Paragon is excited to welcome Paige Kohlhof as a Senior Recruiting Specialist to the team!

With continued success in our Iowa market, Paige has joined the team to assist with hiring and engaging top-tech talent.

Here are 25 fun facts about her:

1. I moved back to Ankeny, my hometown, last year to be closer to family. Prior to that I lived in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Chicagoland and Dubuque! It’s great to be back - we are 10 minutes door-to-door from my parents who love to come over… a lot.

2. Married 5 years (next month) to my college sweetheart, Nick. We have been together for 11 years total! 

3. Nick and I have two boys, Kase (2.5 years) and Jaxson (“Jax”) (3 months).

4. Our first child/fur baby, is our 50-pound golden doodle, Remi.

5. I graduated cum laude from The University of Iowa in 3 years at age 21 (looking back, may have been too young!) with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. At the time, I wanted to be a television reporter and was inspired by Veronica Corningstone from Anchorman. 

6. After interning at KCCI Channel 8 and ABC Channel 5, I realized the news life is more boring than you think. 

7. I studied abroad in Spain and lived with a host family that spoke zero English. We lived in a little town two hours northwest of Madrid called Valladolid. I finished my minor in Spanish abroad, although my skills could use some major brushing up.

8. I love to travel and would love to get back to Europe and take my husband sometime. I’ve traveled to 13 different countries! 

9.  I'm a book nerd. Last year I read 71 books! I love the thriller genre most (even though I detest scary movies and wish horror movie previews weren’t allowed on TV).

10. I grew up performing onstage in plays and musicals. I was in two shows when I was pregnant with my first son, and he loves to sing so maybe that is why?!

11. I was a "National Anthem" singer for the Hawkeyes and Cedar Rapids Kernels. 

12. I sang the "National Anthem" for the Big 10 Tennis tournament. 

13. Big fan of food, especially Asian. I could eat sushi every day. 

14. I like to stay active; I recently joined the OrangeTheory group and love it. Yoga is another favorite of mine. 

15. More traveling/singing; I was part of a honor choir that traveled Europe singing in major landmark Cathedrals. I saw the inner chambers at Notre Dame by accident…

16. On said Europe trip, I offended our French server by eating escargot incorrectly. Still not sure how it’s done. 

17. My immediate family all lives in the Des Moines area. My only sibling is my younger sister, Brynn, who knows every fun thing there is todo in DSM and lives it for all of us. 

18. My in-law family is large. Nick is the oldest of five, so it gets pretty rowdy when we are all together. I have known his little brothers for over half of their lives. Nick’s youngest brother, Drew, is living with us this year as he completes his AA at DMACC. 

19. Our family loves adventure. From outdoor activities to spontaneous fun days going random places on the weekend - we like to try it all. Hiking, kayaking and skiing are some of our favorites.

20. Growing up I owned a paint horse for 5 years. You could call me a cowgirl but mostly we just rode trails and fields. I competed in a few shows, but my horse was a bit lazy and we usually didn’t place. Horses are like big dogs and have their own personalities - that’s for sure! 

21. One of the best days of my life was spent trekking to different beaches on the island of St. John, snorkeling (came face to face with a barracuda), eating good local island food and enjoying live music and Coronas with my husband. 

22. Wine-o. Cabernet, Pinot noir and Chardonnay are my favorites. Unless I’m feeling fancy, then it’s Prosecco. Nick and I are headed to Napa for our 5th wedding anniversary in September and can’t wait.

23. Also love craft beer. A good, diverse beer flight makes me very happy.

24. I won the Donkey Dancing contest at the Gaelic Storm concert during Dubuque’s Irish Hooley. I am not Irish that I know of, but by golly, I am competitive. 

25. I was the company expert on the DiSC personality assessment at a previous employer. I love personality tests as an information source but wholeheartedly believe that they do not define you. As a person I have a strong sense of urgency, am pretty high-strung, need to laugh a lot and engage with others throughout the day and love a good schedule/routine. I’m much different on the weekends, though, and generally like to go with the flow and be present with my family. 

‍Connect with Paige on LinkedIn and follow Paragon to stay up-to-date on our latest news.

‍