PLP 09 Profile: Steve Cochran

Name:  Steven Curtis Cochran
Age:  54
Born:  I was born in Radford, VA and grew up in Hillsville, VA.  Radford was the closest real hospital (45 miles).
Current Digs:  Blacksburg; I came to Virginia Tech in 1975 and never left.
Occupation:  Human Resources Professional
Favorite part about the job:  Watching people grow and develop in their jobs.
Your first job ever?  I spent my summers as a boy putting up hay on neighborhood farms.  I believe I may have made seventy-five cents an hour.  This was long before the big round bales you see today.  It was in the days of the old square bales and involved walking through the hay fields behind the pickup truck, throwing the bales up onto the truck and then unloading them from the truck into the loft in the barn.  At the end of the day, you knew you had been working!
Favorite book?  The Sneetches and Other Stories, by Dr. Seuss; and in particular, the story The Sneetches.  It taught me a lesson I’ve never forgotten.
Favorite movie?  Young Frankenstein.  I’ve seen it so many times I can recite most of the lines – and I still laugh!  Only now, I begin laughing when the scene first starts.
Comfort food?  Mexican
What's in your car CD player right now (or favorites on your iPod)?  John Mayer – Where the Light Is
Next journey?  My wife and I are going to New Orleans with two other couples to the Jazz Festival in May.  One couple is originally from New Orleans, so we’re looking forward to seeing the festival – and the city – from an insiders’ point of view!
Favorite Virginia vacation spot?  Our house in the mountains, just outside of Blacksburg.
First political memory?  Sitting around the dinner table listening to my parents talk about the issues of the day. In particular, I remember my father’s fierce dislike of the Byrd Machine, which controlled the Democratic Party for decades.  I can still recall him railing about the $1.50/year poll tax because he knew it kept poor people, and particularly blacks, from voting.
Whom do you admire and why?  Cabell Brand. Cabell is a World War II veteran who was a pioneer in the mail order catalog business. In 1965, he founded Total Action Against Poverty in the Roanoke Valley to address the needs of those less fortunate than himself.  Since then, he has dedicated a tremendous amount of his personal fortune and personal time to correcting some of the inequalities between the haves and have-nots and working to improve race relations.
Best advice you ever got?  A mentor and dear friend of mine used to send every letter I wrote on behalf of the party back to me, all marked up in red, with a good number of the words stricken. He taught me “Less is more.”
If you could have dinner with any one currently living, whom would it be and why? Cabell Brand. I’d like to have a frank discussion about his life, which has been dedicated to giving, and get his advice on how I can make the most out of my life.
Describe a perfect day. It starts out with a cup of coffee in the hot tub with my wife, watching the sun come up over the mountains. Then, off to work, where instead of fighting fires or practicing crisis management, I have the time to execute a well-thought-out plan of action.  When it’s time to go home, I leave with a true feeling of accomplishment.  At home, there’s time to do some work in the garden before drinks and dinner on the deck with Victoria and a few close friends.

One thing most people might be surprised to learn about you?  During high school, I briefly considered studying to be a lawyer.  I gave up the thought because I knew lawyers had to speak in court in front of people, and I didn’t think I could do that.
Ambition, political or otherwise?  I want to make a positive difference in the world and leave it a better place than I found it.