139: How a Life Rebuilt Became a Career in Safety

Jill James:

This is the Accidental Safety Pro brought to you by HSI. This episode was recorded April 8th, 2026. My name is Jill James, HSI's Chief Safety Officer, and my guest today is Chanel Alanez. Chanel is president of the Oklahoma City ASSP chapter, a chapter that started 75 years ago. And Chanel has been working in EHS for six years, including the head of EHS for Oklahoma's largest biopharmaceutical manufacturing company.

Jill James:

She's currently exploring new opportunities and is joining us from Oklahoma. Welcome to the show.

Chanell Alaniz:

Thank you so much for having me,

Jill James:

So Chanel, when when you and I did our prep call for this, you told me that you have a really big origin story and that if I wanted to know more about it, I should Google your name.

Jill James:

And also you said, or don't, so that you can be... so that you can be surprised as we as we do this recording. So I want to tell you, i did not Google your name.

Jill James:

I resisted the pressure. And I am very curious to hear your origin story and what brought you into this wild and crazy profession that we have.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes, yes. So, um you know, I usually start off that conversation, you know, have you Googled me? It's kind of a strange thing to say, you know, because you really don't know what's going to show up.

Chanell Alaniz:

But, um you know, I think that with some of the interviews that I've done and, you know, community support pieces that you know it kind of really tells the story ah of of who I am and um I was living along the gulf coast of Mississippi.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

I was living on the first block of the beach and um on August Hurricane Katrina came ashore. Um, my home was so close to the beach that you could sit on my porch and hear the waves.

Chanell Alaniz:

Um, that was really kind of the, the beginning of, of my journey you know, 20 years ago to becoming a safety professional. And so, you know, my roots are really very Southern and it involves having to evacuate, realizing that I was unprepared for the enormity of what was occurring, you know, to, to, to my community and, and to, you know, literally millions of us along the Gulf coast in Mississippi and, know, Louisiana and um my son Dutch was actually due that weekend so he yep he was born thankfully he was induced two weeks early so his birthday would have been that that weekend so I'm incredibly thankful that um I was not in the hospital as it was flooding, giving birth.

Jill James:

Oh my gosh.

Jill James:

Wow.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

um

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

But, you know, along with our evacuation, we made our way up into Oklahoma to live with my father. And so we...

Jill James:

you You and a newborn.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes. Well, at the time I actually was married. Yes.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And he, he came with us, you know, for a short while he was, he was with us after the storm.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

um but you know, I think that during, during that, you know, being so vulnerable, you know, you're, you know, newly married, um right before the storm occurred, I had actually lost my mother suddenly as well.

Chanell Alaniz:

um so there were, you know, multiple, um, traumas kind of around that time but getting to Oklahoma and experiencing the people and just the support that this state has has given me was just foundational.

Jill James:

Hmm.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm. Hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

I ended up signing up I was sitting at home with my dad and my newborn and happened to be watching a commercial and Habitat for Humanity came on.

Chanell Alaniz:

And they were like, build a home with us, you know, and then they were talking about all of these tornadoes that had come through and they were really looking for people who who they could help.

Chanell Alaniz:

And i was like, wow, you know, I need a helper.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

I am at rock bottom, basically.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

i have absolutely nothing. um During the storm, we had also, right before we evacuated, the transmission on my ex-husband's truck broke.

Chanell Alaniz:

And we had to, yeah, yeah, we had packed it, things were fine.

Jill James:

Oh my God, of course.

Chanell Alaniz:

And during that event, it left us no room to put our three dogs. So we really had to um make that big decision as to whether we leave them there. We could not find a place for them to go. And this was really back before the Red Cross opened up shelters to animals.

Jill James:

hmm hmm

Chanell Alaniz:

And so we we ended up having to leave them there. ah We and of course all three of them perished. But And, you know, getting here to Oklahoma was incredibly healing.

Chanell Alaniz:

And they just, they knew exactly what to do with me. They were like, we are going to, you're going to do your sweat equity. And throughout the first year, i put all of my effort and into building a home for for me and my son.

Jill James:

With Habitat for Humanity.

Chanell Alaniz:

Absolutely, yes.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah, and you know i ended up next to one of my neighbors had gone through the May third tornadoes in Moore and if you're from Oklahoma when you talk about the May 3rd tornadoes of 1999 it

Jill James:

Hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

it was a devastating EF5 and it went through the heart of Moore, Oklahoma And she was actually one of the survivors.

Jill James:

Hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

She had survived and in her closet. So it was it was very healing to know i had, you know, a foundation. You know, this is the way i go. This is where I heal. And my neighbor was amazing. Both her and I had been through some very historic natural disasters. And And that's kind of really where the you know, I have a helper's heart. I'm a giver. And that's really where it started.

Chanell Alaniz:

um i knew in order to heal through all of that, I really needed to find a place that I belonged. You know, what was I going to do?

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And um really, you know, even though this was 20 years ago, it really was the foundation of it.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, you start developing that passion and you're recognizing these new characteristics and, you know, how come I'm thinking like that or why am I overtly worried? You know, what, you know.

Jill James:

yeah yeah Yeah. And what was your, and Chanel, what was your occupation during this time?

Jill James:

Like as this is going on?

Chanell Alaniz:

um Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah. Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah. So um in 1998, I started working in the body art industry. So at the heart of everything, I'm really an artist. I did watercolor paintings all through high school.

Jill James:

okay

Chanell Alaniz:

I went to nationals and I started tattooing and body piercing in 1998. And I did that career as a manager.

Chanell Alaniz:

um Managed five different tattoo shops. um But we were all real high level.

Jill James:

Wow.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, we were, um I did a few articles and interviews for the health department. um You know, so even then i was, I was, yeah, I was talking about the safety.

Jill James:

who Safety, yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

i was enforcing things. you know, health department rules and and regulations. And so I was already really vocal then about, you know, you know, the safety within that industry as well.

Jill James:

Right. And that was a time where the AIDS crisis in the United States was a big deal.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes.

Jill James:

I remember I remember the the early ninety s myself and working on my college campus and and um teaching in California.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yep.

Jill James:

safe sex education around that time and volunteering in the community.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

And around that time, my brother decided to get his first tattoo and I was like, oh my gosh, you know, I'm calling the health department and asking him, you know, tell me the name of the place that you picked.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah. Yeah.

Jill James:

Let's find out if they have a current license. You know, you need to ask them about their needle usage and all of those things.

Chanell Alaniz:

yeah yeah Yeah, yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And you yeah, it really, it really was. and you know, of course, I was a woman. And so it was from 1998 till 2007.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, seven and um you know, it was hard to find women in the industry then, you know. um So that was really something a little different.

Chanell Alaniz:

So I definitely experienced kind of working in the male dominated field and things like that, and you know, in order to

Jill James:

prep Prepped you for yeah EHS.

Chanell Alaniz:

ah Right? Yeah.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah. ah You know. and So it really, it laid a lot of foundation being able to really establish my career. But what ended up happening is is when I evacuated up here to Oklahoma, um tattooing was still illegal in Oklahoma.

Jill James:

Oh, wow.

Chanell Alaniz:

And this was in two thousand late 2005. You know, this was, I first arrived.

Jill James:

Wow.

Chanell Alaniz:

So it was the only state that it was still illegal to actually tattoo. And yeah, it was very surreal because I had, you know, after all the years of management, I mean, I had 27 artists reporting to me and, you know, we had a lot of money.

Jill James:

had no idea. Hmm.

Jill James:

Hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, these were not little small shops. These were very well-established shops. Um,

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And so coming up here was very foreign to me. But through the legislation, i think it was maybe six or seven months after I arrived, they really started pushing through and I ended up getting a job in management at this fantastic tattoo shop.

Chanell Alaniz:

And I ended up tattooing live on air as one of the state's first female tattoo artists who was certified by the health department.

Jill James:

Wow.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah. Yeah.

Jill James:

Wow.

Chanell Alaniz:

So, ah yeah, that was a big...

Jill James:

No pressure. ah

Chanell Alaniz:

yeah

Jill James:

ah

Chanell Alaniz:

That was a really, ah that was a really big deal, especially for the, you know, for the whole state, for their whole industry, you know, and I think that without them being without health department regulations for so long, you know, um they ended up, you know, you actually had to take a course and it was called Safety for the Tattoo Artist, Health and Safety for the Tattoo Artist, And you had to go to all the tech colleges around here offered the course.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And it was like blood-blown pathogens. But it was much more mature, you know, because you'd had people who had really been working for a while in the industry.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And they wanted everyone to really know that, hey, look, these are the rules, you know, and this is what we expect.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

So, um but yeah, so this is this is kind of how I i ended up doing.

Jill James:

Well,

Chanell Alaniz:

here in Oklahoma and you know I really kind of found my place where I was comfortable and

Jill James:

yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah, so and you got ah you you worked alongside Habitat for Humanity. You got an established home. You got a job. um Yeah, and so what happens next?

Chanell Alaniz:

yeah

Jill James:

Like what sort of itch happened in you to take you to the next spot?

Chanell Alaniz:

So i really kind of started thinking, you know, i had always been really good in science in high school. um I ended up being the kind of weird, creative Gen X girl who was, you know, in my 12th grade year, I was taking three hours of gifted art.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And then i realized I was really good at science, you know, and so took a bunch of AP classes back then.

Jill James:

Hmm.

Jill James:

Hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

But I really kind of got to the point in my career here. I think it was 2007. And seven and um I was just like, you know, if I'm not going to open up a tattoo shop, I need like an adult adult job you know I was like ah i was like you know I can't I don't want to be you know 70 having a tattoo you know

Jill James:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Yeah, it's taxing on the body that work.

Chanell Alaniz:

so and It really was. it it ah actually, um it it really affected my back too.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

um

Jill James:

Yeah, I believe it.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah. So I ended up going, a couple of years later, i decided I was going to go to college. um It was time, you know, during my younger adult, you know, years, I was, it was rock and roll and tattoos and we were going to see Ozzy Osbourne and, You know, just, yeah, we were just having a great life.

Jill James:

Mm hmm.

Jill James:

Yeah. Gen X stuff. but

Chanell Alaniz:

ah But, you know, so I truly realized I was like, I need to you know, i need to do something for the rest of my life.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And and that's really where I found science.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

So I enrolled at my local community college. And worked on my associates and ended up finishing that with biotech research associate in biology.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And then ended up as a double science major working on molecular and cellular biology at UCO.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Well, cool.

Chanell Alaniz:

So I was really heading into, um had been advised here at OU, because I'm just down the road from from o here, the University of Oklahoma.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And i had been advised, and what I wanted to do was I wanted a PhD in molecular anthropology.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

So i was really interested in the history of life and where do we come from?

Jill James:

Fascinating.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, you know, like, so like watching, you know, the NASA launches is just like, that's normal for me, you know?

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, yeah.

Jill James:

And at the time we're recording at the time we're recording this episode, the NASA launch of sending our first astronauts to the moon in over 50 years is just happening the week that we're recording this.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes. Yes.

Chanell Alaniz:

it It is.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes. And i' I've watched it all live.

Jill James:

First first woman first woman up there doing that.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes.

