Speaker 1: Well, I think it's a cliche. You stay at a job.
Speaker 2: If you really have passion for what you're doing, if
Speaker 2: you enjoy it. It also is the company itself their
Speaker 2: passion and what their mission is. It's really fun to
Speaker 2: come in every day. I'm Terry Weldon, the senior vice
Speaker 2: president of Support Services at Express.
Speaker 3: Do you have any nicknames at work?
Speaker 2: Most of the time they call me tee Dub for
Speaker 2: every now and then they call me things that I
Speaker 2: can't repeat.
Speaker 3: That's Terry Weldon aka T Dub, And despite her youthful
Speaker 3: voice and sprightliness, Terry has been with the company for
Speaker 3: a long time, having worked with the founder of Express
Speaker 3: before the company was even a glimmer in his entrepreneurial eye,
Speaker 3: Terry has been here since the very beginning. So as
Speaker 3: Express celebrates it's forty year in business, we thought who
Speaker 3: better to talk to for this episode of On the
Speaker 3: Job than T Dub herself to get some insight into
Speaker 3: the work that goes on behind the scenes, and maybe,
Speaker 3: if we're lucky, Terry can give us some tips on
Speaker 3: how to keep showing up day after day with the
Speaker 3: same level of passion she so obviously has for her job.
Speaker 3: Despite being here longer than Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift
Speaker 3: have been alive.
Speaker 2: When you put it that way, that's a really long time.
Speaker 2: But I have been at it for four decades. Yes,
Speaker 2: my office specifically is a little bit of a mess.
Speaker 2: It's a fun place, it's full of pictures, it's full
Speaker 2: of a lot of work, and our department kind of
Speaker 2: runs the same way.
Speaker 3: You've got controlled chaos over there.
Speaker 1: Yes, control chaos.
Speaker 2: There's a stack of papers, but you always know where
Speaker 2: what you need is exactly where you want it.
Speaker 3: Terry Weldon wears many hats that express your primary goal
Speaker 3: is to support the hundreds of franchises spread around the world.
Speaker 3: In other words, she's home base Mission Control.
Speaker 2: And our franchises and all of their staff work so
Speaker 2: very hard every day. We have that opportunity to stand
Speaker 2: behind them and support them by providing them information answers.
Speaker 1: But sometimes it's just a matter of.
Speaker 2: Holding their hand and making them feel confident, making them
Speaker 2: feel comfortable, making sure that they feel like they know
Speaker 2: what they're talking about. Overall, we say we provide hope,
Speaker 2: and it truly is. We provide hope to people every day.
Speaker 3: Another part of Terry's job is cutting checks, which might
Speaker 3: sound like a tedious administrative task until you hear Terry
Speaker 3: talk about it.
Speaker 2: Every employee that comes through here, we play a part
Speaker 2: in making sure that they get a paycheck every week.
Speaker 2: That is truly amazing when you realize that we are
Speaker 2: putting nearly six hundred thousand people.
Speaker 1: To work a year.
Speaker 2: How huge is that when you realize the lives that
Speaker 2: one single individual is even impacting.
Speaker 3: So paycheck is not just a piece of paper to you.
Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely not. A paycheck makes people happy.
Speaker 2: A paycheck gives them a way to support their family,
Speaker 2: It provides freedom. We've blessed so many lives, but in turn,
Speaker 2: what we've really received is the blessing ourselves.
Speaker 3: Even though Terry has been an Express for the full
Speaker 3: forty years that they've been in operation, she admits that
Speaker 3: when she first took the job, she had no plan
Speaker 3: to make this her life's work.
Speaker 2: In fact, when I actually started Express, I was pregnant
Speaker 2: and I didn't really have any goal of something I
Speaker 2: wanted to do. I like numbers, I like the account
Speaker 2: and I love people. So I had the opportunity to
Speaker 2: start with this company doing bits and pieces, doing odd
Speaker 2: jobs here and there. So I was really part time
Speaker 2: and really had no idea where this company was going,
Speaker 2: what it was going to be, but was willing to
Speaker 2: follow the leaders and felt that they had a vision
Speaker 2: and they knew what they were doing and I could
Speaker 2: buy into what this company stands for and the mission.
Speaker 3: And a lot's happened between now and then.
Speaker 2: A lot has happened between my starting until where I
Speaker 2: am today. The company's changed, people changed, our culture's changed,
Speaker 2: the environment's changed, and through all that, life changes in
Speaker 2: forty four decades, As was mentioned earlier, a lot changes.
Speaker 3: So no, Terry didn't plan it all out. She just
Speaker 3: showed up on day one excited to work. And then
Speaker 3: she did that.
Speaker 4: Again and again and again and again again and again
Speaker 4: and again, again and again and again and again and
Speaker 4: again again, again and again and again and.
Speaker 3: Again and again. Well you get the idea. We'll be
Speaker 3: back with Terry Weldon after the break.
Speaker 5: A strong work ethic takes pride in a job well done.
Speaker 5: This is the kind of person you need. Express employment
Speaker 5: professionals can help because in good times or bad, we
Speaker 5: understand how critical it is to manage your business for
Speaker 5: today with the right workforce. We offer hiring solutions to
Speaker 5: fit changing demands. Express knows jobs. Get to know Express.
