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This month's employee spotlight features Jordan McKinnon, a dedicated and hardworking member of our sales team! Jordan has been extremely successful in his role at Cents, and has been recognized as a top sales performer. On top of that, Jordan is a genuinely good person to his core (you’ll see why below!) We spoke to Jordan to learn a little bit more about his experience with Cents, how he stays busy in his free time, and why swimming with the alligators in the swamps of Georgia molded him into the person he is today.
Q. What has your career path looked like?
I majored in mass communications, which is a great degree, however, when you leave college, you're kind of like, “where do I go with this?” So, I got into sales. I have always been a “people person” and I think that translated into finding a career where I enjoy helping people. And I don't mean to get deep, but you know, you got one life to live and why not try to help everybody achieve their best by having something that they can help them get to where they want to be. So that's what led me down the road with sales.
Q. What makes Cents different from other places you’ve worked?
I’ve realized that there is one word that is overused at companies when they are describing their culture and its “family.” The thing that stands out to me about Cents is that we actually embody that. From our off-sites to us just chit-chatting about our lives to being able to reach out to each other at any given time.
From a sales perspective, you dream of working for a company that has a product that can hit on all notes for what people want, and unfortunately, that is a very, very rare thing to find. But the best thing about Cents is that it literally covers every single point of laundromat business management. We have the ability to be a full-front company AND product which is something that I didn’t even think existed.
Q. What is your proudest career moment?
I don't think it's a personal moment because like I said, at Cents, we operate on a team basis, but my proudest moment with our team is seeing one of our top investors just be absolutely mind blown by what we’ve been doing as a company. Having people recognize that we are excelling beyond expectations to the point where nobody has ever seen anything like it before is the most rewarding thing that I have experienced so far.
Q. What advice would you give to your younger self?
Take the path that you feel is the path you should take. I think two roads diverged in a yellow wood is very widely used, but many times you're going to have a path that the world wants you to take, and you're going to have a path that feels what you should take. And I think listening to your gut and your intuition is going to take you to those places.
Q. What is your favorite part of working with Small and Medium Size Businesses?
The ability to talk to the owners on a personal level. When you're dealing with large corporations, you primarily communicate with their assistants, VPs, things like that and they are bringing your pitch to the CEO's desk and that’s pretty much it. But when you’re working with small and medium-sized businesses, you have the ability to talk with the owners and operators one-on-one about their issues within their company or what challenges they're facing with their own software. This is important to me because rather than just saying, “give me five minutes of your time and I hope you like what I say,” they actually want to have a conversation because small to medium-sized businesses are riding on a lot more than a billionaire corporation owner.
At the end of the day, I am able to work with small businesses and they give me the ability to actually make a difference which is the biggest blessing.
Q. A typical weekend for me is…
I live in Colorado, so I am constantly itching to get outside. One thing that's incredible about Cents is that we have a remote ability. I don't think you can look at a lot of people and say, “how do I find a great company that's going to allow me to work from wherever I feel peace of mind but also accomplish my own goals.” So working at Cents is a dream come true.
Q. What is something you have learned about the Laundry industry since you've started working at Cents?
The fact that there is such a willing group of people that want to use innovation and technology to better their businesses and the laundromat industry yet they've been left behind. It is so rewarding to jump in and help show owners and operators what the future of their laundromat can be. There are still people who are operating on coins only because they don't think there's any other way.
Q. What advice do you have for prospective Cents candidates?
Just be yourself and be ready to grow.
Q.What is your Motto or personal mantra/Words to live by?
I actually have it tattooed on my arm and Latin: “Fortune Favors the Bold.”
It basically means, always take the leap, even if the water's murky. I grew up in South Georgia and we would swim in the rivers with alligators where you couldn’t see the bottom. But I learned to jump in the water no matter what and trust that fortune favors the bold.
Q. Is there anything else that you want to share with us that you want the people to know about?
If I were somebody who's reading this from an outside standpoint, such as a business owner, who is a prospect of Cents, I would want them to know that we're looking out for their best interests. I think that's very easily said in sales because everybody thinks sales people are just out to get your commitment or your contract or your quote sign or anything like that. But in all reality, when you talk to us, be prepared to have a conversation that may be uncomfortable at times, but we're still looking out for the best for your business.
This is not a product that we just want to put on your desk. If you're not ready for it, Cents, we will tell you that you aren’t ready for it. However, if it's a good fit and you don't feel like finishing the puzzle, we're going to put the extra pieces down so you can see how it's going to look.
Cents is growing! Check out our careers page to learn more about us and view our open positions. Join our growing team that's revolutionizing the laundry industry.
