JANUARY LEADING WOMAN: LILLIE

With a heart for service and a kind spirit, Lillie Heigl (’14) serves the Kappa Alpha Theta and MU communities every day as a leading woman.

It’s easy to see how Lillie leads: she sits on the Mizzou Alternative Breaks Executive Board, was a member of the 2016 Mizzou Homecoming Steering Committee and is involved with a number of other campus organizations including the Alumni Association Student Board and the Chancellor’s Leadership Class. You can find her in almost every hidden corner on campus while maintaining her academic performance: she is a model student.

However, it isn’t Lillie’s good grades, smiling face, or ability to be everywhere at once that makes her a wonderful Leading Woman. Her best leadership qualities are brought out through her genuine passion for bringing good to others and lending a hand wherever it may be needed. To Lillie, being a leading woman means always looking for and pursuing opportunities to empower, serve and love others.

Lillie’s passion for service began when she was young and is largely influenced by her family, particularly her sister, AnnCatherine, who was born with Down syndrome. Growing up in a special needs family and with AnnCatherine as her best friend has molded Lillie into who she is today.

“I learned from my sister that you can give your best effort in everything, but there will always be someone faster, smarter or prettier,” Lillie said. “If my goal is to be the best, I’m going to be disappointed. So, I live my life in a way that I strive not to be the best at everything I do, but to do my best in everything.”

Throughout her childhood, Lillie spent time volunteering and serving on mission trips; she came to MU motivated to find opportunities to continue these activities in college. Through Theta, she connected with women who introduced her to Mizzou Alternative Breaks and encouraged her to apply to site lead and, later, to the Board of Directors.

“I love that service is about loving another person and being what they need you to be,” Lillie said. “I am passionate about service because it’s an opportunity for me to step outside of my life, my experiences and my day-to-day normal to learn from someone else and to become more aware of the world around me.

Lillie’s time at MU and with Theta is a perfect example of the values our chapter stands for. Not only has she strived to be her personal best, but she has also both given and received encouragement to pursue her passions from fellow Thetas. She has followed the exceptional examples given by older Thetas and, combined with the values instilled by her family, molded herself into an example for younger Thetas.

It is neither the many hats she wears nor the various leadership positions Lillie holds that make her an exceptional leading woman, but rather the caring heart and passion within her that make her a role model for so many and, most importantly, make us exceptionally proud to call her a member of the Alpha Mu chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta.