JESSICA BLANE

I have enjoyed my time working here, I have been lucky enough to work my way up through the business. Each job has given me the opportunity to build my skills in all different areas. I was relatively new to the role when my Store Manager left the job. As a result, I ran the store for 2 months while a replacement was found. This has required me to pull on all of the skills that I have learnt in all of my previous roles and guide the team through a difficult period in the store. During this time I focused on keeping up morale in the team and ensuring that they had everything that that needed to do their job to the best of their abilities. We focused on doing the basics well and I'm proud of the how the team coped through a difficult period.

Taking on the role of 3IC gave me the opportunity to lead the team by example in sales and organise the visual merchandising of the store. Along with sales coaching and general management on the floor, I aided in training the team on the new system and through navigating the difficulties it presented.

The admin position put me in more sensitive situations where I was more likely to come into contact with potentially unhappy customers. It built up my ability to defuse situations and change customers' views on the business to something more positive.

In this role I built up my product knowledge and sales skills. Starting from the bottom has given me the opportunity to learn roles throughout the business and understand the challenges faced at all levels. This gives me the ability to tailor my management style to get the best out of staff in all areas within the store.

This role required me to connect testing meters in dairy sheds while tailoring the set-up to individual clients’ needs. I worked with clients to obtain data, enabling them to make better management decisions and increase productivity. This role required me to communicate effectively in order to be able to complete task on time and get to the next job. I trained new assists to complete tests, use the devices and set up the dairy shed with the testing equipment.

Working at Dart was my internship for my Tourism Management Diploma. I had a lot of fun working at the stables, made a lot of good friends and met people from all walks of life. I left the tourism industry following the initial COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. Leaving has allowed me to gain new experiences and follow other passions. The job required me to learn natural horsemanship training practices to prepare the horses for rides to decrease accidents. Look after the horses and tack them up for rides. Greeting clients with a karakia and manage the rides to ensure the clients got the best experience and remained safe.