Next up in our series of meeting our sales representatives and account managers: Joy! Joy Gilliam is another one of our VPs of National Accounts and has been with HOTELSIGNS.com since 2018. She is devoted to helping customers (especially our Best Western customers) with their signage needs.
Q: Where are you originally from? And where do you live now?
Joy: I am a life long Texan, from Fort Worth. It’s a cowtown city with some culture. My two favorite places in Fort Worth are Bass Hall and the Stockyards. From concerts to rodeos, you will frequently find us in Cowtown even though my husband and I now live in Dallas.
Q: How long have you been in the sign industry? And/or with Intersign?
JG: My venture into the sign industry was joining HOTELSIGNS.com in 2018. Manufacturing and the hospitality industry have been a part of my professional world for a couple of decades. Wow, has it really been that long? Time flies when you love what you do. I enjoy being a part of the vibrant and resilient global community of hospitality.
Q: What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
JG: It is very rewarding to help our clients solve problems and navigate the sign journey for them. At first glance, signs can be intimidating. You can hear the relief when a client understands I am going to walk with them through each step and take care of the signs.
Q: What does a normal day as a sales rep look like?
JG: Two cups of coffee, then I’m ready to roll. Whether a meeting, email, or phone, my day is filled with a variety of events. Conversations vary from obtaining storyboards for us to design a custom sign style, reviewing a new construction property quote with a client, to making certain all the details are in place for when our signs are installed so the property is ready for guests.
Q: Outside of helping clients get the best signs ever, what do you enjoy doing?
JG: My husband and I love to travel. A fun fact is we enjoy destination concerts. While that looks a bit different thanks to the pandemic, some for this year include The Rolling Stones, Blake Shelton, and Andrea Bocelli. And as always, traveling to spend time with our friends and family. We are done with those group facetime dinners of 2020.
Q: What travel accessory can you not do without?
JG: You probably expect me to say my mask and COVID vaccine shot record. My answer is……my sense of humor. Travel is different these days. I can’t navigate an airport or airplane without my sense of humor as I experience all the facets of travel again, especially people watching.
Q: If you could turn one of your skills into a superpower, which would it be and why?
JG: Detail Intuition: To allow for instant knowledge of what a client needs before they even contact me. Wow, service before you even know what you want.
Q: Tell us about a funny travel experience
JG: I got locked in a bathroom once while traveling. Thank goodness for my wooden heel shoe that doubled as a hammer. I broke the lock. Moral of the story: never travel without a sturdy pair of shoes and/or your cell phone.
Thanks, Joy, for giving us some insight about what it’s like working as a VP of National Accounts at HOTELSIGNS.com! We appreciate your passion and dedication in serving our customers, particularly our Best Western customers. You can meet Joy at the 2021 Best Western Annual Convention between October 5-6 (see which other trade shows members of our HOTELSIGNS.com team will be attending!).
Want to work with awesome sign artisans like Joy, Sandy, Dyta, and our ever-growing sign army? (Well, of course you do!) Apply for one of the open positions at our parent company!