Jill James:

Yeah, that moonshot.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah. um

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

I love it. Absolutely. And, and you know, um but, you know, while I was studying molecular anthropology um and really through the molecular, the cellular biology degree, they really started talking about, you know,

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, some things that I was really uncomfortable with and and some of them were animal research.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And at that point, when they started listing elective options or capstone projects as animal research studies, I was out.

Chanell Alaniz:

I was like, I'm done.

Jill James:

yeah

Chanell Alaniz:

i I am, this is not me.

Jill James:

yeah

Chanell Alaniz:

I am the biology girl. I'm going to help the animals. I'm going to save them all. um i I really don't want any part of this. And that's really when...

Chanell Alaniz:

I said, well, you know, I have enough education right now. i was still working on the bachelors. And I realized as an adult, I was like, i I really need to start working again. You know, you can only be a full-time student for so long.

Chanell Alaniz:

And i had worked on both college campuses for a while.

Jill James:

Right.

Chanell Alaniz:

And um I ended up applying for a job to be a lab tech at first.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And um that position turned into me becoming a CGMP pharmaceutical chemist over the next few years.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

And describe what CGMP means for our audience.

Chanell Alaniz:

um So CGMP is current good manufacturing, um basically, you know, properties. And it it really is a very high level of lab skills that the FDA really regulates.

Jill James:

yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

There's a lot of ISO so standards that go into it as well. So there's kind of different levels of bench work that that you end up doing.

Jill James:

who

Chanell Alaniz:

But... Because I was really good at tattooing, i was really good at setting up, you know, aseptic fields. I kind of understood that I could work for 12 hours a day, you know, in a high performance type of real technical setting, you know.

Jill James:

yeah

Jill James:

With little room for inaccuracies.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes, absolutely.

Jill James:

Yeah. Right.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Just like a tattoo. You don't want to. Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah, and it I was just like, this is like, i was like, this is great.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Like I could, I could be in a lab. And that's really kind of where it started, you know, and that was in 2013. I started my first, um you know, adventure into the professional scientific industry in 2013.

Chanell Alaniz:

So that really kind of formed me, especially in the beginning, you know.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

um During, mm-hmm.

Jill James:

And I'm guessing that, yeah, go ahead. Keep going.

Chanell Alaniz:

Well, kind of kind of during all of that, I ended up, um I ended up, I wasn't able to attend any any further.

Chanell Alaniz:

So i I really just worked for a few years, just kind of, I'm career driven and I will always work first.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

um But, you know, kind of during that, I ended up going back to school and then discovering organizational leadership. yeah And so I studied organizational leadership for a good while, a good while. And I had always read about it. You know, you you read all of the the programs and that the books and all of that stuff. But, you know, through organizational leadership, I really discovered, and this was in 2018, I discovered occupational health and safety.

Chanell Alaniz:

And I had an advisor sit down with me and they looked at me and they said, well, if you're not going to do a PhD in science, they actually looked at my resume and they were like, you know, when I just look at your resume, this, this is safety.

Chanell Alaniz:

He said that this is occupational health and safety.

Jill James:

Wow, what a great insight.

Chanell Alaniz:

These, the, yeah, like these are, these are the skills that you were doing before. And these are the skills that you're, you're doing in the lab now. and, And that really, you know, i was like, that's it.

Chanell Alaniz:

That is it. and And I think it was just like a light bulb that went off that said, I, that's where I belong. And that really occurred in 2018 when I realized, and it was like a ton of bricks hit me, you know, that that was, that was my calling.

Jill James:

Amazing.

Chanell Alaniz:

And all of this is kind of leading up to that career and, That's where the passion goes and I'm a helper and, you know, of course, let me fix this. I'm a solutions person, a systems thinker, you know, like so i could really kind of systems think my way, you know, within those holistic type of circular environments, you know, to really see the complexity of things.

Jill James:

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

um So that's really how i how I ended up. I ended up joining UCO. And, um you know, I am a working adult. And, you know, i have two semesters left with UCO. And hopefully I can, you know, do more online classes. And I've got some projects and stuff. So hopefully this summer I'll be re-enrolling and closing that out to sit for my CSP. Yeah.

Jill James:

that's um That's amazing. And I'm just also amazed that the advisor could recognize your career and see that.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes.

Jill James:

And does your university have an EHS program? Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Oh, absolutely. So, you know, so UCO is the University of Central Oklahoma.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

They have ah an amazing occupational health and safety program.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

um in it And it truly is. I mean, I really do believe that. UCO builds and trains some of our best, our state's best safety professionals.

Chanell Alaniz:

They all go on to have really fulfilling careers and they become regional directors and global EHS. So for for UCO I really do believe the strength of their program is their professors.

Jill James:

Go ahead.

Jill James:

Hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

um I have felt incredibly supported, incredibly guided, through through that program.

Jill James:

Hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

Absolutely, absolutely. And and it really, it it it is a testament of kind of the the the work ethic that that our professors at UCO really translate on to us, for sure.

Jill James:

Yeah. And I'm remembering now, you know, apparently Oklahoma produces some pretty stellar EHS people.

Jill James:

So on your campus, I believe it's Dr.

Chanell Alaniz:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Jan Hanwerk. Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes.

Jill James:

Yeah, she's been a guest on the show um as well.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes. Yes.

Jill James:

She's episode 121. And um Dr.

Chanell Alaniz:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Leslie Stockle, who you're just speaking about, she's been a guest on the show as well and was ASSP's Educator of the Year a couple of years ago.

Chanell Alaniz:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

So um look at the triad of women we are just talking about here today from Oklahoma.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah, yeah. And, and yeah and ah you know, me being really mid-career, you know, only six years of experience, you know, those are the women I'm learning from, you know, ah I mean, both of them.

