The More Things Change: Susan Bajorek’s Sales Career Story
Susan Bajorek has seen technology evolve in myriad ways during her 15 years at Cox. One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is Cox’s commitment to helping employees find work-life balance and achieve their goals. Keep reading to learn about Susan’s sales career at Cox.
Susan Bajorek recalls her early days with Cox Communications back in 2007.
Like many, Susan knew about Cox because she had Cox Cable in her home. She was ready to experience a new career adventure, so she said ‘over and out’ to her job at a walkie-talkie company and joined the Cox team just as phone service was being ushered in.
“It was just basic service back then,” she said. “Now we have all these advanced products!”
Things have certainly changed since then, and Susan has loved every minute.
“We constantly bring on new products,” she says. “You’re constantly learning something new, which is amazing. I can’t believe how much technology has changed.”
And speaking of change, Susan has recently moved into a new role. After crushing sales for 15 years (and winning four “Winner’s Circle” trips—all-expenses paid luxury vacations awarded to top-performing salespeople), she’s now Sales Coordinator for Cox Communications in Las Vegas, NV. Her decision to try something new was a little hampered at first by the fact that she wasn’t sure what she wanted the new thing to be. When this job opened, however, she knew immediately it was as right for her as she was right for it. She already knew the salespeople, and through her sales work she was already familiar with the fulfillment side of the business. Change is certainly a good thing, especially when it’s enhanced by prior wisdom.
“I build more rapport with customers by just talking and gaining their trust,” Susan notes. “I’m always trying to do right by the customer.”
In her new role, Susan supports salespeople by taking a lot off their plate, handling incomplete and non-revenue-generating orders so that the salespeople can focus on what they do best—sales!
“It’s just a warm environment,” Susan says of her work at Cox. “Very welcoming. The people here are amazing.”
Like all of us, Susan knows change isn’t always easy. COVID-19 transformed our lives in unimaginable ways and Susan said she particularly missed in-person company events during the pandemic. But she enjoys the flexible work options she’s experienced at Cox, and the ways she’s been empowered to explore new adventures.
They say the only constant is change, and at Cox we encourage our employees to explore and discover new paths within the company. Susan’s is one of many examples of how a career with Cox can advance, expand and reach new heights. With courage and conviction, we can change the world…one change at a time.
Interested in exploring sales jobs at Cox? See open positions here.
Learn more about Cox Communications here.
What the COVID-19 Pandemic Taught Me About Work-Life Balance
Written by Chrissy Smith, Media Consultant @ Cox Communications
Work. Life. Balance.
Since my three-plus years of working for Cox Media, I have heard that phrase a lot; but the COVID-19 pandemic really put those three words into perspective for almost everyone.
I’m sure over the last two years, we have all asked ourselves: “How can I keep my career a priority while also caring about my family?” Not just caring, but worrying. Hoping. Praying that everyone would stay safe and healthy. Believing that family time matters more ever.
When the pandemic shut everything down in 2020, it was a lot to process. Suddenly I became a work-from-home mom, my kids (ages 14, 12 and 7) were with me 24/7, my gym was closed so my endorphin surge was running low, there was no toilet paper anywhere and no one had any idea what the future would hold. Everything was so uncertain, but like most moms do, I had to act like it was totally normal. So while trying to talk to clients and business owners about their struggles, I was planning movie nights with my kids – so thankful for streaming TV. I was scheduling walks in the park or “yard-work-days” just to keep everyone busy.
Chrissy and her family.
The kids were confused. I was confused. My husband, who is an emergency room registered nurse, was overworked and exhausted. Everyone in the world was in the same boat, but we were all treading different types of waters. The past two years have been indescribable, so I won’t even try. Instead, I’ll share what I personally learned.
Here’s what the pandemic taught me about work-life balance:
- When my daughter gets home from school and wants a hug, I should grab her tight, even when I’m on a weekly conference call with my co-workers and everyone can see us hugging.
- When my autistic son needs to talk about his latest passion – it’s currently hurricanes – I can stop what I’m doing at work for 10-15 minutes and give him my undivided attention.
