Feature Stories

Gabi McCollough Profile

AUSTIN, Texas — Gabi McCollough has 19 “kids ” and counting: one son, two cats, sixteen dogs and that doesn’t begin to include the 200 women she takes cares of on a daily basis.  

The 49-year-old German-transplant, who works five days a week as the Kappa Delta housemaid, lives with her husband, Brian McCollough, on 6 acres of fenced-in land in Lockhart, Texas.  She said she enjoys spending her days with a bright and positive group of girls but works for her adopted gang of children.

“What I’m doing right now — working — is actually for my animals,” Gabi said. “I don’t need this or that. I just work to provide for them. I’d bring my dog to the doctor before I go to the doctor.”

Marge Knisely, the Kappa Delta house mom, remembers being confused during early conversations the two had about their home lives. Marge met Gabi when they began working together at the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority house a few years ago.

“Back when I first met her — she had eight dogs at the time — she would say ‘I have to go to my girls’ and I would think ‘where are your girls, are they at daycare?” Marge said. “Those are her children.”  

Her mismatched collection of canines includes a pit bull, a collie and four Italian greyhound puppies. The dogs’ ages range from 8 weeks to 8 years. On her days off, the gang rarely leaves her side. They watch her recorded crime shows while she irons, chase the lawn mower while she mows and climb into bed with her at the end of the day.

“Every one of them wants to be hugged and touched and talked to,” Gabi said.

Due to Brian and Gabi’s busy schedules, the dogs spend a lot of time entertaining each other. She says the dogs have even formed cliques. The Rottweiler and Labrador hang together, while the collie spends most of his time with the Italian greyhound puppies.  She attributes the harmonious environment to the method she uses to introduce each new adoptee to the others.

“They all get along because I introduce them one at a time,” Gabi said. “When a new dog comes in, I bring one dog out and then another and then another. By the end, they are all friends. They all know each other.”

According to Marge, Gabi’s giving nature does not stop the moment she exits her property. As a house mom, whose job is to learn the ins and outs of the Kappa Delta house, Marge is always impressed by Gabi’s ability to remember every girls’ name and in some cases, nickname.

"She is genuinely interested in what you’re doing: in your care, your comfort, and that is a unique quality because for most people, it’s just a job.” Marge said.

Despite the hour-long commute from her home in the country and the constant physical demands of cleaning two homes filled with mess-makers, she has never missed a day of work.

“I never went home sick,” Gabi recalls of her time spent at the Zeta house. “I never called in sick. I never took a vacation in seven years because I was afraid that someone else would come in and not do the job right.”

While Gabi is working, the dogs and cats spend most of their time outside running around and swimming in their pool. She said she does not worry about leaving doors unlocked or open anytime during the day because her animals are all the protection they need.

After she and her husband moved to Lockhart in order to accommodate their growing family, Gabi’s first project was to put up a fence around the property. For three months, the two spent a couple hours each day installing the fence by hand.

“My hands were bloody but I did it,” Gabi said. “Yah, there were no more fingers left. But what can you do? Our kids had to be secured.”

After thirty years of marriage, the couple rarely sees each other for more than a couple of hours a day but the dogs offer Gabi the support group she craved after leaving her family back in Europe.

“She gives them all the love she can, as you never know how long you will have them to cherish,” Brian said. “Animals are a gift from God for us to love and admire and to give us companionship.”

Gabi said she is not planning to add to her family anytime soon. There is a limit she said with a laugh that acknowledged the irony of her statement.  

“I would take about a hundred of them but you have to be able to take care of them,” she said. “You have to be able to have time for them.”

The natural response when Gabi tells someone about her animals is an eye-raise and a mumble about the workload they require. Those closest to her know that she never considers her role as a caretaker a burden. Quite the opposite, according to Marge.

“Her husband made a comment that now that they live out in the country, ‘I

swear if [Gabi] saw a giraffe on the road, that giraffe would get in that Mustang some way and she’d take it home.”

George Herms: A Retrospective

AUSTIN, Texas — No one taught George Herms how to make art out of trash. He received no technical training nor did he attend any office hours. In fact, he did not make it past football season his freshman year before dropping out of college. If you ask Herms how he got where he is today, his modest response would be “luck and timing.”