Jill James:

It's pretty outstanding.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah, it's wonderful.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, you know, um we call her Dr. H. um You know, she was just at our PDC she

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Yeah, she's a stitch. I love her

Chanell Alaniz:

She's, yeah, she is a driver and stood in front of me and said, you need to get back in school.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And I said, yes, ma'am, I will be there.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And she, you know, so I really do believe that, you know, when you have um these known industry professionals who have 30, 40 years of experience on

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

um It really is an opportunity to learn and it's something to aspire to.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, I have safety professionals that, especially with our chapter here in Oklahoma, you know, my mentor has 44 years of experience with the ASSB.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, um you know, when you when you talk about a legacy and a lifetime, um i think it's so important as safety professionals, we we slow down and remember to learn from them, you know, because you can, you could yeah.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. If you're paying attention and it's the important thing to do, that's right.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah, you know, they can say one little thing, you know, or if I say one little thing, you know, I have one, they'll just look at me and I'll be like, well, that probably wasn't correct, was it? I will...

Jill James:

ah

Chanell Alaniz:

Let me back that up again, you know, um you know, and you really want to learn from these lifetime, lifetime professionals.

Jill James:

Wonderful.

Chanell Alaniz:

It really is an honor.

Jill James:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

It really is. Yeah.

Jill James:

So Chanel, you had been working at the bench, as you say, as a, as a, ah is biochemist the right word?

Chanell Alaniz:

um ah bob Chemist is better. i don't want to say biochemist.

Jill James:

Chemist is better. Okay, chemist.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Okay, as a chemist.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

And then, and then you took another position, correct?

Chanell Alaniz:

Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah, tell us tell us about, tell us about that.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

And when that happened, because another interesting piece of timing in your career.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah, yeah. So I went on this kind of tour of labs where I did some contract work and trying to find really kind of where I belonged, you know. So I did a couple of different things and I was an environmental chemist running lead testing for a short while and um I came across this this, you know, it was like, hey, come in as as contract and come work in our analytical department. And through that, a job was posted and it was for a safety specialist.

Chanell Alaniz:

And I was like, well, I've been working on my occupational, my OSH degree um for a year and a half at that point.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And I was like, I'm just going to go.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

I'm going to go for it. And I did. And I remember talking to everyone at UCO and they were like, go do it. it's You've been in this field of study for, you know, eight years already.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, you have, it's it's kind of like, you know, a lineman who's been a lineman for 10 years and they go into safety, you know, so I kind of had this background.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Yeah. Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And i applied, um i got it. And then um three days later, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic.

Chanell Alaniz:

And that was COVID-19.

Jill James:

Yeah. As luck would have it. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah. So um immediately um because that is, that was the business.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

So it's for the state's largest bio-pharmaceutical bio-manufacturing company.

Jill James:

who

Chanell Alaniz:

And um you know, we were contracted out and we ended up manufacturing multiple components of the COVID-19 vaccination.

Jill James:

Amazing.

Chanell Alaniz:

um And yeah, we,

Jill James:

Amazing. Thank you for that work.

Chanell Alaniz:

Oh, thank yeah, thank you. um You know, our scientists went when when when COVID-19 started, when when you're an environment with all of these scientists, I remember there were lots of meetings put onto a task force. Most of my time in the beginning of my career was spent with all of our VPs, with all the CEOs. We were having two meetings a day, five days a week.

Chanell Alaniz:

Because during that time we realized, you know, of course we had to separate we had to do all the safety stuff, but then we also had to grow and we truly had to manufacture a commercial product that, that would help with the, you know, this terrible, terrible, you know, pandemic that was occurring.

Jill James:

yeah

Chanell Alaniz:

And I remember.

Jill James:

Yeah, I mean, that's, I think that's beautiful. I mean, manufacture and grow. You had to do this to scale, do it safely for the people that were working, I assume, around the clock.

Chanell Alaniz:

Oh yes, yes, absolutely. We we were 24 hours a day. um Everyone was split up and I remember um i did with the task force, I did a lot of the communications and we had trackers going but I remember there were multiple days in the beginning of my career where i would be in my office alone and I had a a counter And every day i would count the deaths I would record because the CDC would release that information.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And so we we were counting and and I knew i was like, you know, our, our, we call them, you know, patient zero.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

and I knew i was like, we're going to have a case, you know, and um when when you're biomanufacturing, you are truly creating something that is a cellular product.

Jill James:

Yep.

Jill James:

Hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah. And the FDA came back and said, hey, how are you keeping your product um uncontaminated? You know, how do you know you're not actually growing it And so that there was a lot of, a lot of information that had to go to the FDA.

Chanell Alaniz:

How are we cleaning and fogging and and disinfecting? You know, you have to think that these are very large ISO so clean rooms. You know, you have different levels of clean rooms.

Chanell Alaniz:

There's constant environmental monitoring of the air and surfaces and things like that.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

and But, but that was my entry into safety and I remember thinking like I would rather maybe I should just be like checking fire extinguishers like you know oh yeah yeah know yeah

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

No, you're working in a clean room environment and yeah know doing all of the air monitoring and thinking about what's being exhausted into the atmosphere, if anything was, and you know yeah all of the all of the things.

Chanell Alaniz:

yes yeah yeah yeah and oh yes yes

Jill James:

of Every industrial ventilation thing that you learned in your in your education, that thus far, you were putting to practice.

Chanell Alaniz:

Oh, absolutely. and And I think that one one of the the really important things, too, was, um you know, sometimes, I think depending on the type of safety professional you are, this is my first official title, and the weight of the responsibility, I think instead of it being...