- When my middle son is exhausted from school and sports, I can make him an ice cream sundae and let him have a little extra TV time.
- When my husband gets home from work, completely drained by all that he’s seen and treated in the ER, I can have dinner ready for him and make sure his scrubs are washed and put away for the next day of work.
Honestly, I’ve learned I can just about do it all. And because of that, it’s turned me into an even better employee. I’m a career-oriented professional, a mom who is there for her kids, a supportive wife and a compassionate friend. What more could I want?
Interested in exploring jobs at Cox? See open positions here.
Learn more about Cox Communications here.
How a Cup of Coffee Led to a New Job
Chuck Prellwitz didn’t participate in Cox’s RandomCoffee program expecting to find a new job at the company.
Like many of us, Chuck simply found it more difficult to stay connected with his colleagues during the isolation of the pandemic. He missed the little moments of connection that came with being in the office, like catching up with a coworker in the cafeteria or spontaneously chatting with a leader in the elevator. Working remotely is great, but getting to know colleagues in the virtual world is definitely more challenging.
Cox’s RandomCoffee program was designed to help instigate these moments of connection again. It provides an opportunity for Cox employees to meet with colleagues in a virtual setting, interacting with people from different departments and locations.
Grace Murphy, Talent Solutions Coordinator at Cox Enterprises, is the mastermind behind the program. She said that in Cox’s “flex-forward” environment – which empowers teams to make decisions about the ratio of remote and in-person work that is best for them – RandomCoffee is the perfect way to stay engaged, whether you’re in the office or at home.
“RandomCoffee supports Cox’s culture of relationships and provides an opportunity to chat, and maybe even network, with coworkers you may not meet otherwise,” Grace said. “Whether you’re talking about your pets, how long you have been at Cox, how you could partner on a project, or simply how your day is going, RandomCoffee will leave you feeling more connected.”
How does RandomCoffee work? Employees are invited to opt into the program via email. After they express an interest in participating, they’re randomly matched with another Cox employee. From there, both employees can coordinate a virtual meeting time and get to know each other.
These caffeine-fueled connections can lead to more than just new friends, though. For Chuck, RandomCoffee led to an exciting new chapter in his career.
“When the opportunity to meet new people at Cox came up through Random Coffee, I was so excited because it provided an easy way to meet someone new and learn about what they do and who they are,” said Chuck, who was a Human Resources Project Manager for Cox Enterprises at the time.
Chuck was matched with Amit Vyas, Associate Vice President of Team Member Experience at Cox Enterprises. Chuck and Amit hit it off and after their first meeting, Amit began informally mentoring Chuck on a quarterly basis.
“I then met Brian Anderson for Random Coffee, who reports to Amit, and we subsequently met for coffee in person two more times,” Chuck said. “Throughout these meetings we talked about family, church, careers and life. During our career discussions, I informed them I had been a Project Manager my whole career but really wanted to find new ways to leverage my transferable skills to help other areas of the business. I wasn’t really looking for a new role at Cox but Brian and Amit said if they run across any that I might be interested in they would send my way.”
A few months later, a new and exciting IT position opened up in Amit’s department. As fate would have it, it was just the kind of role that Chuck was interested in.
Chuck said that the relationships he established with RandomCoffee allowed him to get his foot in the door. In January, he began his new role as a Senior IT Mobile Strategy Analyst at Cox Enterprises.
“I never would have thought I would be working on Mobile Strategy for Cox, let alone not being a Project Manager; however, thanks to Random Coffee I have entered a fun new time in my career,” Chuck said.
We’re hiring! Click here to view open positions.
How Luke creates buzz-worthy solutions
Luke Wagner is an Advertising Account Executive at Cox Communications. He’s also a beekeeper, athlete, outdoorsman and graduate of Cox Media’s sales associate training program. Read about his journey below.
Freedom and flexibility
Luke Wagner is a modern-day renaissance man.
