Before joining Harbin’s Door Shop, Shelly Walters had never used a tape measure, worked with wood or had any knowledge of the building industry. But Shelly is resourceful, determined, has a positive mindset, and is a quick study…and at Harbin, that’s all she needed to hit the ground running. To train for her role in Inside Sales at the Door Shop, she spent time with each department learning how casing is attached to the jams, how to run a door slab through the machine for the hinge preps, how to attach casings together, and the different combinations available to make a door have the look and functionality a customer wants.
“What surprised me the most about building a door is how the measurements have to be so exact,” she said. “The production team has to be on their toes and thinking the entire time in order to be absolutely precise or else the door doesn’t work properly. Just 1/8” off on a hinge placement can ruin the whole door.”
Shelly has proven to have that ideal combination of great attitude, quick thinking and dedication to excellent customer service in order to successfully work with a wide range of internal customers at the varied Harbin locations. She loves to be given a project that she can handle from start to finish, researching all the possible options, finding out how long it will take to get it, comparing costs, and all the little things that go in to making the perfect door for the customer.
“What I love the most is how many different components that go into a door and how you can change them to get that perfect combination. For example on exterior doors, you have the inserts, the sidelight option, and the glass in the door options. You can do designs, transoms, a direct set or a flush glaze…there are so many options that it keeps the learning process going. Nothing is ever the same. Even when a repeat order for doors comes through it’s still exciting because there are so many parts to it that it never gets boring. I just love my job,” said Shelly.
Shelly’s nature and work ethic are a testament to her success at Harbin so far. At 19 years old she worked three jobs while at the same time building her own house and going to college.
“It’s important to be happy in life – you have to enjoy what you’re doing or else you won’t find fulfillment. This is the first time that I feel like I’m where I want to be and am supposed to be. I’ve never been happier in my life. And that’s awesome,” she said.
We agree, Shelly, and we think you are awesome. We are thankful to have you here.
