Influential Woman · Customer service
Joyce Casey
Works at an ice cream parlor in Florida, Ice cream Parlor
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Her Story
About Joyce
I started out liking people - I like being around people, I like to get to know people. That's how it all began when I was a hostess at 16 in my mom's restaurant. My first real job was actually as a pharmacy tech at a 165-bed hospital in upstate New York when I was just shy of 18. I stayed there for about 6 years, became the lead tech, went full-time, and trained staff through 3 changes of pharmacy leadership. After that, I explored hairdressing for a while, then bartending where I was making great money. I've worked at Walmart in the toy and garden departments, spent about 5 years at Home Depot where I became a head cashier in charge of the whole front end - handling voids, transactions, ProDesk, Service Desk, and self-checkout. But my most rewarding job was with SMX staffing agency during the pandemic. I started in the QVC fulfillment part but after just 2 weeks, they pulled me to work with the hiring team. I did scheduling, walked around making sure our people were doing their tasks, and if someone was having a hard time or a bad day, I'd pull them aside to talk. I had pretty much free reign to do what the situation needed - I could send people home if they had personal problems, I mediated disputes between management and our people, did orientations, taught safety school, and interacted with people on a one-to-one basis. I was very real and honest with everyone, and they all liked me because of that. I also went to school to be a certified medical assistant and passed the state boards in New Jersey, though unfortunately the school got discredited so I had to divert my energies elsewhere. My work ethic is very good - I don't care, unless you physically stop me, I'm going to work. Right now I work in an ice cream parlor, and it's a very happy place with pink and red wallpaper and pink chandeliers - the cutest little place you've ever seen.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Joyce
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
My stepson's father, who was a homicide detective in New York, used to tell me: don't get involved, just don't get involved. This advice has shaped how I approach conflict and situations at work. I've learned to observe situations before getting involved unless it has to do with my family and my children. I don't like conflict - it's not one of my better suits - and I've learned to avoid it and come up with better ways to solve conflicts instead of jumping in.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Pick something you like - you don't have to love it, but you like it - and do as much as you can while you're young so you've got something. Keep one career, I should say, and follow that path. Try not to jump around, because I notice some other women that are in my family, they kept their career, and they kept it, and now they can retire with some kind of a decent income. Build a future for yourself, and do it now while you're young. Just work and do all that - the love and relationships and all that can come later. Right now, focus on what you need to do to survive by yourself. Because if you can stand on your own two feet, you're fine. If you need help standing on your own two feet, you're not gonna go far. And don't rely on anybody except for your mother or anything like that.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The decline of customer service since the pandemic is the biggest challenge I see. During the pandemic, customer service got to be exquisite, but now people just don't care anymore. When I'm out as a customer myself, I see that they just don't give a shit - people suck when they're waiting on you. You can't get good service most of the time. Once in a while you're gonna find a good waitress who's very attentive, but other times these people, you know, you're sitting in a nice restaurant paying good money and you don't want somebody who's just gonna throw food at you. It's so bad, the way customer service has gotten in just the last couple of years. It makes me sick to my stomach. Even when you're at a store, some places are wonderful but other places don't care, and that's sad.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Harmony with people I'm working with and with the people I'm serving is most important to me. I need to have everyone being calm - I don't like fighting. Conflict is definitely not one of my better suits. I don't like it, and I will avoid it and come up with better ways to solve a conflict. I like to observe situations and watch before getting involved. I just like to be harmonious. I don't like to have chaos - I like my day to run smooth, like when the tide is low and the water ripples just like that. I like calmness in my life. That peaceful, calm approach is what I bring to my work and what I seek in my personal life too.
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