He’s a beekeeper who manages 30 hives. He’s an avid soccer player, playing four days a week. He’s an outdoorsman who loves fishing and hunting. And he’s a sales and marketing expert at Cox Media (a division of Cox Communications), helping local businesses find brand success through television and digital advertising.
Luke, who lives in Baton Rouge, finds that the flexibility of his “day job” allows him ample time to explore his many interests outside of work – be it harvesting honey, playing sports or taking fishing trips to Alaska.
“I love the freedom of working here,” said Luke, a media consultant who has been a Cox employee for three years. “If I’m doing the right things and hitting my goals, I don’t have a set clock-in and clock-out time. The PTO policy and pay scale are amazing, and I have a really great team behind me. From my very first day at Cox, everyone was so nice and treated me like a member of the family.”
Learning the ropes
When Luke graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in marketing, he knew a bit about sales; he had worked part-time in college, selling health and life insurance. But he wanted his full-time career to be something more fun; optimally, something that combined his passion for marketing and sales.
“I knew a good bit about television marketing – I interned at a local broadcast station one summer – and I knew that’s the area I wanted to be in,” Luke explained. “I knew that Cox had plenty of avenues to explore that.”
To help Luke learn the ins and outs of working in sales, Cox offered Luke a position in the Cox Media sales associate training program. This program is designed to help new sales employees become better acquainted with sales best practices and progress their careers.
“The sales associate program really helped me get off the ground,” Luke said. “They teach you, instead of throwing you to the wolves. You learn how to sell, how to be a better salesperson. If it wasn’t for starting off with the sales associate training program, I wouldn’t be the successful media consultant I am today.”
Luke fondly remembers his very first client at Cox Media.
“It was a local garden center,” he said. “We helped them launch a Christmas tree campaign in November and December, and they ended up actually selling out of inventory and having to order more, which had never happened before. That was a really fun day.”
Now, Luke oversees 20 clients each month, managing their requests and concerns and ensuring that they are getting the most value for their money – clients like a local restaurant owner, who was struggling to attract customers, and was uncertain about the future of his beloved business.
“He was going through a really hard time a couple of years ago trying to get his name out there,” Luke said. “We started at a low budget, but I stretched it as far as I could and now, he’s thriving.”
Forging connections
As a salesperson, Luke is keenly aware of the importance of relationships.
“I love being able to start conversations with strangers,” Luke said. “That’s a lot of fun in the sales world – striking up a conversation and talking to someone as if we’ve been friends for years.”
Luke strengthens relationships with his clients by listening to their needs, providing bespoke solutions and delivering excellent sales results. He’s even been known to sweeten the deal by sharing honey and beeswax soap from his own hives.
Luck recognizes that it’s vital to have strong interactions with teammates, too.
“Your workplace relationships are a big part of your job,” he said. “Find a good group of people that makes you happy. I definitely have that at Cox.”
Interested in Cox sales jobs? We’re hiring! Click here to view open positions.
Interested in learning more about the salespeople who drive Cox forward? Check out the rest of our For the Love of Sales series and follow along on social media using #ForTheLoveOfSales.
13 Questions with…
Alan Campbell, Mobile Auction Support Manager at Cox Automotive
Working at Manheim – part of the Cox Automotive family of brands – Alan Campbell helps deliver an extraordinary experience to clients across the nation, living up to Manheim’s mantra: “Our mission is yours.” He’s also the founder of a non-profit, an avid basketball fan and the subject of our latest “Questions With” employee interview series. Keep scrolling to see his conversation with Elizabeth Saulsbury from Cox’s Employment Brand team.
Elizabeth: Hi Alan, and thanks for chatting with me! You and I are both in Atlanta and we are nearing the end of the workday here on the east coast. What are your plans after work today?
Alan: Hi Elizabeth! Well, let me see…I run a non-profit so I usually spend an hour on that after work, and then it’s family time. We’ll watch a show or movie together while we’re cooking dinner so it’ll be a nice relaxing evening.
E: Tell me about the non-profit. You’ve had some exciting stuff happening with that lately, I hear?
