in the area with around-the-clock care provided by veterinarians and skilled technicians. As pets age, they are subject to many of the same illnesses humans suffer, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. CARE provides the type of specialized testing and treatment that previously you could only get by driving to animal hospitals in Gaithersburg or Leesburg, Va.

“Pet owners are reluctant to leave their pets for extended amounts of time when they can’t be close to visit them. Now, they don’t have to worry about that,” Phillips says.

 Although CARE is open 24/7 for emergencies, the facility does not provide primary care for pets. “We are specialists. Aside from emergencies, all our cases are referred to us by other veterinarians,” Phillips explains.       

“The response from the community has been wonderful. We have scrapbooks in every exam room filled with cards and letters from people we’ve worked with,” she says.

CARE also provides many learning opportunities to the community, from high school students who would like to observe the practice to veterinarians in training.

The desire to help foster careers in veterinary medicine extends to their employees. Phillips says veterinary technicians often get on-the-job training, but don’t get the recognition they deserve if they don’t hold a certificate. “We pay for our employees to complete the formal education portion needed to become a registered technician because we feel they should have these credentials to be able to participate in the practice to the fullest extent,” she says.

While the business of caring for sick animals is serious work, CARE reaches into the community, as well, supporting animal-related activities such as Bark in the Park and creating its own nonprofit called Smooches for Pooches and Kisses for Kitties, which involves a contest among primary care veterinary practices in the area. “We had them compete against one another to see who could raise the most money, and then we matched their donations,” says Phillips. “The money will be given to the Humane Society. Next year, we will expand it to include an emergency care fund.”

And as happy as Frederick seems to be to have CARE in its midst, Phillips is just as happy to have Frederick back in her life. “It’s so nice to be home,” she says. “And so nice to know I will get to stay home.”

Rebecca Southers

Rebecca Southers is, simply put, a people person. She loves meeting people and she loves helping people. But most of all, she loves connecting people like dots to create a larger, more beautiful picture than any one lone dot could make.

Southers grew up in Harford County and came to Frederick to attend Hood College as a Bonner Scholar. Instead of receiving a stipend for on-campus employment, Bonner Scholars were sent out to volunteer in the community. One of her college projects was helping to develop a summer program for teens to take part in—and learn from—community service projects. (Southers eventually returned to Frederick to become the director of the program.)

“I tried living in Baltimore for a while. I thought it would be neat to live in a bigger city, but despite my best efforts, I could not connect with people. It felt very isolating,” says Southers.  On the other hand, Frederick was rich with community, so Southers decided to return. She taught school for a couple of years, and then worked with several nonprofit organizations, including the Ausherman Family Foundation.

Most recently, Southers decided to switch things up and do something different. She now works as the content manager and trainer for Enforme Interactive, a web-design firm in Downtown Frederick. “I guess I was looking for something new—a challenge. And I’ve surprised myself at how much I love it. Technology is always changing and evolving, so you really need to have a love of learning,” she says.

But connecting people and building a community is never far from Souther’s mind. So, she co-founded The Frederick Giving Project, along with her friend, Melissa Sines. The organization is based on the concept of a giving circle, where people pay an annual fee to join and the money raised through fees and events is donated to charitable causes in the community.

“The problem is that most of those [giving circle] groups tend to have a high cost of entry—maybe an annual fee of $1,000 or so,” Southers says. “I wanted to create something that was more accessible for younger people. So, our fee is $100 a year and it can be paid in installments.

“Some of our members give more because they can, and some can’t raise the money at all, and that’s OK,” she adds. “They can still be a part of our events and volunteer time. They can’t vote on the charity we choose to be our recipient for the year, but that’s the only thing they miss out on.”

Not only does the Giving Project donate money, it provides volunteers and participates at community events throughout that year. “We have very little overhead, so almost all the money we raise goes to the organization we choose. I think this is a great project because we’re helping worthy causes while also helping people connect with one another,” she says.

But Southers has found yet another way to bring people together. After reading a book on the merits of play, she decided to start the Baker Park Play Down last summer. Every other Sunday, people brought games, friends and a whole lot of fun. “We had croquet, hula hoops, volleyballs—some people were doing yoga, others were playing music,” Southers says. “It was wonderful to watch people teaching other people they didn’t know how to play new games or do new things. Everyone loved it.”

Given her track record so far, it’s probably safe to say that as long as Southers lives in Frederick, the “dots” will always have new and fun ways to connect.

Tara Miller

Though small in stature, Tara Miller is big in spirit. From the way she approaches her job as a kindergarten teacher at Walkersville Elementary to the work she does for various causes, Miller is one of those people who can translate desire into action.

