When Rocky was looking for a new role in Chicago, culture was the most important thing to him. He knew what it was like to work retail and feel like a number in a big company. Finding Coast Inc. gave him the opportunity to further his career with a company he felt he could utilize his previous experiences and skills while acquiring new ones. Since joining the team last year, Rocky has taken to helping our client expand while training and developing others to be as successful as he is. We asked him to share his experience with Coast Inc. so far.
Q: How did you hear about Coast Inc?
A: I initially heard about Coast from Indeed. It was a time where I was kind of like, you know, majority of Americans were working a nine to five.
Before Coast, I was working in retail where I worked my way up. I went from being a bagger to cashier to a stocker. Then moved into managing a department myself. I really had a self desire for working with people and was able to move up within the company.
In terms of [working there], things didn't really go as planned as I was in the retail industry. It was kind of like one of those [situations] where you had just a high, intense amount of work. However, it didn't really go hand in hand compensation wise. I wasn't compensated for the work I was putting in. That's where I felt really led to seek an opportunity by moving over to the mortgage industry. I was in the mortgage industry for a year and a half, around 18 months, where I was doing a lot of taxes and insurance, auditing, escrow accounts.
It was just a lot of paperwork and whatnot, navigating from different portals, monitor to monitor, just tons of researching, typing. I realized the amount of work that was being put in, again, didn't really match compensation wise. Around June of 2022, I started job searching again.
That's when I heard of Coast through Indeed. I really liked the advancement opportunity. That it's merit based, all the work that's been put in matches your compensation, you know. Being promoted or whatnot, it's up to you. The work you do put in is rewarded.
Q: Did you have any hesitations before you decided to join the Coast Inc. team?
A: If I'm being completely honest, I was definitely jumping out of my comfort zone. When it comes to a management training program, you know, doing public speaking because I was an ambivert. Somewhat extrovert, somewhat introverted. You know, it was like working in this industry, you have to have a different type of self-motivation, a self-drive. The ways people are successful in this business are having three things. Having a great work ethic, having a great student mentality, and last but not least, having a great attitude.
Q: What is it like to work with Coast Inc?
A: The people in the office, we're all team oriented. Everybody's always chanting, always cheering on each other, they're just really motivating. And when you're around like a team or environment like that it really pushes you. It's all about building relationships and maintaining relationships as well. And that's kind of the reason why I held back [from leaving] my previous job, because of the relationship I did have with my supervisor. If it wasn't for my supervisor, I would've been out the door many, many months ago before I actually left. The relationship and team building here, the culture, the work environment, it's all great. I love the structure of the business, how we just have it structured and organized. Just really a lot of leadership/personal development, anything that you really need to work on, anything you need to touch base on, you do have that resource, whether it's in the office or reaching out to other colleagues. It's a great work environment.
Q: How has Coast Inc. helped you achieve your goals?
A: This all just comes back to the development, the leadership, the resources we do have here at Coast Incorporated. Whatever you do need help with, whatever development you really need to focus on, the resources are there. You do have that assistance all around in the office. How working at Coast has helped me achieve my goals boils down to having a student mentality and being a student to the game. I've told this to people who are in the same position I was seven months ago when I started off as an entry level sales representative. Be a student to the game, obviously don't expect any answers if you don't have any questions, meaning you should always be asking questions, and that can lead to getting the information you're seeking.
Q: What are the most significant improvement that have resulted from your work?
A: Two of the most significant improvements I would definitely say are my communication skills and time management. Before working with Coast, I never had like, spent time each week planning out my next week. I legitimately never had like a weekly plan. I would just go about my days, thinking whatever happens, happens. I never just really had it planned out. So now, since joining the company, I'm managing my time. Managing myself has really helped me work through my days. And honestly, it's a lot more easier for me to maintain my attitude and have a great work ethic. When you have everything written down, a lot of people, and you even notice yourself, you start to remember it and actively tracking your day. And now that you've written down, it's like you don't really have to remember it on its own. It creates less decision clutter for me. The other thing Coast helped me to evolve and improve was definitely my communication skills. This is a management training program where you get to practice public speaking again and again, daily. You get daily interactions with different types of people, never knowing what you're going to encounter. You never know what kind of personality you're going to get or what kind of person you're going to meet.
Q: Who in the company inspires you most?
A: The person I definitely have to say that really inspires me the most is Terrence. Terrence's attitude, his mentality when going to work, he's one of the best people I trained with. Terrence is this outgoing person too. He's full of personality, you know, and that makes for really great work. Great student mentality to the game as well, and his attitude just overall. He's really good as well. When I trained with him, I definitely implemented things. I was able to implement what he teaches into my work style. And honestly, ever since I trained with him, I've seen a major difference. And again, you have to reach out, ask questions, and seek different perspectives. The answer is always right there. That's the benefit of having a student mentality, you know, just asking questions. You have answers. If you don't have any questions, you don't have any answers.
Rocky grew up in the East Uptown area of Chicago. He considers himself a kind of go with the flow type of person and before starting with Coast Inc. in June, he was working in the mortgage industry where he learned account management. Throughout his education, Rocky was involved in sports and played collegiate and semi-professional football. He considers himself very business minded with an interest in accounting and business operations.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. You can learn more about Coast Inc. here.