Tresa Schmautz co-founded Dignified Workday, a low-barrier employment nonprofit in Spokane, with her husband Steve Schmautz in partnership with Spokane-based Career Path Services, after a chance encounter with a passerby in need of goodwill and assistance in 2023. 

Schmautz, a retired social worker, is working to develop the organization, which provides work opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and instability, into a self-sustaining social service nonprofit. Working with individuals with different life experiences and perspectives is helping her development as an open and adaptable leader who is willing to try new things, she says. 

Education: Bachelor's degree in psychology, Whitworth University; master's degree in social work, Eastern Washington University.

What would you tell others looking to follow a similar career path to yours? Be open to the unexpected. The field of social work is very broad, and there are many diverse opportunities. A person may be quite surprised by the opportunities that become available and what they will enjoy.

Why did you choose your career path? I'm not really sure. I think it chose me.

How would you describe yourself as a leader? I don't ask employees to do anything that they won't see me doing as well.

What's the best career advice you've received? When my husband, Steve, first entered the field of commercial real estate, his broker said, "I think I made just as much money on deals that took very little work as I made on deals that required a lot of work." It made me realize that you just don't have that much control over the outcomes. Hard work is important, but it's not all about you. That made it easier to get up and try again when things didn't work out like I'd hoped.

What career or job would you want to have if you weren't in your current role? I have found the biological understanding of psychology to be very interesting. When I was younger I wished that I had pursued psychiatric nursing.