Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Welcome to the Clear Impact podcast, brought to you by PGTI University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sheri Connor, and I am your host.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Good afternoon. We are here on the Clear Impact podcast, and we met a bunch of people when we were in Anlin last year, except for this one lady was tied up with some leadership development, and I've gotten to know her through some leading ladies, and so we just couldn't leave her out. So today we're chatting with Joanne Collins over the phone. Joanne, welcome to the podcast.
[00:00:40] Speaker C: Hello. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: It's a pleasure to have you. Thanks for carving out time. I know you're a busy lady and appreciate your willingness to chat with us. We called the series the Anlin all stars because it's truly. That's everyone we talked to. I think there's 14 or 15 different folks in this lineup now. Everyone was an absolute all star, and so we couldn't leave you out.
[00:01:07] Speaker C: Awesome. Well, I appreciate it. Thank you.
[00:01:09] Speaker B: Yeah. So we're just wanting to do some introductions. So tell us a little bit about your career path, your history at Anlin, your education, like, whatever you want to talk about.
[00:01:19] Speaker C: I am born and raised here in Fresno, Clovis. I haven't lived any further than that. Went to school here. I did start college for a short period of time, but I actually was deciding to choose the military path, and I was going to do in the Marine Corps. Unfortunately, life happens, and I was in a horrific car accident that left me unable to go.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: Oh.
[00:01:43] Speaker C: But it was one of those unfortunate blessing in disguise because it had also brought back my now husband, the guy I was dating back then. It had brought us back together, and we just kind of kicked it off from there. And I've been married now. We just celebrated a few days ago our 17 year wedding anniversary.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: Oh, congratulations.
[00:02:02] Speaker C: Thanks. So, you know, kind of take the good with the bag, sir. I started here at an Lynn. I also just celebrated my 19 year anniversary here with an Lynn.
[00:02:12] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:02:13] Speaker C: I know it seems like just yesterday still.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Wow. That's amazing.
[00:02:17] Speaker C: Thank you. Yeah, I spent one year in our order entry department, did some inputting there, then I was asked to come out into our production field and start doing our scheduling. And 18 years I've been stuck in my little corner out here ever since and just haven't looked back. So it's been great.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Nice. And so what does that involve? Like, master scheduler? What does that mean?
[00:02:40] Speaker C: Essentially, I tell them what to do. It's the best way I can put it.
[00:02:44] Speaker B: You know, okay.
[00:02:46] Speaker C: I like telling people that way. Makes me feel good about myself.
[00:02:49] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:02:51] Speaker C: So we have a system where all the orders filter through and we, we build off of what we call the promise date, which is the date that promised our dealers you're going to get your product to. So I've essentially have this backlog of just orders upon orders, and I filter and shift through them according by the promise dates. And I need to group them together, I need to sort them in a way. So when they are distributed to our production floor, they are sorted through their likings of how they see fit. So I schedule it, I optimize it, I send it to the floor, and then I print a whole bunch of lovely paperwork and labels and do some markings and I present it to them every day and just keep repeat.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Wow, that sounds like a lot of stress.
[00:03:35] Speaker C: It was. In the beginning. I was running around. I felt like with my head cut off, but it kind of, I just get into the groove of it and it's one of those things, you know, I've been doing it so long, I can probably do with my eyes closed. And I genuinely enjoy it. I love the movement of it, trying to figure out what fits best to the departments. Each department here is unique in their own individual ways. And so I've known them for so long and how they operate that I can sit there and I can move things around and I can build it to their likings and I present it to them to make it the best possible way for them to build on the production for. So it's really become a pretty deep passion of mine. I feel good about it at the end of the day, too, so it's great.
[00:04:15] Speaker B: Oh, nice.
[00:04:16] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:16] Speaker B: So it's like a well oiled machine.
[00:04:18] Speaker C: Yes, I'll go with that one. I like it.
[00:04:21] Speaker B: Nice. We had a chance to tour with Brennan and we were very impressed with all of the production facilities and everything and gave a phenomenal tour. And there were some similarities and also some differences and, you know, we're all doing the same thing, but in a little different way. So it's always fun to learn.