She has always been a willing volunteer, but her efforts went to a whole new level in 2007. “I was home on Christmas break with my new baby and I watched an Oprah show about giving back. I was so inspired by the people on the show, I thought, I can do that! I might not be able to raise a million dollars, but I can make a difference,” she says.

And she was right. Her family chose a different charity each month and did something for them. One month, it was a food bank. Another month, it was a drive to help pregnant women. Typically, the charities were local, but occasionally Miller went global.

“One month, we collected shoes for the organization Soles4Souls [which provides shoes to people in need]. We got 440 pairs of shoes that we had to rubber band together then pay to ship. That was a pretty penny for shipping, but it was a good cause,” she says.

Each month, she created a flier to publicize what was needed and where it could be dropped off. Then, Miller distributed it among her neighbors, friends and even her husband’s coworkers. “I believe most people want to help, they just aren’t sure what to do. When someone takes charge and tells them exactly what types of things to get and where to take it, they are happy to respond,” she says.

After reaching her year’s goal of a charity each month, she found herself asking, Now what?

Miller broadened her scope to include more family in her efforts. She, her sister, mother and aunt decided to participate in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. “That’s a lot of walking! It was exhausting, but still, it felt good,” she says. She also began participating in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

Eventually, she went back to work full-time, causing her to reduce some of her fundraising efforts. However, she didn’t want to stop entirely, so she organized Casual for a Cause day at Glade and Walkersville elementary schools. On designated days, participating staff pay one dollar (they often contribute more than that) for the privilege of wearing jeans. Miller collects the money and delivers it to a different charity each month.

But her contributions are not limited to raising money or materials. She also gives back in ways that are priceless. “I believe my job as a kindergarten teacher is, first and foremost, to give children a love of learning and school. I am the gateway to the next 13-plus years of school,” Miller says. “In addition to the curriculum, I also try to instill values that lay a foundation of friendship and cooperation—the kinds of things that will help to make them nice people to be around.”

Miller dreams of creating her own nonprofit organization one day, but she’s not sure yet what that would be. For now, she is content to help where she can.

“I’m sure I will continue to find ways to be involved,” Miller says. “I absolutely love the feeling of helping people.”

Kevin Grubb

Frederick wasn’t the only place Deputy Chief of Police Kevin Grubb applied for a job when he left the military nearly a quarter century ago, but he’s very glad it was the first place to give him a call. “I love Frederick. I grew up in Damascus, but we always shopped and did things in Frederick,” he says. “I’ve enjoyed watching Frederick grow and it’s been great for my family.”

Grubb has been working to protect Frederick for 23 years. When he started with the force, there were 70 police officers. Today the department is authorized for 140 police personnel. And Frederick looked a lot different. “The Downtown was basically dead. There were a lot of buildings boarded up and not much activity,” he says.

“Crack (cocaine) was an epidemic back then, but over the years we’ve pushed it out of Frederick. It’s not to say that it’s completely gone, but it’s not nearly as widespread and open as it used to be,” he says.

Grubb says his conversations with people at First Saturday events reveal that many people are coming from Virginia, D.C., and Baltimore to enjoy what Downtown has to offer. He enjoys seeing them shopping and lining up for restaurants. It’s a testament to how much has changed during the last couple of decades.

Grubb seems to have a gift for communication, whether it’s talking with visitors to town or the people on his staff. He has been described as a “cop’s cop” because of his ability to stay connected to the police officers on the street. “If you’re out of touch with that, it’s hard to manage things effectively,” he explains. “It’s tough being on the street and doing the shift work, but those guys can walk away from every shift knowing they make a difference and it’s appreciated.”

Technology has also helped improve communication between residents and the force. “We’ve made it so people can have direct contact with officers on the street. Everyone has a cell phone and email contact, and we encourage residents to call us with concerns,” he says.

“Each supervisor has the authority to use his [or her] resources to address a problem immediately. A lot of the bureaucracy that used to be in place is gone, which helps us to be much more responsive,” he explains.

Grubb often works 12 to 14 hour days and expects to get calls on weekends. He just views that as part of the job, and he credits his wife with making it all work. “My wife Tracy is very supportive of what I do. She’s very understanding,” he says.

Perhaps that’s part of the reason he went along with her when she volunteered him to be the announcer for the junior varsity and varsity football and lacrosse teams at Tuscarora High School, a job he was unsure about at first, but has grown to appreciate. “With my job and three growing boys, I don’t have time to do a lot of volunteering in the community right now, but I have enjoyed this,” he says.                 

All in all, there are a few simple guidelines Grubb follows that he feels contribute to his success. “I always try to make the impossible, possible. I encourage my staff to not just bring me a problem, but to exercise their imagination and bring me some solutions, too,” he says. “I try to learn from everyone, and treat everyone like family.”

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