Jill James:

Right

Chanell Alaniz:

you know hey you know someone has slipped and and broken their leg or you know someone has had this severe injury that impacts them all of a sudden it became you know if this person gets COVID and they bring it home to their children and their grandparents and their aunts and uncles and so instead of having a team 400

Jill James:

right right

Chanell Alaniz:

I really kind of felt the weight of every single family member that they had.

Jill James:

Yeah. Right. Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

and And that's really kind of how personal I really took it. And I think as a young professional who who does this because I really care, you know, it was a deliberate choice.

Jill James:

yeah

Chanell Alaniz:

It's in my heart. It's my passion. It's my calling. That was a heavy weight. it It was a big weight.

Jill James:

yeah Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Tell us about, included in that weight, tell us about the chemist that you were sitting next to on the first day you were there.

Chanell Alaniz:

um So, you know, science is international. um So you have lots of scientists and analysts from different backgrounds. And I believe that's critically important for true scientific work to to occur. And she had been talking to me and this was...

Chanell Alaniz:

right before the pandemic was declared and she said hey have you heard anything about this and i was like well i don't know i don't know what you're talking about and she had actually said that that her family was um living overseas and they were basically under lockdown but because of a pandemic and i was like what what is going on and this was really before you know everything was kind of on fire and it was a real when it was really spreading But it was very surreal to to hear what her family was going through um and know that I was literally entering into that.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, and it it truly was a choice, you know, because I mean, I could have found other jobs.

Jill James:

yeah

Chanell Alaniz:

I could have found other companies easily, easily. And I I made that choice.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, I was like, this is this is it.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

Throw me into the fire. um

Jill James:

Going in the deep end.

Chanell Alaniz:

yeah Like we're, we're going to do it, you know, and you know, when you talk about crisis management and business resiliency, um during that time frame, we had some incredible leaders who truly um deserve the recognition and they were truly the ones who who pushed us through that to success, you know,

Jill James:

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

um

Jill James:

Yeah, I mean, and you, ah thank you for saying that. And you had alluded earlier, you said about being at the leadership table and advising leaders. And that was that was pretty common during that time where EHS professionals who really only had the ear of leadership in times of like, you know, something bad happened, go dust off that EHS person.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

We just had an accident over here.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Now you get to talk to the leadership. All of a sudden overnight, so many of us had a permanent seat at the table and many of us have retained that.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

And so here you are jumping into the deep end in the in dealing like on the front lines of this battle.

Chanell Alaniz:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

And then you get to be with leaders at the same time.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

um Yeah. Talk more about what that was like. And I bet you were really grateful for all those years as a leader in the tattoo industry.

Chanell Alaniz:

Oh, um absolutely. and And I really believe, um you know, and I tell people this, that um especially about leadership, that, you know, your people can truly see through you.

Chanell Alaniz:

And sometimes that's good and sometimes that's bad, you know. And um I think that during, especially the very beginning um

Jill James:

yeah. mm hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

you know, there are titles, right? And there are non-titles.

Jill James:

mm

Chanell Alaniz:

and your your people will define who it is, you know, um no matter what your title is or what it says, just through your conversations, but then your actions, you know, your your your follow through and you know, through through the stress of it all, I remember at one point I had come in one day and um I usually tried to stay very business, you know, casual and business dressed.

Chanell Alaniz:

And well, this day I had been out on the floor and There was just a lot going on. and you know, so we were kind of the face of these policies that were coming down because others were really in their offices, you know, at that level, constant meetings.

Chanell Alaniz:

And so we were really kind of on the floor translating this in front of others. And um I came in one day and I had my Metallica shirt on. It was like 103 degrees in Oklahoma.

Jill James:

classic Gen X move Metallica shirt for all the Gen Xers out there you're you're laughing at this right now and I'm one of them so thank you for saying that yeah

Chanell Alaniz:

yeah i

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I'm i'm tatted up, like I'm sleeved out. Right. And I come in, my hair's all crazy. I'm just sweating. Like I'm working that day.

Chanell Alaniz:

And I remember sitting down, not even covering my, and and I was at a point of, and this was before we sent a lot of people, because we were not a work from home company.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

and so right and so when you're dealing with all that critical data like how do you even translate that you know safely onto someone's computer and so we were having this crisis after crisis and we just could not pull the button on getting people to work from home allowing them to work from home compliantly and I remember coming in and I was just a mess and I sat down and

Jill James:

Yeah, you couldn't have been at that time. Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, this started and I remember i told myself and I tell myself this a lot that um I am going to say exactly what needs to be said.

Jill James:

Hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And if what I say, of course, and in a decent way, right? um

Jill James:

Right, right.

Chanell Alaniz:

If this is not what they want to hear, um then they can fire me. And I remember I stood up and I said, I'm going to say something.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And all of you were like, 12 of them and i just pointed and they were just staring at me and i said we need real leaders i said we we don't need the metrics we don't need the what's going to happen in forecast i said we need we have a terrified workforce i said they need real leaders and i said it pretty aggressively But I think they all turned around and I sat back down and I really kind of, I have a real criticalness for people and bad leadership.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

I have discovered that.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

I will not stand it.

Jill James:

okay

Chanell Alaniz:

And if I see bad leadership, um you know, it fully needs to be, you know, that leader has things to learn. And I learned that early on that I'm i'm going to have a voice because sometimes as safety professional, you are that only voice.

Jill James:

That's right. I mean, i call it worker justice. That's what we are. We're worker justice champions.

Chanell Alaniz:

and yes that that was the that's the day I was like this is well you were going to let me go or let me settle down and and I really kind of found that voice um that day where um we're going to have that conversation that you were losing track of of what's going on you know and

Jill James:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah. Hmm.

Jill James:

Yeah. You know, I think about that as, you know, I personally call it my North star, you know, like what is my North star? um Like, what are the things I'm, yeah where is my red line that I'm not going to professionally, ethically cross?

