There are people that are well-aware of Downtown’s revitalization and are not surprised that a twenty-something like myself would love living in the energized area. Then there are others whom are set back by the fact that I would live here. These are the people who visit Downtown for a baseball game, concert, or to take their goofy Uncle Pete to see the Arch—then quickly find their way back to the burbs. Do I blame them? Not at all.

For many years Downtown St. Louis seemed eerie, abandoned, unsafe. Monday through Friday Business men and women would commute in, put in their 40 hours, and leave. Families would attend a sporting event, jump back in their van, and scoot.
For those who haven’t kept up with Downtowns’ turnaround it would be easy to miss all of the ways the area is now thriving. It’s truly a place that people want to be which is why there are nearly 13,000 people LIVING, 88,000 people WORKING, and over 21.6 million tourists visiting annually!

In late 2010 I moved Downtown in need of a change. Some of my friends thought I was crazy, others were very supportive as they knew they’d now have a place to catch some Z’s after late nights on the town. Regardless of everyone’s opinions and my Father stressing the importance of carrying mace, I made the move and am forever grateful that I did. There’s an energy Downtown that I’ve never experienced anywhere else. Having both moved 13 times as well as being a former flight-attendant I feel that I have plenty of places to compare St. Louis with.

While one may think it would be easy to get lost in the hustle & bustle of an urban area I have found the Downtown area to be comfortable in size and a wonderful place to Live, Work, and Play. I love the fact that I’m emerged in a diverse, energetic, and exciting area. Different ages, races, and backgrounds, and interests often makes meeting you neighbor or the business owner next door intriguing. People are generally very friendly, social, and often have a story of their own. Some moved Downtown for work, school, or perhaps as a short-term landing spot. Nonetheless, most thoroughly enjoy their stay and agree that St. Louis isn’t just a baseball town (Go Cards!), Home of Budweiser, or the delicious toasted raviolis. Downtown is a place that both St. Louis Natives and transplants now call “Home”. It’s a community that has character and is truly growing into a world-class city; one to be proud of.

A Day for Dana Kay…

Wake up in the morning hearing birds chirping as they fly to and from the beautiful architectural ornament outside my window.

A day wouldn’t be the same without my roasted coffee from Blondies!

Then it’s off to the Fitness Factor to workout. (Conveniently located next door!)

Off to work—Extra Help’s St. Louis office is just a few blocks away!

Each week I have lunch with fellow Rotarians at the Missouri Athletic Club.
Great way to give back to the community, build long-term relationships with other business men and women, and grow both personally and professionally! Interested in Rotary? Check out: www.rotary.org

After a long day at work, you can’t blame a Gal for wanting to unwind and enjoy a beverage.  One of my absolute favorite spots is 360!  Soaring 400 feet above St. Louis this spot has everything to offer.

After making it back the Loft it’s time to take my furry-four legged daughter for her favorite evening walk. Where better than one of America’s Top 10 Streets—Washington Ave.

At the end of each day… I’ve Lived, Worked, and Played. That being said…I wouldn’t have it any other way. ?

Taking on the unknown-

I’m sure many people come to a point in their job that they need something else or better. I would say I experienced that about a year ago. I enjoyed the aspect of my previous job when it came to the relationships I built with my customers but seemed to be lacking something else. I couldn’t quite figure that out, but I knew I needed a change of scenery. When I was offered this job with Extra Help, I was a bit nervous and scared of what to expect. Jumping into the human resources industry and sales role was unchartered territory for me. I remained positive and upbeat about the opportunity to work for a company that was making things happen and I wanted to be a part of it. Taking on the unknown and turning it into an opportunity to see another side of me and open up has been a rewarding feeling for me. Coming to Extra Help, it has helped me bust out of my shell and bubble of Southern Illinois. I decided to take on the unknown and move to St. Louis and work for our company in our new focused St. Louis market where we have been working in to make a name for ourselves. I always wanted to move downtown St. Louis and live the city life style and I’m proud to say that I have done it! I can’t wait to check other items off my ‘I did it’ list! Look for my next blog as I journey through my new life living downtown St. Louis and career at Extra Help…

The girls are at school by 7:20 (if we’re lucky) and off I go for my 45 minute to 1 hour commute depending on traffic. In the car on my way in I handle the morning calls regarding proposal questions, sick calls, running behind calls and standard updates by the sales reps, operations team and occasionally even the boss. It has already been a busy day.

