SUCCESS STORY
Tatianna Murray: "The Goodwill environment helped me mature."

November 6, 2008

Tatianna Murray started working at Goodwill back in January of 2008. "Before that," she says, "my life wasn't good. I was on the streets, selling drugs, doing what I could to survive."

Several stays in jail gave Tatianna time to reflect on how she might do things differently the next time she got out. She got herself into a life skills class in jail, and when she was released on good behavior she started working with Goodwillas an RTW tagger. Mirsada Causevic, Assistant Processing Manager, was her supervisor at the time. Says Tatianna, "Mirsada made me feel like I was a part of something and that she wanted me around. She was always there for me, and at that time, that was the only person that I felt had my back that way. She made me want to be a part of Goodwill."

At first it was a challenge for Tatianna to get to work on time and finish a whole day. But she worked hard and quickly achieved her personal goal of tagging 36 racksin one shift!

Clemence Casperian, Director of Retail Operations, became her next supervisor. "Clemence is so supportive and caring, she wants me to go back to school," says Tatianna. After four months as a transitional employee, Casperian promoted Tatianna to her current position as Shipping and Receiving Clerk.

"I've never been around people like this," Tatianna explains, "their support made it worthwhile for me to work hard at everything I do." "Working with other people was a challenge for me, I'd always been on my own, and this was the first time I needed to be a team player," Tatianna says. "My co-workers helped me with that a lot. Now, when my tasks are done, I'll print tickets or fill out bill of ladings on wares and RTW—just making sure everything going on the truck is right. I learned that we work better as a team."

RTW co-workers Vicki Chong and Debra Shaw were good role models for Tatianna. "They came to work every day, on time, made sure all the work got out, and they were so funny and fun, "she recalls. "They were good people to look up to and made me look forward to coming to work every day." Tatianna reflects about her life before coming to Goodwill, "back then, my mode wasn't about working. It was about survival on the streets. Now I've got possibilities. I pay my bills, I'm stable, independent, smarter. I make better decisions. I'm dedicated. I want to grow. The Goodwill environment helped me mature."

In the future, Tatianna imagines working either in real estate or with youth in trouble. "I have a good mouthpiece, so selling houses would be a piece of cake." She smiles and adds, "I'd also like to work as a youth counselor to help someone in the same situation as I was so they can change before they get to be an adult. It's pretty much all about giving back."

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