Kathie Flowers

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In this Feb. 27, 2014 photo, Zeigler Fire Department Capt. Kathie Flowers poses for a photo in Zeigler, Ill. The Franklin County woman first contemplated a tenure in public service in the mid-1990s, but fear of the unknown, anxiety about her own abilities and the perceptions of others, kept her from pushing forward. Finally, in 1999, she overcame self-doubt and signed as a volunteer with the Zeigler Fire Department. In the nearly 15 years that followed, she learned the skills of the job and the irrelevancy of gender as she climbed the ranks to captain, the department’s third highest position. (AP Photo/The Southern, Adam Testa)