Reflecting on a time in the not-so-distant past when looking for a job meant actually venturing out on foot, Katy described the scene of her and a friend entering their hometown Goodwill in Marysville 18 years ago.

“Me and my best friend were just out applying at different places,” Katy said. “Goodwill was the first one to give us a callback, [and] we both got hired on at the same time, actually.”

Although her time with the organization has landed her at multiple Goodwill locations, Katy has since moved through the ranks, and her career has come full circle – serving now as a retail assistant manager at the same Marysville store she was first hired at.

“I love what I do,” Katy said.

Through the years, Katy says she’s had many opportunities for growth and has continually taken on challenges that have uncovered new skills and talents.

Finding great passion in helping others grow within the organization, she’s worked hard at passing on her nearly two decades of retail knowledge in an effort to help others succeed.

“Training, … I would have to say, has become more of a passion for me,” Katy said. “I love being able to give them just that good footing.”

But that level of self-confidence when it comes to public speaking didn’t always come so naturally – it’s something Katy said she learned while working at Goodwill. 

“I was always that quiet, shy kid in school. Like, I didn’t want to get up and talk to anybody,” Katy said. “But once I became a facilitator, … and could just do the new hire orientations and realize that I don’t even need to read off the slide cause I’ve read it enough times, it gave me that confidence that I needed to get up in front of groups, and now I can care less.”

Katy said she’s also found immense passion in being able to contribute to Goodwill’s overarching mission.

“Knowing that what I do every day is making a difference for our community and not just making somebody some extra money somewhere along the line,” said Katy.

Besides building a career with a company that she’s found great personal and professional successes in, Katy described deep gratitude for how much Evergreen Goodwill’s staff cares about one another and has encouraged both her and her family.

“It’s kind of given me that little bit of freedom to work around my husband going to school full time, being a stay-at-home dad, having the two kids, you know just that work-life balance,” Katy said. “I don’t think I would have found it anywhere else, honestly, I don’t think I would still find it at a lot of places.”

On the heels of two decades as part of the Goodwill team, Katy said her hope is to continue having an impact through her work, and she not only has aspirations to grow her own career, but she hopes to continue having a positive impact on her colleagues, too.

“I think [store] manager would definitely be in my sights one day,” Katy said. “[I want to] be able to keep going out to the stores and helping train somebody else or have them come to my store and work with them, continue working with my team – that’s really what I’d like to do.”