Employee Profile

In an attempt to make the company more dynamic, we are putting employee profiles on our website, as well as an email blast. It's strange writing about yourself, but here is mine! 

Employee name:Catie

Nickname: Boss lady

Theme song: “Green Onions” – Booker T and the MGs

Favorite pattern: Maharam Small Dot

Favorite bad movie: Army of Darkness

Catie grew up in the retail world, and caught the sales-bug early. In grade school, she worked in her Mother’s shop, Magpie, in Arlington and Alexandria VA. Realizing sales was in her blood, she absorbed all that she could from time on the sales floor, filing purchase orders, or pretending to be 18 so she could be snuck into trade shows.

After high school, Catie moved to Richmond in 2005 to get her BS in Marketing from Virginia Commonwealth University. After a semester in Richmond, she accepted a position at EQ3, a contemporary furniture store in Carytown. There she met Will (U-Fab RVA) and Travis (U-Fab owner). After the heartbreaking close of EQ3, she started a three year run working for the ALDO Groupe, a shoes and accessories chain. There she was promoted from key-holder to store manager in a matter of months, and was ranked one of the top 5 Store Managers in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Then the opportunity came to work with the old team again, and put all she had learned to good use on a new challenge. So now she is off the sales floor and at U-Fab R&D helping overseeing the sales team, applying her corporate knowledge, and helping Travis remember where he put stuff. Catie aspires to one day own her own business and be a nationally recognized bowling champion (although she needs to start bowling first).  

Catie is living the single life in a pink house in the Manchester district with her cat, The General.  

Truths XXXI

I know it is a holiday created by marketers, but I love Valentines day.

2011 Resolution Round- Up Recap.. RRR...

It's crazy to think how quickly this year flew by. There were definitely its amazing ups, and very low downs but all in all it was a fantastic year!

I set my expectations for this year a lot higher than I had in past years, and for good reason! It was time to get out of my funk and start enjoying life again. Last year my resolutions to help aid in my 180, were:

1) Get healthy.
2) Continue the search for my career
3) Enjoy the little things

Lets start from the bottom, enjoying the little things. This year I taught myself to stop and enjoy whats around me. I was able to be surprisingly content over a cup of tea and a book for hours. Being able to just stop was a huge win for me in itself.

My career search wasn't so fruitful. I did go to a couple interviews with a large Richmond based Marketing firm, which was eye opening. Looking back, I've realized I am a little too by the book and in order to break into marketing I need relay everyday Catie more into interviews.

And now number one: Getting healthy seemed like the most daunting resolution every, as well as one of the most popular, but this one I give myself an A- on! It took a pretty hard kick to the soul, and my Father nursing me back to tell  me it was time to put some gym shoes on. This year I joined the gym and (outside of retail hell holiday) I have been going on average every other day to get a work out in. It has lifted my spirits and dropped my weight! So far I have lost 6 lbs, and 17" off my body. It feels amazing, and people are definitely starting to notice. The changes to my body are really just a bonus, because my main intention was to get my mental health in check. And now I can safely say I feel better than I have in years. I am happy, and for that I think 2011 has been the best year yet.


Stay tuned for my new 2012 resolutions.

xoxo
Catie

Christ-miss

The biggest gift I received this year was being able to put my life in perspective. Those tumultuous four years are starting to fade, and I've begun to look forward to the next phases of my life. 

This year durring the holidays I was finally able to look back and remember my Mom fondly instead of feel greif. Her absence is still hard to comprehend, but I no longer think of the loss as much as what she left me with.  

...her ability to laugh. 

Best Day Ever 2011

How could I have almost forgot about Best Day Ever this year! I tell ya, when my grandparents told me, beware time goes faster than you think, I wrote it off as a crazy elderly person thing to say. This was back in the days when a 3 month summer break felt like a year. Now I don't even have a summer break, or know what summer is for that matter!

Anyways, one morning a month ago I woke up and realized I hadn't been tattooed in over a year. This is probably a good thing for my Dad, but I figure this is a healthier addiction than most. So off I went to schedule a tattoo appointment for November 16th. Being that getting tattooed is a purely selfish act, I figured it seemed like the right day to have BDE 2k11! 

Best Day Ever started really early this year due to a district meeting at 9 o'clock in Williamsburg. After I got back into town, I was ready for some feel good activities! Feeling in a cheery mood, I went to my store and called a couple seasonal applicants that I wanted to hire and offered them jobs! Definitely one of the parts of my job that I truly enjoy, giving people opportunities is such a satisfying thing. 

