Lori Averitt, Super Glue
Do you like the taste of the grill? I do!
So what’s on the menu, you ask?
nGeneers!
Last week I (Rachel Gertz) sat down with each and every nGeneer to painstakingly record their childhood dreams, their guilty pleasures, and their deep-seated desires. Sure we know what makes them tick at work, but I’ll bet you’ll never guess what kind of hidden talents these folks boast in their private time. Well, now you will!
I’ll sprinkle these interviews throughout the blog for the next couple of months. You know, just to keep you on your toes. This week I begin by harassing the lovely Lori Averitt.
Rachel: Lori, tell me a little bit about yourself. I understand you’re the Super Glue at nGen Works. Can you explain a little about what that means to you and what you do at nGen?
Lori: Super Glue—well, my tagline is, “I hold everything together,” which works well. I do a lot of communication with clients. Every Monday I give them an update for the week. During the week, I communicate about things we may need. If they ask us any questions, I relay them to the nGen team to get an answer.
A lot of my week is spent doing maintenance with clients whose sites we’ve completed. Doing the communication and then discussing estimates with the team. The other part of my job is that I test the websites. I think I’m up to nine browsers now. I make sure that everything works and looks good browser to browser.
I’ve always been eagle-eyed and been able to catch typos ever since I started working. That’s something I’m pretty proud to be able to do.
Rachel: When did you first notice this crazy skill that enabled you to attack every detail?
Lori: You know, the first time I really remember was when I was in high school on the yearbook staff. We would have to proofread the names of everybody. And back then there were no computers; it was all done the way advertising was done back then. You would melt it to boards and you would type up on a typewriter the name of each student. And I remember going back that far to where I would catch incorrect spellings or the wrong name with the wrong person. Fortunately, I was in a small school so I knew everyone.
Rachel: So aside from this gatekeeping and super glueing, what else do you want us to know about you?
Lori: One thing I’m not sure that everybody knows is that I play the piano. I only took like a year and half of lessons when I was in fifth and sixth grade and the rest I taught myself just from sitting down and continuing to practice. I did play the piano at the church I attended for several years. I also play the flute which I learned in band in junior high.
Rachel: Do you keep it up?
Lori: The piano, yes. The flute, no. I still have the flute, but the last time I tried to play it, I got no sound out of it. I’m not sure if it was me or the flute.
I also love to scrapbook and take pictures. Unfortunately, I’m not quite up to date. I left off in 2005. I’m getting there. It’s kind of an obsession because I love to go to scrapbook stores no matter which town I’m in, since everybody has different scrapbooking stuff. I go to scrapbook shows with different friends to see the new gadgets and to buy more and more stuff. I could probably open a scrapbook store, I have so much stuff myself.
Rachel: What kind of ‘scrapbook style’ do you have? Visual? Descriptive Words?
Lori: I’m more visual than about the words. I like a lot of pictures. I like the stickers and decorated paper. I’ve been to classes and that kind of thing, but I’m more freehand. I just kind of take a stack of pictures, put it on the page, think about it for a little while and just do it. It’s my own style. It’s not the way they’d teach it.
Rachel: But that’s more fun anyway. Is it kind of therapeutic?
Lori: I have a vast array of friends and it’s a way to bring them all together. I scrapbook by year, whereas some people do it by event, but I like to be able to go back and look at a full year, where I went and who I spent time with—relive the fun memories. So yes, it’s very therapeutic.
Rachel: When was the last time you were able to do it?
Lori: It’s been about a year. It’s time to sit back down at my desk and get going. But when I get going it’s like a six- or eight-hour day. It’s a long two, three, four in the morning type of thing.
Rachel: There’s no better way to spend a Saturday night. A bottle of wine and some scrapbooking.
Lori: Absolutely, or whatever other alcoholic beverage is around.
Rachel: Do you get better at the scrapbooking as you drink or worse?
Lori: Worse. Especially the handwriting. I find the whiteout and have to go back to get the right spelling. I usually figure it was related to that drink I had while scrapbooking.
Rachel: I have heard tell of the Gator Club. Can you tell peeps a little more about your involvement?
Lori: The Gator Club is an extension of the University of Florida’s Alumni Association. So, it’s generally for people who went to Florida, although I never did. You can be a member as “a friend of” Florida. I became a football fan right outside of high school and started going to games. One day, which is so not like me, I saw an ad in the paper that they were looking for volunteers. I went down there all by myself and have pretty much been involved with the club ever since. That was like 1987. I walked in not knowing a soul there and made fast friends that I am still very close to today.
The local club, what we do is, we raise money to give scholarships to students in our county. There’s a couple times a year where we do big fundraisers, and the rest of the year it’s about sports. I was president for four years and now I’m Vice President of Communications.
Rachel: Holy moly, Lori. How has your position evolved over the years?
Lori: When I first got started back in the 80’s there was no website of course. There was no list serv to send emails. I’ve learned how to use all those tools, so the majority of what I do is keep the website updated, send emails to club members, keep the hotline updated, and I have people that help me out with the social media stuff a bit.
Rachel: Busy lady! You do a lot of behind-the-scenes work at nGen. What is it like to experience a day in the life of Lori?
Lori: There are few days I know what’s going to come my way. A lot of my days are spent doing whatever pops in my inbox—whatever Carl needs me to do, whatever I can help Mary with. It’s being able to bounce a lot of balls and keep them in the air. Gotta make sure I’m sending an email to the right person. [laughing] All the little things.
And I have to admit, I am a list maker. That’s the way I’ve always been able to keep up with things.
Rachel: You’re definitely keeping up, my dear. From now until the day you look up into the sky and say, “I did it world!” what other thing would you want to learn or do or try?
Lori: The one thing I’ve always wanted to learn was how to play the violin. It’s something that I’ve thought about recently; something just for me. I also have a fondness for cooking, even though I’m not that good at it. We’ll see!
Rachel: You and me both sista. So, at what age would you say you became an adult?
Lori: I would say 18. I lived at home till I was 23, but I had a full-time job at 18. Even though it wasn’t supposed to be a full-time job, I ended up being there for 19 years. I’ve kind of always been on the serious side.
Rachel: And yet you still have that wicked sense of humour…
Lori: [laughs]
Rachel: On that note, when was the last time you remember gettin’ in trouble?
Lori: Do I have to explain what the trouble was?
Rachel: Nope.
Lori: 2005. This is a story I’ll share in Vegas. Saying I got in trouble might be pushing the limits, but it was definitely not my finest hour. It’s not a story I tell very often.
Rachel: I can’t wait!
Well, thanks for letting me waste 30 minutes of a day you’ll never get back, Lori. I know you’re busy, so I’ll let you get back to it. Let’s do it up in Vegas indeed!
Check Lori out on Twitter or visit her team page to find out more.