Speaker 5: Go to expresspros dot com to find a location near you.
Speaker 3: We're back speaking with Express Employment Professionals. Very owned Terry Weldon,
Speaker 3: whose work ethic and dedication leaves me feeling like a
Speaker 3: lazy bum. What is your response to someone that says,
Speaker 3: oh my gosh, you've been at the same job for
Speaker 3: forty years. That must be so boring.
Speaker 1: It never gets boring.
Speaker 2: People are people, and people are changing constantly, And no,
Speaker 2: it's never boring. It's a puzzle. It's a continuing, ongoing
Speaker 2: puzzle that you get to try to put together.
Speaker 3: But it goes beyond simply not being boring. For Terry,
Speaker 3: there's a special power that comes with stability. There's a
Speaker 3: peace of mind, a sense of security that allows her
Speaker 3: to be a source of support for her family. She
Speaker 3: is happy being the safe harbor, or better yet, the
Speaker 3: solid rock for the more adventurous types to leap from.
Speaker 1: A lot of my family.
Speaker 2: They're true risk takers, and I'll push them every day
Speaker 2: to do that. Don't look back, try something, take that.
Speaker 2: What do you have to lose? But I enjoy exactly
Speaker 2: where I'm at and giving somebody else that opportunity, I
Speaker 2: guess makes me feel good.
Speaker 3: And then of course there are the relationships that she's
Speaker 3: built with her coworkers over the years.
Speaker 1: So there's the relationships.
Speaker 2: It's the arguing being part of a team, and you
Speaker 2: know your team inside and out and they know you,
Speaker 2: which helps us to forgive each other's flaws when you
Speaker 2: know them so well and you know their background and
Speaker 2: you know who they are, what they are, what they're
Speaker 2: doing and why.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what you're talking about sounds a lot more like
Speaker 3: unconditional love, where you're not always happy with each other
Speaker 3: on a moment by moment basis, but in the long
Speaker 3: run you're there.
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: It's we describe our department as family and brothers and sisters,
Speaker 2: So brothers and sisters fight, but when somebody outside wants
Speaker 2: to mess with you, you know you've got you know
Speaker 2: somebody always has your back in taking care of you.
Speaker 2: So in a sense, it is a work family, and
Speaker 2: you spend more time at work than you do at home,
Speaker 2: so you might as well have that relationship and have
Speaker 2: that family feeling.
Speaker 3: Did you ever feel like sticking with this job for
Speaker 3: as long as you have that you missed other opportunities?
Speaker 2: Every now and then, when you're sitting alone and you're
Speaker 2: thinking about where you've been and what you've done your
Speaker 2: entire life, there comes a time when you wonder, was
Speaker 2: there something else out there?
Speaker 1: Did I miss something?
Speaker 2: Should I have tried something else? And it comes back
Speaker 2: every time to me. Doing what you love and enjoying
Speaker 2: it is not worth my time to second guess I've
Speaker 2: done this. I'm happy, my family's happy. We're working with
Speaker 2: an organization that provides people hope.
Speaker 1: So there's times that you think about that and you
Speaker 1: turn around and say, no, what else.
Speaker 2: Could I have done that would have been this filling?
Speaker 2: So no, I don't have regrets at all.
Speaker 3: Have you dreamed of, fantasized, feared that day when they
Speaker 3: bring a cake to your desk?
Speaker 2: Yes, you always wonder what that day looks like. And
Speaker 2: when they're going to say you've been here long enough,
Speaker 2: you need to go find something else to do, do
Speaker 2: I fear it. I don't believe I fear it. It's
Speaker 2: a pattern of life. It's something that I'm ready to do.
Speaker 2: Ready that's a poor choice of words. I'm okay with
Speaker 2: being able to do that. And yes, someday they'll come
Speaker 2: and say you're just too old here, Terry. But they'll
Speaker 2: say it more politically correct. But yes, there'll be a
Speaker 2: day that they'll come and hopefully I will have made
Speaker 2: that decision first, or it'll be a conversation or a
Speaker 2: collaboration of what that looks like.
Speaker 3: Any idea what Terry's going to do after Express?
Speaker 2: My granddaughter shows cattle and I only have one.
Speaker 1: She's not going to be young forever.
Speaker 2: So whatever she needs, whatever she wants, I want to
Speaker 2: be there to support her. I want to help her
Speaker 2: grow into a lovely young woman.
Speaker 3: So you're going to be a co rancher.
Speaker 1: I will be her helper, let's put.
Speaker 5: It that way.
Speaker 3: A lot of shoveling.
Speaker 2: Oh, yes, there's a lot of shoveling when she lets
Speaker 2: you do it. But yes, I'm surely she can.
Speaker 1: Find a job for me.
Speaker 3: Well, Terry, I know you're pretty happy over there at Express,
Speaker 3: but if you ever want to switch it up, I
Speaker 3: think you've got a bright future in podcasting.
Speaker 1: I'm still nervous.
Speaker 3: For on the job. I'm Averree Thompson