Hometown: Carson City, Nev.
Role: Deputy Research Director, Research Division, Legislative Counsel Bureau, Nevada Legislature
Years of legislative service: I’ve worked with the Research Division for 21 and a half years, but before that I worked two sessions with the Assembly and one with the Senate. So, I have roughly 23 years of legislative service.
NCSL connection: Ruedy is a graduate of NCSL’s Legislative Staff Management Institute.
The skill or talent she’s most proud of: “Two skills that I’ve honed over time that make me successful in this challenging environment are patience and persistence.”
Why did you choose to work at the Legislature?
Honestly, it started out as a much-needed paycheck working a session for the Assembly, but then I got hooked on the people and the process.
What’s the best advice you were ever given?
When I was growing up, if I was bucked off my horse, my dad would bring the horse back to me, and say “You all right?” Followed quickly by, “Get back on, it’s a long walk home.”
Who or what inspires you?
My 87-year-old dad continues to inspire me. He has a lifelong love of learning not just through reading but traveling, too. He and my mom took my sisters and me on several family vacations to foreign destinations growing up to experience and appreciate other parts of the world. However, they always loved and came back to Nevada.
What’s one thing you love about your state?
Nevada Day! I grew up in Carson City, and being the capital city, it hosts an annual celebration, including a parade, to commemorate the state’s admission to the Union on Oct. 31, 1864. It might be the largest celebration of statehood in the country!
What are you currently reading/listening to/watching?
I just started reading “The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter—and How to Make the Most of Them Now.” I’m nowhere near my 20s, but my two daughters are in their early 20s and much of our staff are, too.
These email responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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