Tell us a little about your business. – NATS Detasseling (Not Afraid to Sweat) (NotAfraidtoSweat.com) has two missions: to raise up the next generation of Nebraskans by providing meaningful work in a positive environment and to provide superior detasseling and roguing services for seed corn companies in Nebraska. We’ve led over 10,000 teenagers into cornfields over the past few decades, and we’re passionate about what we do.

How did you get started in the business? – I worked for another detasseling company and got hooked on the experience after just one summer. I love walking rows with teenagers and creating a culture where they can flourish.

What has been your most important achievement professionally? – That’s hard to pick! Getting to accompany the Nebraska Department of Economic Development on a trade mission to Germany has to top the list. Also in the running would be earning the Better Business Bureau’s Integrity Award in 2009.

Tell us a little about your family. – I have eight children, all of whom start with the letter “H”, and all of them have walked many miles in the cornfields. It is the reason they were able to get through college debt-free, and several of them have gone on to start their own businesses.

What is your favorite thing to do on a day off? – I love to go out on the trails around Lincoln–MoPac, Wilderness Park–it doesn’t really matter, as long as I have my trusty Golden Retriever with me!

What is the most unique or interesting thing about you that most people probably don’t know? – Although I graduated with a high school teaching degree, most people wouldn’t know that I’ve been an entrepreneur since the second grade. At that time, they were building Kahoa elementary school, and I would bike to a gas station, buy pop, and then resell it to the construction workers in little paper cups. I moved on from that to buying a horse with paper route money, learning calligraphy and starting a sole proprietorship to sell art at craft shows, starting a sub-S Corporation for the detasseling business, followed by an LLC for a few rental homes in town.

Who inspires you? – Elisabeth Elliot, whose husband was killed by the Auca Indians in Ecuador back in the 1950s, is a great inspiration to me. I was able to be her transcriptionist for 15 years when she was the speaker for the women’s program, Gateway to Joy.

What is your favorite quote or the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – “Do the right thing, even when no one is watching” is a favorite quote of mine. We put it on the back of our crew’s T-shirts one summer.

What local nonprofit organization(s) are you passionate about or involved with, and are there any special reasons why? – I love Hope Venture here in town!! They do awesome work around the world, and we have a goal that for every acre we walk in the fields, I donate $1 to a non-profit. We’ve started a feeding center in India that I was able to go and personally see, as well as supporting students in Kenya, Africa, and buying school uniforms for girls in Uganda.

What is your favorite book or the last good book you read? – I’m currently reading the Lord of the Rings series outloud to my youngest! Can’t go wrong with J.R.R. Tolkien.

What is your favorite local Lincoln restaurant? – I love the Venue.

If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – My cell is (402) 540-0843, my email is Dawn.Buell@gmail.com, and my website it NotAfraidtoSweat.com