"I'm all about being around people" Interview with Joyce Voskuil 

Joyce has been working at the export department at Montana Colors for more than 7 years, one of the most demanding departments in our company, given the shipping requirements our products must meet. We spoke to her now that she is about to have her second baby.

Can you give us an outline of what your job consists of?

My job is exporting, basically. I export all orders internationally, both containers and single pallets as well as goods by air. They leave the warehouse and arrive at their destination, as long as it is not domestic. Documentation, order preparation for the customer, invoicing, payment, pleasing people... hehe.

There are many details of your work that will be very obvious to you, but some people won't even think about them... like the fact that spray cans cannot travel by plane.

That is correct. They are flammable material, and you have to get a lot of permits to ship them, for the captain of the ship to tell you that he has enough room for you, and maybe he can't because he has other merchandise that can't be shipped with flammable material.  So, there are a lot of permits, a lot of documentation, a lot of letters, a lot of declarations... a lot of breakdowns explaining exactly what you are carrying, how many kilos everything weighs, etc.

Is it the most complicated part of your job?

Yes, but not because of difficulty, but because it is the most time-consuming.

And the most rewarding part... besides getting paid?

The most rewarding part is the customer service. If I only had to say, "here is the invoice" and just did bureaucracy, for me 80% of the gratification of this job would be gone. What I like most is being in contact with people and having a pleasant and human relationship.

I suppose that over time, closer relationships, even friendships, can develop.

Exactly. And also the market I'm in now is very different from where I was working before.

Where did you work?

I worked in a yarn, wool and fabric company. There, things were much more formal and colder. You had to address everyone in a very formal manner, you had to dress formally at the fairs... and here the profile is completely different. At least when I joined, it was radically different; people went to the fairs wearing sneakers, sweatshirts, etc. and well, it was the way of representing the essence of this company.

Do you think this attitude comes from our customers or from the workers themselves?

In my case, mainly because of the customers. Also, when I joined the company, those who worked with me had a very strong attitude when it came to this.

What impacted you the most in terms of what you thought you would end up in and what you ended up in?

I thought there wouldn't be much difference from my old job. Mostly, I thought the involvement would be similar, and suddenly I found that there was a tremendous involvement. Above all, my co-worker was always very involved. The boss was also always involved in the work... and it was like, wow, people really throw themselves into things here.

And did this seem like a positive thing to you or something that could have negative consequences?

Remember that for the first year and a half I came to show what I could do. So, if I saw that those above me were involved in this way, I had to respond. Besides, I didn't have children, so I had more time to prioritize my work. Honestly, I was fascinated by such involvement.

Where I came from, the bosses would order you in a way that they would tell you "we should..." and they were really ordering you to do it. Here it was the other way around, they would say "we should..." and they were the first ones to do it. Everybody was working hard around me.

You have talked about the subject of motherhood, what can you tell us about it?

Motherhood obviously changed my priorities. You start to limit much more your involvement outside of work hours and you have to set your boundaries. Also, when I came back from maternity leave, the Covid issue started, and the change was blurred with another more abrupt change, plus other personal problems that affected me a lot. So, I was working from home a lot and even had to go on sick leave. But fortunately, I managed to put everything straight.

Now I notice that I have had a change of thinking. I have already been through the phase of showing what I can do.

And have your surroundings been supportive in all of this?

I have to say that, humanly, I am very grateful to Montana. I had a very bad time when I couldn't take care of a series of responsibilities that came all at once, and when I talked about it, they understood perfectly. I'm very grateful because not every workplace is so understanding.

And in a smaller environment, here in the office... what is the atmosphere like?

I come from the Colors building, and there all the departments were together, marketing was next door... I really liked it; we did things outside of work. Now we have separated a little bit since the Colors building, MTN Air building and the MTN HUB are on one side. Personally, what has helped me the most is being close to Dani Caurel, who is the one I need the most by my side because I have to be in constant contact with him. But on the other hand, the atmosphere is also calmer since it’s just the customer service and warehouse staff. Personally, I have to say that I miss the teamwork of before a little bit.

So tell me one thing you would change and one thing you would not change.

I would go for a big space where we would all be in the offices together in a big, beautiful building so that we could be more cohesive.
What I would not change is the people, the team. There are other companies where there is a lot of bad blood, people from different departments have a lot of friction, and here everyone gets along very well and you don't notice the differences in hierarchies, for example.

And when your future child arrives?

They say Sawyer will be born on July 3.

At the MTN workers' party, you will not be long off giving birth...

With that being said, at the 25th anniversary party I couldn't come because I was 3 weeks away from giving birth to Aiden. Maybe now I won’t be able to go either. If I can show my face, I will do it to be with the international people, whom I am looking forward to seeing. I'm looking forward to seeing faces... because in the end I'm all about being around people.