True Blu: Hope Turvaville

Turvaville’s path became clear in a six-day stretch last year, when she met Chamber president and CEO David Minor at a function, interviewed for and accepted her job that is centered on talent development, attraction and retention.

“It happened so fast and it was all because I guess I had the confidence to go strike up a conversation,” says Turvaville, who graduated with a degree in organizational communication.

“It was clear she had both the heart and the right strengths that made her a great fit for the Chamber,” Minor says. “Hope represents the future of workforce leadership in our region.”

Turvaville recently led her first Chamber event, a human resources conference, in the same Davies Center space where she took an event planning class as a Blugold.

“It was kind of fun to be like, hey, this job actually has aspects of my degree and what I went to school for,” Turvaville says. “You see how there’s all the moving pieces that you have to pull together but then it all comes and works out.”

Public speaking and problem-solving are skills she developed in her hometown of Ellsworth but really fine-tuned through courses at UW-Eau Claire. Turvaville also attended career fairs and broadened herself as a manager for the Blugold wrestling team.

Yet Turvaville says she could have taken more advantage of campus opportunities and sees a need for others to as well. She plans to connect with students using Chamber resources like the Young Professionals of the Chippewa Valley program and encourages Blugolds to join student organizations or reach out to Career Services on campus to find career fairs, internships and networking paths.

The Chamber and UW-Eau Claire have a partnership that dates back more than 100 years. In her new role, Turvaville wants to help others find the same sense of pride and belonging she has in Eau Claire.

“When you feel passionately about a place and you have those great experiences on campus and you can grow off of that — have the great experiences in your business and build a family, settle down. It’s a great place for all of that,” Turvaville says. “I think it’s really important that if you love being a Blugold, love being in Eau Claire, there's no reason to leave.”

This is the first installment of True Blu, a monthly series that spotlights UW-Eau Claire alumni