Cheri Doolittle
Dislocated Worker
On-the-Job Training Program
Good Old Fashioned Work Ethic Pays Off
Cheri Doolittle, a single 61 year-old grandmother, recently found it difficult to obtain a secure full-time job despite having had extremely responsible positions in the past. She felt her age and having been laid off was holding her back when it came to finding a new job. She knew needed a full-time position to make it financially and to keep her challenged and growing professionally, but it was difficult to find on her own.
That's all changed now. But back then it had started getting a little tough. Doolittle had been laid off from her job and starting working part-time doing administrative work at the Drug Education Council through Goodwill Easter Seals while she looked for a full-time position. She was at the Drug Education Council for about three months, during which time she took full advantage of the services at the Alabama Career Center, including the resource room.
It was at the Career Center that she found the Mobile Works On-the-Job Training Program and met with Belinda Thomason to discuss what jobs might be available that would utilize her skills. Thomason learned that Doolittle had done a lot of previous administrative work that enable her to handle complex tasks and utilize her excellent customer service skills and thought that she would be a great match with Simply Shutters.
Simply Shutters began in 1989 and designs, creates, finishes and installs high-end custom interior shutters throughout the Gulf Coast, with sales and installation services available in Alabama in Mobile, Dothan and Huntsville, and in Florida in Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Destin and Panama City and in Mississippi in Biloxi, Gulfport and Jackson and in Louisiana in New Orleans.
Simply Shutters was looking for someone to manage relationships and coordinate all aspects of shutter sales and service for two of their major accounts. After an interview, Simply Shutters owners Bruce and Michelle Buechner decided that Doolittle had what it took and she was hired on February 14, 2005.
Simply Shutters puts a priority on top-notch customer service and so that is a major focus of her position. In her job, Doolittle manages relationships with several stores for two major brand name home improvement retailers. She confirms and coordinates production and installation schedules and works to resolve any issues with the stores locally by working through the Simply Shutters distributors and dealers in their area.
If she determines there is a need, then someone from Simply Shutters corporate offices will work with them as well. She essentially keeps her customers happy and does it well according to Bruce Buechner, who states, "Cheri has a very agreeable personality and works very hard to keep customer service at star levels. And because she is so friendly, she's the first person you'll hear when you call us. That takes a certain personality and Cheri's got it. She likes people and our customers can tell."
Doolittle is excited about her job and wants to learn about all aspects of production and operations so that she can become even more valuable to the company and continue to grow professionally. She says, "If I'm a success, it's because I work hard to provide good old-fashioned customer service and I have an old-time work ethic." At Mobile Works, we say that it never went out of style.