Ever time I make a major decision in my life I pray about it. God seems to always know what I need and when I need it. Last June, after a few months away, I went back to Ashley Furniture. My dad had left me some money when he died and we knew it was time to buy a house. I started with the company in January 2012 and there was a buy out in December 2013. At that time the company became DSG and many things changed, both good and bad. I learned a lot from the training videos and from some amazing managers. I became a trainer in September of 2014 and worked at every Ashley store in the St. Louis metro area between then and now. After leaving for a few months after my dad died in early 2015, when I came back it seemed things were different. When dad died many things changed, especially me. I still loved selling furniture, but felt like something was missing. The company moved my son-in-law to my store as my manager and I knew it wouldn't be long and there would be a move again. It would have been easy to go back to the store I started at, but due to some HR issues with someone I worked with there it wasn't an option. I chose to go to the Shiloh store because I knew the manager was great and I knew a couple of people there. I had no idea how much I would like the people in that store, how welcome they would make me feel and that I would miss them.
Back in January, I received a message on my LinkedIn profile asking if I would be interested in pursuing a position with Heritage Home Group. I had no idea who Heritage Home Group was or why they would be contacting me. I was interested in leaving Ashley, everything there was status quo. But when they moved my son-in-law to the store things began to change. He is one of the best managers I have ever worked for and it was so fun to have him there I found myself selling better than I had in months and feeling encouraged and supported. There were some in the store that thought I was getting special treatment, I knew in my heart I couldn't stay there and it really made me sad. There were several people in the store that were making it very difficult for me and it was time to go. Shiloh welcomed me with open arms and it was great. I looked forward to going to work, but the drive was consuming so much time and I have a twelve year old who needed me to be more present in her life. I started thinking maybe I need to look for another job.
I had forgotten about the LinkedIn message. Next thing I knew I had received an e-mail and then a phone call from the HR person from the Heritage Home Group. It turns out that HHG owns Thomasville Furniture and I then received an email from the St. Louis manager asking if I wanted to come in for an interview. Wow! I was in shock, the timing could only be coming from God. I went to the interview in Mid March (it was four hours long). I realized when I went to the interview that she hadn't even seen my resume yet, so I took it with me. After the interview was over the manager asked me if I wanted to design a room. I was nervous and excited at the same time. She took me up to the design center and just let me do my own thing.
The design center was beautiful, there were so many colors, patterns, different wood finishes on samples and there was a wall of rug samples. There were tables to work on and books to use with magnetic furniture to lay out the room. It was almost overwhelming, almost. :) I put together a room using her specifications and she loved it. She told me the district manager would be calling me for a phone interview which she did in a few days. We talked for over an hour and I had such a peace that this was the right spot for me. I received my offer letter and was beyond excited. I think I still hoped that deep down Ashley would not want to let me go. When I told my manager that I was giving my two weeks he told me the district manager would reach out to me and not to sign the offer letter, well guess what, that never happened. So I signed the offer letter and waited with anticipation for my first day. The head of HR sent me an email and said she wasn't sure how it had happened but I had been hired without filling out an application and I needed to fill one out so it could go in my file. I laughed and thought isn't that the way God works when He moves your tent. He orders your steps and directs your paths.
Tomorrow I am entering uncharted territory. I am going from "We don't change fabrics, frames or finishes..." to "What fabric, frame or finish would you like?" How exciting is that?
