Michelle Caruana intended to study veterinary science at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Instead, she found herself drawn to ecology and field botany. “I began to see a glimpse of what an environmental biologist could do, including habitat restoration, and that really interested me,” she said.

Caruana sees it as another way to help animals — by rehabilitating homes for them in the wild.

You can see the passion in Caruana when she talks about habitat rehabilitation — a job that requires perseverance and courage as well as knowhow. “The work we do is grueling.” And the dangers include encounters with rattlesnakes and even bears.

She works hard at keeping employees happy. “Having employees be happy while working here is huge for me,” she says. She’s felt that way from her very first job out of college, which was supervising work crews in the field. “My employer didn’t acknowledge any of his staff at the holiday season,” she recalled, “so I went home, baked cookies for my crews and brought them to the job site on Christmas Eve.”

That attitude has served her well. The foreman from that first job recently retired from Natures Image after 25 years of working for Caruana. “He still asks me at Christmas time: ‘Michelle, did you make me cookies this year?’”

What keeps Caruana motivated? “Going out to our jobsites and seeing a restoration project transition to success. Hearing birds or seeing other animals using the site, and knowing the area will not be developed — that, to me, is success.”

She lives by the philosophy, “Work hard, play hard.” “A veterinarian I worked for at my first job told me that,” Caruana said, “and I have tried to live by that ever since.  I am willing to roll up my sleeves and do things that others may consider beneath them.  No matter where I have worked or how crappy the job, I always tried my best.”

Balancing her personal and work lives requires some juggling. “I remember an interview I saw with Maria Shriver years ago, and she said something like, ‘you can’t have it all at once, but you can do all the things.’ Some years I have been a better business owner, and other years I have been a better mom.”

She may not be a veterinarian, but she still works on behalf of animals through the Compassionate Animal Rescue for Medical Aid (CARMA) organization. “I foster dogs (until we can find their forever homes), work adoptions and write an occasional grant for money.” Lifa and Duke were both fosters before the Caruanas adopted them. In addition to her volunteer work, she likes to hike, ski and travel. But, she says, “I spend most of my free time watching my kids play lacrosse and supporting them in their daily activities.”