In our June issue, we take a look at Katee Moore, service advisor at Williamsburg, Va.-based American Pride Automotive, and how she has been able to implement friendly, effective customer service along with an improved CSI score. But as Charlie Marcotte, owner of American Pride, can attest, her story goes far beyond simply raising the company’s CSI score.
At 15, Moore was pregnant, around the same time her father left the family, leaving her mother to raise four kids in poverty. She had little to no career opportunities, and at 16 was raising a son, hoping to be able to graduate high school one day.
She started working night shifts at the local Great Wolf Lodge, later transferring departments to become a retail lead. At the same time, she was able to stay on track and graduate high school on time in 2011.
She joined the American Pride team in 2013 to assist in basic recordkeeping and accounting. Over the years, Moore excelled in her duties, taking on additional service roles when necessary, inspiring Marcotte to promote her to the service advisor role in 2017. During this time, she took occasional time off to take classes, eventually graduating with an accounting degree with honors in 2017.
Her husband Tyler, who she met while working at the Great Wolf Lodge, has been able to work his way up in the shop as well, from shop boy to one of the shop’s lead technicians. Customers at American Pride often see the two working together to handle their vehicle repairs.
Marcotte says that taking a chance on Moore has yielded great dividends, not only for his shop, but for Moore’s future and career.
“America may not be perfect but thankfully we have several social safety nets that are designed to offer a ‘hand up’ to those in need,” Marcotte says. “When an individual couples those with a sincere personal desire to do better through hard work and surrounds themselves by an organization who also wants to see them succeed then the sky truly is the limit.”