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes. Yep.

Chanell Alaniz:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

um A friend of mine, Dr.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes. Yep.

Jill James:

Todd Lushin from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, he and I are working on a presentation right now that we're going to be delivering a few times in 2026 about professional ethics and how to create creating your own ethical standard, your own ethical code.

Chanell Alaniz:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes.

Jill James:

And what you're describing is exactly that right now.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah, it it it really was. And it was just the most powerful, like freeing moment of my career. And I was like, this is, and literally I was like, this is me. This is all of me.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, you know, it wasn't like bringing my authentic self, but it truly was like, this is, this is the boundary and and this, what this is what needs to happen.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, You know, it was just, you know, very freeing for me to say, hey, you know, I represent our people as well. And we've we've got to get it together.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, because we're, oh, absolutely.

Jill James:

And did things change?

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

but By the end of that meeting, that following Monday, we had everybody partitioned off. People were working at home who needed to work from home. And We were truly set on a path of success after that.

Jill James:

Wonderful.

Chanell Alaniz:

Absolutely.

Jill James:

Wonderful.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah. um And we were in gear, in mode, and truly manufacturing at a really high level during that time. It was amazing to see the company kind of come together and to see what people can can truly do.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, it it was it was empowering.

Jill James:

Mm hmm. okay

Chanell Alaniz:

It was.

Jill James:

All these all these years later. And ironically, this week is the, I guess, anniversary, you would say, of the first time I had the COVID vaccine.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes, yeah that's amazing.

Jill James:

oh

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

And and like and likely out of the work that your lab did.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yep.

Jill James:

I love that.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes, absolutely.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Absolutely.

Jill James:

Yeah, I love that.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

That's great. I want to make sure that I don't miss something that you said earlier about follow through. And you you had shared with me earlier, your belief in what the foundation of the practice is. Do you want to expound on that a little bit?

Chanell Alaniz:

um Yeah, absolutely. um You know, i truly believe that um and and I tell people and I say people, you know, teammates and former teammates that, um you know, the reason I work in safety is to prevent trauma, suffering and harm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And i do not want people to needlessly go through events that, you know, they don't have to go through. And it's just so embedded in me.

Jill James:

Yeah. Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And it truly is, you know, through through the eye of trust. um If someone can't trust me to represent them or bring credibility to them, then...

Chanell Alaniz:

that is just foundational. You know, it it truly is foundational. and And one of the things that we deal with is, you know, getting others to care about themselves enough.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, they have to be part of that tribe, part of that community there that is really building

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

um improving and building and, you know, kind of climbing that ladder up into what safety excellence would be. You know, we always see these maturity models and and things like that. and But, you know, your workforce really kind of dictates that.

Chanell Alaniz:

you know But it it it really you know it starts with you.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

you know and You don't have to have a title. You do not have to have a title. um you know You don't even have to have authority to truly influence. you know I like to call it grassroots leadership.

Chanell Alaniz:

um And I know that I've been, i had one of my former safety team members describe to me as a warm chocolate chip cookie.

Chanell Alaniz:

ha

Jill James:

ah Hey, I'll take that.

Chanell Alaniz:

and

Jill James:

That sounds like a good description.

Chanell Alaniz:

I know it was yeah and it really was and he you know ah I remember him telling me you know and I think it was just feedback that I needed too there was a lot going on and he was like look he was like you know when I come talk to you about my safety concerns or you know what's kind of occurring he's like you are welcoming and warm and yeah you know and And that mattered to him tremendously.

Jill James:

Okay. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

you know and And that created those relationships that he kind of needed.

Jill James:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

and But you know i think through hurricane and COVID-19 and all of these kind of historic disasters and things, you know having the, you know and we love these keywords, but having just the grit and resiliency,

Jill James:

Beautiful.

Chanell Alaniz:

to know when to rest and when to change plans and and and when to be flexible because it it takes strength. It it it really does. it It takes a level of strength to be, a you know, a safety person, you know, to stay calm within the moments, um you know, of whether they're emergencies or even something very small, you know.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

it it it takes that person to set those sails. It really does. Okay.

Jill James:

Yeah. Yeah. um I want to come back to, you know, the resiliency and grit piece. I know that you were interviewed by some people on that because of what you went through.

Chanell Alaniz:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

And did that, did that piece start 10 years after the hurricane when you got a call from someone? Is that where that piece started?

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah, um absolutely.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes.

Jill James:

Talk about that.

Chanell Alaniz:

So on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, um because I had was building my home through Habitat for Humanity, um a bunch of newspapers kind of picked up on the story. And it was just really impactful, you know, that almost exactly a year later,

Chanell Alaniz:

um my home would be dedicated to me and my son but the foreman who was building my home with me had evacuated from New Orleans so he was actually from from New Orleans and he i remember him crying on the final day of the build and he said that He was just so happy and humble, very much a servant leader to to help you know us.

Jill James:

Oh, wow.

Chanell Alaniz:

And so I think it was so healing to be around someone who who was from the region.

Jill James:

Hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

and um really through that, what ended up occurring is it took about three months to to go back to see my home for the first time after Katrina had had hit.

Chanell Alaniz:

um And when we arrived, this is the first time we had seen it um There were reporters everywhere and buses of people coming in We were in an area that did have the 32 foot of storm surge.

Jill James:

Wow. Wow.

Chanell Alaniz:

And we know that's very accurate because our neighbor actually stayed and he was in his 70s and him and his wife and his chickens and his dogs climbed up to the second the second story of their home. and their home came crashing down onto this massive live oak tree the ones that hang the moths and he watched the water rise above the power poles in that area um he survived his wife survived all of the chickens and his amazing animals that he saved but he he stayed he stayed during that and

Chanell Alaniz:

During that time we went back and because I had lost my mother four months prior to Katrina, um for some reason i had left her ashes in the home.

