Celebrating with Pride
Special Spotlight: Kristi Elkins, Payroll Coordinator
A.G. Rhodes
To celebrate Pride Month 2024, we sat down with Kristi Elkins, Payroll Coordinator, to share her thoughts. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us!
How do you celebrate Pride Month?
Pride Month is a way for all to come together and celebrate those close to you in the LGBTQ community, and the energy is awesome. I celebrate by simply taking in the atmosphere & energy around it and I always enjoy walking around seeing all the businesses, watching the many events, and I always get on my Road Bike and cycle the city and explore a bit. Atlanta is unique in the fact our Pride celebration is in October and I love it; the weather is much better, and it brings a lot of people to the city, and I get to see friends I do not see as often as I would like walking through Piedmont Park or watching the Parade. PFLAG has always been my favorite organization as a vendor in the Park and the Parade; it is awesome to see parents/relatives supporting their loved ones. I have enjoyed experiencing Pride in other places, and it allows me to catch up with friends who live elsewhere. I have been able to connect with friends in Nashville, TN, and Lexington, KY often and enjoy seeing all the festivities and experiencing it with them.
Do you feel like A.G. Rhodes is an inclusive environment?
100%, yes! I have enjoyed the accepting and inclusive environment from the first day! I have always kept my personal life a bit quiet especially initially and want to “feel out” your work environment and your colleagues. I have been far more comfortable quickly here than in other places, and I have worked at some great places; there is a sense of family at A.G. Rhodes, and I am truly blessed to work here.
What do you appreciate about A.G. Rhodes acknowledging and celebrating Pride Month?
It makes me smile! It is wonderful to see employees come together to celebrate. The social media acknowledgment and accepting workplace bring everyone together, and that is special!
Please feel free to add anything else you would like to share.
I wanted to share this: it was not easy for me to accept being a Lesbian for me, and I did not realize it until my late 20s. I have a very loving immediate/extended family and grew up as a Preacher’s kid (I promise I was a good one). I did not want to disappoint my family or Christian Faith and when I finally accepted myself, the rest was easy. My parents have always loved me no matter what (per their words) and I have a supportive family with my sister being the one to know likely before I did. I could never quite figure out why I was never fully happy until I accepted being a Lesbian myself and I will always share this with others…being happy internally with yourself is the key to happy relationships and friendships. I did want to share that as an animal advocate, particularly with dogs (German Shepherd and Retrievers are my favorite), I have made many friends/acquaintances in the LGBTQ community through Dog Rescue (along with many others); they were involved with helping heal and bring to back life my recent GSD rescue Parker Delgado who brought joy and healing to me and those around him.
June 2024