In Jacksonville, Garrison worked with one of the nation’s largest apparel importers as part of the textile production verification team. As part of her duties, she oversaw apparel and textile production practices in both El Salvador and Cambodia. "As the eyes for CBP, I helped verify whether foreign factories were in compliance with U.S. laws and bilateral agreements on issues including intellectual property rights, import quotas, production standards and child labor," she says. Although the assignments were hard work, Garrison says she found pleasure exploring the local culture and is thankful for the opportunity it gave her to travel.

Seven years ago, after many years of hard work and dedication, Garrison accomplished a goal – to become the first import specialist officially assigned to the service port of Memphis, Tenn. "I stay busy processing the unbelievable volume of imports Memphis receives as a centralized distribution area and by serving as the port’s Automated Commercial Environment ambassador."

Garrison became a steadfast proponent of ACE after participating in pre-implementation testing of the new system. For Garrison, having first-hand knowledge of ACE helps her educate the 81 CBP personnel at her port on its benefits. Garrison believes it is important for her port to not only embrace ACE, but also to enjoy adjusting to a new system. As she provides updated information to her co-workers to ensure a seamless transition, her motto is "ACE will fix it." True to her positive nature, Garrison never doubted the power of ACE capabilities and calls it a "great system." She says she likes the user-friendly reports and looks forward to future ACE releases that should further reduce paperwork and facilitate communication between CBP and other government agencies.

Aside from her duties as an import specialist, Garrison is married with two sons. Her husband is on active duty with the U.S. Army and has served two tours in Iraq. When he deploys, Garrison says she becomes a “super-mom” to fulfill her work and family obligations, but she says, "Tough times don’t last, but tough people do." Through it all, Garrison manages to succeed and have fun not only on the job, but also by attending her sons’ sports activities, bowling for her port’s league or opening her home to foreign exchange students.