Decades of Dedication and Company Culture at Wards: Julie Roglyn

Join us for a heartfelt celebration of dedication and camaraderie as we chat with Julie Roglyn, a cornerstone of Wards Marine Electric's team for nearly four decades. Julie shares the inspiring journey that began with a simple newspaper ad and blossomed into a cherished career filled with warmth, laughter, and unforgettable memories. Through Julie's eyes, we relive the evolution of Ward's company culture, from legendary Christmas parties to the familial spirit that binds the team. Her reflections offer an intimate glimpse into the world of an employee who has witnessed and contributed to the company's growth, making her the first Employee of the Year.

Explore the incredible transformation of the marine service industry, as Julie recounts the significant technological advancements and their profound impact on customer service and business operations. Personal anecdotes, like a captain recalling Julie's kindness, highlight the meaningful relationships built over decades with long-standing customers. We express our deep gratitude for the unwavering dedication and positive spirit of long-term employees like Julie, whose contributions have been invaluable to Wards Marine Electric's journey. This episode is a tribute to Julie and to all who have been an integral part of Ward's history, as we anticipate many more successful years to come.

Wards Marine Electric
https://www.wardsmarine.com/

Wards Way YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@WardsWay75

Episode Transcript

Kristina Hebert (00:08):
Welcome to the Wardsway Podcast.

(00:31):
Julie, you've been with uscoming up 40 years.
Julie Roglin coming up and yeah, your 40th anniversary is next
year.

Julie Roglyn (00:41):
Yes, it is and I enjoy every minute of it.
I like my job.
Yes, it is, and I enjoy everyminute of it.
I like my job.

Kristina Hebert (00:52):
I like everybody, everybody, you don't
have to say that.
Yeah, no, and I do have to saythe way that our audience is,
hearing you is or seeing you isexactly how you are every day.
I admire that about you, thatevery single day you come in
smiling, happy, laughing.
Even whether we've gotten anotice from the bank of fraud,

(01:12):
whether our mail didn't show up,whether a customer hasn't paid,
whether they have paid, whetherthe computers don't work or
even the air conditioner, youalways have a good attitude.
What's your secret to that?

Julie Roglyn (01:27):
Well, I like awards as a family and I treat
everybody as family.

Kristina Hebert (01:31):
Yeah, and I enjoy working Good, good, well,
you really do.
But I think that it's you know,we have our Employee of the
Year and you were the firstperson to win, because I think
the qualifications are thatobviously you work hard at your
job but you have a greatattitude and you're a pleasure
to work with.
And I think the very first voteI think it was 100% you,

(01:56):
Everybody picked you as theEmployee of the Year.
So you're always the epitome ofthe Employee of the Year and I
didn't know that.
It's a shame, well see, andit's a shame, well see, and it's
a shame you only get to winonce.
But I think that you'd be likethis reigning champion.
You'd be like, you know, thesimone biles of gymnastics.
It'd be julie every year, julie, every other year, julie.
But.
But I, but I do think thatthat's important and that's

(02:18):
something personally you do.
You're always there, happy.
That's.
That's hard.
You know that's not an easything to do, especially through
technology or through all thechanges out there.

Julie Roglyn (02:28):
So, whatever it is , we can fix it.
That's right, and if somebodyhas a problem then we deal with
it.

Kristina Hebert (02:34):
That's right and I Well, you make it look
easy.
You do a good job with that.
Ok, so now I'm going to put youon the spot.
You got to tell me a funnystory, like a funny customer
story.
Anybody ever do anything?
Because I feel like you getsome of the crazies and I ask
you, is it a full moon?
And you go oh, it's coming,yeah.

Julie Roglyn (02:55):
I really can't think of anything but it does
happen.

Kristina Hebert (02:59):
It does.
I feel like customers come outof their way.
They bring their dogs to comesee you to pay their bills.
They do, yeah, they do, they do.
But you've seen a lot over theyears.
So I always try to remember andI would have to say, in your
career, think about thetechnology changes you've had to
embrace.
Oh yes, oh yes.
I mean it was in the early 90s.

(03:21):
You were using the generalledger book.
And try 80s, yeah, yeah yeahand uh, that was some short, so
who?
hired you my dad or my granddad,your dad, and, and how'd that
go?