A: Yeah! It started out as a commemoration for my dad, giving away scholarships to graduating high school seniors. And since we started that in 2015, it has evolved into a mentoring program, and we’re going to have our first cohort class in January 2022. It’ll be virtual with Westlake High School in South Atlanta. We’re going to teach them skills that they may not learn in school, like financial literacy, special STEM skills like coding, public speaking, mental health, imposter syndrome…just trying to equip them and prepare them for college. And at the end of the program, we’re going to award them scholarships.
E: How wonderful! What’s the name of your non-profit?
A: It’s called the Nolij Foundation Inc. – the phonetic spelling of “knowledge.”
E: Now, I’m told that you had an exciting run-in with Microsoft this week and that you’re even the subject of an upcoming mini-documentary. Give me the details!
A: Yeah, so here’s the story. Someone nominated me for a home office upgrade and a potential partnership with Microsoft for the mentoring program. I think it was my brother, but I won’t know until the documentary is done. And I won! They came over to my home and gave me a suite of Microsoft products just to make me more efficient and productive and they filmed a mini-documentary about Nolij and even involved some of the students. So it’s pretty cool.
E: That’s incredible! What’s your favorite product they gave you?
A: I would say the headphones, and also the Surface Pro X I’m using right now. It’s pretty nifty.
E: You mentioned that after work is done, it’s family time and TV time. Tell me a TV or movie character that you really relate to.
A: Oh my goodness…
E: Aha, I stumped you.
A: Well, I can actually start with my favorite movie, which is The Family Man with Nicholas Cage. I love Nicholas Cage and in the movie, his last name is Campbell as well. My original goal of trying to work on Wall Street is what he does, and there’s a lot of symbolism in that movie that correlates with my life. And I would probably also have to say Jim from The Office.
E: A classic.
A: Yeah. My personality is like Jim’s. I love that show; I’ve seen it a million times and Jim is that fun guy who can also get work done when he wants to, and that feels like me.
E: Speaking of the office…like many people, you’ve been working remotely since the start of the pandemic. Do you miss being in a physical office, or do you love working from home?
A: I think I’m in between. When it first started, I was like ‘I love this’ but as the months started to pass, I’ve had more trouble focusing. When my wife and son were home during the heat of the pandemic, and somebody would be watching TV or something and I’d be like “turn that down” or my son would be upstairs throwing a basketball against the wall or something…it was chaotic. Now, I’ve found an equal balance. So I guess the jury is out. I love being at home but I also love being around coworkers.
E: I feel the same way. How long have you lived in Atlanta, Alan?
A: Oh gosh…I’ve been here since 2008. I came up here after I graduated from Columbus State.
E: What’s your favorite spot for pizza here?
A:You’ve got to go to Antico. I think the staple location is the one near Georgia Tech, but at any location, the pizza is incredible. My wife is half Italian so we found that place and fell in love with it.
E: As much as I love talking about pizza, it’s time to switch gears a bit. What do you love most about working in the automotive side of Cox?
A: I would say the interactions with dealers. Working in automotive is much different than my background, which was with AT&T. You’re around a lot of people, but working with dealers is such a specific thing. Learning about their businesses and how they’re in the community…and how we can bring solutions from Manheim to them. It’s challenging but fun, because every dealership is unique and works in different ways. I love hearing their stories.
E: There are lots of different businesses within the Cox ecosystem. What’s one area of the company that you’d love to learn more about?
A: Because of my background, I’m very interested in what’s going on with our media side of the business at Cox Communications. What they’re doing with TV and mobile and retail. It would be interesting to learn more about that.
E: You’ve mentioned before that you love basketball and that it’s a big part of your background. What’s something that your upbringing in sports taught you that you think everyone should know?
A: I would say that a hard-fought lesson is that the best players have amnesia. What I mean by that is that when you make a bad play, you can’t dwell on it. If you continue to linger on that bad play or bad game and beat yourself up about it, you won’t be able to move forward. I try not to focus on the past, but on what I can change in the future.
