Next up in our series of interviews with the Hazlnut team, we sat down with Nathalie, an Account Coordinator for Hazlnut:
Thanks for joining us, Nathalie.
It’s my pleasure!
To start off, tell us a little bit about your life and hobbies outside of Hazlnut.
Photography has been a major hobby of mine for as long as I can remember. Since I moved to Jacksonville from West Palm Beach, I’ve taken it a lot more seriously. I try to book photoshoots or take pictures of surfers whenever I’m free. Besides that, I love helping small businesses by creating logos and branding kits for them to take their business to the next level. Most of my free time ends up consumed by editing photos and brand assets on Lightroom and Photoshop.
I’ve also devoted a lot of my time to the Honor Flight Network. My high school history teacher asked me to join his volunteer club, and next thing I knew I was on a flight to Washington D.C. with 80 World War II veterans. Since then, I have helped organize local fundraising and volunteered at a wide array of events to support their cause. I highly recommend you research their mission at honorflight.org.
That’s really cool! You don’t really hear about people being involved in those types of causes while in high school. What were you doing between high school and working for Hazlnut?
I’ve always worked in the restaurant industry in some capacity. I’ve worn many hats: hostess, to-go specialist, server, captain, kitchen prep, delivery driver, and in the catering industry I’ve seen how much time and effort goes into being a manager/owner.
Since I moved to Jacksonville, I took advantage of my school-to-work schedule ratio and made sure I gave myself enough time each week to travel. I’ve been lucky enough to visit several states and countries in such a short amount of time, not to mention all the local sightseeing around Florida. In May, I graduated with my Bachelor’s at the University of North Florida. I was working on 2 majors (Business Administration and Marketing & Logistics) and 1 minor (Digital Marketing & Analytics).
How did you start working for Hazlnut?
I got very lucky that a friend of mine worked at Hazlnut already. We studied at UNF and took several classes together, always teaming up for projects. We reached out to one another to catch up and eventually my plans for post-graduation came up. He recommended me for the job and the rest is history!
Awesome! I understand that customer service is a big part of your role as an Account Coordinator. Customer service is definitely a challenging area and takes a special kind of person to make it work. What’s been the most challenging part of your role at Hazlnut?
The sheer volume of it all! I love answering questions, working through feedback and concerns, and simply helping people in any way I can. What I didn’t know was just how often customer service and support is the primary point of contact. At first it was hard to navigate since I was still learning so much about Hazlnut, how to write SQL queries, and how to search through a large database for the specific information I needed. It’s funny because I’ve always heard the saying ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ but my first month at Hazlnut definitely opened my eyes to so much I didn’t know.
We all know that customer service can be stressful, but you make it look easy. How are you able to stay so motivated and passionate about the job?
There are a few mottos I like to live by, these have helped me stay altruistic and motivated even outside of work.
(1) “Do at least one thing every day to change at least one person’s life for the better”
(2) “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”
(3) “Good customer service is less time consuming than bad customer service”
(4) “Happy customers are your biggest advocates and can become your most successful sales team.”
(5) “Above all else, what are you doing to make sure everyone around you is positively impacted by your acts?”
I handle the stress by reminding myself what it’s like to be on the other end. At the end of the day, the customer is just as stressed as I am. Remaining positive allows me to convert my stress to motivation, and channel my energy towards resolving customers’ concerns. It also helps to have such an incredible set of coworkers that I know I can depend on. If the workload catches up to me, or if I can’t figure out a resolution on my own, we have a team of highly skilled and generous individuals to lean on.
Thanks for sharing today, Nathalie! Just one more question before we go: You’ve said a lot of great things about Hazlnut, but what is your favorite thing about working for the company?
It sounds cheesy, but it really is the team. Dick & Steven have done a great job creating a workspace that is welcoming and supportive. Teamwork is essential, especially in a fast-growing business. Working at Hazlnut has allowed me to wear several hats, learning new skills along the way and I know I can always turn to my coworkers for help when I need it.
Since it’s still a relatively small-sized company, brainstorming leads to innovative ideas that are implemented without needing to jump through too many hoops. You really get a sense of ownership and can see the end-result of your hard work. They’ve created a great balance of a relaxed work environment without losing productivity. I’ve never been a part of a workplace culture quite like this one.
Wishing you all the best going forward!
