Hi y’all!

As part of the Business & Administrative Services team with Carrie Jefferies and Amy Harris, I find myself in a role that supports those that mesh.  I have great respect for engineers and anyone who works on these intricate projects.

I have well over a decade of office administration and customer service experience.  Most of my time before joining Pointwise in late 2017, I worked with some of Fort Worth’s finest arts organizations – namely the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Kimbell Art Museum.  This gave me a diverse wealth of knowledge to be prepared for the many different hats I wear as Receptionist for Pointwise, Inc.  My days are so varied from one day to the next with everything from answering the phone, preparing shipments and receiving deliveries, maintaining office supply inventory, grocery shopping and keeping our kitchens stocked.  Many days include tasks assisting the Sales and Marketing teams as well.  Some days you can find me creating the workbooks for our training courses or coordinating events and catering services.  There is so much variety in my role – I look forward to both the challenges and assortment of tasks that come with it!

TEXAS BORN AND RAISED.  That’s me.  Not only have I always lived in Texas, my home has always been in Fort Worth other than my time in college at Texas Tech University, where I was a vocal music major.  From there I moved back to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and got to work.  The realization that music may be a lifelong love, yet not a career brought me to a few customer service and administrative roles leading to the Fort Worth-based arts groups.  All of this paved the way to my current position, working for this fantastic company!

On my personal side, I am a divorced mom to three of the smartest and best-looking kids I know (if I do say so myself!).  They are currently 11, 9, and 7 years old.  All of them seem to be following in my love of music.  They are also very mathematically and mechanically inclined.  So, who knows?  Maybe one of them will write their own This is How I Mesh articles one day!

• Location: Fort Worth, Texas
• Current position: Receptionist
• Current computer: Dell XPS with Intel i5-2320 processor @3.00 MHz, two 22” widescreen monitors for the many windows I have open at once for juggling my tasks.  My most important peripheral is a pair of Logitech speakers which are essential since they keep melodic metalcore and classical instrumental tunes quietly playing throughout the day to help me stay both focused and relaxed while I work.
• One word that best describes how you work: I am going to claim two: joyfully and meticulously!

What software or tools do you use every day? 

My past work with arts organizations brought me experience with Sage Accounting, and now I am working with SageCRM on a daily basis for customer contact, completing training registrations and Pointwise evaluation requests.  Other tools I use daily are Spark instant messenger, Outlook, and of course the full Microsoft Office suite.  It’s a good thing that I enjoy creating spreadsheets and workbooks in Excel!  I use it every day for tasks as simple as my daily to-do and shopping lists for the office, as well as a worksheet I created to help me keep track of my time for accounting purposes.  I wear so many different hats in my role as receptionist that I just might be lost without this file that keeps track of what I’ve done throughout the day!

What does your workspace look like? 

Open space, clean lines, and small bits of personality in pops of color make up my work area.  Knowing that my workstation is visible to everyone that comes into the office, from the general public to those who join us for a Pointwise training course, I like to keep my space as clutter-free as possible.  I am lucky to have a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows across from my horseshoe-shaped desk. The morning sunshine comes in beautifully, and it’s also great for the African Violet nestled into the corner of my desk!

I enjoy complete experience spaces.  Some of my personal touches are meant to bring on a full sensory experience, so I can be more productive throughout the day.  A set of triple-scented candles from Chesapeake Bay in Georgia peach, sea salt vanilla, and jasmine bouquet give a fragrant, cozy feel.  Then there’s my colorful and fun pen collection, which may have been the reason I’ve been referred to as possibly “high maintenance.”  Hey, that’s okay!  Enjoyment in the small details is part of who I am.  Photos of my family complete my space and continue the personal feel.

What are you currently working on?

Besides my usual projects, right now I am preparing for our next training course.  Training books are being assembled and breakfast and lunch plans are in the works, since we provide meals to trainees during these quarterly three-day courses.

What would you say is your specialty at Pointwise? 

My primary roles can be summed up in a few ways:  event coordinating task-master, office supply maven, and gatekeeper.  I take on catering details for trainings, meetings, and special events, as well as make sure we have everything we need day in and day out.  And when I say gatekeeper, it’s no joke!  Call us – you’ll talk to me first.  Visit our office – my smiling face will greet you as soon as you walk in the door.  I enjoy being the voice and frontline to the public in our Fort Worth, Texas office!

Any tips, tricks, or advice for our users?

We have so many great resources at Pointwise!  From the wealth of knowledge and experience of our Product Development team to our eager-to-help Technical Support and Sales and Marketing teams, everyone here is ready to find answers to your questions.  Be sure to reach out when you have any questions.  We are a welcoming and enthusiastic bunch!

Have you recently read any books or articles we should know about? 

Since I typically have so many books that I want to read at any given moment, I am currently reading three. For fun I am working on The White Princess, a historical fiction novel by Philippa Gregory.  To engage my intellectual and more inquisitive side, This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin was recently started.  I am also reading The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis for the fourth time.  It’s so thought-provoking, this will certainly not be my last time reading this book.

Do you plan on attending any conferences or workshops this year? 

Probably not.  As the one who holds down the fort by answering phones, receiving and directing office visitors and deliveries, conferences do not regularly find their way into my schedule.

What do you do when you’re not surrounded by engineers making meshes?

In my free time, I spend time with my kids and family at home.  I also enjoy going to local live music venues, supporting my friends in their music adventures.  My two cats, Angel and Gandalf, are perfect snuggle buddies when I am relaxing.

What is some of the best advice you’ve received?

A lovely gem I picked up somewhere: “Don’t worry about the outcome.  Enjoy the process of getting there.”

If you had to pick a place to have dinner, where would you go? 

Stemming from my early love of classical music and opera, I am a lifetime lover of all things Italian.  Carrabba’s Italian Grill is hands down my favorite restaurant.  I probably have an unhealthy obsession with goat cheese, and Carrabba’s has the best use I’ve seen: a thick, melting heap of atop a grilled chicken breast smothered in lemon butter sauce finished off with sundried tomato strips.  Talk about mouth-watering and satisfying to your taste buds!