Four Decades and Counting

Well, I think it's a cliche. You stay at a job.

If you really have passion for what you're doing, if you enjoy it. It also is the company itself their passion and what their mission is. It's really fun to come in every day. I'm Terry Weldon, the senior vice president of Support Services at Express.

Do you have any nicknames at work?

Most of the time they call me tee Dub for every now and then they call me things that I can't repeat.

That's Terry Weldon aka T Dub, And despite her youthful voice and sprightliness, Terry has been with the company for a long time, having worked with the founder of Express before the company was even a glimmer in his entrepreneurial eye,

When you put it that way, that's a really long time. But I have been at it for four decades. Yes, my office specifically is a little bit of a mess. It's a fun place, it's full of pictures, it's full of a lot of work, and our department kind of runs the same way.

You've got controlled chaos over there.

Yes, control chaos.

There's a stack of papers, but you always know where what you need is exactly where you want it.

Terry Weldon wears many hats that express your primary goal is to support the hundreds of franchises spread around the world. In other words, she's home base Mission Control.

And our franchises and all of their staff work so very hard every day. We have that opportunity to stand behind them and support them by providing them information answers.

But sometimes it's just a matter of.

Holding their hand and making them feel confident, making them feel comfortable, making sure that they feel like they know what they're talking about. Overall, we say we provide hope, and it truly is. We provide hope to people every day.

Another part of Terry's job is cutting checks, which might sound like a tedious administrative task until you hear Terry talk about it.

Every employee that comes through here, we play a part in making sure that they get a paycheck every week. That is truly amazing when you realize that we are putting nearly six hundred thousand people.

To work a year.

How huge is that when you realize the lives that one single individual is even impacting.

So paycheck is not just a piece of paper to you.

Oh, absolutely not. A paycheck makes people happy.

A paycheck gives them a way to support their family, It provides freedom. We've blessed so many lives, but in turn, what we've really received is the blessing ourselves.

Even though Terry has been an Express for the full forty years that they've been in operation, she admits that when she first took the job, she had no plan to make this her life's work.

In fact, when I actually started Express, I was pregnant and I didn't really have any goal of something I wanted to do. I like numbers, I like the account and I love people. So I had the opportunity to start with this company doing bits and pieces, doing odd

And a lot's happened between now and then.

A lot has happened between my starting until where I am today. The company's changed, people changed, our culture's changed, the environment's changed, and through all that, life changes in forty four decades, As was mentioned earlier, a lot changes.

So no, Terry didn't plan it all out. She just showed up on day one excited to work. And then she did that.

Again and again and again and again again and again and again, again and again and again and again and again again, again and again and again and.

Again and again. Well you get the idea. We'll be back with Terry Weldon after the break.

A strong work ethic takes pride in a job well done. This is the kind of person you need. Express employment professionals can help because in good times or bad, we understand how critical it is to manage your business for today with the right workforce. We offer hiring solutions to fit changing demands. Express knows jobs. Get to know Express. Go to expresspros dot com to find a location near you.

We're back speaking with Express Employment Professionals. Very owned Terry Weldon, whose work ethic and dedication leaves me feeling like a lazy bum. What is your response to someone that says, oh my gosh, you've been at the same job for forty years. That must be so boring.

It never gets boring.

People are people, and people are changing constantly, And no, it's never boring. It's a puzzle. It's a continuing, ongoing puzzle that you get to try to put together.

But it goes beyond simply not being boring. For Terry, there's a special power that comes with stability. There's a peace of mind, a sense of security that allows her to be a source of support for her family. She is happy being the safe harbor, or better yet, the solid rock for the more adventurous types to leap from.

A lot of my family.

They're true risk takers, and I'll push them every day to do that. Don't look back, try something, take that. What do you have to lose? But I enjoy exactly where I'm at and giving somebody else that opportunity, I guess makes me feel good.

And then of course there are the relationships that she's built with her coworkers over the years.

So there's the relationships.

It's the arguing being part of a team, and you know your team inside and out and they know you, which helps us to forgive each other's flaws when you know them so well and you know their background and you know who they are, what they are, what they're doing and why.

Yeah, what you're talking about sounds a lot more like unconditional love, where you're not always happy with each other on a moment by moment basis, but in the long run you're there.

Absolutely.

It's we describe our department as family and brothers and sisters, So brothers and sisters fight, but when somebody outside wants to mess with you, you know you've got you know somebody always has your back in taking care of you. So in a sense, it is a work family, and you spend more time at work than you do at home, so you might as well have that relationship and have that family feeling.

Did you ever feel like sticking with this job for as long as you have that you missed other opportunities?

Every now and then, when you're sitting alone and you're thinking about where you've been and what you've done your entire life, there comes a time when you wonder, was there something else out there?

Did I miss something?

Should I have tried something else? And it comes back every time to me. Doing what you love and enjoying it is not worth my time to second guess I've done this. I'm happy, my family's happy. We're working with an organization that provides people hope.

So there's times that you think about that and you turn around and say, no, what else.

Could I have done that would have been this filling? So no, I don't have regrets at all.

Have you dreamed of, fantasized, feared that day when they bring a cake to your desk?

Yes, you always wonder what that day looks like. And when they're going to say you've been here long enough, you need to go find something else to do, do I fear it. I don't believe I fear it. It's a pattern of life. It's something that I'm ready to do. Ready that's a poor choice of words. I'm okay with being able to do that. And yes, someday they'll come and say you're just too old here, Terry. But they'll

Any idea what Terry's going to do after Express?

My granddaughter shows cattle and I only have one.

She's not going to be young forever.

So whatever she needs, whatever she wants, I want to be there to support her. I want to help her grow into a lovely young woman.

So you're going to be a co rancher.

I will be her helper, let's put.

It that way.

A lot of shoveling.

Oh, yes, there's a lot of shoveling when she lets you do it. But yes, I'm surely she can.

Find a job for me.

Well, Terry, I know you're pretty happy over there at Express, but if you ever want to switch it up, I think you've got a bright future in podcasting.

I'm still nervous.

For on the job. I'm Averree Thompson