25th Anniversary Q+A: Amy Hutchins

Ivan Gwynn of Serenity Studios sat down with Amy Hutchins to discuss the growth she’s experienced in her 16 years at Delta, as well as the team and company culture.

 

Getting Started at Delta AV

Ivan: How did you get involved in the AV industry?

Amy: I rather stumbled into it and I am so thankful that I did. I was working at Starbucks and loving parts of it but the constantly shifting schedule and being on call from 3am-11pm as a goal to become a manager didn’t sound so fun. I had a friend who was a Service Admin Assistant at Delta AV and he was leaving for new adventures, so he asked if I wanted to interview for his job. He trained me and the rest is history.

Ivan: How long have you been with Delta AV?

Amy: Since August 2005, woah almost 16 years. I got a start as Service Assistant, then Service Coordinator, now Service Manager. I even got to do Purchasing at some point at the Milwaukie office.

Ivan: What are some of the biggest accomplishments for Delta AV in your 16 years? What are you most proud of?

Amy: Delta AV being 25 is a huge accomplishment! I am always happy when we get to help the customers. I like working in Service because I get to help people with their immediate problems. I like getting to know customers and working with them over the years. It was fun to talk to a few of the same people for 7+ years, most of them have retired or moved on now.

Ivan: Looking back on 25 years, do you have any memories come up that make you laugh?

Amy: I try very hard to be careful when I speak to customers. However, a long while ago, I was telling my assistant a story and it happened that right as I was concluding the story I said “since you don’t want to fall off a horse and die!” as the phone rings, and my arm worked faster than my brain so I had picked up a customer’s call. It was one of our longtime customer’s Carla and she heard me say that before I said “Delta AV, this is Amy”… and she said… “I actually had a friend that happened to…”. She is a kind soul and wasn’t upset with me, but I did rather wish the floor would swallow me up at that moment.

Culture + Team

Ivan: What gets you to work everyday? What excites you about the work that you do?

Amy: It’s a bit of a broken record, but I really do like helping people get answers and solutions or at least to the people who can get the answers.

Ivan: What do you most look forward to when you go to work everyday?

Amy: I love that people bring their dogs into the office! I miss that since working from home during this strange season.

Ivan: How would you describe the culture at Delta AV?

Amy: It is a bit like family. Especially the longer I have been here. I cherish some of the relationships I have gotten to be a part of over the years. Bob and Mark and now Jeremy and Jen put people first, even at the company’s own expense sometimes. Delta AV really supports family and a personal life. I appreciate it so much that I could run into Mark’s office and say “my bff just had her baby, I gotta go meet my niece” and they let me leave early with no notice.

Ivan: How do you measure success at Delta AV?

Amy: Customers get help. Co-workers get answers they asked for. And cake, always measure with cake.

Ivan: Was there a moment at Delta when you felt like you overcame a hurdle and grew as a result?

Amy: Phone-answering mishaps aside, I feel like I have learned to communicate as best as I can with customers and figure out what they need and who can help them and I hope I keep learning how to do that better.

Looking Back

Ivan: Did you imagine Delta AV would become what it is today? Has anything surprised you?

Amy: The move to Gresham went amazingly smooth all things considered. Everyone who facilitated that did such a great job. Also, I am always impressed with management and their care of the employees. It is why I love being able to work at Delta AV.

Ivan: How has the industry changed over ~25 years?

Amy: My own personal job has changed the most from phone calls and faxes to emails and texts. I remember having to call vendors to get tracking numbers. It is so much faster now to copy and paste those from emails. One of my favorite vendor stories is that I called up a vendor and I was asking about an order, and they said “oh we need to transfer you over to Rosie, she has the computer” … Yup.