Cheryl Coleman, Quality and Training Manager

Meet Cheryl Coleman, Quality and Training Manager at GlowTouch

Though she’s only been with GlowTouch eight months, Cheryl’s been ‘training’ for her role at GlowTouch her entire life.

Both of Cheryl’s parents were teachers, and she believed, “I was just supposed to be a teacher.” After one semester of being an education major at the University of Montevallo, she realized the traditional path of teaching wasn’t for her. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts double major in English and Communication Arts, Cheryl went on to finish her master’s in Literature in English.

After her daughter was born, she went to school to become a paralegal and worked in that field for 15 years. “After two years, I ended up training people. I was always thinking of ways to help people become better at their job, how to improve our processes, or make a software work more efficiently.”

So how did Cheryl become a trainer in the BPO industry? “I was needing a job and my daughter worked at a contact center. I thought, ‘I can do that for about 3 months until I find something else’ but right away, I was drawn to the training department.”

Cheryl has been a contact center trainer for more than 3 years now, and we’re so happy she’s part of the GlowTouch family! Her smile is contagious, and so is her passion for helping others. As GlowTouch continues to expand and add to its workforce, we know our clients and their customers are in great hands—because of Cheryl’s dedication and genuine desire to help our employees learn and become their best.

Thank you, Cheryl!

More About Cheryl…in Her Words

Rather than write about Cheryl, we wanted to let her share more of her story in her own words.

Where she calls home: I was born in Florence, Alabama. My dad was in the Air Force. He was actually in Vietnam when I was born. When he returned, we moved to Hawaii, then Virginia, California, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, then 2 different bases in England, which is where I graduated from high school. I then went to college at the University of Montevallo, a small liberal arts school in Alabama. After grad school, I moved to Indianapolis, IN so I’d be closer to my parents. I lived there for about 4 years before I had my daughter and moved to Jeffersonville, the same town my parents retired to. I’ve been living in Jeffersonville since 1997, just after my daughter was born.

Cheryl’s family: I have a 23-year-old daughter, Alexis. She is a very compassionate person, always helping people. She has her esthetician license; She is going to start school in the fall to pursue her degree in child psychology. My brother passed away almost 6 years ago. His widow and their 5 adult kids live in South Carolina and Virginia. My mom and dad are gratefully still with us; we spend a lot of time with them each week.

What she enjoys outside of work: I spend almost all of my spare time either listening to music, doing something outdoors, or both. I also enjoy reading and playing word games.

What motivates her in her job: Seeing the light bulb go off when someone is finally able to put all the knowledge together is so rewarding, and that is what keeps me motivated at work.

What motivates her in her personal life: I try to remember that we are all works in progress, always evolving and developing. That keeps me always trying to improve myself and develop my skills. It’s never too late.

Who is her inspiration in life: Probably my parents. They grew up in the Jim Crow south, so they couldn’t go to the same school as the white students, had to drink from different water fountains, sit at the back of the bus, etc. Despite this they raised me and my older brother to treat everyone equally and with respect, that all people are people, that skin color doesn’t matter. They also advised us that as black children; most teachers did not have the same expectation of us as they had of the white children. In other words, we had to work twice as hard in school to be considered equal, whether we thought it was fair or not. We had to prove that we were smart and capable. This started me off with the drive to succeed.

What you may not know about Cheryl: Cheryl is an accomplished clarinetist and wanted to play professionally when she was younger! She also plays piano and wants to learn how to play the guitar.

Cheryl’s Three Words: Positivity, passion, and energy (“Those three things sum me up pretty well.”)

Challenges she’s facing today: I try hard not to assume that any challenges I face have anything to do with my race or gender. Generally, you just don’t know why someone is treating you the way they are, but when you’re a minority, it’s easy to make the assumption that it’s because of your skin color or gender. I don’t want to fall into that trap or walk around with a chip on my shoulder.

Challenges she has overcome: My first job out of college, I still looked like I was 15 years old, so it was difficult sometimes for the employees I was managing to take me seriously at first. Every employee I managed was older than I was, and I was the only black employee in the restaurant. Some would talk down to me, and there was one man who actually told me on my first day at work that he couldn’t respect a “young girl” as his boss. I tried hard not to take it personally and instead let my work speak for itself.

Cheryl’s message to any woman who may be struggling in their career search: Don’t EVER let ANYBODY keep you from chasing your dreams and goals. If your family tries to steer you away from what you truly believe is the right path for you, listen to and consider what they say and understand that the people you love only want what is best for you and that their advice is coming from a good place. But at the end of the day, your path is yours alone. If there’s something you truly want for your life, you have to believe in yourself and just go for it. And if it turns out that (it) wasn’t the right path for you after all, cut another path and take that one instead. And if that one turns out not to be the right one for you as well, you can always point yourself in a different direction and cut a new path for yourself, as long as you believe in yourself and in your abilities.

An inspiring quote from Cheryl: Adversity doesn’t define who you are. It’s how you react to adversity that makes you the person you are.

Meet Cheryl Coleman, Quality and Training Manager at GlowTouch

More About Cheryl…in Her Words

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