E: One last question for you. What advice would you give to someone who’s looking for a job at Cox?
A: If you want to work at Cox, be prepared to be in a different type of environment – and I mean that in a good way. I’ve been amazed by the culture here. I would advise anyone who wants to work here to expect something different. Don’t come into the company trying to be a polished person – just come into the company trying to be your best self.
E: Thanks for the conversation today, Alan. It’s been great getting to know you!
A: Likewise. Take care!
Interested in learning more about Cox’s culture? Click here.
Benefits Focus: How Rachelle Uses Cox’s Health and Wellness Benefits
Rachelle Petusky is an Industry Intelligence Manager at Cox Automotive. As a wellness enthusiast and mother of two, having access to excellent, affordable healthcare is very important to Rachelle. At Cox, she’s experienced perks that truly take care of employees.
It’s safe to say that health has been top-of-mind for many Americans over the past 13 months. Rachelle Petusky – Industry Intelligence Manager at Cox Automotive in Atlanta, GA – is no different.
Rachelle said that in the turmoil of the pandemic, as well as the mild everyday chaos that comes with raising two small boys, she has peace of mind knowing that Cox’s healthcare benefits have her family covered.
“If a medical emergency was to happen or something came up unexpectedly, I won’t be as anxious about it because I have the healthcare coverage to manage it,” Rachelle said.
Rachelle has worked in Research & Market Intelligence at Cox Automotive for almost 11 years. Having an inquisitive mind is central to her role in data storytelling and answering big business questions, so it’s no surprise that she’s done her own research into how Cox’s medical benefits stack up against other companies.
“Cox has far and beyond one of the best healthcare benefits packages,” Rachelle said, citing conversations she’s had with friends who work at other organizations.
What specifically does Cox offer? It starts with a generous suite of healthcare benefits with various deductible options. Adding onto that are free in-network women’s care, pharmacy benefits, telehealth offerings, FSA and HSA options, supplemental insurance, enhanced coverage for autism and developmental delays, coverage for gender confirmation surgery and more.
Cox also offers ongoing wellness benefits like free onsite health screenings and flu shots, programs to support weight loss and diabetes, counseling, healthy lifestyle coaching and free access to OpenFit and Headspace apps – the latter of which Rachelle found extremely beneficial during COVID-19.
“Working from home, I’ve needed a way to unwind at the end of the day and decompress,” Rachelle said. “Headspace, particularly their relaxation and nighttime activities in the app, have been really helpful to help me reset and recharge ahead of the next day. That being offered as a benefit to us for free is huge.”
Telehealth is another free benefit that Rachelle is particularly grateful for.
“I’ve had great experiences with it,” she said. “The fact that we could see a doctor for non-emergency situations but still in real-time during the pandemic was great. I have two very active kids who get into a lot of things. Being able to pick up the phone, login, wait 5-10 minutes and get a diagnosis on the spot was very helpful. We’ve seen everything from a dermatologist to primary care, getting this concierge doctor experience from home. It’s very nice that Cox waives the co-pay, so you’re not worried about that either.”
Pre-COVID, when her boys were babies and she frequently traveled for work, Rachelle took advantage of Cox’s free access to Milk Stork. This is a service that allows traveling moms to send their milk home via FedEx overnight for free.
“I’ve been fortunate as a working mom who breastfed, being very supported by my managers and the company,” Rachelle said. “It really reemphasized to me how Cox supports working moms and how they value the balance of being a present mom as well as an employee.”
Aside from Cox’s stated healthcare benefits, Rachelle said that an emphasis on wellness permeates the company and empowers employees to take care of themselves. Rachelle herself enjoys working out in group fitness classes and being part of an unofficial Cox Peloton group that schedules weekly rides.
“You’re encouraged to block time to do a workout, to go on that walk on your lunch break, or whatever,” Rachelle said. “You’re very much encouraged to do whatever you need to feel good and stay healthy.”
Want to learn more about employee benefits at Cox? Click here.
Ready to start your own career journey at Cox? See open roles here.
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