In January 2009 I was hired by Kirk and Sheri Weinmaster to do sales at Source Embroidery. I was stale and not doing my employer (Fox FM), my family, or myself any justice by continuing to spin my wheels in my current situation. That wasn't anyone's fault, I just got into an area in my life where I needed to make a refreshing change. I had no idea working for Kirk and Sheri would turn out the way it has. I couldn't have possibly expected to walk into such a great place to work despite my total inexperience and knowledge of their type of business (promotional advertising).
The staff is small, roughly 6 people. Now, for a promotional advertising company that is a rather large staff, but compared to workforces of 40-50 people in broadcasting, six is not big at all. To my credit, I was asked by Kirk and Sheri to come work for them and that made it easier for me to accept, simply because I knew that if I was a complete failure, I was going to be given some chances. They wanted it to work out as much as I did. Good thing I had that rope!
Enough of the background. On Thursday Kirk sent me a text to inform us of the storm and to check on the house. He provided no information on his own situation until I phoned and asked. The basement at Source Embroidery was just about a write-off. In some places, sewer back up had been 3-4 feet high. Water was shooting out of one of the sinks like a geyser. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of machinery and materials in the basement. Roll upon roll of vinyl was toast. A further note on the background: some people do not realize what we produce 'in-house'. Our production level in the basement is extremely high. We, routinely, are printing full vehicle wraps, huge billboard signs, trade show banners, ice logos, etc. over the course of each day. Seldom does an hour, let alone a day, pass where the printers aren't going. For Yorkton, Source Embroidery is quite a store. It's actually quite funny when someone comes into the store and wants a strip of vinyl printed off and they are willing to wait 10 minutes for it! We are busy. We'll need 'a little more' than 10 minutes!
Friday, after we had our home situation under control, I went to Source to see how things were going. Restorex was already there. They are an excellent customer of ours. When you see their trailers and vehicles and marvel at the decals, that's Source Embroidery's work. What Restorex did at Source on Friday is worth another story all onto itself. What an incredible crew.
Kirk and Sheri are the type that look out for others before themselves. I don't think they asked anyone for help, but because they surround themselves with such good people, there was lots of it on hand at the store to help with heavy lifting and other chores to help the Restorex crew move a little quicker.
After lunch, Kirk banished me back to my house to make sure things were good on my home front (Kirk and Sheri talked very little about their own home, but they definitely had water damage in the basement and even on the main floor). As I write this, I am feeling somewhat self-absorbed as I still haven't asked them how things are at their HOUSE as opposed to the store. Kirk still checked in late in the evening on Friday to make sure my family was good. Even though he had his own battles (much bigger than mine), he made it abundantly clear that if Jenn and I needed anything at all we were to call them. Amazing.
On Sunday, Kirk and Sheri donated half of the showroom to those that may be in need of clothing during this difficult time. Other than in this blog, that donation will go pretty much unnoticed and not publicized.
Their work ethic will be on display this week, though. If not for the big oven Restorex has in the basement, we'd be back to work on Monday morning and it would be 'business as usual'. If you saw what they did on Thursday night, you would say 'impossible'. The reality is that Restorex heats the basement to 120 degrees in order to dry everything and then they'll sanitize the basement. Eventually, everything will be re-done. I suspect by Wednesday, our show-room will turn into a makeshift/temporary shop where we can print the vinyl that needs to be done and we'll soldier on.
To current customers: give us a few days and we'll be back in action. You'll get the same service you have been accustomed to.
To potential customers: wouldn't you want to work with a team (Source Embroidery) that looks out for others before they look out for number one? Your job will get care better than if it was Kirk or Sheri's own personal project. That's the way it has been at Source and it's the way it will continue to be. The credit goes to Kirk and Sheri for putting employees in place that have similar values. Heidi Derbowka (embroidery, retail), Jason Sheppard (screen shop, installation), and Kelsey Jones (graphic artist) all have the redeeming qualities Kirk and Sheri seek when hiring. When Dana Rathgeber returns from maternity leave in the Fall, the two best graphic artists in Yorkton will be working side by side, and quite frankly, I would put both of their work up against any I've seen in the entire province in my 18 months experience on the job.
Hopefully the salesman has done his job so that everyone has enough work to do!
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