Chanell Alaniz:

And i think I think that we were in disbelief that we did not, especially when you were evacuating, We were not truly told um the brevity of how deep the water was going to get.

Jill James:

hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

They said, and I remember they were like, you know, six feet, seven feet, three feet. it kept on changing. And when Katrina took a jog to the right, that's when within this 12-hour period, they finally... started truly saying that the devastation that was going to occur, the the the human suffering. And I don't know if some of us kind of remember the civil alert that went out. And I've listened to it over the years because I remember hearing that civil alert that said, if you're here, you are going to have no food and no water for weeks and weeks on end.

Chanell Alaniz:

And basically, if you had not evacuated, you had already missed your opportunity.

Jill James:

Wow.

Chanell Alaniz:

And um So when we went back, the home was still standing, which was very surprising. But it had been completely busted through. So every time we entered it it was just falling down around us. Well, we wrote on the side of the home, we put Todd and Chanel okay, need help finding mother's urn of ashes.

Jill James:

Oh, wow. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And yeah, I was really desperate to to find my mother's ashes. And we wrote my father's landline. And that photo just made the rounds all through media.

Chanell Alaniz:

you know i mean, I saw it posted everywhere um because it it was very shocking to see. you know It was a very personal. We weren't worried about anything else.

Jill James:

who

Chanell Alaniz:

And we actually had multiple people stop and dig through that home strangers complete strangers we had no idea just volunteers that had come in because we had to go back up you know I just we could not live there with a newborn so we had to come back to Oklahoma and um a reporter with CBS during that early time frame took pictures of it and um she called me 10 later

Jill James:

Right.

Jill James:

Holy crap.

Chanell Alaniz:

she called She called my father's landline that was still on that picture. And my dad, my father, my amazing father, George, picked up that phone.

Jill James:

Wow.

Chanell Alaniz:

And she she was amazed.

Jill James:

Hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

He was amazed. We were all just, you know, he had held that landline that long, right?

Jill James:

like I mean, exactly. i haven't had a landline in like 20 years.

Chanell Alaniz:

I know.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

i was like, um but yeah, so she ended up um doing a really big 10-year anniversary.

Jill James:

ah

Chanell Alaniz:

um She came and and spoke to me. And you've got to think, I was very adamant about, um telling the story of Mississippi because I felt like South Mississippi had been um very forgotten. You know we had all heard about the the Superdome and my goodness I had friends who who were there going through through the tragedy. i was in the Red Cross building. i remember being there registering as you know

Chanell Alaniz:

you know for help and red cross i remember those being coming directly from the superdome walking into the red cross um and she was very adamant she was like hey i'm i'm going we're going to do this 10 year anniversary so she interviewed me and then my sister my sister went back down to south mississippi to re-establish and She came in and did all these kind of before and after pictures of, of um you know, what what it was like 10 years later and kind of how we were doing, you know.

Chanell Alaniz:

um it was a very big thing. It was a very big thing. And then I was contacted by Option b And that is done by Sheryl Sandberg. Her foundation Lean In.

Chanell Alaniz:

and we can leanin.org and Dr.

Jill James:

Yes.

Chanell Alaniz:

Adam Grant he's kind of ah an amazing organizational psychologist and leadership expert and they ended up contacting me to do a story for option b about building resiliency and grit

Jill James:

Puh.

Chanell Alaniz:

And really kind of what it is, is through through their book, Option b they really kind of tell you that if you're reading this book and if you need help, um you can go to this website and read other stories.

Chanell Alaniz:

And it really is kind of a encouraging you to find the help that you need and find the connection and community. So that that was really, really pivotal, being given that that chance to to say, hey,

Chanell Alaniz:

you know, um it's okay to ask for help. You know, we all have to have a different path in life and, you know, we just have to step back and take it.

Jill James:

That's all right.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, you have to redefine that again for yourself, you know, so it was just so important. Yeah.

Jill James:

Beautiful.

Chanell Alaniz:

Thank you.

Jill James:

Beautiful.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah. thank you

Jill James:

We'll be sure to put a link to that in the, in the show notes as well.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Gosh, I appreciate that.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Oh man. um I'm looking through my notes and seeing something else I wanted to ask you about.

Jill James:

thank you for sharing the story of all the things that shaped you in this, in this profession. It's really incredible. Uh, yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Thank you. Thank you.

Jill James:

Um, I wanted to, this is, this is a, I'm going to make a hard right turn audience and ask about TRIR and your belief around, around that.

Chanell Alaniz:

Mm.

Jill James:

do you want to talk about that?

Chanell Alaniz:

Oh, absolutely.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

so you know, I think that when you're working with real high-level scientists, you know, these are our are these are our knowledge workers.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

um You know, i watched them get introduced to what a TRIR was.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And no matter how much you explained it, how much you validated it how much you showed the formula, you you showed the reasoning and the OSHA, um you know, reasonings and and how this is kind of defining our industry. um They would just, they would literally say over and over, this is just, they would say, this is statistically insignificant.

Jill James:

okay

Chanell Alaniz:

over and over. They were like, we don't even understand how is half of your industry based on this when this is just absolutely um insignificant.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, and I remember, you know, when the first concept was kind of, you know, because how are you going to, you know, metricize your programs and your leading and lagging indicators and and such. And um it was just the craziest thing. it and it was so hard to do, you know, that, and it was just,

Chanell Alaniz:

It was very difficult. and And like the moment it was said, they were like, this is this is completely insignificant mathematically for us as a whole. And, you know, so when when we're pushing that those TRIRs, um You know, it's a difficult thing. And I am, as a safety professional, I am looking forward to other metrics. Hmm. Hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

hu

Jill James:

That's right. That's right. Hey, you know, maybe some are coming for you. Another presentation I'm working on with another yeah EHS professional um right now. Shout out to former podcast guest here on the Accidental Safety Pro, John Les Mackey.

