Listen to the interview here!
Christy Coy
Christy Coy: I’m so happy to be here. As you said, my name is Christy Coy. I grew up in Berks County my whole life. Right now I work for Fraser Advanced Information Systems in West Reading. I’m the General Sales Administrator, but I also work with the executive team. I help them out with anything they need – mostly their marketing and any sales material. I’m 25 years old, and I just graduated from Pace University in New York City.
Toni: Well congratulations!
Christy: Thank you.
Toni: Let’s go into the first question of the Project.
Christy: Sure.
Toni: What does inspiration mean to you?
Christy: I think what inspiration means to me is it’s what drives you when you feel like you can't go anymore. When you’re trying for something and you want it so bad and you hit those bumps in the road and you think about what inspires you, and that’s what pushes you over the edge to keep on going and just keep reaching your goal, no matter how difficult or what obstacles are thrown at you.
Toni: What would be an example of that drive that you call inspiration?
Christy: To me, what drives me is my family and what their expectations are for me, and also what my personal values are: where I want to be in my career, where I want to be in my life, things that I plan on having – that’s what drives me. When I think about, “I just don’t want to go to work today,” or I’m stressed out, I think about all the things I can do because of my job and how grateful I am, and how proud … I love to make people proud of me, so that really is my biggest drive.
Toni: So what inspiration means to you is, as you called it, “the things that drive you,” but it is pride and being motivated and inspired to meet your own expectations and values in others.
Christy: Yes, absolutely.
Toni: That’s a really great answer. How do you put that into practice in Berks County?
Christy: I try to just be the best person that I can be, and also, I have a younger sister and I have lots of nieces and nephews, and when it comes to them, I always try to inspire people to be as creative and awesome and free as they can possibly be. My niece wanted to learn how to play guitar, and I said, “That’s awesome! Let’s go out and get you a guitar and practice every day. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it, but at least you tried it.” That’s probably the biggest thing in Berks County, at least, is with my friends and family and in my community, when I come across somebody I know.
We were just doing these scholarship videos at Fraser for the CDA – they just gave a bunch of money to new high school graduates. I can't tell you how jealous I was of them getting ready to go to college, because it’s so exciting. I’m in the corner saying, “You’ve got to live on campus – you’re going to love it! You’re going to make all your friends and join all the clubs.”
My biggest thing that upsets me, I think, when it comes to young people is when they give up their dreams. Your dreams can kind of be adapted to what gets thrown to you in life, but you should always stick with your dreams. I feel like I’m the biggest cheerleader, especially with young women. Just follow your dreams. Don’t quit on them.
Toni: So really, your inspiration that you’re paying forward is the stuff that gets your juices going. You want to inspire others around you, whether they’re family members or friends in order to go, “Come on, go for it!” right?
Christy: Yes, absolutely.
Toni: That’s great. Now, is there somebody in Berks County that inspires you?
Christy: Definitely my mentor, Melissa Valletta. She is who works with me at Fraser. She has by far inspired me every day. If I’m struggling with something, she’s great at talking me through it. She gives me the best advice. I look up to her. She’s really successful. She’s the first woman to hold an executive position at Fraser. She does a great job running the company. She does a great job running the salespeople, and I strive to be like her every day.
One of the big reasons why I took that job was because of Melissa, because she’s so awesome, helpful, and smart. I think as a female, if you have a goal of being any type of successful person, especially as a woman, it’s helpful to have somebody to look up to and see how they got there, especially in the business world with sales. It can be a little competitive and a little male-dominated. It’s kind of nice to see a woman take charge. Definitely, Melissa inspires me.
Toni: You spoke about what inspiration means to you is that drive and motivation and your values, and then the way you’ve spoken so eloquently about your mentor – where do you see the common thread between what inspires you or what inspiration means to you and how she inspires you? What is that common thread between the two of you?
Christy: I think because the big thing is the reason she loves Fraser is the same reason why I was looking for a company like Fraser. She really wanted to stay there because it’s a company where she can also be creative. She’s in sales, but she went to school for marketing, so she’s super creative, and they let her run free with that.
Also, like me, she’s a big advocate for letting people try things out, experiment, dream, and be creative, and I think that’s kind of what drew me to her. I remember when I was interviewing with her, we were going back and forth about values, and it was like, “Yeah, me too! Yeah, me too!”, just down to we have very similar mannerisms and personality, so we just instantly clicked. I felt comfortable with her immediately, to be honest and tell her how I feel about the job, what I expect of the job. I felt like I received honest answers from her, because we are on the same similar path of what we want out of a career.
Toni: What a wonderful testimony for someone in her position to be able to get those types of accolades from a young woman like yourself. To get that kind of testimonial must be amazing.
Christy: Yes, it was great.
Toni: Now, if you think for yourself, what do you want your legacy to be?
Christy: I think I want to be just remembered as somebody who didn’t give up and just kept reaching as many goals as they possibly can. This might sound a little bad, but I want to have it all– have a family, have a house, be a great wife and also have a successful career and balance it all, but also, I want to be somebody who inspires somebody. I want my nieces to look at me and say, “I want to be successful like Aunt Chrissy. I want to be like her, because she went to New York, she traveled, she’s just great.”
I want to interview people one day in my position, if I ever have a higher position, and I want them to feel like they can trust me and I can be their mentor, and I can teach them, and I can help other young people looking for jobs or looking for a start in their career – just looking for their first chance and help them get there, because I know in my job search, that was the biggest thing. I just wanted someone to trust my instincts, trust my creativity and give me a shot. That’s definitely what I want my legacy to be.
Toni: Christy, based upon how you answered question number two, which is how do you put that into practice as far as inspiring your family and your friends, it sounds like you are well on your way to creating a wonderful legacy for yourself. You’re already doing it.
Christy: Thank you.
Toni: Thank you so much for being part of the Get Inspired! Project.
Christy: Thank you. This is awesome.
