Life Inspired 2021

Betty Collins

I’ve always had a love for public libraries and felt they were a haven – a safe space, a joy. I have used libraries all my life and still remember attending story time at the library at an early age, tagging along with my older brother. It wasn’t until after I earned my degrees in English and Spanish and returned home from a year in Germany as a Fulbright assistant teacher, that I considered becoming a librarian myself. I had just gotten married and needed a job when someone asked, ‘Why don’t you apply for a position at the public library?’ So, I applied and started working in the children’s section at the Musser Public Library in Muscatine, IA. I loved the experience and have worked in libraries ever since.

In my 35 years, I’ve always been intricately connected to children's and teens’ services. Working with children excites me because while they may be young, and they may not know a lot about the world, they are highly intelligent, and creative thinkers. Then, of course, there is the literature. There is a lot of great children's literature and teen literature out there. I love books, I always have. I just love words and stories.

Libraries are one of the most critical institutions in the United States – an important piece of society that not every country has. I am immensely proud of the idea that people in the United States, regardless of who they are, have a right to access information and literature. Public libraries are where people from all backgrounds can come together to meet – a sanctuary. Our whole team tries to create a space where families and children can come in to find information and the literature they want, but also a space where they can meet others, be part of a community, and feel safe. Public libraries are naturally inclusive.

I personally learn from everybody who comes through these doors, and when somebody comes in from a different background than me, I'm offered an opportunity to expand and grow as a person. The library tries hard to promote the sense that we're all in this together. We don't have the same opinions, we do things differently, but we're all part of the same community. We learn from each other, and what one person brings to the table may be exactly what somebody else doesn't have in their life. And everybody has something to bring to the table.


The HNI Charitable Foundation has contributed public spaces and furnishings to our communities, including the 34,000 square-foot Musser Public Library and HNI Community Center. Images from the children’s library featured below.

Nick Williams

I have always wanted to be in the military and originally wanted to become an officer. I enlisted and started my career as a cadet at the University of Iowa in 2007 after receiving a scholarship to their ROTC program. I participated as a cadet at the University of Iowa for my first year of school. That summer, I enlisted in the Army National Guard and went to basic training and infantry school.

Once the war in Afghanistan began to pick up, I resigned my commission as a cadet, enlisted in the infantry, and was in Afghanistan from 2010-2011 for my combat deployment. During my service, I received my combat infantry badge and two Army Commendation Medals. One for conducting over 100 sniper missions with my team while we were in Afghanistan, and another for my actions on May 25, 2011, in Battle of The Doab. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life and was the largest battle Bravo Company 1-133 INF BN had been in since World War II.

When I came back from Afghanistan, I finished my service at the University of Iowa and was reserved after that. I started my career in sales at HON while I was still in the National Guard, so I'd still go to training while working. When HON relocated me to Houston, Texas, my service ended.

Overall, serving was a great experience, and I learned a lot from it. I learned discipline, how to keep myself motivated, and worked through challenging times.

In 2018, I became HON’s Regional Director of Sales for the Southeast Region, but ultimately wanted to get back to Texas and pursue an opportunity to own a dealership. I partnered with Jay Femal, owner of Austin Business Furniture, and Jerry Dittmer to buy out Jay and start the foundation of CORE Office Interiors. Shortly after the acquisition, we merged with a longtime friend Brad Wells, owner of Furniture for Business out of Austin, and brought Max Dittmer in as a partner, forming the current ownership Group between the three of us. At the beginning of 2019, we acquired Contract Resource Group in Houston and rebranded as CORE Office Interiors.

CORE’s recent initiative, which ties back to my time and service, shifts the structure of the company to being a service-disabled veteran owned company. At CORE, we are passionate about supplying our services to the federal government, military bases, and federal entities.

It’s been fun and exciting to start a government team and lean into that side of the business. I’m able to utilize my knowledge from my time and service to help provide the best solutions to that realm of our business.

OG Millie

Kamille Ejerta, otherwise known by her alias “OGMillie,” is a visually impaired, self-taught artist/muralist based in Queens New York.  She received a full athletic scholarship to play basketball in Dowling College and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design in 2016. It wasn’t until after Kamille graduated that she pursued a more hands on approach dabbling in fine art and street art as a full-time career path.

She experienced a vision-threatening emergency caused by retinal detachment in 2012 and again in 2017 leaving permanent distortion damage to her left eye. Art became a savior to Kamille when she needed it most she and found her escape through painting. Her art is most recognized by the medium of acrylic painted portraits on vintage decorative mirrors. She is also a muralist and works on large-scaled aerosol paintings, combining both abstractionism and realism to create her artwork.

Allsteel Mural

OGMillie’s inspiration behind this piece is based on New York’s diversity, grit and integrity. Born and raised in New York, urban art and lively culture has been an inspiration her whole life.  She translates that energy by using bright, vibrant color palettes ranging from cool to warm that leaves the viewer with a refreshed and uplifted outlook.