“It is difficult, but not impossible, to conduct strictly honest business.” -Mahatma Gandhi

I find this quote to be profoundly unvarnished. Simple in its message. The void is illusive. It creates an invisible divide between one’s self & our visions. The only chance we stand to encompass our dreams of success, is to understand all things are attainable. It will all depend on dedication, determination, & the valor we use to battle our way to the front of lines with. You don’t meet many people who can say, “I could, so I did.” Oh Contraire- I know about 130 people personally, who can & did. This lead me to the very reason in which I have found  inspiration to share with you some insight on those very people, their dreams, their successes & their personal accounts.

When we think of a job, it is just that.

Job: noun- a position of paid employment, to fulfill tasks appointed to you, providing you with a way to earn an income.

A source of income; a desk; a computer; a duty….or 10. Most of us come to work to earn our pay to live, to travel, to pay for a greater education, to support our children, & so on. Many Americans’ will openly disclose a blatant discontent for their job or career. Complaints are always part of the day to day experience in the working world, this we know.

We often leave jobs because we don’t get the proper support we need from our management. An article written by Lauren Weber of the Wall Street Journal, talks about a study that was conducted by a market research firm; Gallup*. The article explains a surprising, but very common reason why people leave their jobs. Out of the 7,200  participants surveyed, 50% of them said they have left jobs because they needed to get away from their manager. This statistic shows that over half of employees’ leave because of a manager not because of their jobs. We leave because we are undervalued, over worked, under paid, & do not receive benefits that would at least give us the small reason to stay. We dream of one day working in a job where we can find happiness in it. Where we can go home feeling accomplished & satisfied, while still feeling confident in ourselves enough to go back & do it again. A job where ethics are a solid foundation that cushion the success of a company.

We want someone to be honest & truthful on all things inclusionary of our positions at work. To operate as a well-oiled machine, that runs in a reliable manner. We want to feel like we are united with our peers, colleagues, & superiors – even customers- who likes dealing with unhappy customers? We require an environment that is supportive of us as a singular individual, but also as a whole.

In a perfect world, we need for others to respectfully understand that life happens, it happens to all of us; a mother, father, the CEO, the President, a college student. We are deserving of someone showing us thoughtfulness, the same as you or I would show thought for another. We may start off on a good foot, but get run down when we should be enthusiastic about our jobs daily. We must remain dedicated to all things we set forth to accomplish, to allow for growth for the organization and within ourselves so that we never tire, or check out per-say.

Oh what a world that would be if that existed.. but it does.

If you are not familiar with us as a company, Weather Tight was a startup business by Tod Colbert- Owner & President. Yes, he’s one of the guys from the cheesy commercials you see in between some of your favorite shows on TV. Tod embarked on his journey to open & run a business, which may have only seemed like a very colorful pipedream almost 32 years ago. Later on, at the most convenient of serendipitous moments, Tod would cross paths with Todd Schulz, Co-Owner & Vice President. At that very moment you could say the stars aligned, & these two brilliant, charismatic, bright-eyed, hopeful business men would develop the company you all have come to know- Weather Tight Corporation! This is their dream & we are living it with them.

We all work very hard, but very much in an effortless fashion. Not effortless in a tone of unscrupulous or lackadaisical, but effortless in the sense of – I honestly do not dislike my job, & I enjoy coming in every single day. Yes, there are days when I spilled my coffee on my freshly washed white shirt, forgot my wallet, tripped on my way to the car, dropped my keys, forgot my lunch on the counter, left my brain in bed with my cat, & hit every red light on my way in to work. But- my job- is never actually the reason I don’t want to come in. Yes, I get stressed out & my job is often demanding of me, but I am pretty good at managing the typical stresses that come with being an adult in the workplace.

As a young, single mom, I struggled immensely in the work force. I am sure you are all familiar with trying to maintain your sanity, while keeping up with growing children, a full-time job, demanding schedules, deadlines on projects, remembering to reply to that one important email, & still getting a halfway decent meal to the table before 7 pm on a Tuesday night. For me, this constant juggling act had become a struggle I could barely stand up against.  I had been let go countless times from plenty of places simply because my responsibility as a mother undoubtedly dictated my life. There is no choice in that matter when it came to a job. But regardless of how much I needed that job, it was second to my son. I could always get another job, even though it wasn’t always easy, but I couldn’t negate my responsibilities as a mother. I always prayed that one day I would find my place in the career world. I prayed for a manager who was not cruel or unfair, paid time off, & a place that I didn’t immediately regret clocking in the second I clocked in…

Alas, I received the phone call about a job opening at Weather Tight. To be honest, I had only heard of Weather Tight a few times & honestly was not sure what the company even was. I submitted my resume & received a call from the service manager to come in for an interview. I interviewed on a very frigid January afternoon, & I left feeling like I blew the interview. I got home & no sooner than I put my keys on the counter, my phone rang. I was offered the job with an immediate start the following Monday. This was great, especially considering I felt I botched the interview!

This past January marked my 3rd Anniversary at Weather Tight. Let me tell you, this company is like no company I have ever worked for. No matter what company I worked for or where, something always gave or I just didn’t buy into what they stood behind. Not the case with Weather Tight-  I feel at home here & I wanted to bring my best because of the welcoming reception I had been given by everyone I had met, especially Tod & Todd. It made my job requirements feel less like a ‘requirement.’ There was something about the company that just does that to you.. it makes you feel like you matter. Like you,  yes you.. really count! You matter as part of the team no matter if you were a service writer like myself, or if you were a senior manager.

