A district manager's career journey through Love's

When she works remote, Love's district manager Joyce Jones just can't help but be who she is.

"Every time, I'll try and go to a new coffee shop for when I do my work. It's a place where I can make new friends and be around new people," said Joyce.

Joyce has had a passion for people her entire life. Building relationships, making friends, helping others and just being there for assistance is by far her favorite part about her job. To spend time and develop leaders is and will forever be her biggest motivation.

"Hands down the people are my favorite part about my job. I have a passion for people," said Joyce.

A woman of her word, every team member at every store in her district has her number to call, acting as a 24-hour Love's hotline with answers for any type of assistance.

I'm here to be available for my team and will answer any call," said Joyce. "I have team members call me 10 times a day and I love it. Those relationships are what I cherish."

Although Joyce has always had a love for helping people, she's also perfected the hard work it takes to get to where she ultimately wanted to be. During her senior year of high school in Houston, Texas, Joyce's mother bought her a car. To pay for her insurance, Joyce took the wheel as a cashier for the local Walmart, unbeknownst that she would make an almost 20-year career out of it.

"I started out as a cashier for Walmart and ended up there for 19 years, eventually working my way up to the general manager position. After Walmart, I joined Sears where I looked over 14 stores as their district manager," said Joyce.

But as Sears began to downsize, Joyce knew it was time to look for greener pastures. Finding a company where she would be allowed to grow was her goal and Love's was the perfect choice that fit the mold she was looking for.

Love's talent acquisition lead, Charles Young, found his diamond in the rough in Joyce and connected with her through LinkedIn. Charles invited her to Love's 234 in Katy, Texas, where he would then introduce her to director Paul Maca, a leader whom Joyce would consider today as one of her biggest influences.

As Paul and former manager Anthony Beavers conducted an in-store interview, Joyce knew Love's was the place she wanted to be as soon as she walked through the door.

"As soon as I walked in, everyone was saying 'welcome to Love's' and greeted me with open arms in every store we went to. Right then and there I said if this is what it is going to be like, this is where I want to be," said Joyce.

A few days later, Paul called Joyce and asked if I wanted to join the team.

"I started out as an operations manager at 468 in Willis, Texas, in May 2019, where I invested in Love's exceptional training program to eventually rise to a general manager position. Once I became the manager, I started helping out Anthony Beavers and learned some of his roles," said Joyce.

After learning the ropes, Joyce was offered the role of district manager and has been thriving ever since.

Joyce has rapidly risen through the ranks and although she is unsure of her next steps at Love's, she knows for sure she'll be here until the wheels fall off.

"My goal is to retire with Love's. I want to grow with the company and move up the ladder wherever it takes me. I'm ready and am so excited for it," said Joyce.

As it's something she takes much pride in doing, Joyce's advice to those new to the company resides with what she was born to do and correlates with a trait many great leaders at Love's share.

"Build relationships. Take the time to learn the process, listen to the people around you and be available for your team. A great leader at Love's has the ability to develop others. I am not an expert at everything, but when you champion others to be better than yourself, that is when you become successful," said Joyce.

Are you looking to carve out a new career path? Visit our career site to view all of Love's open positions.