Where Are They Now?
Whether she’s teaching her nieces and nephews how to garden or training new employees as a district manager for Dollar General, Jamie Brewer’s passion in life is fostering a healthy community and helping others grow.
Brewer graduated from Dublin High School in 2002, and began working at the now-closed coffee shop Touch of Irish. She also took on a couple of odd jobs, including one at Walmart.
In 2008, after her mother passed away, she moved to the Metroplex to be closer to her family. She transferred within Walmart and became a store manager.
In 2020, her children wanted to move back home. “They wanted to graduate from the same school their dad and I did,” she said. “They prefer this small town living, and quite frankly, I missed it too.”
Moving to Dublin meant Brewer would have to commute nearly two hours to get to her Walmart store, so she decided to find something closer to home. She found a job as a store manager for Dollar General, and six months ago was promoted to district manager.
Brewer now oversees 20 stores around the Dublin area. She works with store managers and employees to make sure their store is ready for customers, and she helps teach and train employees.
“I like helping people, and this is a really good job to do that in,” she said. “You have so much access to help in the community [and you are always] helping your associates. It allows me to help people grow and get promoted, watch them progress and do better in their lives. That’s always been a really big thing for me.”
Dollar General takes part in various community activities, which Brewer enjoys. “We did the Pride Parade, we helped get water for the firefighters, and helped organize school drives for school supplies,” she said.
Many of her stores are in very small towns. “It’s a big deal if they’re not open,” she said. “It’s really really important for us to be up and running for those communities.
Brewer plans to stay with Dollar General in the future. “I’m kind of coasting where I’m at right now,” she said. “I would like to go up one more position to a regional manager if possible, which would put me over about 220 stores. I’m not not quite sure if I’m ready for that yet, but workwise I would like to take one more step before I pause for a little bit.”
When she’s not working, Brewer can usually be found taking her youngest son to football practice, spending time with her two older children and her grandchild, volunteering for the community or working in her garden.
“It’s stressful right now because the heat is drying everything out, but I’m working on turning our old milkbarn into a greenhouse,” she said. “I’m trying to grow citrus which isn’t really good to grow in this area, but I love a challenge and I’m trying to create a climate that works for it.” Brewer also enjoys teaching her son and her nieces and nephews how to garden. “It’s kind of a family thing,” she said. “They pick the vegetables and we grow them and go from there. I also like it because we eat a lot of fruits and vegetables.”
Brewer met her husband, Ray Rollins, in high school. He works as a fireman in Dublin and owns his own business.
Brewer has three children: Dominic, 10, is the youngest. Maggie, 19, is just starting nursing school, and Chance, 21 serves on the fire department and in the Marines reserve.
Throughout her life, Brewer has drawn inspiration from the encouragement of her high school coaches. “I came from a very tough childhood so they were always super supportive,” she said. “They were always there to cheer me on. Coach Hickman was one of my all time favorite coaches with cross country. Their commitment and their drive that they showed me, I think really helped push me to want to do better. I think they are where I got my start with trying to help people and be that encouragement to everyone else because I feel like that’s what they did.”
“Growing up in not the best environment was really one of the things that I struggled with,” she said. “I wanted to make sure I didn’t repeat that, and move forward in a better manner than how I was.”
Brewer’s advice to Dublin graduates is to never stop growing. “I say that because I’ve grown a lot over the last couple years,”she said. “Never stop growing and never stop enjoying your life. There’s always something to learn and in this busy world, remembering to slow down and have a little bit of fun is super important. That would be the main thing. Learn and grow but always have fun doing it.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen. com.