Julie Roglyn (03:34):
um, I thought it didn't went well.
He said can you start rightaway?
Okay, well, it's worked out.
I know I started the next daywow so.

Kristina Hebert (03:43):
and how did you find out about Wards?
What made you come here?
Okay, so Believe it or not thenewspaper.

Julie Roglyn (03:48):
Okay, because I would read the newspaper and I
saw the ad in the newspaper.
I liked his write-up on it,what you know, and I think I had
the qualifications.

Kristina Hebert (03:59):
So, obviously, so that's what happened.
And then, who did you replace?

Julie Roglyn (04:08):
We added because Dottie was there for many, many
years and then I was helping.

Kristina Hebert (04:15):
So now where was, wasn't there?
There was somebody else tooafter that, temporarily.
Yes, it was OK.
Yeah, just, I was just atemporary.

Julie Roglyn (04:25):
Right.

Kristina Hebert (04:26):
Right, look at that discretion.
Julie didn't even bust out withher name.
So now for everybody tounderstand Dottie passed away,
bust out with her name.
So now for everybody tounderstand dotty passed away.
Yeah, but um, I remember her.
She was the epitome of what youwould imagine in the 70s the
big, bouffant hair, oh yes, andthe cigarettes and the real long
ashes they would sit.
I remember as a kid.
And then, and then, here camesweet, funny, hot jewels.

(04:50):
Jewels used to wear bikinis tothe, to the company parties.
Remember we used to playsoftball oh, yeah, yeah oh, yeah
, yeah, so food and everybodyhad hot dogs, hamburgers now.
Now this will be the trueconfession.
So now fast forward a littlebit.
I kind of remember the 80s usedto have some pretty incredible

(05:10):
pre-parties to the Christmasparties.
Come on now.
I was too young, so I didn'tget to go.

Julie Roglyn (05:17):
There wasn't 51 people at my house, thank
goodness you would have done itanyway.
Yeah, maybe half of it.
Everybody loved the punch.

Kristina Hebert (05:30):
Now what was in ?

Julie Roglyn (05:30):
this punch.

Kristina Hebert (05:31):
Oh well, that's a secret, of course, rum, okay,
all what was in this punch?
Oh wow, that's a secret.

Julie Roglyn (05:35):
Of course, rum.
Okay, all right, we got rum.
Alcohol does play a role in it,I have to admit.
I know, but I did haveappetizers.
Yes, you did Before we left togo to Martha's Restaurant.
I don't know if you guysremember that I do, but it was
on the intercoastal in Hollywood, but everybody was Having a
great time, having a reallygreat time, yeah yeah, but

(05:58):
you've been there through all ofthe company parties that some
of them were small, some of themwere dinners.

Kristina Hebert (06:05):
There weren't that many people.
I mean, over the years weweren't always the size we are.
So I know that in the past thepast, you're right there were
smaller amounts of people, so soit was different.
I can remember going toyesterday's yes for a dinner.
Yeah, I can remember going tothe.
Was it the 94th air squadron,95 squad or something like that?

(06:26):
I don't remember the name.
One of those might be in tampand one of those might be here
it was here it was.
Okay, and I um, but yeah, you'reright, we didn't have as many
people, so I think you could getaway with with with some of
those um smaller parties but itwas just a really grown over all
the years.

Julie Roglyn (06:45):
Yeah and um, we provide great service and that's
the key.
Yeah, you're right, but it'sprovide great service and that's
the key.

Kristina Hebert (06:50):
Yeah, you're right, but it's, you know, um.
But I will tell you, oursuccess is because of people
like you and every employee thatwe have that um, you know,
staying with the job and andhaving the patience and having
um the willingness to want toevolve.
You know all the years.
I think about all the differenttraining you've had to go

(07:11):
through, all the different um.
I mean going from handwritingchecks with, with, with granddad
, and then um.
You know, yeah, the, thegeneral ledger books, and then
the um DOS.
You know the F2, f4, f5 andthat software, and then we
switched over to the currentsoftware we have and it's it's

(07:32):
just been a lot and you've beenthere through all of that.
So thank you for all of thattime.
Thank you, christy, oh yeah,but yeah, I think there have
been a lot of.
Is there a favorite boat show?
You maybe had a favorite party.
How about?
We used to have some reallycool parties, like for the
triton events?
Oh, yeah, any one of those yourfavorites?
Oh?

