Employee testimonial: Healthy work environment encourages excellence | America's Preferred Home Warranty Skip to main content

Employee testimonial: Healthy work environment encourages excellence

A black woman with long hair smiles in front of her achievement of raising nearly $60K for Relay for Life

To look at her today, you’d never know that Ada had joined the marketing team only 18 months ago:

  • Her copywriting efforts have helped customers learn more about America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW) and played a key part in our growth.
  • She’s served an instrumental role in building the company’s connection with the Hispanic community.
  • She volunteered as captain of the 2021-22 Relay for Life fundraising team, leading Team APHW to raise more than $58,000 for the American Cancer Society by the main event—over $60,000 now, and still rising.

So it’s no surprise that APHW selected Ada as their August 2022 Employee of the Month—though she attributes her success in part to the healthy work environment of the company.

A multiethnic team collaborates on a project

What makes a healthy work environment?

Ada has served in multiple work environments and says a healthy one has three main elements in her experience: “There’s support, the opportunity for growth, and the ability for me to be myself.” 

Support from every direction

“Support is important to me because I’ve been in settings where things were very rigid, but nobody knew why. I feel this led to a lot of missed opportunities,” Ada explained. “At APHW I can always ask a question and know that someone will help me answer it. We can always lay options on the table and see why things are the way they are or modify it if it needs adjusting.”

Ada’s experiences as captain of the Relay team helped to cement this realization. “Being captain definitely helped me get to know people, and that’s a really valuable connection to me,” she said. “I loved getting to work with a team of people to share experiences with and bounce ideas off of, while also getting to try new things. There was an end goal, but I had the flexibility to have learning moments.”

A woman raises her arms in triumph while looking out a window

Career growth

Opportunities for growth come regularly—if you’re willing to take them on. Captaining the Relay team was one such opportunity for Ada. “It definitely expanded my skill set as someone who works in marketing, because I got a lot more feedback about what people did and didn’t like, and sometimes the things I was unsure about were what I ended up loving the most,” she described.

Ada’s skill in speaking and writing fluent Spanish has opened new doors as well, both for herself and the company. In researching her presentation for her first annual sales meeting, she found the statistic that 70 percent of new homeowners between now and 2040 would be Hispanic—something APHW could start focusing on right away.

“Now we know just how much of the market would be missed if we didn’t work to make those connections now,” she said. That presentation was just one step on the way to Ada’s next big event: Attending the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) national convention in September. “It’s as exciting as it is important,” she described. “I’m really elated to meet so many people and get more insight into how our sales team will be using the things I’ve been producing in Marketing.”

The freedom to be yourself

Support and opportunities for growth are important, but the freedom to be herself is what gives Ada the confidence to pursue them both. “I’ve noticed that certain work environments expect people to be more robotic than human, and when you spend your time working in a place where you’re not comfortable, you lose the opportunity to connect with coworkers and generate new ideas,” she said. “This place makes me comfortable because I know my ideas will be heard, and even if we end up going another route, I know that my contribution is valued.”

APHW takes multiple steps to ensure the staff understand their value to the company. “They let us know that we are cared for and about beyond our ability to meet metrics,” Ada said. “And when you work for an employer that values you as a person and gets to know you as an individual, it only makes you want to put your best foot forward.”

A woman crosses her arms with a look of confidence

Join APHW today

The employee of the month recognition caught Ada “One thousand percent by surprise,” and she definitely considers it an honor. “I’ve seen the board of people who’ve won in the past, and it’s great to know I’m among fantastic company. This is definitely positive reinforcement that people are recognized for their hard work here, and that the work I’m doing is good,” she said. “A lot of things are possible when you have the support to be your best self, and I plan to be here for a long time.”

Visit our Careers Page or call 888.341.7238 ext. 236 to discover your next career today!

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