Upon entering the front office of Munn Ice Arena, you’ll find the hockey team’s executive secretary, Lindsay Fast, behind the desk, greeting you with a friendly smile. 

Just down the hallway are the offices of the coaches and support staff, including Director of Player Development Brad Fast, who also happens to be Lindsay’s husband.

While some people might hesitate at the thought of having their significant other or spouse as a coworker, Brad and Lindsay make it work — in fact, they love it. 

“My office is down here and he’s at the other end of the hall — which kind of sounds funny, but we really don't run into each other a ton during the day,” Lindsay Fast said. “But it is nice when he walks out, I’m like, ‘Hey, how's it going?’”

The couple met during their senior year at Michigan State University on a blind date set up by friends. Brad was a defenseman and captain of the hockey team while Lindsay majored in advertising. 

Two years after their graduation in 2003, they were married at the Alumni Memorial Chapel on campus. Now, nearly two decades later, they work alongside each other at the university that brought them together.

The journey back to East Lansing

After Brad retired from his professional hockey career in 2011, he and Lindsay returned to East Lansing from overseas, and they’ve stayed put ever since. The couple has three sons together, all of whom play travel hockey. 

Lindsay is originally 45 minutes away from East Lansing, while Brad is a native of Fort St. John in British Columbia.

“I joke that I won the ‘Where in the world do we live?’ when he retired,” Lindsay said. “We moved all over the world … but we had a house here because he would … come back and train with all the other pros. So, we came back every year and then we just kind of stuck, which was nice to be back in East Lansing.”

Brad was director of hockey operations at MSU from 2015 to 2019 before leaving the school to take another position for a year and a half. 

Lindsay assumed her current role with the team prior to the start of the 2019 season when the former executive secretary retired after 49 years.

Previous coaches and staff members put together a list of requirements they were looking for in the next candidate. They told Brad they thought Lindsay would be a good fit for the role and asked if she would be interested. Lindsay was interviewed and got the job.

“The list of things they had rattled off, in my head I was like, ‘Holy smokes, like that is so, so Lindsay.' And so, no question about the role. The only question was if we could come to work together,” Brad said. “We made it last for a whole month, and then I got a different job, only by coincidence and timing in our lives.” 

The couple reunited in the workplace last year when hockey head coach Adam Nightingale was hired and Brad was asked to rejoin the staff. 

“Three years later, we're right back to kind of where we wanted to be,” Brad said. 

Balancing life as colleagues and spouses

In part of managing a hectic schedule consumed with hockey, their roles allow them to work together as a unit. Brad travels for road games with MSU, while Lindsay stays in East Lansing with their sons to help them juggle their own commitments. 

“As much as we both want to work here, our family decisions actually became a factor,” Brad said. “We're very thankful … the coaches here have been fantastic with us. And it allows Lindsay to be at home on the weekends with our boys going in a million different directions and looking after them.” 

The couple emphasized the importance of keeping professional and personal life separate.

“Lindsay has a really good demeanor,” Brad said. “She can leave work at work and at home at home and make sure that it's professional here, and when you walk in at home, you're at home.”

What Michigan State means to the Fast family

Through all the traveling and moves over the years, one constant in the couple’s story has been MSU. 

“While hockey took us all over the place, this was always our rock or a place that we could come to,” Brad said. “We bought a place here … we'd come stay here in the offseasons and we did that enough where it started to feel more and more like, ‘You know what? This is where we're going to be when everything settles down.' And we haven't moved from that.”

One of Lindsay's duties as executive secretary is getting alumni to come back for visits and games, which allows the couple to reconnect with old friends. 

“It's like a lot of the people that Brad played with or that we've met through the years,” Lindsay said. “Showing that excitement to them and making sure that they feel welcome and excited to come back and then showing them the new energy … for me that just is so fun and makes it even more exciting every day.”

The pair agreed East Lansing, Michigan State and Spartan hockey mean the world to them and their family. 

“MSU has just been, luckily, the heart of everything for us,” Lindsay said. “That's where we met and grew our family here. … It's been a good journey.”