After a quick lap of window shopping, I took myself and Good Omens our to lunch. Every time I invision a day off, it's always me at some coffee shop with a book... all day. I didn't have all day, but I did have two hours until my tattoo, so I knocked out a good portion of my book and sipped ice tea in the sun. Meanwhile, I was catching up with friends via text, phone and email. Something that seeming seems harder to do now that the holidays were coming up. (I'm sorry everyone, I miss you!)

I arrived to my tattoo appointment early and excited to see what Katie had drew up. I got my typewriter tattoo about a year and a half ago, and I loved the outline, but I wasn't as sold on the actual tattoo as much as I wanted to be. Someone said it looked like a cash register and I hadn't been able to get that out of my head. So, I wanted to add some surrounding flowers and touch up the typewriter. What she had drawn was perfect! More dog woods, babys breath, and a lucky clover! The tattoo took two hours and I was smitten. At the end, Katie, who was an avid luck dealer and four leaf clover enthusiast, reached into her wallet to show me her dried four leaf clover collection, and promptly gave me one. She told me to keep it with me durring my looming black friday and always. I was so shocked at how nice people can be, I was beaming. 

                                        

After a few re-energizing sips of Vitamin water, I realized that I needed to eat before I passed out from all the blood rushing to my arm. I had asked a new handsome man in my life to join my BDE dinner, so off we went to get my favorite sandwich in Richmond, the grilled pineapple and brie sandwich at Commercial Tap house. It was wonderful. We got the table by the window and watched the rain, and talked about Star Wars. Being that no Best Day Ever is complete without a milkshake, we headed to Cook Out after a rain filled sprint to the car. The night ended with laughter and bad sci-fi movies. 

This was definitely the most relaxed BDE that I have had, and it was very much welcomed! Almost a month later  (I know, I have been bad about writing this up!), tattoo all healed, and milkshakes gone I am still feeling the effects of such a wonderful day. 

xoxo

Catie 

Giving Thanks.

With all the hustle and bussle of the holidays fast approaching, it never occurred to me that in an instant they would be here! Working in retail is so highly focused and strategic around the holidays, that I forgot to look up and see what all of the work is for.

This year is a little different. This year I am finally seeing what it is all about. In the past I have driven home early Thanksgiving morning just in time to toss together my famous clover rolls and a pumpkin pie, sit for a few hours and then make the long drive home. While I enjoy seeing my family, it is so hard when I'm having to work 13 hours the next day. So this year I opted to stay in Richmond.

I thought it would be lonely, but so far, it has been wonderful! Slept in, made a sweet potato casserole, did some online christmas shopping, and set up my tree! The whole day I have been calling and getting texts from friends and family making me feel just as loved as if I was in their own living rooms. This is what I'm thankful for. I am thankful for these people in my life, all of them. The ones who are thinking about me while they are off doing their own celebrating, those who I will be celebrating with later, and those who can no longer be here. I am thankful because this year I realized that family is what you make it. Friends, animals, robots... This is a day to appreciate all that people bring to your life, and let people know how much of an impact they have on yours.

 Hope everyone has an awesome Appreciationgiving Day!

 xoxo Catie

New Additions

In a few days my Dad's fiancee's children will be coming to stay with me! Since I moved into my new home, I have only had Carl as a house guest, but I have felt no need to go out of my way to impress him- he loves me and my dirty dishes. New family is a whole different story. While I have only met them once, I still feel like I am in "first impression" mode. This is the first time they will be seeing me in my city, my home, and my comfort zone.

I'm very weird about my home, it is extremely personal. I often wish that there would be people over all of the time, but I shy away because my home is an exact reflection of me. If it is orderly and clean then I am doing well. If it is chaotic and a hurricane zone, something is wrong. All of my belongings are displayed around me like an out pouring of reminders of who I am. Family photos, coveted knickknacks, books, things that just put me in a better place. Opening my home to someone new is a big deal, because in that moment they will know exactly who I am.

Granted, my home has been slightly chaotic, but they don't have to know that. I have gone so far as buying new towels with matching wash cloths ( I have no wash cloths, they are so strange to me!) so they can see that I have my life together. I know what you are thinking, "These kids are teenagers, I think you are fretting too much about this, dear." True, I know I am. I even have our agenda planned down to the minute- but after September, when our families combine, I will be the older step-sister, and I take that very seriously.

Until then, I will pamper them with ice cream and take them to Busch Gardens for the day. After all, I want to be the fun older step-sister.

xoxo
Catie