I swear it is something in the water here, or maybe just a really excellent hiring team that just knows if you are a fit with Weather Tight or not. Whatever it was, my dreams were all but unfolding as reality – minus the rainbows, unicorns & a line of men playing trumpets in celebratory fashion! If you would like an example of just how much Weather Tight not only cares about its employees & values business ethics,  but how dedicated they are to your personal growth.. I will tell you. I started out working in our service department as a service hand, within 2 years I have moved into a new role with Weather Tight as Marketing Manager, blogging for the company-among other duties that show return!

One of my personal life long hobbies is blogging. I always kicked around the thought of how cool it would be to blog for a company & get paid to do it.. well.. here I am today, blogging for a company- that saw an opportunity for a talent I possessed  you see? Weather Tight doesn’t dispose of employees’, they find an opportunity that better fits them & allow them to grow with the company rather than hire to replace them! So when I tell you I am literally living my dreams because of Weather Tight, I am not kidding with you in the least.

This company embodies the values that build success, success of Weather Tight & success for those who put in their time & effort within the company. The probability of leaving Weather Tight & finding another like it is extremely low, which is why I have zero intentions of leaving my job. I think I can speak for many of my colleagues when I say, we enjoy being a part of this company. We are shown appreciation, & value as employees. We have been built on a solid core of ethics that not only define us, but continue to allow for our success. How could we not give our dedication in return for such excellent treatment?

Weather Tight is built on a foundation of 7 very strong, important, ethical core values. These very values, have continued to pave the roads to success, opportunity for career jobs, & the job security that so many of us have never been able to find in the workplace.

T.R.U.S.T.E.D- We promise to be Truthful, Reliable, United, Supportive, Thoughtful, Enthusiastic, & Determined for you, for one another & for the community.

We take our jobs very seriously, yes, but we also are given the reward of being able to enjoy our jobs. Of course we have deadlines, meetings, hundreds of emails (getting back from that paid vacation), we have contract deadlines, & finance documents to file, customer follow up’s, stress, & the inevitable bad day at the office. But we also have each other. We have the support system that is pertinent to not only succeeding in personal goals, but to success collectively as a whole team, as a company. Each one of our successes, is all of our success.

We carry out our personal duties through a chain of command to ensure that everything gets done right, all of the time, every time. There is not one human being who works with Weather Tight that will tell you, “I can’t stand my job.” They just won’t! There is no room to ever dislike a job at a company that will always give you their dedication, personally & professionally. It makes it easy to get the job done & to continue getting the job done, RIGHT.

I, myself, everyone who works here now, those who have come before us, & those before them, all shared the same passion, understanding, commitment & drive – to succeed.  We have all worked tirelessly to bring you cutting edge products that will give you the lasted, durability & reliability you DESERVE, but we also work just as hard to make sure that you are protected & that you are taken into consideration when it comes to your needs, desires, questions, or challenges. We want you to know that we are always going to go that extra step, to bring you excellence in your experience and make it a memorable one. An experience that was so stellar it makes you want to tell your friends & families about it! :)

You trust us to be your advocate every step of your journey with Weather Tight from the very first interaction with one of our smiling, intelligent faces at State Fair or NARI shows, right down to that final handshake with your installer on the day your job completes. We continually make efforts to improve our company, not only for you, but for ourselves. We learn from our mistakes, our shortcomings, we rely on the lessons that we are taught because of them. You deserve the best & that is what we set out to give you.

To take home the “2017- Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Ethics” is more than just an award, it is more than just a decal to put on our front door at the office. To us – this family we have grown into here at Weather Tight, this is a master achievement for all of us. To see that our hard work, dedication & time has paid off for us to win an award of such prestigious excellence especially as a business in an industry that is not always known for reputable ethics, is much more than just an award for us.

It shows that we have found a camaraderie among the many different, vibrant personalities that makes up each one of us. We have proven to ourselves & to each other that the end goal for team success has been won. We know just how poorly contractors are viewed by many people, myself included. We wanted to change that. We wanted to make sure that we stand behind our promise to always be better tomorrow, than we were yesterday. We want to break that stigma of “shady contractor”, allowing you the freedom to trust us & know that you will always be our focus. Weather Tight has worked towards this achievement for 32 plus years. For Tod & Todd, this is more than just an award, this is seeing their dreams to fruition & knowing that in them, we have found a reason to give them that success.

We have made it our mission to operate together with the necessary skills that have allowed for us to build one another up, to allow for communication to be open as well as received. We have made it our mission to problem solve & develop as a company. We promise to be the company that can be TRUSTED, the company who will always be truthful with you, the company who is able to be relied upon, the  kind company that remains unified with each other & with our customers. We promise to continually support the mission of Weather Tight, while we show enthusiasm in our dedication to you, the very people we get up & come to work for everyday! We cannot show you how much this means to us…

Let me say from everyone here at Weather Tight, THANK YOU! If it weren’t for you, our customers, our Weather Tight family, we would not be able to carry this torch as confidently, or as brightly, as we do today!

Cheers to many more years of doing what we do best; serving Southeastern Wisconsin proudly for over 35 years as Wisconsin’s Most Recommended Remodeler!