Lisa Ellis

I have not worked full-time since my summers in college. however my experience as a mother of two and dealing with teenage students and their myriad complaints and issues uniquely qualifies me for the customer service industry. I have no office experience but am eager to learn the inner workings of virtual customer support.

While I do not have any related work experience to share with you. I am highly motivated to make a fresh start. After a debilitating stroke in 1993 that left me without use of most of my left side. I have everything I can possibly do to rebuild my life as a survivor. Many people tell me that I am the strongest person they know and I can't disagree with them because I AM strong, very much so! The doctors gave my family NO hope or a meaningful recovery. Yet, here I am doing all of the things they said I would never do. I've been driving since '98 and I've been a lunch lady for 23 years at two different schools, 21 of those at my current school.

Roughly 20.5 years after the injury my husband of 20+ years simply left me and our life behind to fend for myself after nearly 23 years of marriage. My only job during those years was as a wife and mother of two young children. It took two miserable years to untangle our lives and when the ink was dry I found myself with no ability to house myself. Thanks to my parents who, blessedly were willing and able to help me financially I have a very nice home. They purchased it outright for me since I don't earn enough to make a house payment or rent, even if it was a relatively small amount. They also pay my property taxes and homeowners insurance while my income covers utility bills, groceries, and medical expenses. I don't tell you this to get sympathy from you, I tell you so that you will know just how hard I will work for you, I will work to learn whatever I need to learn in order to be able to give you all of my determination, my steadfast loyalty and the best damn employee you will ever hire! I love my job as a lunch lady,

I love interacting with the students, the teachers, ad sometimes their parents when they volunteer to help us out. What I don't love is driving back and forth to work during the nasty Iowa winter months. Currently I work fewer than 10 hours/ week. That's four days instead of five. Physically and cognitively a 40 hour workweek is just not something I am confident I will be able to work full-time if I can do it from home, where it's just me and my seve do however, it is my belie that I will be able to put in a 40 hour workweek if I can do it from home instead of within the concrete walls fill with squealing and often yelling teenagers. At home, it's just myself and my seven year old Boston terrier, Izzy. I don't even have to let her out to potty since she is litter trained and does not need to be let out at all. I can shut the door to my office if she becomes too much of a distraction. She is also an emotional support animal for me and is likely to plant herself near my feet where she usually is and be a calming presence if I start to get stressed while working. As a lunch lady who works with teenagers I'm certain that I've experienced the worst any customer can throw at me. Thus, I'm certain I will make an extremely patient and kind contact to customers frustrated by situations they cannot resolve on their own. I love helping people, it's one of the reasons my job is perfect for me.. In every single interaction I have with a student my most important goal is to send them into the rest of their day with a smile on their face and in their heart. I often worry that I might be the only person that smiles at them that day. So, I gift them a smile even if I've just delivered bad news for example, a student comes to my line to purchase a la carte items but when I pull up their lunch account I can see that it's not only empty, it's overdrawn tand hen I must give them the bad news that they are not allowed to purchase a la cartes until they have deposited funds in their account. I know most of the kids well enough that I can give them a compliment or tease them into smiling, the ones I don't know as well, I find some random thing that connects us. It's only the most surly and cranky students that leave my station without a smile.

It would be my dream job to channel this skill into helping those seeking help over the phone or across the internet.

MY SUPER POWER IS MAKING PEOPLE SMILE!

Give me a shot, I promise you won't regret it.

Initially, my availability is limited to afternoon and evening hours but once school finishes for the summer I am interested in increasing my workload. The "bad" news is that I'm at my best with a late start to the day. The good news is that I'm still going strong late into the evening. I would be happy to share the details of my injury and my life after it because it's an inspiring story, even if I do say so myself but it's not a quick "read" and I feel is much better shared in a face to face setting.. I very much look forward to joining your team. I describe myself as "fierce" but my mother's description is "stubborn as a mule"

I will be thankful for any work from home position you offer me. Excepting, I will not make cold calls for sales of any kind.

Either way, I don't stop until my goal is achieved and when that happens, I simply look for the next mountain to climb.

I am proficient i many Windows programs, although not excel, but I can learn that one if needed have loved to read since I first learned how to do it.