Stephanie Ann Klett can tell you about some of the most beautiful and obscure attractions in Wisconsin. She has travelled the length and breadth of the state many times both as the host of the television series “Discover Wisconsin,” and in her current role as Wisconsin Tourism Secretary. And all those travels bring her back to her favorite community- her hometown of Beloit.

Klett was born and raised in Beloit, the only daughter in a family that includes her parents, Fred and Joanne Klett, and her nine brothers. She graduated from Beloit Memorial High School in 1985 and she went on to graduate from Beloit College in 1989.

She has been honored by both educational institutions, being inducted into the Beloit Memorial High School Hall of Fame receiving the Beloit College Distinguished Alumni Award.

She has worn the crowns of Miss Beloit and Miss Wisconsin (1992), but she also has earned the honorary titles of Countess of Cream Cheese, Limburger Queen, Loon Queen, Venison Queen and Musky Queen as she has traveled around the state.

She was host of the longest running tourism TV show “Discover Wisconsin” from 1993 to 2011, which raised funds and awareness for the AIDS Resource Center. Beloit Regional Hospice and the Stateline Boys and Girls Club.

In 2011, she was chosen by Gov. Scott Walker to become Wisconsin Tourism Secretary. In the last five years, the tourism industry in Wisconsin has grown by 30 percent, supporting 191,000 jobs in the state.