Hi! I’m Jody!
“I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph..” – Paul Simon
My name is Jody!
I’m ESS media maven/photog/happiness hippie! (I’m totally serious, it’s on my biz cards!) I’ve been with ESS/GWD for over 10 years now. And I thought, ok…I’m gonna come out from behind my screens to re-intro myself to everyone.
How my career started:
SoOoOooOo…oh so many years ago, the owner Gordon & his wife Dianne (annnnd his daughters) secret-shopped me for MONTHS. Back then, I was a Custom Art Framer in my former life, and with that career, you become sort of a bartender/therapist. You reeeeeeally get to know your clients. I learned about births, deaths, weddings, once-in-a-lifetime trips, helped with engagements, ya know, allllll the big life events.
And then one day, Gordon asked me out to lunch to chat. We had talked about traveling, upcoming trips and photography while we were framing – so in my career as a framer, ‘let’s grab lunch’ was never unusual. It happened quite often.
We met for lunch, and we did chat about travel, photography and art for about 20 minutes and then he said, “I want you to come work for me.”
Naively I said, “Are you opening a frame shop?”
Gordon, “Just think of a window as a very large frame.”
Always the salesman.😉
After our lunch, we went back to his facility, and he gave me the nickel tour, and introduced me to Kelly, who of course I recognized…and then put 2 and 2 together…AHA! ‘She came into the frame shop…wait a minute…..’ I said to myself. She and I talked, and laughed and talked, and she made an offer I couldn’t refuse. Ironically, it was my birthday(I’ve always taken my birthday off from any job I’ve had!) and it was the BEST birthday present EVER- a new career, at a kick ass Vermont manufacturing biz!
The first month, was dicey, to say the least. My mom fell ill in the middle of the month, and surprisingly passed away in the weeks that followed. Brutal. Kelly( and the entire team) were so supportive. And, let’s be honest…I started a new career, and had NO idea what I was doing. Window decor? My experience with all window blinds, was from my mom. She made ALL of our drapes/valances/cafe curtains that were ever needed. I didn’t know much. But I learned, and relied heavily on the experience of the team. whew.
Back in those days, I dubbed myself the “Vanna White” of Gordon’s.
(There are home movies of me at 4 yrs old, showcasing every gift my older brother received at a birthday party. I was born being “Vanna”)
See? Actual proof.🤣
I did a lot of demonstrating all the products in our factory showroom, giving nickel tours of our factory, scheduling appointments, quoting shading and Oh so much more!
I ‘helped’ with demo videos. Check this particular video:
Kelly sent to a client. Oh and OF COURSE, they went with us!
I love showcasing GWD/ESS in my own ‘special’ way. Whether it be on our factory runway or interpretive dance.
I’ve been a photog since junior high school, and “professionally” since I was 16, so I was super eager to photograph all the gorgeous shading, drapery and the team behind all the magic of GWD! And the best thing? Shades and blinds don’t wiggle, blink, or clean their teeth. 😉 They stay put, (unlike 4 year old, wiggle worms🤣😂)
One of my first photo assignments was, get this, shade photos!
I’ve traveled throughout the green mountains of Vermont and the Adirondacks of Upstate New York, capturing the stunning shading, our amazing team has designed and installed.
And year after year, time after time, our clients knock off my proverbial socks, with their graciousness, by welcoming me into their homes & businesses, and some even POSED for the camera!
I am also pretty gung-ho when it came to GWD’s Halloween Costume Contests!
(German Cuckoo Clock Girl, Wednesday Addams, Transylvanian From Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hunter Doug(las) Window Decor Designer of the Great White North)
On my way into work, one September morning, I saw an old farm tractor, towing a very full hay wagon behind, as I hit the breaks, the cars ahead also did, yet the gent behind me did not…and I got slammed into the car ahead of me. Thus began 3+ years of concussion recovery. And you betcha, Kelly and the team were SO supportive. From time off, part time shifts, physical therapy appointments, and no light/low light environments, very limited screen time (yea, I had to have the lights off in my office AND I wore sunglasses alllllllll the time and sometimes wear earplugs). Recovery was loooooooonnnnng.
Then life threw me another curve ball, as life often does. (And it’s over 5 years ago already!) This time, it was my beloved in-laws that needed help. My husband and I made the most difficult decision to move to Florida to take care of them. I cried to Kelly, telling her our decision. I knew that my time at GWD was over.😭
Did I tell you how friggin’ awesome Gordon’s is yet? No? Well, this is what Kelly said to me, “Ok, we’ll figure it out.”
AND SHE DID.
I morphed into remote retail assistance, photographer, graphic designer and social media maven. And I LOVE IT. Back then, I came up to Vermont once a year, for 3 weeks and worked in the office, videoing shade production, office shenans and any client that opened up their doors to me. Granted any excuse to leave ‘that state’ was a dream, to me.
I remember one year, I came up to photograph 11+ clients and this happened:
“I was driving on a long, windy, dirt road(that we all know and love) to a residential photoshoot. Ahead of me, I saw an ambulance with a couple firetrucks that were completely blocking the road ahead because of a medical emergency. I instantly called the client to tell him why I wouldn’t make it to his home on time. And what does our AMAZING client do? He got in his truck, drove over a mile and a half, parked on the other side of the emergency, hiked through a very large field to escort me down the ledge, up the hillside to the other side of the roadblock to drive me to his home. I was SO thankful to our SPECTACULAR clients, who feel more like family. You all are THE BEST.💚 And the medical emergency? A student who had a paralyzing anxiety attack. Giddy to report: all was well.”
Look, I LOVE this company. And even though, I’m not part of the official family, I sure do feel it, because of Kelly, Gordon (and everyone over the years), working together to make this the best d*mn shade company EVER! I love that I get to show gorgeous photos of shading, but I’m also equally as giddy, to showcase Sarah vacuuming our factory showroom, side-by-side to Queen’s “I Want To Break Free”
And my weird, wonderful brain, or as Kelly likes to say, on a monthly basis, “You’re brain is FASCINATING.” has proven to be a GWD/ESS trademark, of sorts. Numerous team members will be at a conference or tradeshow or convention in a different state, and get recognized because of our social media. “Aren’t you so-n-so from GORDON’S!??! OMG I love you guys! Your social is AMAZING!” So yes, we create wonderful window decor, but we’re also known for our dance moves.
Just recently, Kelly and Gordon were guests on a podcast, and as they were wrapping up at the end:
The host asked, “Where can people learn more about Gordon’s?”
Kelly, ‘gordonswindowdecor.com and go to contact us, and all of our social media is right there. We have a REALLY REALLY fun social, so I highly recommend our FB, because the gal who does it, is phenomenal!’
Host, *laughing* “it IS VERY fun.”
But what I’m grateful for, the most? I get to share with the world, how FRIGGIN AWESOME our little company is- our team, our service and everyone’s dedication to do right by our clients, our community and our world, is truly inspiring!