With another year in the books, Point of Rental staff selected their choices for Point of Rental Employee of the Year. That person had to exemplify our company values of transparency, honesty, integrity, responsibility, and dedication…and we somehow ended up with two* of them! We talked to this year’s co-winners, Dante in IT and Jeremy in software support.

What is it you do around here?

Dante: I am a Tier II IT Technician. My job is to install and configure windows-based servers to our requirements for Rental Expert and Elite to deploy properly. This process involves working with new and existing customers to come up with a server solution that fits their environment. For new deployments, my job is to ensure that our customers have an environment in place when our trainers go on site. For existing customers, my job is to ensure that server migrations feel seamless to our customers.

Jeremy: I am software support for Rental Essentials, Rental Expert, and Rental Elite. I answer calls and emails that come through and solve problems customers might have. (Ed. Note: This year’s leader in software response time, Jeremy spent more than 43,000 minutes on his headset in 2017, having been the first to answer the phone for more than 5,200 customer calls.)

Why do you like being here? What inspires you to put in the work to become Employee of the Year?

Dante: I like the work environment; everyone around here helps each other to find a viable solution to a problem. My inspiration is helping people and doing everything that I can to help them resolve their issues, but it never crossed my mind that I would be selected employee of the year.

Jeremy: What I like about being at Point of Rental is the overall family culture that we have. Whenever I need help, I can always ask. It’s fun to be on the other end of the line – before this, I worked at a self-storage place for two years and called that software company’s support line a LOT – and helping people solve problems.  I wouldn’t say it “inspires me,” but I can say I have always been a hard worker. I have been this way since I started working at Castle Fireworks, a fireworks stand in my hometown of Muskogee, OK, when I turned 14 and got my work permit.

What’s your favorite part of the job?

Dante: My favorite part of this job is that every day, there is a new challenge. It is through these challenges that I grow not only as a worker, but more importantly as a person.

Jeremy: My favorite part of the job is the customer interaction, and being able to help anyone in need. I also like the challenge of learning something new on a daily basis.

What non-work fact should people know about you?

Dante: I am bad using tools – one time I was asked to put a whiteboard on a wall. Not only did it take three hours to put it up, but I also failed to level it correctly, despite having a level at my disposal. Fortunately, this doesn’t affect my ability to use computer tools or work with IT infrastructure.

Jeremy: A non-work fact from me is I am an “Okie from Muskogee”. I am also a huge sports fan. Being from Oklahoma, I’m a fan of the Sooners and Oklahoma City Thunder, of course. While the Thunder have had trouble gelling so far, they’ll be able to turn it around, although a championship is unlikely this year.

Do you have any hobbies?

Dante: I like to play team-based online multiplayer games with friends; at the moment I’m playing Overwatch. I also enjoy watching movies – I like movies that make the viewer think and wonder what’s going to happen next. One of my favorite directors is Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, Inception).

Jeremy: I enjoy a nice workout and playing games like Call of Duty, Madden, or the NBA2K series on my PS4 if I have time. I also like watching movies; one that I really liked this year was War for the Planet of the Apes – you got to feel the emotion from the apes’ side and the humans’ side of the story.

What would you tell someone trying to become Employee of the Year in 2018?

Dante: Just be yourself.

Jeremy: Don’t try to think of individual accolades, just come to work, do your best, keep a positive attitude. It can get tough at points, but remember you always have someone there to help you.

*Robert, our U.K. Employee of the Year, modestly declined to participate in this interview.