For this week’s West Herr Wednesday, we took a trip to Chevrolet of Hamburg to get to know Office Manager, Randi Jacob.
Growing up in West Seneca, Randi attended West Seneca West for high school before moving to Georgia for college.
“I was at Mercer College working on my degree with a semester to go and planned to teach in Georgia. After substitute teaching, I quickly changed my mind. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at that point, but I knew I missed my family and it was time to go home.”
Randi’s Mom started at West Herr in 2001 at the Saturn store and when Randi moved back to Western New York to be closer to family, her Mom encouraged her to apply to West Herr.
“Because of my Mom, I already knew how great of a company West Herr was to work for.”
Randi started as a Receptionist at Chevy Hamburg in 2003, before moving over to Nissan Orchard Park and then Subaru.
“I was in reception at Subaru until the birth of my daughter and when I returned, I took over as the Warranty Clerk there.”
The new position gave Randi very flexible hours, which was perfect for raising a young child.
After a while, Randi ended up switching over to the Service side of things.
“I was brought in to Saturn’s body shop as an Interior Technician and did that for a few years. I was mobile, so I’d go around from store to store fixing things from leather seats to windshields.”
During that time, Randi met her husband, Randy, who also worked at West Herr.
“My husband and I decided being around paint fumes in the body shop wasn’t the best idea while pregnant, so I ended up leaving West Herr and going into Sales somewhere else.”
Randi and her husband formed a partnership as an F&I Subprime team, but after a while she missed her old stomping grounds.
“I truly missed being at West Herr where the grass is the greenest!”
Randi returned to Nissan Orchard Park as a receptionist in 2013, before ending up in the Title Office back at Chevy Hamburg where it all started.
“I love all of our stores, but Chevy Hamburg is extra special. We are a family here and of course we have Paul Hafner.”
While Chevy Hamburg may be like a family to her, Randi also has plenty of actual family at West Herr.
“After many years at Chevy Hamburg, my Mom is now a Warranty Clerk over at our Chevy Orchard Park store. My brother in law is Justin Rojek, the General Manager at Toyota of Orchard Park. My Aunt, Ann Jackson, recently retired from Ford Hamburg. My Daughter Hannah is now my Biller here at Chevy Hamburg and my niece Abigail is an assistant at Nissan OP."
Randi and her husband have three kids together, Hannah (20,) Adrianna (15,) and Angelo (10.) She also has a step-son who is 25 and a Technician down in Cape Coral.
Outside of work, Randi has quite a few passions.
“I am big into antiquing. I love going to Flea Markets with the family. I also collect vintage Barbie Dolls as well as old perfume bottles and classic records.”
Speaking of records, Randi and her family are big into music.
“Music is HUGE in our family. We always have something good bumping at our house. This past Mother’s Day my kids got me an electric guitar and that is actually my new thing. I’ve been learning to play and I absolutely love it.”
When it comes to her future at West Herr, Randi knows where she’d like to end up.
“Having Sales and F&I experience goes a long way in my current job in the billing office. Ultimately, I’d love to help all of the Title Offices across the group get on the same page. Streamlining the whole process and getting to help train everyone, would be great.”
When it comes to her favorite part about working at West Herr, it’s the team aspect she loves most.
“Definitely that camaraderie. Being a part of a team and trying to reach our goals. I love being in the store and being able to support our sales team. Everyone here knows, if you need anything, I’ll stop what I’m doing and help however I can.”
Randi has also helped take on a fundraising task at the store that is something she takes pride in.
“Every February we do a big basket raffle and raise a bunch of money for the American Heart Association. It is something my Mom started and I have continued. We won awards doing it in 2017 and 2018 & it is something everyone gets involved with at the store.”
In terms of what Randi wants others to know about her, “I try to find the good in everything and I always have a smile to give!”
Randi truly takes pride in working for West Herr because of the positive association many have with the company.
“I love wearing my West Herr jacket out in public and talking to people about where I work. Everyone always has a great story to tell about an experience they had with us, or someone they know at our company.”