“I hopefully made it very clear, but I LOVE working with Jody.”
That’s what Faith Blalock of Madison County Charter School System Board of Education told us when we chatted with her about a transformative furniture purchase with Quill.
Jody Stella, Furniture Specialist at Quill, feels the same way about Faith. The two hit it off right away when they started working together in 2021 – so much so that neither can remember who reached out to who first. It’s like they’ve just always been working together.
The first project they teamed up on was an update to the Professional Learning Center in the Board of Education building. This room is used for staff and community meetings, teacher trainings, and everything in between – it’s a room seen by a lot of different people. Faith came to Jody with a vision for a more modern look and feel for this multipurpose space.
Not your typical school furniture
Through phone conversations, photos, and drawings, Jody and Faith were able to talk through space planning and put together a plan. From there, Jody was able to source high-end furniture at a fair price using her knowledge, expertise, and long-standing vendor relationships.
They ultimately decided on sleek bookcases that look like they’d be in a chic hotel lobby or upscale home rather than in a school, along with some tables, chairs, and other pieces in the same style. Jody scheduled the installation and Faith waited in anticipation.
Navigating installation day surprises
The day the furniture was delivered, they discovered there was one hiccup. The colors had been reversed.
Jody quickly spoke with the vendor, and they were able to come up with a few options for correcting the mistake. Ultimately, Faith found a way to make the reversed furniture work for the Board of Education building, but she was happy with how Jody had helped her through this mix up.
The unveiling
Faith was excited to see how the first meeting in the remodeled space would go. She was hoping for positive responses – and she got them.
“When our board members came in for our first board meeting after the project was completed, they could not believe how different it looked, how great it looked.” Faith told us. “They called it ‘homey’. They were all super impressed with how it looked.”
The compliments kept coming at following meetings. One person loved the tables especially and asked for the name of the vendor. Faith happily passed along Jody’s number.
In fact, Faith is often passing around Jody’s number, starting with the bookkeepers for all the Madison County Charter Schools. If any of their schools have a furniture need, they know exactly who to call.
A long-standing relationship for essential supplies
Madison County School System counts on Quill for not only furniture, but also day-to-day school needs such as toner, clips, batteries, markers, glue, pens, and more, using purchasing manager to streamline their ordering.
It’s a relationship that has grown over time. Early on, there were some issues with taxes populating on invoices. Quill Account Manager Jason Chaikin was able to work through these issues with Karen Fitzpatrick, Accounts Payable.
“I was satisfied that Jason stayed on it. It wasn’t forgotten.” Karen said.
As far as working with Jason in general, she gives him a “10 out of 10,” and says she likes working with Quill overall because of, “how quickly everything arrives and that there’s no shipping costs the majority of the time.”
She told us the Board of Education tries to buy from Quill over any other vendor.
Begin your organization’s journey with Quill
If it’s furniture that’s on your mind, our Furniture Specialist team is standing by to offer complimentary consultations, space planning, and more. They can be reached by phone at 800-634-0321, option 1 or by email at furniturespecialists@quill.com. If you’re looking for a one-stop-shop office and cleaning supplies vendor you can count on for your day-to-day, our Customer Service team is always available to talk through your organization’s needs.
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