Christine Trout Van Tatenhove is a champion for women—especially women from Eastern Kentucky, where she grew up. And to put an even finer point on it, she has a special connection to women who have overcome trauma.
Chris grew up in Letcher County, and her Mamaw Eva was her champion. With an abusive
stepfather, she found solace at her grandmother’s house. It was also her Mamaw Eva who
encouraged Chris to go to college, which changed her life.
Chris spent four years at the University of Louisville as a McConnell Scholar, graduating in 1999. Then she completed law school at the University of Kentucky in 2002 and began a career as a lawyer.
Her career involved both private practice and public service. In 2016 she became the first woman to lead the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
In 2018 she married her husband, Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove. Then, in 2021, she became
interested in starting a family business that her stepson, Cooper, could grow into. And, she says, “I missed being involved the community on a daily basis.”
She was attracted to Junkluggers because it was both philanthropic and entrepreneurial. Junkluggers provides eco-friendly “stuff” removal from homes and businesses, then repurposes, donates or recycles as much as possible, reducing the amount of waste going into landfills. Chris’s franchise, based in Lexington, serves Central Kentucky, Louisville and Northern Kentucky.
In 2022, The Junkluggers of Kentucky became a sponsor of NOSW. Chris was drawn to the program because it serves women from the region that she still calls home. “None of us are where we are without the help of someone else,” she says.
She wants women to know that they are entitled to have agency in their own lives. “You do not have to apologize for your success, or for pushing yourself out of a bubble that someone else has put you in or a characterization that someone else tells you that you should be,” Chris says. “It’s important to be your own advocate.”
Chris and Gregory welcomed a daughter in July 2023 and are happily rearranging their lives around her.
