125 Years of Family Serving Family – Nikki Burton, LP Systems Analyst, Germany

For Nikki Burton (left), an Exchange LP systems analyst, working for the Exchange is a family affair, which began with her grandmother, Erna Sumner, in 1950 in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

One in a series honoring the Exchange’s 125 years of family serving family

Nikki Burton was inspired by her father, Gary Burton, to join the Exchange family after seeing his own success with the Exchange. Her father started working for the Exchange in 1979 as a cashier checker while in high school and retired as the SVP of IT in 2013.

“He is the main reason I started working for the Exchange,” Burton said. “His career showed me all of the opportunities for growth the Exchange has, plus the possibilities of moving around.”

Burton’s parents met through the Exchange when they both worked at the Ramstein Main Store in 1985. Growing up, Burton said because her parents had to move every few years, she and her siblings were born in different countries.

“My oldest brother, who also works for the Exchange, was born in Spain, my second oldest brother was born in Turkey, I was born in England and my youngest sister, who also worked for the Exchange, was born in Oklahoma,” Burton said.

Nikki Burton’s father, Gary, and mother, Gina, work together at the shoppette in Zaragoza AB, Spain in 1986. It was Gary Burton’s first manager position after attending the Management Training center in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Following in her father’s footsteps with a career in the Exchange is not the only way Burton’s life has mirrored her father’s. She also met her husband, Tanner Jones, a financial analyst for Europe and contingency, through the Exchange.

“Working for the Exchange has given me the chance to deploy and serve our troops overseas and it introduced me to my wonderful husband,” Burton said. “It has also given my husband and I the opportunity to experience Germany together.”

Burton said she loves working for the Exchange because it’s just like the military, with its close-knit community. After her deployments to Kuwait and Jordan, she said the deployments showed her it was just another example of family serving family.

“We rely on each other just like family,” Burton said. “Deployments are another great example of family serving family as we are relying on the service members, civilians and our Exchange partners to accomplish the mission and support each other during our separation from family and home life.”

While her father may have been her inspiration for her career, the Burton family is no stranger to the Exchange. Including herself, Burton said they are a family of 12 former or current Exchange employees.

“My grandma began working for the Exchange in the 1950’s in Kaiserslautern, Germany and retired in the 1990s,” Burton said. “My father, mother, brother, sister, three aunts, one uncle, husband and sister-in-law, all have worked or are currently working for the Exchange.”

Burton said she is happy she and her husband can continue her family’s legacy of service to the military community.

Facebook-friendly version:  For Nikki Burton, working for the #Exchange is a family affair, which began with her grandmother in 1950 in Kaiserslautern, Germany. “We are a family of twelve former or current Exchange employees,” she said. Read more about her #familyservingfamily story: https://wp.me/p7iUVQ-4fR.