Herms, an assemblage artist on the brink of 80, spent the majority of his life creating pieces of art out of discarded materials he collected. He did not attend art school but rather fell in with a crowd of poets, musicians and artists that formerly made up the Beat Generation. The movement was a response to the structured and conventional society that formed the years following the second World War.  Ultimately, Herms’ involvement in the movement was all the teaching he needed to become the successful artist he is today.

The artist, who was in town for an exhibit at the Austin art gallery, testsite, was invited to speak at the university’s art school on Sept 4. During his retrospective, presented to an audience of students, professors and artists, Herms discussed the influence the beat movement had on his artwork. Over the hour, Herms reflected upon the inspiration he received from the artists who surrounded him during that time.

Heading to the University of California at Berkley with a football scholarship and a push from his parents to graduate with a degree in computer science, Herms had his sights on convention. It was not until an injury put him on the bench, that he realized a formal education was not for him. With the “okay” from his wary family, he headed to Los Angeles looking for work. Little did he know he would soon meet the artists that would propel his career forward.

“I’ve been very lucky that there have been perceptive heavy weights that have seen,” Herms said. “I happened to fall in with some people in my early 20’s who were in full stride. So I started emulating them and they all turned out to be giants.”

Some of the artist he was referencing include assemblage sculptor Wallace Berman, Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg and American museum curator Walter Hobbs. With their help, Herms learned to work in a number of mediums, including printmaking, painting, and poetry. Hanging around other artists and creating pieces in collaboration were important and working in as an artist in residence at multiple universities was fundamental in the formation of Herms’ style.

“Those years of seeing major talents who had the freedom —that’s what I was after,” Herms said. “I did not know what I wanted to do with my life but I wanted freedom. And then to see the craftsmanship and discipline that artist have and musicians, they know so much that then they build on it.”

His work was featured in the groundbreaking exhibit, “The Art of Assemblage” in 1961 at the Museum of Modern Art. In between artist in residence positions at California State University and University of Denver he was also awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome fellowship in sculpture from The American Academy in Rome. Most opportunities, he concedes, came about through connections made during those formative years in his early 20s.   

Assistant art professor Sandra Fernadez is not sure how Herms’ career would have been different if he had not had the beat movement to influence his work. She believes that much of an artist’s career is dependent on circumstance. She agrees that being involved in a community of artists similar to what Herms had is the best thing an artist can do for their future.

“You can have a very talented passionate person that for some reason didn’t get into the world of exhibitions,” Fernadez said. “It is circumstances of where you are, who did you meet, what kind of connections you have, and who’s seen your work. There are a lot of things in play.”

Sarah Bancroft, associate director of curatorial affairs at testite, met Herms through Hobbs in 2003 when she worked on another retrospective at The Guggenhiem Museum. She thinks that working with other artists is essential when developing personal style, especially in Herms’ case.

“The ‘Beats,’ they were a community of their own and even though they worked individually, they had a rich dialogue amongst them which was super important to what they were doing," Bancroft said.

The crowd gazed forward as Herms scatted a number of improvised songs, signaling the end of his lecture. His eyes were closed when a smile spread across his face. He looked as if he remembered a funny story. Before the lecture hall lights flickered back on, his eyes blinked back open and he left the audience with one last thought.

“I never had a plan of where I was going to go,” Herms said. “I feel blessed to be surrounded by some great friends, beautiful women, beautiful children and beautiful minds. What would have happened if I fell in with some mediocre artist? I wouldn’t be standing here talking.” 

UT graduate owns book publishing and tutoring company

When April Terrazas visits elementary schools, she always begins her presentations by asking the students in the auditorium to raise their hands if they like science — about half of them do. She then tells the other half to raise their hands, promising that they too will like science before the hour is over. 

Terrazas, a UT biology pre-med alum, writes children’s books for a living. But don’t expect the pages of her five published books to be filled with imaginary characters or talking animals. Terrazas writes and illustrates books about science.    

“I would like to change the way science is taught in elementary school,” Terrazas said. “At least try to get some change going on in Austin.”

During high school, Terrazas, an Austin native, started what she called a “babysitting empire” in the neighborhood where she grew up. When it was time for her to go to UT, she knew that keeping the connections she had created was important, but she needed to refocus her business. Terrazas created Crazy Brainz Tutoring her freshman year. The company, which she still runs today, helps tutor children in the Austin area four days a week.

Terrazas eventually decided against attending medical school and, instead, decided to create Crazy Brainz Publishing and write children’s books. 

