Helping people prepare for, find, and keep good jobs is what Goodwill is about.

Terri, who is currently a Retail District Manager, has been a part of the Goodwill family for 27 years.

Retail District Manager
Years of service: 27

Prior roles at Goodwill: Retail Associate, Retail Store Team Leader, Retail Production Team Leader, Assistant Store Manager, Store Manager

What do you like about working at Goodwill? What I love and has kept me at Goodwill is the mentorship that came with all the levels of training throughout my career. Having a space where I can walk in any room as myself, I always felt early on that they didn’t just want me to succeed in the company they wanted me to succeed in my life.

Role Models: Grandmother, Mother, Aunts These role models often spoke using metaphors and cryptic language that I didn’t understand at the time but now I’m inspired to use these words for inspiration, healing, helping, and survival. For example, instead of saying “please don’t tell lies,” they often said, “if it don’t come up in the wash it will come up in the rinse.” Or, instead of saying “please stop being so chatty,” they would say, “you’d talk to a stop sign if it talked back to you.” And finally, one of my most cherished words of advice was offered at times in my life when I was overwhelmed and thought I couldn’t rise to the life challenges. My role models would breathe life into me with these words of wisdom, “it’s not on you to conquer these things, it’s IN you.”

Words of wisdom for others: Voice is not just the sound that comes from your throat, but the feelings that came from your words.

Inspirational quotes: When you operate in your own gifts you don’t have to be at the head of the table, for wherever you sit or stand the table will shift.

Something people don’t know about you: Being the youngest of four, my siblings were often my voice, so I struggled to find confidence in my own words. I found my voice writing poetry. Poetry allowed me to be expressive yet remain soft spoken. I continue to write poetry and aspire to someday publish my work.

Guilty pleasure: Drinking pickle juice from the jar.