 |
|
|||||
Anita Walton, sales manager for Girl Scout cookies
Job: Product sales manager, Girl Scout Council of Northwest Georgia
What I do: While Anita Walton's job title is complicated, we all know what product she manages: Girl Scout cookies. Walton is the Thin Mints maven who makes sure that 3.4 million packages of cookies get into the hands of 25,000 Girl Scouts in a 20-county area -- and then into the hands of their loyal customers.
Council officials remember a call a few years ago from a man who complained that Girl Scouts hadn't been by to take his order and stated that it was his "right as an American citizen to be able to buy Girl Scout cookies every year."
Last year, Walton said, another customer "literally begged" for a box of cookies. Walton, 46, made sure he got his Samoas. She runs the show, from working with the cookie provider to coordinating the awards for top sellers.
Besides raising funds for troop activities, the cookie sale is designed to prepare girls with the skills they will need later in their lives. Troops use the sale to teach lessons on goal-setting and budgeting.
Preparation involves more than handing out order cards, Walton added. She works with 14 area coordinators, who recruit and direct the work of volunteer leaders. The volunteers train troop leaders and each troop's cookie manager. The cycle for the next year begins shortly after the 25 to 30 truckloads of cookies have been distributed from the previous year's sale.
What got me interested in this: The job "is a dream come true," Walton said. As a girl, she worked in her father's grocery store in Jacksonville. There, she learned valuable lessons about integrity, money management and business.
"It was not normal to have those experiences," she said. "The Girl Scouts helps me prepare girls with those skills, with female leadership."
While she has worked for Girl Scouts for about 20 years, she has been product sales manager for a year.
Best part of my job: "Knowing what I do is preparing young girls for the future," Walton said. The cookie sale teaches them life lessons, she said.
Most challenging part: "Getting a girl to each customer's door," she said. "We know people want them" -- it's their right as American citizens, after all. To help, Walton also coordinates a computerized cookie-finder service and encourages troops to set up booths in high-traffic areas.
What people don't know about my job: "It's a full-time, year-round position," she said.
What keeps me going: "The cookies." Her office has boxes of them, even in November.
"It's a fun atmosphere," Walton said. "I get to go home every day knowing I've provided services to the community and helped a young lady learn about planning, budgeting and community service.
"I'm paying it forward."
Preparation needed for this job: You need to be a people person with enthusiasm, an open mind and business skills, she said.
"I work with people who don't get paid," she said. "You have to pick a person who has passion about children, who can teach a child and share valuable experiences."
Walton has a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Phoenix and has spent virtually all of her working life in administrative jobs with Girl Scouts in Atlanta and Orlando.
She also worked briefly as a model and in customer service for a major airline.
- By Karl Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.