“Being around kids this long and seeing the potential there taught me that you can do something with a child,” Terrazas said. “They are so primed for knowledge. I wanted to take advantage of that time and make learning fun.”

Terrazas’ second book in the Super Smart Science Series is called “Chemistry: The Atoms and Elements” and is dedicated to UT chemistry professor Brent Iverson. To this day, Terrazas thinks Iverson was one of the best educators she’s ever had. 

“[Iverson] is the type of professor that made you want to go the extra mile,” Terrazas said. “When I did my chemistry book, I was like, ‘I’m [going to] dedicate this to him’ because my goal with my books is to make science fun for little kids, and he made science fun for me.”

Since graduating from UT, Terrazas has been involved in UT’s alumni network, Texas Exes. Through Exes, she has been able to speak on panels and has been featured in the Texas Exes alumni magazine, Alcade. Kira White, Texas Exes alumni relations director, met Terrazas after coordinating for her to speak on a panel. 

“Her books are reader-friendly, and every adult and child can gain something from them,” White said. “It’s funny: When I was going through her cellular biology book, I told her that the book could have helped me when I took Biology C and D.”

Terrazas understood what content needed to be included and how it should be presented, but she needed a sound business model. Luckily, she grew up with an entrepreneur as a father and a supportive mother.

“They were always feeding that desire to produce something,” Terrazas said. “If you tell me it can’t be done, I will tell you in five ways how I can do it.” 

Much of Terrazas’ outlook toward education and achievement can be seen in her father’s attitude as well. 

“Telling a young person ‘no’ when they’re little, you don’t know the emotional impact that [it] can have on their ability to achieve,” said her father, Joel Terrazas. “Anytime she came up with an idea, even the ones I thought were silly, I always just told her, ‘Hey, that’s an option. Never close the door.’” 

Terrazas said she feels lucky to be surrounded by individuals and professionals who don’t discriminate against her based on her gender. 

“Everyone I associate and do business with knows that women can handle it,” Terrazas said. “Nowadays, everyone recognizes that women are a strong force.”

She doesn’t face much adversity — rather, she said she gets positive responses from teachers, moms and readers she meets on book tours and signings. 

“It’s always been, ‘Wow! You’re doing it and making it possible for other women,’” Terrazas said. “It’s important that you make your own advantages because there are always going to be excuses.”

Women’s shooting league offers a safe environment, social outlet

When Niki Jones moved from New York to Texas less than a decade ago, she had virtually no experience with guns. But, when she opened her own store and began working late nights alone, she felt that she needed a form of protection and got her concealed hand gun license. 

“I found myself at the range — had a great time — and then got to a point where I wanted to be challenged. so I looked for a league to join,” Jones said. “I began to get frustrated because there wasn’t one that included women. So I started one with the goal of making it everything I want and the reaction was great.’

In 2010, Jones created Sure Shots, an all-female shooting league and social group.

The league practices out of two different Red’s Indoor Range locations, one in Oak Hill and one in Pflugerville on alternating Wednesdays. Made up of a couple hundred women who refer to themselves as “Sure Shots,” the league was created with the purpose of providing women a social outlet, similar to a book club or a running group, while teaching safe gun practices. Supplementary workshops are offered to members that delve deeper into topics such as gun assembly and local shotgun competitions.

Regardless of age, experience or political views, the league simply caters to those who want to practice their shooting. One of Jones’ favorite aspects of the organization is the Mini Sure Shots league, where daughters of Sure Shots can learn about shooting during special, condensed, kid-friendly workshops. Jones understands that gun use can spark concern but says that most are receptive to a league for children.  

“The girls are like sponges: They soak everything up,” Jones said. “It’s great because they have moms that teach them from an early age how to safely use guns so most of them aren’t as afraid of the atmosphere. They’re safe but very interested.”

In an effort to expand her involvement in the community outside of weekly practices, Jones founded Sure Shots Magazine. The publication celebrates accomplished markswomen, features interviews with professionals and editorials on training with firearms.

Nancy Miller, member of Sure Shots for a little over a year, said she had a difficult experience dealing with firearms 10 years ago and used the league as a part of the healing process. During an outing with her husband at a local shooting range, she tried shooting a gun for the first time in years. After picking up and putting down a gun multiple times, she finally shot at the target through her shakes. Not long after that shot, she joined the league.

“It was a personal goal: something I wanted to do for myself,” Miller said. “These girls are the best. We’re kind of a big family.”

