Employee Spotlight - Austin Barlow

Our heart is our talent, and we do everything possible to inspire the people that drive our company. This employee spotlight series will offer an inside look into the culture and community that make up PJ. Learn more, firsthand, from the people who have found a home here.

First up, we have the recent winner of the 2017 Customer Service Rookie of the Year, Austin Barlow.

A few words from Adam Becker (Director, Inside Sales)

Austin has been with PJ for 9 months and has quickly established himself as a key member to the team and organization. Because we have done some hiring in our Customer Service team over the last year, the candidate pool for this award was loaded with 5 individuals! The Rookie of The Year award was put up for vote within the team and while they were armed with some statistical data for each candidate (sales, productivity, customer satisfaction, inbound phone calls), the eventual winner would be best judged by his or her peers. By popular vote, Austin was selected as this year's Customer Service Rookie of the Year! Congrats, Austin and to all the candidates; you are all doing an amazing job keeping our customers front and center of your focus! We are all glad to have you aboard!

A little about Austin

What inspires you to come to work everyday?

For me, my biggest motivator and joy of this job is constantly learning something new every single day. Whether that be a technical piece of knowledge or an added intricacy about a vendor website. And there is certainly no shortage of information to learn.

List five hashtags that describe you

• #KaraokeeStar
• #Motivated
• #FullOfEnergy
• #BluntAndToThePoint
• #SocialButterfly

What is your secret talent?

I have a singing voice that puts Whitney Houston to shame.

Any random facts you could share with us?

I am a country music and concert junkie that frequents country concerts as often as I can, usually once a week. I also have gotten back in the running groove and have been running 1 half marathon a month this summer thus far.

If you were an animal what would you be?

I would be a wiener dog.

How many cups of coffee do you drink in a day?

This is a tricky question because it differs from day to day, but I probably average 8-10 big-boy sized cups of coffee a day .