In celebration of International Women’s Day, we invite you to learn more about the inspiring women leading Energy Center-Manhattan Pool. Throughout this month, discover their powerful stories and the impactful contributions that have led them here. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Kambrie Long who works here as our administrative assistant/warranty department clerk.
Q: What is your educational background and how it has influenced your career?
A: I completed my Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology in December of 2017, and I am currently working towards my Master of Science in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling with a focus on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Though my current position does not align with my educational background, I am thankful for the opportunity to work for such a great company, one with female leadership. It has been a great learning experience for me.
Q: How did you first get involved in the pool and spa industry?
A: I first became involved with the pool industry after the birth of my daughter in 2020, I happened to come across a job opening in my area that worked perfectly with my schedule as a single mom. I was also fortunate to have such understanding employers; it’s a great atmosphere to be apart of. I have now experienced 2 pool seasons and I’m looking forward to the 2023 season.
Q: What has your career path been like and how did you get to where you are today?
A: I have been on a journey through education and various opportunities sent my way over the years. I’ve worked many odd jobs throughout my college education and was grateful for the opportunity to work in various career paths. It has allowed me to build skills I wouldn’t otherwise have. From my perspective, my career is just beginning. I feel that my path was meant to lead me here. I have a bright future career that I am really excited about. Everything happens for a reason, and I am delighted to be a part of this team.
Q: What is your favorite part of working at Energy Center-Manhattan Pool?
A: My favorite part about working for this company is the team atmosphere. I appreciate everyone here, and the special role we all play as a piece of this giant puzzle that is ECMP. I have never been a part of such a large operating team, and it makes my job that much more enjoyable.
Q: Can you describe your experience with office administration tasks and how you prioritize and manage your workload?
A: Here at Energy Center, I deal with anything from a spa leak to freight damage to a gas stove leak and anywhere in-between. With the area in which we serve, I am always busy with incoming and ongoing claims. Many of my job tasks come to me at random. I may have a single high priority claim in a day or I may have 6-8. It depends on the season and on how I choose to balance my time. I prefer to handle all of my high priority tasks and vendor contacts first thing in the morning, and I leave the organizational aspect of my job for later in the afternoons. I utilize google calendar, as well as a material calendar, and spreadsheets to manage my workload.
Q: Can you discuss a particularly challenging experience you had with handling a warranty claim?
A: For those that don’t know, warranty processes can be quite time-consuming, depending on the situation and various other details. Because of this, there were several claims I was to deal with when starting here last January. I found it to be challenging to resolve these outstanding claims when I first started. Thankfully I can handle such claims today, but it was certainly a learning process, and I am grateful to have such helpful warranty officers and vendor representatives to work with in assisting me until I got on my feet.
Q: Can you talk about a time when you had to make a difficult decision in your professional life?
A: One day last summer, I had a colleague come to me with a warranty claim on a grill. It was unclear as to when the damage had occurred, making it difficult to decide if this was a warranty claim or a freight damage claim. I was given the choice of taking this situation to my boss or figuring it out on my own and arranging for a replacement to be sent to us. As I should have done without debating, I took the advice from my superior and she assisted me in resolving the situation.
Q: How do you stay motivated and maintain a good work-life balance?
A: I stay motivated by setting daily and weekly goals. I also find it easier to stay motivated when working in an office with my supervisor, who stays very busy throughout the day. If I ever need assistance or need help figuring something out (as I have only been here a year and have much to learn) she’s there to assist me. I am able to maintain a good work-life balance by shutting off my work brain when I leave the office in the evenings, and allowing my drive home to be a release from the day’s stress and prepare to be in the moment with my family when I get home. Music or a podcast or a phone call to a friend helps me with this.
Q: Can you talk about a time when you had to take a risk in your career and what the outcome was?
A: I am not one to take risks, as it often leads to conflict and I typically try to avoid that when possible. One risk I did take was making the decision to continue my education while also working here full-time in my current position. Thankfully my boss is supportive of me and allows me to alter my schedule to make everything work. If it weren’t for Kimberly being so understanding and flexible, I wouldn’t be on this journey for my education.
Q: What is your current role and what do you consider to be your biggest responsibilities and accomplishments?
A: My current role is administrative assistant and warranty clerk. My main responsibility is filing warranty claims and co-op claims and arranging reimbursement from companies for warranty parts, travel and labor. Additionally, I take great responsibility in database-basing work orders and filing all work orders and paperwork in an organized, accessible manner. My biggest accomplishment would be the number of claims I was able to resolve for our customers in the past year.
Q: What is one project or initiative that you are particularly proud of and why?
A: I am really proud of the work our Marketing Advisor, my supervisor, and I have been doing to transfer all of our company’s information to new software. It is an astonishingly large task and a very important one as well. I can’t imagine how time consuming it would have been for my supervisor to do this project alone.