Moving to Texas from Louisiana, Lori Benoit had little to no experience with Texas gun culture. Years after the move and three kids later, Benoit started to shoot as a way to redefine herself and create an identity outside of her role as a mother. 

“This was one activity that wasn’t centered around the kids, which was liberating,” Benoit said. “It was totally out of my comfort zone, but I think that’s what made it more appealing. It’s weird because it allows me to create a different identity and gives me a skill that can help me defend my family.” 

The league, which is free, has more than a hundred members and a group of about 20 who attend Wednesday practices regularly. Tricia Palmer, who grew in up Austin and graduated from UT, was around guns for most of her life, but it wasn’t until Benoit, Palmer’s neighbor, mentioned the league that Palmer started taking shooting seriously. She realized that shooting bridged a new relationship with her husband, who was already an avid shooter. 

“I have always been busy and led an active lifestyle, but I didn’t have an activity that my husband and I both took part in, and now we do,” Palmer said. “It gives me a sense of strength and power. Plus, us girls look good doing it.”

UT graduate owns Hack Studios production company in downtown Austin

When Dianna Colton took advertising professor John Murphy’s introductory advertising class in the early ’90s, Murphy told his students to get out of the industry. There were no jobs, and money wasn’t good. Colton took the warning as a challenge and, not long after that, declared her major in advertising. Now the owner of Hack Studios, an Austin-based boutique production company that creates advertising bits for a variety of clients, Colton has made a name for herself in the field.

The studio, which turned 3 years old Tuesday, has done projects for The Professional Golfers’ Association, Dish Network and Texas Exes. Colton was particularly excited to do work for the University. Although Texas Exes didn’t have the same budget as an average Hack Studios client, Colton made the decision, as a business owner, to do the project.

“It was about doing something as an alum for my university and about doing something great,” Colton said. “It’s my own payback to my university. You have to figure out what the commodity is since it won’t be money. It’s about the commodity of the relationship.”

Colton still remembers an event with the UT baseball program that helped shape her into the person she is today. After being told she was too tall to be a cheerleader, she saw a classified ad for a position as the baseball trainer. 

“I applied for the position, and coach Cliff Gustafson thought it was hilarious,” Colton said. “He called me and the other coaches into his office. I even met Earl Campbell. They laughed it off and ended up ushering me in the Disch-Faulk Diamonds program, but I think, at that point, it was just my resolve that I can do what I want to do.”

Dillon Davies, director and editor for Hack Studios, was impressed by Colton’s honesty when he first started working for her.

“[Colton] taught that honesty and loyalty are qualities that still have a place in business,” Davies said. “[Colton] said to me when I walked in, ‘I believe in paying people for their work.’ It [was] refreshing to feel like your boss is looking out for you.”

One of the biggest difficulties production companies from Austin face is the physical distance from areas such as New York and Los Angeles. Hack Studios producer Jessee Harkey said Colton’s skills as a businesswoman aid her when it comes to competing with outside markets.

“[Colton] is very adaptable and open to change,” Harkey said. “She’s not stuck in her ways. She’s open to several directions, [letting] the industry lead her. With the industry being the way it is, business owners like [Colton] are succeeding.” 

Colton lamented that it can be difficult to succeed as a business owner in a field that, she said, is dominated by men. Prior to creating Hack Studios, she worked for an editorial company but left her job to explore the world of advertising.

“[The editorial company] came up to me asking me to represent them in a different capacity and said, ‘We figured you’d want to be home with your kids and work from home,’” Colton said. “All I could think was, ‘You’d never say that to a man.’ So I got up and left.”

Colton said she is always looking for a challenge. One of her first jobs was as a creative secretary and, within a few years, she had worked her way up to the producer role within the agency. She even started a baby-clothes business without knowing how to sew.

“I’m always looking for what’s next,” Colton said. “I’m not okay with complacency. It’s boring. I like to be constantly challenged, and I guess what I look forward to every day is to see what that challenge will be.”

Four UT students create SocialToast app to maximize the Sixth Street experience

When four UT computer engineering students met last spring during a computer software lab, none of them knew they would eventually build an application based on Austin’s Sixth Street. CEOs Rachel Peters, Mochi Li, Jaclyn Coleman and Austin Ewing, along with their classmates, were challenged to create a software product that interested them. After discussing potential products, they all agreed to work on a way to maximize their downtown experience. Thus, SocialToast — an iOS application allowing you to “check into” bars — was created.  

