Katy never imagined that when she set out looking for work, she’d find a rewarding career with Goodwill that now spans nearly two decades.

Katy, a retail assistant manager at Evergreen Goodwill, has called Marysville home since the late 1990s. Coming full circle, Marysville is also where shejoined the Goodwill team.

Aside from being committed to the Goodwill mission, Katy has also developed a vested interest in helping her colleagues succeed, and she’s found great passion during her time with the organization in helping others achieve their goals.

When asked what has kept her with Evergreen Goodwill all these years, she responded simply with – “I really enjoy what I do.”

During this interview, Katy delves deeper into how working for Goodwill has impacted her life and why she is encouraging others in the community to explore opportunities within the organization.

What sets Goodwill apart from other organizations?  

“The way that Goodwill shows they care about their employees, and it’s not just salaried management,” Katy said. “The holiday bonus that they give out, that’s been going on since I started with Goodwill, and as a cashier three months into my job, … and here comes the president of the company shaking my hand and giving me this check. It was totally shocking.”

What are some of the benefits of working at Goodwill?

“We have an employee assistance program. You know, it’s just a website or a phone number that you can call. For example, I had somebody that had gotten into a car accident, and they weren’t at fault … I was able to get him to the employee assistance program and get him a free lawyer consult, and they were able to help him,” Katy said. “We’ve been able to help so many of our employees with housing, help with food, help with, you know, a bill or something like that.”

How has Goodwill given employees a second chance?

“We do have that ability to say, you know, let’s give [them] a chance. I’ve got a really good feeling about this person, let’s give them a chance, and we’ve got so many opportunities for growth throughout the company. There’s management positions, if you don’t want to be in management, we’ve got the buddy trainer positions, [and] we’ve got the different new goods positions or customer service positions or retail. There’s just so much opportunity for growth and advancement,” Katy said.

How would you summarize why Goodwill is a great place to work?

“Working to help your community. Think of someone that … didn’t have English as a first language or somebody that doesn’t know anything about the computer, a lot of people don’t even know that we have the job training still, so to say, ‘Hey, did you know that we’re a nonprofit? Did you know that we help the community? Did you know that we’re hiring? You could be part of that,’” Katy said.

What are your plans for the future?

“I think [store manager] would definitely be in my sights one day, but I want to wait until my kids are older … [I want] to be able to continue training, 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, [and] continue working with my team. That’s really what I’d like to do,” Katy said.

Interested in working for Evergreen Goodwill or learning more about the positions we have available? Check out our jobs page at evergreengoodwill.org/jobs-at-goodwill.

Evergreen Goodwill | 700 Dearborn Place S, Seattle, WA 98144 | 206-329-1000 or 1-877-GIVE4GOOD