Julie Roglyn (07:53):
yeah, I like the country one okay, the country
one.

Kristina Hebert (07:55):
Yeah, the country one was really good that
was good.
I agree, even when we went toshirttail charlie's oh my gosh,
yeah it was which is now therepublic republic.

Julie Roglyn (08:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, on friday nights we would
go there.

Kristina Hebert (08:10):
To Shirttail Charlie's.
I remember that.
I can remember going as a kid.
They had a pool yes, they did.
And after the softball games,when Morty and I were kids, we
would the softball games overhere at Hardy Park Right.
Then they would go down thereand we would go swimming.
Mm-hmm would go swimming, yes,yeah, and our family.

(08:32):
At one point I think we wereleft, but they came back and got
us, but we didn't.
It's.
It's a little family debate thatwe talk about but, it was
different times and a lot ofmemories, yes, a lot of great
memories.
You know, wardy and I weretalking about being in this
building, so your office was inthe building next door before we
moved to where we are here.
But you've also been in otherlocations.
Or is this the location youstarted?
But it was in the one next doorat 630.

(08:56):
Yes, I only got in trouble onetime for Julie.
Do you remember what it was?

Julie Roglyn (09:01):
No, Go on.
One time you deleted thecustomers, or something.

Kristina Hebert (09:06):
I merged Schneider Mike to Mike Schneider
or something.
Yeah, mike Schneider toSchneider Mike.
But I didn't just merge thosetwo, because that's what I was
supposed to do, but instead Imerged everything in between.
Yeah, do you remember that?
Yeah, I do.

Julie Roglyn (09:21):
But you were learning, I was learning.

Kristina Hebert (09:23):
I think I was pregnant too, with Kyle, so I
think that was probably around97 when.
I.
When I did that I'd only beenhere a little bit, so it was
funny.
Other than that, I don't thinkI got in trouble too many times.

Julie Roglyn (09:38):
No, not for work related issues.

Kristina Hebert (09:42):
So over the last 40 years, have you noticed
any big changes?
Obviously, the world changed,the economy has changed, the
boats have changed.
But what have you noticeddifferent over the last 40?

Julie Roglyn (09:54):
years.
Well, we have more people toservice the boats.
Yeah, you know, when I startedit was just a very few and
especially, you know, we didn'treally have a formal training
for them.
But your dad taught them a lotand he still is.

(10:17):
Yeah, exactly.

Kristina Hebert (10:19):
And we had, yeah, I would say in the 40
years, just in general in life,look at the technology changes
and then think about, as abusiness, what's happened over
the last 40 years.
I think that our customers Imean, I'm sure, back 40 years
ago who was the person that youwere dealing with that was
paying the bills?
Probably the captain or theboat owner.

Julie Roglyn (10:43):
Yeah, it was a combination of both.

Kristina Hebert (10:45):
Yeah.

Julie Roglyn (10:45):
Yeah, combination of both.

Kristina Hebert (10:47):
So are there any people that you still see
that you used to see back then?

Julie Roglyn (10:53):
um, the customer wise?

Kristina Hebert (10:55):
yeah, a lot of customers, yeah, a lot, and
they're still with us yeah, andI will say that even even myself
, I was in saint martin lastyear at a island global yachting
and igy facility and talking toa boat, and there was a captain
that was he was retired, but hewas the temp captain on this

(11:17):
particular boat and he wasasking about technicians.
And then he said is that nicelady Julie still work there?
And I said you know what sheabsolutely does.
So he's like oh, I always liketo pay my bill with her.
And I'm like well, you can comein and pay your bill anytime
he's like, but I don't see herdownstairs.
And I said, well, you know, yougot to know people to go
upstairs, but but you can goupstairs.

Julie Roglyn (11:38):
It is but he remembered.
Yeah, that was really nice,yeah, yeah.

Kristina Hebert (11:43):
Well, not only thank you for being here, thank
you for coming on, thank you forthe time, but thank you for
smiling every day for the last40 years.
I can't remember a time whenWards Marine didn't have you.
We're very lucky to have hadyou all these years and look
forward to many years to come.
Oh, thank you, you're welcome,thank you.