July was another great month for me here at my new profit center. My mentor and the employees here started a new weekly counter promotional event for our customers. We have it once a week on Wednesdays and we call it “Hughes Hump Day”. Each week it has grown in popularity and I think the word has gotten out to quite a bit of our regular customers. We try to have a vendor or sales rep agency come into the store and conduct product specific hands-on training with us and our customers. This definitely adds a ton of value and makes our customers feel appreciated. Oh, and did I mention we also provide BBQ?
This month we also had a mid-year performance meeting with the entire profit center. My mentor, Joe Davenport, has been with the company for over 40 years and has a ton of leadership experience. I don’t think there’s a single situation or problem he hasn’t been faced with. Our meeting was very relaxed and provided an open forum for employees to discuss any concerns/issues. It was a very productive meeting and we really are a small, close knit team here.
Joe went over how we’re servicing some of our key customer accounts and also asked for feedback on how we can improve and better align with these customers. We also covered our financials for the month and Joe definitely has us on the right track and everyone here is working very hard to make profit sharing again this year!
I also took some vacation time this month and was able to attend the US Youth Soccer National Tournament as a referee. This was a huge honor considering there were only 96 referees in the entire country that were selected to attend. I was able to meet and get Mia Hamm’s autograph, which was life changing! I also had the opportunity to meet FIFA and MLS referees and pick their brains on how they achieved so much success. My referee career has been moving pretty quickly and I’m loving every minute of it. Now, it’s back to real life…
June was definitely a huge transition month for me. I just finished my first month here at my new training site in Ocala. The majority of the past few weeks have been spent learning about the operational functions within my new profit center. There’s a huge difference between an RF environment which I came from in Orlando to a traditional, non-RF environment here in Ocala.
This past month I’ve also spent quite a bit of time in the warehouse and the counter. I’ve been doing my best to become familiar with the products we stock and also learn customers’ names and faces. The employees and my new mentor have been very helpful in bringing me up to speed and I love it here already. My primary goal has not only been to learn as much about our customers, but also to work hard and show the people here that I’m a part of the team.
There are some pretty drastic differences between the Orlando and Ocala markets. Our customers here are laid back and a ton of fun. They call Ocala “horse country”! There’s a lot of farmland, BBQ, and it’s definitely the horse capital of the world. Being the southern girl that I am, I can’t wait to do some fishing with my co-workers soon!
On a personal note, the FIFA World Cup has consumed my life for the past month and has been a heck of a tournament. Now that I’ve transitioned from a player to a referee, I’ve been very critical of some of the controversial decisions so far. I’m so sad that it’s coming to an end soon, but I’ve definitely enjoyed watching every match!
My first year with Hajoca was this past month and I’m looking forward to many more! This month was jam-packed and very busy for me. It was filled with inventory, training, and preparations for my next phase of training. I spent quite a bit of time wrapping up my educational sections of my Phase I training for the MDP program. This included the operational functions of our profit center which includes accounts payable, payroll, hiring/onboarding process, purchasing, credit management, etc. Where has this year gone? I’ve learned so much here in Orlando and the people here have made every day so rewarding and a ton of fun.
I spent the second week of the month in Naples for inventory. It was a lot of fun to travel there and meet some new faces. This was a very smooth inventory and I was also able to spend some time with some fellow MDPs, which is always a good time. We even had time to catch a little bit of sun after we were done!
As I begin to move into the next phase of my training, it is so bittersweet for me. I’ve built so many great relationships with my co-workers and mentor here in Orlando. Saying goodbye is never easy! I’m excited to start the next phase of my journey in Ocala and I’ve already met the people there. They seem really enthusiastic and are ready to put me to work! I will be starting the Inside Sales portion of my training at the Hughes Supply in Ocala next month. I definitely feel a little anxious to get started and learn about this new market I’m jumping into!