Christy Allen

Self-determination to make myself better. I've always pushed myself to learn more, take on new challenges, and prove that I could do more than what people thought I was capable of. Even when I was told I'd never become an OSR because I only knew lighting, I kept pushing and asking for opportunities to show what I could do. I watched how the top OSRs worked, learned from them, took every class available, and soaked up all the knowledge I could. When I finally got my shot during COVID, I was ready because I had prepared myself through years of self-determination to be better at what I do.

Make sure you like what you do. If you can't get out of bed in the morning and say, okay, let's go do this, you should not be doing your work. There are too many possibilities out there, and life is too short. Work is a big part of our life, and if you don't like your work, then you really should take a look and say, what do I need to do and where do I need to go and how can I explore options. Nobody would have thought that I would have a very successful career in lighting - nobody really even knows about lighting. And yet, it's a quiet little area that when people realize it's not rocket science, it's a good job and you can be very busy and very successful at it. The other important piece of advice is to never burn a bridge, especially in my industry where everybody knows everybody and you don't know who's gonna leave and be in another position that you're gonna have to work with them again. They can go to a factory, they can go to a rep, it literally keeps circling each other.

Make sure that people know - well, first, earn your spot. You have to do your job, do your diligence, so that you can move up. But always, always, always, make sure they know that you want to move up. Because when you do, and you show that you are worthy of the potential of moving up, then unless people know it, you won't get the chance. So, always speak up for yourself, and let people know this is where you want to be, and this is what you want to do. Otherwise, you'll sit in that desk, and you'll always wonder why, and it's literally because you just didn't let it be known. I have a friend who's been wanting to be an OSR, and when I asked my boss why he hadn't promoted her, he said she doesn't want to be an OSR. But she's wanted to be an OSR since I've been there - she would put it in her review, but she didn't tell the vice presidents directly. She didn't speak up for herself. You have to make sure people know what you want, or you won't get the chance.

The biggest challenge is being female. This is a man's industry - anything in construction is a men's industry. Just to give you an idea, when I started as an OSR, I literally was the only female OSR in the western region at Rexel. There was maybe 3 of us total. That is how much a men's club this role and this thing is. Over the last 5 to 7 years though, it seems to finally have kind of cracked the ceiling, and we're now starting to see more and more females going up in that upper tier. But if you look at all our presidents and you look at all our vice presidents, they're all men still. Working with all the men when you walk in and they all think you're just a stupid female, and you outshine them, always is fun. You just need to know what you're talking about, and you get highly respected.

Honesty, trust, and good communication are the foundation of everything I do. These are basically the footprint or the basis of a good partnership. You both have to make money, but we're both out to better each other. Good customer service encompasses a little bit of everything and is the basis of my whole thing. It means we can trust each other, that we can communicate with each other to know that we are both working toward making each other better. These values have guided me throughout my career and are what I build all my customer relationships on.