At the office I am greeted by excited hustle and bustle of phones ringing, people coming in and out of the office and the active questions of an eager sales team. I open the laptop and begin to reply to the email requests of team members across the company. “Where’s your blog, check out this article about employment services, did you get the points counted, what about this payroll proposal, do you have X document, can you get on this timekeeping webinar with me, will you come with me to this meeting?” And the answer is almost always YES! As a sales leader it is imperative to be a resource for my team and any operations team members as well. All of their requests are handled at my earliest convenience and in between emails I work on the immediate requests of my sales team and of course our CEO.

My entire day is a huge juggling process and every week I look forward to new breakthroughs that I see as little rewards to myself. These breakthroughs come from empowering my children and the people that I work with. I know that in time the ability to properly delegate, trust my team and teach my children will lead to the sweet reward more organized daily activities. So every day I have several are rules I strive to live by:
At Work:
Teach others as if they are to one day take my place.
Empower people to make decisions. Start with small decisions and slowly move to bigger ones.
Always strive to improve the quality of my teams work experience.
Have my team work hard with me because they respect me, not because they fear me.
Encourage leadership and mentorship. I am not the only one with the answers.
Manage issues as opportunities for learning and training, reward good results with acknowledgement.
At Home:
Teach my children little things that make them feel more independent and cut down my chores.
Encourage learning new things even if sometimes is a bigger mess.
Have my kids help out and behave because they love me, not because they fear me.
Learning is fun, play fun learning activities that in turn build creativity and smarter children.
Don’t always focus on the negative, reward good behavior with simple praise and admiration.

After looking closely at home and work, I realized that in general, all human beings want to feel good about themselves and what they do. They want to feel empowered to make decisions, challenged to think and rewarded even if just with a compliment and a new challenge to overcome. And one day when you least expect it, you will look at your team and find that they have evolved into a powerful group of professionals that can run the show even when you aren’t there. And at home, that your children are thriving intelligent beings that will one day make the world a better place.

Figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that in 2010 109,000 new employees were welcomed into the sector, with a further 225,000 being hired last year.

This means that since December 2009, 334,000 new jobs have been created in manufacturing, with 1.64 million in the country as a whole.

According to the National Association of Manufacturers, December 2011′s figures were boosted by the durable goods sector.

Furthermore, transportation equipment saw gains of 8,600, fabricated metal products welcomed 6,000 workers and machinery 5,300.

On average, those in the manufacturing sector were working 40.5 hours each week in December last year, which was up from 40.4 hours in November

All in all, the manufacturing industry is “leading the economic recovery”.

Extra Help has also noticed a rise in the manufacturing job market, especially in Southern Illinois Region. There has been an increase in the number of facilities looking for good workers. Here at Extra Help, Inc. we staff for temporary, temp to hire, and direct hire positions. With spring coming up just around the corner, we tend to see an increase with our openings. Hot positions right now would be welders, mechanics, machinist, CDL drivers and all types of Administrative positions. With the weather getting warmer, landscaping and mowing jobs will also be a position we will be staffing.

• “Anything” is not a job that can be applied for.
• Sweatpants is not acceptable attire for an interview – nor would I suggest them if you are expressing any sort of interest in working at a company other than a gym and even then I would advise against it.
• Only ask “do you know what I mean?” if you really want to know the answer. More often than not, the answer is no, and you are going to have to explain it better anyway.
• Really a child at a job interview…are you going to bring the child to work too?
• What is “a minute”? 60 seconds in my book, it’s not equivalent to 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year.
• You can eat all the poppyseed bagels & dressing in the Midwest and you still will not have consumed enough to test positive on a drug screen.

I came to Extra Help, Inc. with some previous experience from another employment agency. Even with my basic knowledge I had, it’s amazing how much more I have learned as a professional in my field now that I am working for Extra Help. Each day I have the great task of meeting with potential employees to get an understanding of what type of work they are looking for. I want to know what they have been doing in their past positions, what type of work they enjoy doing and where they would like to see themselves in the future. It is my job; to find qualified candidates for the open positions within our clients companies…I guess you could call me a matchmaker?. In our world we are always looking for that “long term” relationship. It is an amazing feeling to be able to change someone’s life by helping find their perfect match.

Kelly Pauley

Staffing Specialist

Extra Help, Inc. Employment and Payroll Service Experts

Tony Stearns

Business Development

Extra Help, Inc. Employment and Payroll Service Experts