11/20/2024
I'm two days late, because life, but the sentiment is evergreen. I've been working on this in my head for a few days and my only regret is that I didn't get to post it in a more timely manner.
This week was the birthday of our Operations Manager, Angela. If you've done business with Vision Collision, you've undoubtedly interacted with Angela. Angela often shares publicly and generously of her love for her people, and it's time to reciprocate.
We met this lovely lady almost 20 years ago when her now strapping young man was a mere kicker in her belly. I remember her baby shower! What a joy it was to see her heart's desire granted as she became a mom. A fiercer and more dedicated Mama-Bear, I never did meet!
We worshipped in the same little church family together for several years the Lord's direction on both families ended that season. We stayed in touch and she reached out a lot when I became a new mom a half a decade after she did.
When our son was around 3, God led both our families to the same new (to us) church again and that was sweet.
In 2009, we started Vision Collision. Our first office staff member came on a few years later and we were delighted to work with Todd's sister. When it was time for her to move on to the next season of her life, we were left with the question of who to hire next.
Though her experience was in Real Estate and Construction, we just knew that person had to be Angela. Something about her. We just knew. We approached her and offered her the job. She turned us down. We asked again. She politely declined. We interviewed other people. None of them were Angela. Finally, we asked her to try it on a trial run and if she hated it or it wasn't the right fit, we could separate with no hard feelings. She agreed! That was 7.5 years ago!
That remains one of the best decisions we've ever made and we're so thankful she said yes! Vision Collision absolutely would not be what it is today without Angela. She has poured her heart and soul and mind into learning, mastering, and dominating this industry. It is not an exaggeration to say that in many way, she's surpassed us in industry knowledge. When people ask us questions about the insurance procedure part of things, it's not uncommon to say, "This is what we know, but the real master is Angela."
It's been our experience that the auto insurance industry can be largely dishonest, manipulative, and predatory. Angela views it as her personal mission to ensure that companies don't get away with any of it at her customer's expense. She treats every single vehicle and client like they are her own. Every single day she suits up and goes to bat for people, trying her absolute hardest to minimize the stress they're experiencing as a result of their accident and ensure they're treated fairly and that they're never made to be put in an unsafe position. Never have I met someone so masterful and astute at politely but firmly asserting and persuading the companies trying to swindle people, "No, that just won't work because you're full of baloney! Now let's go ahead and do the right thing, shall we?" She's so effective because she comes from rightness and respect.
It's rare that a boss has to tell an employee to stop working so hard, but we have this conversation with Angela on a regular basis. She is loyal, hardworking, bright, servant hearted, generous, loving, and possessing of high integrity and conviction --and those are just her professional qualities. If you have the joy of knowing her on a personal level, you see this qualities manifested tenfold!
It is no overstatement to say we could not do what we do without Angela. Throughout Vision Collision's many presentations, Angela has learned and flexed with it all. Whether people are beating down our doors with business or we're in a slow season, she shows up and gives her all. Right now, we're in yet another new version of Vision Collision as she's now working 100 miles away from her boss while Todd recovers long distance, and yet she's still showing up and doing the thing, going with the flow, ever faithfully answering, "whatever you need, let's do this!" If you read our reviews, Angela is frequently mentioned by name and many of our 5 stars belong to her.
It's impossible to capture our appreciation for this woman in a single post. We sent her flowers and some of her favorite cookies as a token of our appreciation and respect, but they hardly make a dent in proportion. I hope this public display of affection helps her feel even just a fraction of the love she's so generous to lavish on other people.
Please join me and Vision Collision in wishing her the happiest (and slightly belated) of birthdays. Thank you for everything, Angela. We love you and we thank God for you! You are a blessing to us and an answer to many prayers!
