Inside the Office of Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah): Alisia Essig

Title: Communications director

Age: 27

{mosads}Hometown: Centerville, Utah

Education: B.S. in communications and political science from the University of Utah, master’s degree in public administration from The George Washington University

Last job: Financial counselor at a nonprofit organization in Utah

Most memorable communications disaster: I was in New York with my boss. He was getting ready to go on Neil Cavuto, and we were in the Fox News waiting room. The booker emailed me and asked for my boss to meet him in the green room. Since I wasn’t sure where that was, I went over to the kitchen and tapped someone on the shoulder who was getting coffee. I immediately asked where the green room was before the person had a chance to turn around. As soon as he did, my face turned bright red. It was Neil Cavuto himself! I quickly introduced myself and told him I was with Rep. Chaffetz. He was incredibly kind and even showed me where the room was and added, “Looking forward to having Rep. Chaffetz on the show today!”

Passion outside of work: I have an adorable baby girl who is 4 months old. My husband and I can’t get enough of her.

Alisia Essig didn’t just follow her love of politics to Washington, D.C., in 2008, she followed her heart, too. Her then-fiance was already in the area attending law school.

 “I was definitely scared, but I knew it was right,” she said of the decision to leave Utah. “I’ve always been a political junkie — loved watching the news.”

 Essig has no plans to leave her new home anytime soon. She and her patent-attorney husband just put an offer on a house in Virginia.

“We are putting roots down,” she joked.

One thing Essig takes very seriously is her love of Pilates. She is so devoted to the stretching and strength-training exercise that she teaches it three days a week and has even convinced her co-workers to attend her 6 a.m. classes.

 “Pilates is the best thing for post-partum,” she said, crediting the core-centric workouts with getting her back in shape after the recent birth of her daughter.

 “It’s kind of symbolic for life,” Essig said. “If your core is strong, if your values are strong, then everything else kind of falls into place.”

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