“It is like a puzzle piece,” Deanna Harding says when describing her day job as Catalog and Curriculum Coordinator at Texas A&M University – Texarkana.  She and her team within the Registrar’s office take care of logistics of room placement, class size, and time of classes. At her second job as a franchise owner of Rhea Lana, Deanna hosts a semi-annual children’s consignment sale with around 35,000 items in October and April locally. Balancing both jobs requires a lot of work, but creates a great sense of satisfaction of helping others achieve their goals of a better life.

Scheduling Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer classes entails a lot of work considering there are over 26 classrooms at the Texarkana campus excluding labs, testing center, and nursing classrooms. Deanna must not only consider how many students enrolled in each class, but also what days and times each room is being used, degree plans, and what courses a student needs to complete to graduate. The classroom and curriculum schedule must be updated each semester and what is available for students to enroll in various classes. Deanna has worked in three different capacities at A&M since she was a high school student. The first time working was in high school in the Registrar’s office, where her mother was the Registrar. She remembers students lining up in the hallway at 5:30 in the morning. Each student held a handwritten note card to register and checking on a huge whiteboard to see if class was still open, closed, or cancelled. “Technology has come so far,” she said, describing how different registration compares to the present.

Deanna is passionate about solving puzzles to help make life better for others, which in a way led to her becoming a franchise owner of Texarkana Rhea Lana’s. Rhea Lana’s is a great way for families to sell gently used clothing items, toys, shoes, baby equipment, and the list continues. She went to her first Rhea Lana’s event in Fayetteville when her daughter was six months old. After that first sale, she was hooked, becoming a consistent consignor, and then was able to participate in Rhea Lana’s leadership team. In 2015, she was able to purchase the franchise, growing sale items from 14,000 to 35,000 items each sale.  Storing clothing racks, electronics, and various equipment takes quite a bit of storage room. “I never knew that I would own an eighteen-wheeler, it was a proud moment when I purchased the eighteen-wheeler!’ Deanna chuckled as she talked about how much storage is required for equipment during non-sale times.

Working a full-time job at Texas A&M University – Texarkana, owning and operating Rhea Lana’s, having family time can keep Deanna very busy and at times running tired. She says it is when customers at sale events tell her how much they are thankful for being able to buy nice clothes for picture day or a Halloween outfit that is not so expensive that makes it worth all the time and energy expended. “You hear those kinds of stories and that is when you’re like ok, this is worth it.’ Rhea Lana’s also encourages foster families to come on the last day and choose from donated clothes, toys, etc. for children that are in placement at no charge.” Deanna feels that helping students and helping families go hand in hand as she sees improving life choices that help so many people. A priority for Deanna is building relationships with students and faculty at college or seeing Rhea Lana’s impact on the community. Deanna is successfully accomplishing her goal of helping students and families by putting a lot of pieces of life together.