I was 16 years old when I first learned to provide excellent customer service - and lots of smiles - selling ice cream and frozen desserts at Baskin Robbins/31 Flavors. I spent two years there, eventually finishing my career in frozen treats as a cake decorator.

Music has always been a large part of my life, so as soon as I turned 18 I sought employment at The Wherehouse Entertainment. For three years I honed my customer service skills helping to maintain a retail music and video rental store. Eventually becoming assistant manager, during my time at The Wherehouse I learned about add-on sales and upselling, store maintenance and merchandising, inventory control, loss prevention, employee training, scheduling and customer issues management.

I left The Wherehouse to begin my career in radio. Those same customer service skills that I first learned in retail have served me well over the past 14 years, in the broadcasting/advertising industry, in the nonprofit world, and as a freelancer.

The most important part of good customer service is ensuring that I am providing the customer with a quality product that fits their needs and their budget - and being happy to do it.