Graham is thriving in his role as an E-commerce Shift Leader, but just a few years ago, life looked different for the Goodwill team member.
“I was moving back from Greensboro to where I was raised, here in Charlotte, and I needed to find a job and quick because I didn’t have a place to stay. So, I was couch surfing at the time,” Graham explained of his life before Goodwill.
Referred by friend and Apparel Quality Specialist Paige, who works at our Ballantyne-East store, Graham was hired at Goodwill, starting as a Donation Material Handler.
“I didn’t really know where I was going to go with this organization or anything, but I just came in open-minded,” Graham said.
Goodwill provides its team members developmental resources like Pathways, an internal coaching program designed to help team members achieve personal and professional goals.
“I believe you get out of it what you put into it. So, I was like, I’m going to just put in my all and see what I get out of it,” he said.
Graham was assigned to Pathways coach Ayme, who helped him grow with Goodwill and achieve personal goals he set for himself.
“From our very first session, I could tell that this is someone that heard me and was not just doing their job, but someone that genuinely cared,” Graham shared. “She really puts the person first, and that goes a long way when building relationships.”
Today, Graham is in a leadership role thanks in part to Ayme and her continued coaching.
“I did my work, and I continued to meet with Ayme, and she continued to pour into me, and I continued to take those lessons with me and work on those goals I wanted to do. And one of the big goals was to find a place because I didn’t want to be on the couch for much longer.”
Today, Graham has his own apartment. He was able to achieve this goal by climbing the ranks within the organization. When he accepted the position as Retail Shift Manager at our Steele Creek store, he was making enough money to get his own place.
“It was really exciting for me to feel more stable and to really start thinking about the future and starting to move away from just survival mode,” he said.
From there, he continued to grow, applying to positions internally, landing in his current role as an E-commerce Shift Leader, where he’s been for nearly a year.
Graham isn’t done yet; he is now in the process of accomplishing a new goal. With help from Goodwill’s tuition reimbursement program, he’s in college at Central Piedmont Community College studying business administration.
“I never thought that college was for me, but in the back of my mind, it was something I always aspired to do. Both my sisters went to college, and I always knew it was something that I could be able to do, but I just had to have the oomph to go out and do it,” he explained.
Ayme is also making sure Graham is financially literate, helping him set a monthly budget and properly invest for retirement.
Through the Pathways program and Goodwill’s investment in its team members, Graham and 210 other Goodwill team members have been able to successfully achieve their goals and advance their lives.
“Honestly, it gives purpose to what I do every day because I know how the work we do actually impacts people, and I’ve seen it, not only for myself but in my peers as well, and it inspires me to get up and come into work.”
Graham wants to continue growing in leadership, and he has a great mentor, his current manager Doug, to help him achieve his goals.
“From the very first day, I could tell Doug was a different type of leader, and he was definitely one that I appreciated,” Graham said. “I think Doug is great because he cares about the people, and he cares about building them up, and he’s not afraid to let you go and keep growing. And I want to be that kind of leader in the future within the organization so that I can pour into the next person, and we can have an environment of people that want to help people achieve their goals.”
Learn more about working with purpose at Goodwill here.
