“Keep God first,” advised Kristy Ivey.
Through different experiences in her life, Kristy Ivey has learned that it is important to always keep God first in everything she does.
When she was a child, she enjoyed playing softball, which is something that wasn’t common in her family. The sport allowed her to grow and learn while she played it, though.
“I played recreational softball in Quitman whenever I was 12. I played third base and shortstop,” Kristy reminisced. “I just liked learning the sport because we weren’t a sports family. My mom and dad got divorced when I was 11, and nobody had done sports in my family. My dad signed me up for softball because I was interested. I had some pretty cool mentors when I was younger: Kim Dew and Petey McDonald. Kim was a big mentor when I was young. One of the better memories I have is playing softball and having her there to come and guide me.”
Although she enjoyed playing softball, she ended up choosing to do something else at school.
“I played recreational ball until junior high and high school started,” continued Kristy. “I couldn’t play anymore because I was in the band. We had a single income family, so I had to choose either band or softball, and I chose band. I played the clarinet and was in the color guard.”
As she was getting to the end of her high school career, she still wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do for her career path. She ended up choosing to join the Army and ended up getting her associate’s degree in real estate management from American Military University at some point after she graduated.
“I joined the Army whenever I was still in high school,” explained Kristy. “I did the split option where you could go after your junior year and go to basic training, come back to school for your senior year, and then go for your job training afterwards. I was 17 when I joined in 2001. My dad asked if I was sure because he had to sign for me, and I told him that I was sure. I wanted to do something because I didn’t have a career path that I was looking at. I didn’t think that I was going to be able to go to college since we were on a single-family income, so I wasn’t sure where I was going to end up. The recruiters told me about the bonuses and how I could travel. I didn’t realize that meant I would be going to Iraq, though.”
In 2005, she experienced an 18 month deployment. Although she held several different jobs throughout her military career, she primarily worked in human resources.
“When I was deployed, it was six months at Camp Shelby and 12 months in Iraq,” informed Kristy. “Throughout my military career, I had several different jobs, but my job was mainly in human resources. I dealt with anything to do with bonuses, schools, training, security clearances, and drug tests. I was like a one stop shop.”
She worked primarily in human resources while she was in Iraq, but she was still able to get out and see what life was like in the area she was staying.
“I did human resources stuff, but the guys knew I was in the office the whole time. I had some buddies that would ask me if I wanted to come along on some of the little missions they were on if they had a friendly mission,” continued Kristy. “I got to see some of Iraq. It was really sad. In the part we were in, they lived in mud huts. One of the little Iraqi boys ran down a little baby goat so that I could pet it. It was cute. We gave paper and pencils and school supplies to the kids and gave them some MREs so they could eat and stuff like that.”
In 2015, she added a business to her list of jobs and started Armor Fitness in Enterprise as a way to benefit people in the community.
“I started the gym because I was in the military, and there wasn’t anything close around the community,” expressed Kristy. “I wanted to do something for the community. There’s a lot of military in the area, so I wanted to make it more accessible and figured it would make it easier instead of having to go to the base or drive to Meridian because it’s dangerous up there. It’s been doing really well. Members of the community love it and say they don’t know what they ever did without a gym there. It warms my heart to be able to do something for the community as well.”
Of course, being in the military meant that she had to leave for training for longer periods of time. She had young children at that point, but her family supported her and helped her any time she had to be out of town.
“It was difficult being away from the kids because I’d have training and would have to be gone for a whole month,” declared Kristy. “It was hard having three small kids and having to be gone for a month. My sister was always there to watch the kids on the weekends when I had drill or whenever I had to go to training. She was my rock during that time.”
Eventually, she retired from the military in 2019. It was only a few months later that she married Jay Ivey and combined their families.
“Jay and I first met in high school. We weren’t high school sweethearts or anything. I just remember meeting him back in high school,” explained Kristy. “After my divorce, I sent him a funny little video about a teenage boy getting whooped by his mama. He had teenage boys, and I just knew that would be him with his boys. He thought it was funny, too, and we started talking from there. Jay and I got married about a month or two after I retired from the military, so we’ve been married for six years. I have three kids and three stepsons. We have a full house when everyone is here. I also have a grandbaby.”
She is proud of one of her stepsons who ended up deciding to join one of the military branches.
“One of my stepsons is sort of following in my footsteps,” Kristy proclaimed. “He’s seen where I am today, so he joined the Air Guard. Now, he works full-time for the Air Guard. I kind of helped him on his path to a career because he didn’t want to go to college or anything.”
Her family is something that she is proud of, and she makes sure to spend as much of her time as she can with them.
“I’m involved with my kids and their sporting events,” expressed Kristy. “I’ll record videos and take pictures for family and Facebook live different games so that they can see it when they’re offshore and all. They play football, baseball, softball, and soccer. They’re in just about everything. My son just started playing basketball with FCA.”
No matter what she does, she tries to make a positive difference in the lives of those around her. She will continue to spend as much time as she can with her family and bring joy to everyone she meets.