“It originated from us going downtown then the next morning, when everyone shares their stories, realizing you missed out on all the fun spots,” said Coleman, an electrical engineering senior. “So now you’re able to know where all of your friends are at one time, without all the miscommunication over text.”  

After logging into the app via Facebook, users can check into a bar based on their location.

“We tried to make it like a really focused Yelp or Foursquare,” said Peters, an electrical engineering senior.

Taking notes from Yelp’s software programming, they focused on targeting the best geographically oriented searches for each phone. But the app, as of now, doesn’t change bar location automatically. The user has to manually check into the bar they are in. 

“It’s a little bit hard, especially on Sixth Street, where the bars are so close to each other,” Peters said in response to the difficulty of a GPS tracking system. “You have to check into every bar you’re at.”

The team said one of the app’s greatest assets is the simplicity of letting your friends know where you are without having to send a text under the influence, making the downtown experience safer and more efficient. 

Some people have expressed concern over the fact that SocialToast is only accessible if the user is willing to sign in with their Facebook account, but Peters and her co-founders said the decision was made deliberately.

“We wanted to make sure they could automatically upload a huge, extended group of friends without having to send individual friend requests,” Coleman said

But, before the team was even worrying about GPS tracking and app design, they were learning about the foundation of business strategy and entrepreneurship in a seminar course called Longhorn Startup. The course is led by professors who have extensive experience with building businesses from the ground up. Their particular seminar course has three different instructors: engineering professor Bob Metcalfe, entrepreneur in residence Benny Dyer and Josh Baer — who runs Capital Factory, an incubator for Austin startups. 

Metcalfe said guest lecturers frequent the course and offer advice on topics ranging from customer validation to raising money.  

“We are encouraging students to prepare for startups,” Metcalfe said. “Be enthusiastic about something. If not about startups, then something else.”

When the team isn’t participating in Sixth Street field research, they can usually be found on the 16th floor of the Omni Hotel at Capital Factory. At the office, the students are given the technological resources they need to create and maintain a successful tech business.

Right now, the four creators of SocialToast are focused on the development of the app and will be pushing for two updates before South By Southwest. As far as long-term goals, they plan to target college campuses across the country to make the bar scene safer and more efficient for all.

UT student organization, GirlAdvocates!, mentors Webb Middle School students

While many of her fellow classmates were concerning themselves with J2’s ever-changing menu, nutrition junior Lauren Caton, the founder and current president of GirlAdvocates! was seeking out UT students to join her in an effort to reform societal standards. 

GirlAdvocates! is a UT organization focused on empowering young girls through education, positive self-image and health. Like many young girls, Caton experienced a lack of self-confidence during her adolescent years, which led to a desire for guidance and need for support. She was able to emerge from her negative experiences with a goal in mind.  

“These experiences helped me realize how much support one needs during this vulnerable time period,” Caton said. “Since then, I have always been passionate about helping young adolescent girls develop their potential.”

The members of the organization serve as mentors for girls in the sixth, seventh or eigth grade at Webb Middle School. Mentors have to go through a training session with Austin Partners in Education, which fosters volunteer-driven mentoring programs in Austin Independent School District. The sessions help the mentors improve their communication skills.

“[We] try to be on their level so they think of us as peers, not teachers,” GirlAdvocates! Vice President Anna Marie Pratas said. “Potential members must understand that it is an open discussion with the mentees.” 

While participating in GirlAdvocates!, members become role models and friends with their mentees, meeting in weekly mentor lunches. On any given Friday, Caton, along with two or three other members, drive to the middle school around noon. They often promise their mentees the week prior that they will bring Chick-fil-A or candy with them to their next visit.

GirlAdvocates! makes an effort to introduce the girls to the concept of going to college. By tuning them in at a young age, GirlAdvocates! hopes to inspire them to consider it a feasible option. 

Caton and her mentee Ashley Ortiz frequently talk about the UT campus, and more recently, Ortiz’s application for Breakthrough Austin, a local summer program that helps to prepare students for college. Ortiz is interested in the college experience. While the art school sparked her curiosity, she was quick to bring up an interest in chemistry.

Caton and her fellow mentors make an effort to be there for the girls every week. Role models do not come in the form of acquaintances — they form through consistent exposure and reliable support. GirlAdvocates! takes pride in creating and fostering these relationships in an attempt to prevent the negativity that Caton and so many others dealt with during these same impressionable years.