Current Frisco Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Tammy Meinershagen — who is up for re-election — didn’t always have Texas in her heart — or even Frisco on her radar.
When she traded the bustling streets of Chicago for Frisco’s suburban sprawl in 2004, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. But over time, the city’s vibrant community and undeniable charm worked their magic, transforming her perspective and inspiring her journey to become the “Spirit of Frisco” according to the Frisco Chamber of Commerce.
Local Profile recently sat down with Meinershagen at HALL Park Hotel to discuss her time in Texas:
How did you end up in North Texas
My husband, Todd, is originally from Richardson, and we would always come down for Christmas and his family kept telling us to move to Texas, to find a home in Frisco. And this was 25 years ago they were pushing this. But 25 years ago, there was nothing in Frisco, but his dad kept saying that it was the up-and-coming place. We went to Quiznos off of 121 and Preston Road and it looked like the edge of civilization. I'm like, ‘This is the up-and-coming place?’
What was your first impression?
I had such a bad impression of Texas — I did not want to come. I didn't want to live in Frisco, and I didn't want to live in Texas. There's partisan politics, for sure, but then there was also a lot of racism that I kept hearing stories coming out of Texas. I pushed really hard against it for many, many years, and then finally, the commute was too much for Todd, back and forth in Chicago to go downtown. So we came here.
Has your perception of Texas changed?
I would say people's perceptions have changed, but you also have to experience it. Even in 2004, I expected all white people. I expected only cowboy culture. But we moved into our house, and then immediately I saw two Indian women walk by. And then I had another neighbor lady and she said, ‘Oh, you're the new person, we're having bunco on Friday, will you join us?’ I had no idea what bunco was but I will join. Then I met all the ladies in the neighborhood, and everybody was so welcoming.
This was really different. The feel of Frisco, at least for me, was very different from even my neighborhood of Chicago. Where I was in the suburbs, I was the only stay-at-home mom. I was there with all the Russian nannies who were also at home, so I did not have friends who were at home with their kids. Here, it was almost the majority of moms were all with their kids. There were a lot of people I could meet and a lot of ways to get involved. Slowly but surely my impression of Texas changed because of Frisco.
Was there a moment when you realized that your impression changed?
My oldest daughter entered kindergarten in about 2005. The school was so welcoming, and then the teachers wanted Ellie to share a little bit about our culture, as half Korean. I had always grown up very embarrassed of my culture, because it was a different time to grow up Asian, in the 70s. Think about the entertainment and media back then, and how they depicted Asian people. It was so stereotypical. I always had such a negative view of myself as an Asian in a very white city at that time in Illinois, I just kind of assumed this is what it's going to be like here. I didn’t want to bring any attention to it.
But the teachers and the principal kept saying, ‘No, this, this would be wonderful, we'd love to have her share her culture with the classroom.’ And Ellie kept saying, ‘Mom, I want to do it, I want to bring my hanbok — the traditional Korean clothing — I want to share about the food. I realized all of a sudden that the baggage was my baggage, and it's not her baggage, and the natural thing is to be proud of your culture and to want to share it and celebrate it with others. It's not the natural thing to be embarrassed and ashamed and hide it. I came to that head as a young mom in Frisco: This is a beautiful thing, and this city wants to celebrate my daughter for who she is, and also consequently celebrate me for who I am. And that kind of welcoming spirit helped to heal me.
How else have you been able to share your culture?
I became the first multicultural chair for the PTAs, and then I took that role just for Bledsoe Elementary, where we started the multicultural night. Then I created a program called the Multicultural Minute, where we would feature students who were not speaking much of their first language at home, but had a different culture. We would highlight them at the Friday assembly. That program grew and got adopted by 11 other schools. That's how I actually got involved in serving our city, was through that multicultural program, through the PTA,
Then I joined the council of PTAs. It was at the council level of the PTAs, where I could help oversee and implement multicultural night. And then we also included a multicultural float in the community parade, which had never happened before. But we had a float with all of the different cultures, and them holding American flags, but in their cultural clothing. It's traditionally a Veterans Day honoring parade, and they loved it, because a lot of the Veterans of Foreign Wars explained, ‘This is why we did what we did.’ It just made me love my city even more.
How did you continue to get involved with the city?
What would you like to see for the future of Frisco? I remember seeing that question online somewhere and decided I was going to go to a meeting. So I attended my first meeting, and that was in 2012 or 13, and it was a comprehensive plan advisory committee where they're looking at the future of Frisco. And I said ‘This is amazing. They're taking community input,’ and they had whiteboards where I could just write my ideas. And of course, I'm an arts supporter, I said, I wanted more arts and culture. I met several people that I still know now. Now it's 10 years later, and I'm actually appointing people to be on those committees. Isn't that crazy? It's full circle.
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