Growing up with her mother and a non-existent father figure in her life, Ayla Baldwin made the big move to Texarkana with her husband seven years ago and has since welcomed two beautiful sons. Ayla Baldwin’s story is sure to entail the major changes that have shaped her into who she is today and what she hopes for in the future. She details the dynamics within her family back in her hometown as well as her own personal and professional life.
Having grown up in San Antonio, TX by her mother and stepfather, Ayla Baldwin always wanted to do something with her life. Although she was unsure of what it was, she knew she wanted her mother’s work ethic. Ayla’s mother was a radiation therapist, and her stepfather was an engineer. “My mom influenced me by showing how important it is to work for what you have,” said Baldwin. She never considered her stepfather as a “father figure” in her life because “he never acted like a father,” as Baldwin stated. It’s not an uncommon phenomenon for women to grow up in a household with both parents, but feel as if they were raised by just one. Eventually, Ayla set out to do better for herself. That plan was set in motion when she met a great guy named John during her senior year of college and they made the decision to move to Texarkana to start their lives together.
She attended school at the Texas A&M University-Commerce campus and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture and Business. Ayla had a passion to work with animals, “I wanted to go to vet school, but at the time I didn’t think it would be a good fit,” she said. Her passion for animals can be seen throughout her office, which is adorned with pictures of cows and chickens. When asked why cows and chickens were her favorite animals, she replied, “I don’t know, I woke up one morning and realized that I loved to be around cows and chickens all day.” She has no plans at the moment to go back and give vet school a chance, but never say never.
Baldwin is employed by Texas A&M University-Texarkana as a benefits coordinator. “I deal with faculty, and staff advising them about what benefits we provide,” she said. Since August 2014, Ayla has worked as a benefits coordinator for TAMUT after moving to Texarkana with her soon-to-be husband, John, a state trooper and father of their two boys Joel and Robert. “John and I had third-pick when it came to him graduating from The Academy, and he chose Texarkana to be his work-station,” said Mrs. Baldwin. Having settled down and married in 2014, the couple had two sons, Joel born in 2016, and Robert born in 2017.
Not a lot of people think ahead to what they want their next five years to look like, and Miss Baldwin is one of those. When questioned about what she wants her future to look like in five years, she said “I’m hoping that I’ve been promoted. I love my job, but it gets lonely. I’m hoping I’m a better mom to my sons, and an even better wife. All in all, I’m just hoping for more happiness.”