Name: Alana White

Age: 29

Family: Alana is married to James and they have two children, Ava, 5, and Dublin, 2.

She is the store manager of the Starbucks on Highway 65 in Lincoln.

What do you like most about where you work?

For me, I get an opportunity to develop employees and I get a chance to be a part of the community. This is the first time that I’ve gotten to work in a city I live in. When local charities come in for donations, I get to be a part of the community that benefits from it.

When are you happiest?

When I’m at home with my family. Probably my most favorite time of the day is bedtime because all four of us crawl into Ava’s bed, read books, cuddle and talk. We’ve been doing this since Ava was born and we’ve always known that reading is important. I’ll always read to my kids because it fosters reading. Now Ava reads to Dublin.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

In my spare time, I like to do anything creative. I love to make jewelry so I make earrings, necklaces and bracelets, and I’ve started making rings. I like to work in the garden and I’ve had so much fun gardening. I pretty much have killed everything that I’ve done but the actual part of gardening is therapeutic. Any of the hobbies I do are because it’s a release, an escape from reality.

If you could travel anywhere, right now, where would it be?

My husband and I, our heritage is Irish and Scottish. I think it would be really neat to take a family trip to Ireland. I have a huge desire to travel and there are definitely a lot of places I would like to go when my kids get a little bit older. They need those experiences.

How many places have you lived?

I have moved over 30 times in my life and I’m just turning 30 in February but I’m not a military brat. I lived in Alaska for five years and grew up mostly in Hood River, Ore. A week after I turned 18, I packed up all of my things and moved to South Lake Tahoe. I stayed there for two snowboarding seasons, getting a job at Sierra at Tahoe for two winters and a job one summer at Zephyr Cove in the summer time at the campground. When I was up there, I got a call from a friend, and she said, “Let’s go to Costa Rica in three weeks.” I just packed up my stuff, stored it and took off.

How was Costa Rica?

It was amazing. It was 10 years ago and it was me and one of my friends. We explored the country, went to the Pacific Ocean side and the Caribbean side. We went up into the mountains and rainforest, and it was a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time on the Caribbean side because they had the nice beaches.

What do you like about living in Lincoln?

It’s a good place to raise a family and it has that small-town feel with having access to anything you could need or want. You have the Galleria Mall, specialty grocery stores nearby and it’s close to San Francisco and the mountains. It’s a good centralized location.

What do you like about working in Lincoln?

Every store has it’s own vibe and feel to it, and after 13 stores, I can truthfully say that this is my favorite store. A huge part of that is the partners I get to work with. (Partners is what Starbucks calls its employees.) The customers, they feel like a family. We know each other and we know their names, and they know ours. They sit outside and wave to us, and when we need something, they volunteer to help us. It feels like a small town and a huge percentage of them are regulars. We could have a line to the door and I would know nine out of the 10 customers.

If you would like to see a neighbor or friend featured here, please e-mail stephanied@goldcountrymedia.com or call Stephanie Dumm at 774-7967.