New Employee Jay Andrew’s Got ‘Spring’ in his Step!

by Jay Andrew, Vollmer Houston  Listen to the podcast

Spring is a time of change and renewal, and that’s pretty much what I’m embracing at the end of my fourth week here at Vollmer. That, and a sweltering case of “spring fever,” and because I love quotes, please indulge me with this one from Mark Twain:  “It’s spring fever… You don’t quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

How true.

Maybe I didn’t know exactly what I wanted or what I was looking for in my career, but I knew I wanted something.  Change.  Growth. Something new and challenging and maybe a bit out of my comfort zone.  After all, (here comes another quote), “we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”  That’s Max De Pree, and if you don’t know who he is, check him out.
 

I’ll be reflecting on these bits of wisdom as I continue to take the “deep dive” into the diverse set of B2B accounts that are now part of my new world. Why just yesterday, I was touring a forklift manufacturing plant with our client, Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America (MCFA). How cool is that? I’ve also been supporting another client’s efforts at a plastics trade show in China. The client is Kraton, a leading global producer of engineered polymers and the world's largest producer of styrenic block copolymers (SBC’s).

Huh, you say?

Just take a look around, and you’ll find you’ve probably come in contact with Kraton’s products in one form or another. These polymers are used in many applications, including adhesives, coatings, consumer and personal care products, sealants and lubricants, and medical, packaging, automotive, paving, roofing and footwear products.

Who knew?

In closing, I leave you with this: Whenever you’re faced with unexpected change, adversity, insecurity, self-doubt, hesitation, uncertainty, or fear of the unknown, just think, WWMD?

“I've been popular and unpopular, successful and unsuccessful, loved and loathed, and I know how meaningless it all is. Therefore, I feel free to take whatever risks I want.” – Madonna

Or if you prefer, WWWD?

“If you're going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

Embracing Change: From Client to Vollmervillian

by Ariana Montelongo, Vollmer Public Relations Houston Senior Account Executive

"Change is as inexorable as time, yet nothing meets with more resistance." Benjamin Disraeli

If one thing has been constant in my life, it’s change. I can always count on it to strike and it never fails to surprise me. As much as I can count on change to happen I can count on it to teach me a lesson.  I’ve come to understand that change, with all its unpredictability and certainty, is like the crazy uncle you avoid like the plague at family gatherings. But when you face him and you’ve been around him for a while you realize he’s not that bad and that he means well, so you learn to embrace him.

***Listen to the podcast version***

Embracing change isn’t always easy but there’s always a valuable lesson to learn from it. I began to embrace change at a young age. I was only six when my family and I moved from the Rio Grande Valley to the east coast and I dealt with culture shock and having to learn English (as with most RGV residents, Spanish was my first language). Then there was the time during my seventh grade year when I attended four different schools in three different states because my dad kept getting relocated for work. There was also the time I lost 150 pounds – though this was a change I highly anticipated, it was none the less a difficult one. But my most recent change came last November when I left the corporate world and went from being the client to being the agency. Here are a few things I’ve learned during my transition as a new Vollmervillian:

• I will always strive to provide my clients the same quality and professionalism that I received as a client.
• I have a fountain of resources in each one of my fellow VPR teammates. Whether I have a question about social media or film production, I know that an expert is only a phone call away.
• My passion multiplies each time I get to work with a new client or a new project. Currently I’m passionate about making every Houstonian count in the 2010 Census, ensuring that credit card consumers know how the new Credit Card Act will affect their spending habits,  promoting the world’s largest car parade, the Art Car Parade, held right here in my hometown of Houston and more.
• I embrace the fast pace of agency life because it challenges me to become more efficient and I appreciate that there’s never a dull moment.  
• Time sheets have been difficult to embrace, but I have hopes that soon we’ll become best buds.

The cool thing about change is that it doesn’t discriminate; it’s sort of an equal opportunity employer. No one is immune to change and I hope we never find its cure because I’d be lost without it; it has always been a faithful companion. Change has given me the opportunity to grow in spirit, mind, and body (or in my case it’s helped me shrink some of my body).  And while I know that change is inevitable, I’m ready to face it because I know that I have the support of my family – both the one at home and at work.

As I reflect on the changes that have happened throughout the last few months that I’ve been at Vollmer, one thing stands out clear in my mind: The most natural transition for me has been to put my Passion and Expertise in Action. It comes so naturally to live out the Vollmer creed.