[00:04:38] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, I remember when I came and visit with you and you gave me the tour of your guys's facility there. And it's always fascinating and eye opener to see different yet same line of work, how they operate. And it's pretty cool.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: Yeah. When we were walking the floor, I was like, oh, they have GED window machines. I know those.
I know about those robotic arms. I know about that.
[00:04:59] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: And so one of the things that I always like to ask people, especially for an introduction, is around the topic of advice. So, can you share a favorite piece of advice that you've received over the years, whether that's personal or professional or both, if you have something that comes to mind, if you'd share it, that'd be great.
[00:05:20] Speaker C: You know, I was thinking about this one, and I can't actually put a finger on any advice, you know, some beautiful saying that was given to me, but something small has stuck in my head, and it filters through my whole life on how I operate. I am very much an OCD kind of person. I like to have control over situations, to know if it goes wrong, I can fix it. And so, coming into the world of scheduling, the unfortunate side to that is, once I click that button and I release it, schedule it and go, you can't turn back. There's nothing you can do to undo it. And so, trial and error, we learned the hard way. And so it took a lot to get to that point. And there was an individual that was here for quite some time that always came to me because he could tell I had a bad day. It's like, he told me, can you change it? I'm like, no. He's like, then you need to move on, knowing that there's nothing I can do about it. I needed to learn from it and move from it in a positive way instead of sit there and fixate on it, knowing it's not going to solve anything. At the end of the day, what's been done is done. So we just learn from it and we move on. And for me, that was a very challenging thing, because, again, I'm very passionate about what I do. Nobody likes to make mistakes. And so it was hard knowing, going into a field that I can't undo anything that I've already done. I needed to constantly remind myself, like, well, can I change it? No, you can't. Well, okay, so we learn from it. We move on the next step, and we go about our way. Can't hang your head. Can't let it bring you down.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: Right?
[00:06:48] Speaker C: It's unfortunate what may or may not have happened. We just got to learn from it and go, yeah, make us a better, stronger person of it.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: Boy, that's a great piece of advice, because especially when we take a lot of pride in our work and we always want to do our best, it's hard to not be able to go back and fix it right away. So, yeah, that's a big piece of advice.
[00:07:08] Speaker C: Yeah, it is. Because, trust me, I've had to learn. I was kind of thrown into this and I had to learn on my own and figure things out. And it was tricky because I hated it when the production team had come back to me like, hey, you, you know, you missed this or you did that, like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. And it just brought me down and I put myself down and thought the worst of myself. But over the time and being here for as long as I have it, I've learned to, you know, accept it, should that have ever happened again and just grow and be stronger from it. So it's been great, it's been good learning experience from it, for sure.
[00:07:40] Speaker B: And one that you can pass on to others and pass on to the kids.
[00:07:43] Speaker C: And I do, I do. I have the two kids at home. I have eleven year old boy and a 14 year old girl and they are very common conversations we have back at home as well.
[00:07:53] Speaker B: Nice. Well, that's awesome. Well, it's nice to get to know a little bit more about what your job does and a little bit more about you. And I love that piece of advice. And that's it. Thanks for being on the podcast with me today.
[00:08:06] Speaker C: Oh, you're very welcome.
[00:08:07] Speaker B: And we look forward to chatting again soon. I'm sure we'll connect around some leading ladies events or something.
[00:08:13] Speaker C: I look forward to it. I'm so happy to have been here. Thank you.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: Awesome. Thanks, Joanne.
[00:08:17] Speaker C: Alrighty, bye bye bye.
[00:08:19] Speaker A: PGTI University is the customer education team for an entire family of brands. We began with the original easy breeze porch enclosure line, then became PGT, America's leading brand of impact resistant windows and doors. We then added CGI, CGIC, windoor western window systems, new south windows, echo windows and doors, Anlan windows and doors and our latest acquisition, Martin Garage Doors. We create products built to withstand major storms, keeping people safe, secure and prepared. Our exceptional brands give you the protection you need without compromising design or functionality. PGTI University is here to educate you, our listener, so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door products.
