ABOVE: Trae Vassallo.

FAIRMONT– The Martin County Historical Society’s annual meeting on Thursday night featured guest speaker Trae Vassallo, a 1990 graduate of Fairmont High School and current member of World Wide operations of Apple.

MCHS Director, Lenny Tvedten, said that each year he selects a speaker who is a Martin County native who has gone on to accomplish significant achievements. A number of the speakers, including Vassallo, were Tvedten’s former 5th grade students.

“I think it creates more interest in our annual meeting,” Tvedten said. “They come from a variety of professions and backgrounds.”

Past presenters include Pat Garry, author and law professor (2012); Dori Hilestad Butler, award winning children’s book author (2014); Brenda McEwing, 23 year military veteran and member of Native American Women’s Color Guard (2022).

Vassallo is the daughter of Roger and Beth Neist. Though she started her life in St. Paul, Vassallo recalled moving to Fairmont, to Knollwood, as a young child.

As a grade school student, Vassallo said she remembers working with Sandy Nuss in the library, playing the iconic and educational video game, The Oregon Trail.

“That what the thing that inspired me, as a really young kid, to program. I come back to this and reference that moment a lot. There’s a reason I work at Apple today,” Vassallo admitted.

As she became a little older, Vassallo said she and her family moved out of the city where they had more land and some animals. Growing up this way helped her learn how to both work hard and have fun.

“We got to zoom around on a snowmobile. I’m raising kids in California– we can’t do things like that,” Vassallo said with a laugh.

She was involved in many community events as a youth in Fairmont. Vassallo recalled taking part in a production of “Oliver Twist” at the Fairmont Opera House, taking a sailing class at the Chain of Lakes Yacht Club and working at the Dairy Freeze. Vassallo noted she also worked at her father’s ophthalmology office.

“It really was a wonderful community of folks to grow up with and I was able to learn a lot more than just academics,” Vassallo said.

However, academics are not to be forgotten as Vassallo noted several teachers who have also been influential on her career and life.

“I had a lot of teachers who were looking out for me and helping me with all sorts of crazy interest along the way,” Vassallo said.

She said growing up she wanted to be an astronaut and had the opportunity as a student to attend space camp. While she later realized a fear of flying, she also realized an interest in engineering and a desire to solve problems.

Vassallo also mentioned athletics she took part in as a student and recognized coach Sherwood Sagedahl. She was on the tennis, gymnastics and track teams.

“I was constantly busy and what I learned from sports has been fundamental to my career and to how I have grown in the years since I left Fairmont. I learned how to work on a team and have a competitive edge,” Vassallo said. “I was very lucky that I was in a school that had a strong athletics program.”

Vassallo applied to a number of colleges around the country and upon graduating from Fairmont High School, she ended up going to Sanford University where she received her Bachelor’s degree and later a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering with honors. Later on, Vassallo got an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

While a student at Stanford, Trae met her husband (who was her lab partner), who she married in 2000. The couple now has three children, ages 22, 19, and 14. The family enjoys adventuring and has taken trips around the globe, including stops in Fairmont.

“The best part is the summers on the farm. Ever since they were little, they would come home and hang out with grandma and grandpa,” Vassallo said.

As for her career, Vassallo has been an engineer, entrepreneur, investor and operator. She detailed some of the companies she has worked for and the products she played a role in engineering. She was a co-founder of Good Technology, which put out a product that was a Blackberry competitor. Vassallo said they ended up selling the company to Motorola, but that both founding and selling the company was a good experience.

Throughout her career Vassallo also learned how to invest in companies and did work with a firm that invested in Amazon and Google.

“Watching those companies grow from small, little companies to giant companies was pretty incredible,” Vassallo said.

She went on to found and co-manage Defy, an early stage venture capital firm. Several years ago, Apple reached out to Vassallo and she took a role there which she holds to this day.

Vassallo also has a passion for helping more women join the tech industry and advance in their careers. She helped co-found and run Equity Summit, an annual event for relationship building and conversations.

In closing, Vassallo said, “how did growing up in Fairmont influence all of this? When you look at all of the things I’ve done, I often made choices that didn’t seem like the smartest thing to do… but I keep coming back to this pioneering spirit. There’s an authenticity when you’re from a place like Fairmont. I really think it’s driven from a sense of community and accountability.”

She said often times she has attributed her work ethic to her upbringing in Fairmont.

“In the end it’s about connecting, working hard and having fun and those are the major things that have driven my life,” Vassallo said.

In addition to Vassallo’s presentation, Tvedten gave a powerpoint on the year in review, which included some financial information and a recap of some events MCHS has either hosted or participated in. These include classroom visits from schools around the county, class reunion visits and various presentations, both at the museum and in area assisted living facilities.

Tvedten also talked about the museum’s new interactive room that has been a work in progress and some notable items that have been donated to the museum over the past year, which include a grandfather clock made by Henry Rose of Welcome and a parachute from the Korean War era.