Meet Our Team

Standing Side By Side: How Reggie Supports His Team During a Pandemic

Reggie Ellis is a Retail Market Manager at Cox Communications. As he oversees Cox retail stores in Northwest Arkansas, he strives to demonstrate servant leadership during a particularly difficult year.

From an early age, Reggie Ellis was inspired to be a selfless person.

Reggie watched closely as his older brother, a gifted academic and star cross-country athlete, turned down a full-ride scholarship so that he could go straight into the workforce and help care for his siblings.

He observed his mother, a “relentless hard worker” who put the happiness of her children before her own needs.

And now, as a Retail Market Manager at Cox Communications, Reggie says that he tries to demonstrate similar qualities of servant leadership.

“I firmly believe in not asking my team to do something that I wouldn’t do or champion myself,” Reggie said. “Even through our current pandemic, I’m side by side with the team. I want them to understand as much as they think they work for me, I genuinely work for them.”

Reggie is accountable for the overall performance of all Cox retail stores within the Northwest Arkansas market. An employee of Cox for 12 years, Reggie has held a variety of roles: tech support agent, customer satisfaction analyst, direct sales supervisor and more.

“There so many opportunities here; truly the career opportunities are endless.” he said.

Of course, nothing in Reggie’s previous roles prepared him for how to respond to a pandemic! So how does he oversee safety for the stores in his purview? Reggie said that health screening measures are in place for his stores, which include a temperature check for team members before they enter, a mask mandate, gloves for employees, plastic shields at registers and social distancing requirements. Additionally, extensive cleaning happens throughout the day, especially in high-touch zones.

“This gives us peace of mind and makes it easier for us to focus on taking care of customers and communities,” Reggie said. “Speaking for me, there wasn’t a point I felt that the company or our leaders made any decision without the health and wellbeing of team members in mind.”

In this new normal, Reggie has found a rhythm.

“I usually start the day in one of my stores before the store opens and before the team arrives,” he said. “I typically learn a lot from an engagement standpoint; I gain early feedback from team members and support the store manager by sharing any company initiatives. I observe our customers, the reasons for their visit, and glean anything I can learn to help us adjust to better deliver on their experience.”

Ever the team player, there are days when Reggie seamlessly becomes part of the team: working as a door greeter, or breaking down boxes and taking them out the back door.

“It means the world to me to set the right examples not only around values, but how to give voice to those values and always do the right thing.”

Reggie has myriad of activities outside of work. A former professional basketball player in Australia, he stays active by biking the beautiful trails in his community. He’s a husband and father and loves traveling with his family. He’s pursuing his master’s degree in business and is even working on a mini-album to highlight his musical talents. It’s a busy lifestyle that matches his mantra: “Be bold and be fearless – in thought, but also in your actions.”

Want to read more stories like this or discover a day in the life at Cox? Check out our employee blog or search for open roles to learn more.