LEWISTON — More than a year after Jessie Adkins moved from Massachusetts to Poland to be closer to aging grandparents, the four- to six-hour daily commute to her Boston tech job started to wear.

Last month, she became the director of operations at Museum L-A, a new position Adkins said she’s excited to grow with.

“I was excited to learn something new,” she said. “I’ve been in technology for almost 15 years, so I thought, not only try something new, I thought it would help me grow as a person. Rachel (Desgrosseilliers,) this is her baby, and she’s very committed to the cause, I like that drive.”

The new 14-minute commute doesn’t hurt either.

Adkins grew up in Western Massachusetts. At her last position, for a biotechnology company out of Oslo, Norway, she headed operations, human resources and finance.

“When I first moved to Maine, I was unsure how long I was going to be here,” she said. “It was come, help the family. As time went on, I love Maine and I want to stay here.”

Her sons, now 18 and 11, quickly considered the state home.

In April, when Atkins started to look for work locally, she said she was drawn to Desgrosseilliers’ passion for the museum and stories about the community, as well as the opportunity to be part of the new museum now three to five years away.

Her father was a minister and growing up, her family did a lot of missionary trips to places such as Guatemala and Thailand.

“I’ve always just had this want and need to be a part of something bigger than me,” Adkins said. “Where (Museum L-A) came from, where they’re going with the new museum coming up, that’s just exciting starting something from the beginning. I want to feel like I’m doing something bigger than me, so that’s what really attracted me here.”

In her new role, she’s overseeing day-to-day operations for the staff of six and 10 to 15 regular volunteers, and meeting with department heads. Adkins said she’ll eventually take on marketing and also has plans to use her grant-writing skills.

“There’s so much to learn,” Adkins said. “I’ve gone on four-and-a-half (museum) tours so far,” each given by a different person and she’s learned new things about the museum each time.

“I didn’t even know up until my first day here how huge the shoe industry was in this area, quite impressive,” she said.

Adkins said before moving to Poland, her knowledge of Maine ended at Old Orchard Beach and Portland. There’s a different, more relaxed attitude here, she said. She’s enjoyed riding Harleys, camping and boating.

“There is so much to do outside of big city Boston — Boston can be exhausting after a while,” Adkins said.

kskelton@sunjournal.com 

Jessie Adkins of Poland began July 31 as the director of operations at Museum L-A in Lewiston. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)