New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Three who love their jobs
It wasn’t hard to find people who love their jobs and their companies in this group of Top Workplaces winners. They’re the core of the workforce. We spoke with some of them.
KC Kyle
Name: KC Kyle Employer: Power Home Remodeling
Job title: Remodeling consultant mentor
Town of residency:
Stamford
Years with company:
three
How you wound up in the industry: I never expected to work in home remodeling, and especially not on the sales side, but after college I was bartending and a close friend of mine couldn’t stop bragging about how much he loved his company and career. He spent months trying to get me to apply until I finally took the plunge and interviewed with Power Home Remodeling.
What you love about your job: My job allows me to push myself as an individual without ever losing sight of my team, our customers and Power’s purpose—to improve everything we touch. I’ve also gotten to meet more than 3,000 homeowners over the last three years, both in Connecticut and Tampa, and that’s always rewarding.
What you love about
your company: Power is a community — it’s a family. We all put each other ahead of ourselves and that builds a culture of trust. I know that my colleagues, managers and leadership have my best interests at heart, and that’s allowed me to push myself further than I ever thought possible. Power is also laser focused on development and growth. This company has allowed me to evolve from a 23 year old kid who was scared to a growing professional who moved to Tampa to help open a new office, who is taking on a management role and who has become a better person inside and outside of the office.
Fun fact about your job: Speakers at Power’s leadership conferences have included Colin Powell and Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
Pat Sheary
Name: Pat Sheary
Employer: Darien Library Job title: Programming
librarian
Town of residency:
Stamford
Years with the company:
Seven
How did you wind up working in the library: A lifelong passion for books.
What do you love about your job: I can honestly say that I enjoy my job more today than I did on the day I was hired. Who knew that working in a library would deal with so much more than books? While my job has expanded since that first day, the one constant that remains the same is the quality of the staff with whom I work. My colleagues here are an incredibly smart, interesting and diverse group who are incredibly generous and supportive.
What you love about
your company: Starting at the top with the director, I am always offered help with whatever project or undertaking I embark upon. That level of support has given me confidence to take on challenges I might not have taken on in another environmentwhich prevents my job from ever becoming boring.
Fun Fact: The Darien Library is the busiest public library in the state.
Lynn Ridberg
Name: Lynn Ridberg
Employer: Greenwich Emergency Medical Service Job title: Paramedic
Years at company: 32 What do you love about
your job: Aside from being a paramedic, I also teach CPR, first aid and advanced classes for health care professionals. I love educating the community about what we do on the ambulance so they would not be as fearful and, most of all, that we are not “ambulance drivers” but educated medical professionals that are bringing the emergency room to them to start treating them immediately. My workplace is more like my second home as we work long hours, have stressful situations sometimes, and because of that, we consider our coworkers more like family.
What do you love about your company: GEMS is a great place to work not only because we are a family, but also they provide us we yearly physicals, reimbursement for a gym to stay fit, excellent health benefits, tuition reimbursement to further our education and continuing education to stay the top clinicians.
Fun fact: When I was graduating from high school they had us write down what they thought we would do when we got older. I wrote down “paramedic.”