Five Questions: Margaret Jacques

Margaret Jacques recently joined Brothers Fire Protection, based in Elk River, Minn., as a life safety sales representative. She'll focus on Brothers' commercial and multihousing clients, helping them develop effective and economical programs to manage their life safety systems. Security Systems News caught up with Margaret in June and asked her five questions:

Are you a Minnesota native?
I was born in Illinois, but my family moved to Minnesota when I was little. I grew up in Coon Rapids. I'm one of six children. Everyone had huge families—the average was six to eight kids. We would all just play out in the street and we skated in our backyard in winter. My dad flooded a big rink.

What do you like about Minnesota?
I love all the nice golf courses. I picked up golfing last year. And I like going up north to my parents' 100-acre ranch in Pine River. Before that we'd go to our cabin we had in Pequot Lakes. Fourth of July is a big family get-together up north!

What are your other interests?
I have two daughters, one off to college this fall and one in high school, so my husband and I do a lot with them. We have an in-ground pool in the backyard so we like to hang out and play in it. I'm a kid at heart.

What movie would you recommend to others?
“Heaven Is for Real,” [about a 4-year-old boy who experiences heaven while unconscious during emergency surgery]. It's amazing—a really good movie. It really makes you stop and think. There's a book that goes with it that I'm also going to read.

Are you a cat person or a dog person?
We don't have any animals. I tell my girls they're my pets, and they get mad at me. They say they'll take care of a pet, but we had a turtle once and a fish, and my husband was doing all the work.