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My guest this week is Chandler Hammack, a carnivore keeper at the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. As a wife to an active duty Coast Guard husband, Chandler is no stranger to moving around the country and gaining experience at a variety of facilities, especially in recent years after becoming married. We talk about her work history and whether or not she feels that variety has been beneficial. She worries people look at her resume and wonder why she's moved so much (which she admits is also because she has an adventuring spirit) but also admits that it has given her experience and perspective she might not have gained otherwise!

Chandler was working with *the* famous Clydesdales of Busch Gardens when she became pregnant with her first child. She shares why she waited to tell her coworkers about her pregnancy until she was 20 weeks, as well as how she was able to be a pumping mom while at work and continue to work such a strenuous job.

When Chandler's son was 8 weeks old, her husband deployed. Chandler shares the story of how she moved home temporarily so that she had support as a new mom. Due to her husbands's job, she also found herself as a stay at home mom for a period of time, before eventually getting back into the zoo field. Chandler talks candidly about how being a zookeeper and a mom are basically one in the same! She honestly thought being a stay at home mom was harder than going to work as a zookeeper! Staying at home was overstimulating, especially since she was used to working. However, most of her day as a stay at home mom was the same as what she did as a zookeeper - cleaning, feeding someone breakfast, doing dishes, and sweeping the floor - all on repeat just like at the zoo!

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