Jill James:

He and i are working on a presentation on making a business case for safety and what metrics leaderships leadership cares about.

Chanell Alaniz:

Wonderful.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yes. Yeah. you know is Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

When you tell those scientists that they just, they look at you in disbelief and they're like, what?

Jill James:

Uh-huh.

Chanell Alaniz:

Like we wouldn't even talk.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Why are we even talking about this?

Jill James:

Right, right, right.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know? And I'm like, well, and you know, we had such low, I mean, you know, especially when, you know, during, i mean, our EMR was for the past three years was 0.6.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Ooh, that's great.

Chanell Alaniz:

Right. Yeah. So that was three years at yeah EHS performance.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, you know, I was head of EHS for, you know, two full years of that.

Jill James:

Uh-huh.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, um you know, TRIs, I mean, we had zero, right?

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

A couple of years, we had zero recordables.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, you know, we would have like a TRI of like 0.3.

Jill James:

Wow.

Jill James:

Wow.

Chanell Alaniz:

Very low, you know. and

Jill James:

here

Chanell Alaniz:

But it really is to hear kind of a scientist's perspective on on what their thoughts are, you know, and...

Jill James:

That's right.

Chanell Alaniz:

i hope Yeah, so we look forward.

Jill James:

That's right. Yeah. Yeah. That's beautiful.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah, kind of definitely we we look forward to something amazing.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

And, um you know, I wholeheartedly believe that our our our industry as a whole is fully working on that. I really do.

Jill James:

Yeah.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Yeah. Chanel, as we wrap our time up today, i ah want to make sure that we talk about the ways in which um you are involved and leading.

Jill James:

I know I mentioned president of the OKC ASSP chapter, but you're also a piece of WISE.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

You also have something to do with a tribal affiliate of OSHA. Can you talk about the ways you're representing more of our

Chanell Alaniz:

yeah

Jill James:

minority pieces of our of our practice yeah

Chanell Alaniz:

Oh, absolutely. I'm a very inclusive leader. You know, if I have someone kind of kind of sitting off to the side and if they don't fit into everyone else in the meeting or kind of what I'm seeing, I'm i'm drawn to that person.

Jill James:

mm-hmm

Chanell Alaniz:

um and i've fully believe in you know reputation representation matters and i know that we hear that kind of all the time but um you know especially ah that i'm given the opportunity to really be a servant leader as as the president of of the assp here in oklahoma city we have a highly engaged membership

Jill James:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

um Here, you know, our monthly meetings are just highly attended.

Jill James:

okay

Chanell Alaniz:

And um I truly believe in community. and belonging and bringing people together. um And being part of WISE is just so important to me. While we don't have a lot of active vocal members of WISE, the women that are involved, and of course our WISE guys, is just important.

Chanell Alaniz:

it It truly is.

Jill James:

Mm-hmm.

Chanell Alaniz:

it It changes lives. It changes your career. um being able to be involved even at the national virtual level of wise is is truly what what keeps us together and keeps us motivated um so we are going to be expanding we have a few new members with wise also too we've identified an incredible leader um so we're going to try to potentially charter a new buys common interest group and that is their blacks and safety excellence

Chanell Alaniz:

um i truly want to see that and we have a very strong member in wise right now um hopefully one day maybe she'll be our co-chair wise and um she has a good amount of tribal affiliations and she's already kind of been in the works when you speak to her she's passionate and so what we're going to be doing actually next week we'll be reaching out to the uh because we are in Oklahoma, we have we do have tribal affiliations and we have very strong, um you know, recognized Native American tribes here, we're going to be working with their OSHA department.

Jill James:

Great.

Chanell Alaniz:

and trying to form and storm a really strong connection in between our Native Americans and their tribal OSHA departments and the DOL and things like that kind of at you know within their level and within us um you know because I do feel like there there is kind of a disconnect you know so I truly want to see people represented and One of the things that we've done this past year is we've and we've made sure that while we say ASSP is just safety, it's all safety.

Jill James:

Wonderful. Mm-hmm.

Jill James:

who

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, we have fire protection. We have our, you know, our engineers. We have our management specialists and and all of that good stuff. So making sure that everyone really, it's not just occupational.

Chanell Alaniz:

You know, it it it takes a village. It takes all of us kind of working together to to get to this level. But

Jill James:

That's right.

Chanell Alaniz:

um Yeah, so we've we've been been working hard. We only have a few months left in this term. And um i think that we've we've accomplished a lot, you know.

Jill James:

It sounds like it. It sounds like it.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

Oh, Chanel, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Chanell Alaniz:

Yeah.

Jill James:

it's an It's an honor to have it in the archives of the Accidental Safety Pro.

Chanell Alaniz:

Thank you.

Jill James:

I just really appreciate it and wish you best on your on your next and continuing adventure.

Chanell Alaniz:

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Jill James:

And thank you all for spending your time listening today. And more importantly, thank you for your contribution toward the common good. May our employees and those we influence know that our profession cares deeply about human well-being, which is the core of our practice. If you aren't subscribed and want to hear past and future episodes, you can subscribe in iTunes, the Apple Podcasts app, or any other podcast player you like. Or if you prefer, you can read the transcript and listen at hsi.com. We'd love it if you could leave a rating and review us on iTunes. It really helps us connect the show with more and more health and safety professionals like Chanel and I. Special thanks to Emily Gould, our podcast producer, who is also from Oklahoma, and And until next time, thanks for listening.