Kayla Butler

Honestly, my support group. That being my customers - they're fantastic to work with. We call them the unspoken heroes because people think that the police officers are the ones that are first responders, but police officers wouldn't have jobs if it weren't for dispatchers, right? So they're wonderful, and they always provide me with the best feedback, and if not them, then I would have zero job satisfaction, honestly. But my family is super influential in my career, and without them, I don't know if I would be able to do what I do, certainly not successfully. And then second to that, I think my coworkers. Honestly, I mean, we keep each other going. We boost each other up when we need it. We're there to support each other when we need it. We've got each other's backs in those regards, too. I would contribute that to all three of those - my customers, my family, and my coworkers.

The best advice I think I have received in my career is not to take things personally. There is an opportunity to have those personal conversations when it's offensive or anything like that, but you just don't know when somebody's having a bad day, especially in our field of work. So if you have a disgruntled customer, or even a disgruntled co-worker, not taking those things personally and just carrying on with the job, I think was probably the most, or the best advice I take. A lot of folks love to come to me to vent, whether it's a customer or a co-worker or even my husband, and so being that buffer for people, I think is one of my favorable personality traits. Like water on a duck's back, I just let it kind of roll off, and I'm here to listen. But then when you need the advice, I will give it, but I will never give you unsolicited advice. But I'm here to listen to anybody, really.

Get out there and meet as many people as you possibly can. In sales, connections are super important. It's all about who you know. Referrals are great. I would say if you are able to spend two years, boots on the ground, shaking as many hands as you possibly can, getting your face out there, getting your name out there, and really, truly building a reputation for yourself, is ideal, and that comes back tenfold come year three. But definitely getting out there and establishing that you're good at what you do. Even if you have to sometimes fake that, there are no dumb questions. There's a mass of successful women out there who are all rooting for any one individual, any one woman, to just be the best version of herself authentically, and I think that's really super important for us women to remember - that we are who we are for a reason. But allowing people to understand that we are who we are for a reason, and authentically just being ourselves, and nothing more, nothing less, I think is super important for young women to understand.

Navigating customers' needs and priorities, ultimately, and ensuring that they are getting exactly what they need. We're an investment - what we're providing to them is an investment, it's not a cheap investment. But we want to make sure that what they're getting, or what they do get is exactly what they want and exactly what they deserve. If you can imagine sitting at a desk for 12 hours a day, maybe three days in a row, with very minimal breaks in between, maybe the opportunity to use the bathroom once or twice, having to eat food - breakfast, lunch, dinner - at your desk while managing calls, there's an emotional toll, but there's a physical toll on your body when you're in that situation. And we want to provide them with, and treat them with the utmost care that we possibly can. So I would say that that's super challenging. Personally, the biggest challenge that my husband and I face is just navigating our calendars and making sure that we have home time and can do the fun things with our kids that we want to do, seeing each other on the weekends, and making sure somebody's at home with the kids all the time.

Personally, my values, my morals, right? I will never bend my morals for any one person. It doesn't matter if you're a customer and you think you're right. I don't put myself on a pedestal, but I have standards, and I keep to those standards. And I expect a lot of people, but I understand sometimes those expectations cannot be met. But I will never bend my morals for any one person. I think aside from that, my family is my priority, and there is no one job in particular, no person in particular that could keep me from being with my family when they need me. That comes first and foremost, so those two are most important to me.