Teamwork Makes Dreamwork!
Patrick Hoy here – and I’m so happy to be back with the next installment of my ‘Meet The Quacker Team’ blog series! Angel and I are so very lucky that we get to work with an amazing team every single day of our lives! I’ve said it before and I’ll definitely keep saying it – Jeanne Bice really knew what she was doing when she brought us all together.
I love our team so much – we really are like a family – and when you love your ‘family’, you want to share them with your friends! I’ve already introduced you to Kristy, Susan, John, Leslie & Page. If you missed any of those blogs, you can find them all at www.quackerfactory.com Today it gives me GREAT pleasure to introduce you to Tiago. Tiago was loved by Jeanne – and also by all of us on the team! So, without future ado….
Meet Tiago Ramos!
Tiago Ramos is Quacker Factory’s Jack-Of-All-Trades. I don’t think there is anything this superstar can’t do! As you’ll find out, Jeanne Bice was Tiago’s guardian angel. Tiago started with Quacker Factory taking care of Jeanne’s pool over a decade ago – he then became Jeanne’s House Manager – and is now burning up the internet with his IT skills – all for the good of Quacker Factory. Many of you know his name, because Jeanne used to talk about him all of the time on air – Tiago was like a 2nd son to her! And some of you have even met him in person either at a Live Audience show – or when he joined Jeanne and the team in Branson, MO for our ‘Quackers Take Over Branson’ weekend in 2009.
I recently spent some time with Tiago while he was busy working in his office in Florida – and asked him a few questions so that you could all get to know him better – and to find out why he feels that Jeanne Bice was the best boss in the world!
Patrick: Tiago, it’s such a pleasure to get to spend time with you today! I know so many of our viewers remember hearing about you from Jeanne when she would go on air – you really were her right-hand helper. In just a little while, I’m going to ask you to share with all of us how you met Jeanne and became involved with Quacker Factory – but first I know our readers would love to hear what you do for Quacker Factory.
Tiago: Hello Patrick – and everyone! I want to start by saying that I LOVE working with you and our entire team at Quacker Factory! Working with Jeanne and our team really has changed my life – and I’m so grateful for that. At this point, my primary job is working on our wonderful website. I help keep it fresh, up to date and FUN! I love being involved in the Social Media part of our business by posting a lot on our Instagram & Pinterest accounts. I also work with Kristy on our E-Blasts – for both the USA and the United Kingdom. In addition, I work with our Vice President, John Mason, putting together data – so that we know, as a company, how we’re doing week to week – it’s kind of our internal Report Card. Jeanne always wanted to know how the company was doing and how happy our customers were – so John and I continue to put that information together just as Jeanne liked. I also help with all of our contests and sweepstakes by updating our website with all of the details – and also helping come up with creative graphics for those contests.
Patrick: Thank you for all of your help with that – I know our customers are LOVING all of the contests & sweepstakes that we’ve been doing the last few years! Since you spend so much time on our website Tiago, can you share with our viewers some of the areas that you think they MUST go look at?!
Tiago: It would be my pleasure Patrick! Without a doubt, I would tell everyone to make sure to constantly check back to our homepage for new Sweepstakes! Did you know we recently gave away $1,000.00 to a lucky winner?! As you would say Patrick, how Quack-Tastic is that?! And we’ve got MORE contests and sweepstakes coming up throughout the rest of the year – so I would definitely recommend that everyone signs up for the contests – because as they say – you have to be in it, to win it! I personally think the Customer Favorites section is definitely one of our viewers most favorite parts of our website. I make sure this is updated throughout the month with new favorites, new colors and new designs. As I mentioned before, I help put together the statistics that show us how we’re doing – and what areas of the website our Quackers are looking at – and Customer Favorites is always towards the top of the list of most-visited sections on our website. I would also recommend that our Quackers go to the Blog section to see what you, Angel and others on our team have been blogging about. The blog section is an area that Jeanne’s grandson James works on – and I think everyone would love this section.
Patrick: Okay – now for the question that everyone is waiting for – when and HOW did you start working for Quacker Factory?!
Tiago: I am originally from Europe – specifically Portugal. I moved to the United States in 2002. I was working for a pool company in the Boca Raton area of Florida. One of the pools assigned to me was the one in Jeanne Bice’s backyard. I was only working 3 times a week – because on the other days I was going to school to learn English. Jeanne had just bought that house and was renovating it – so on one Tuesday while I was there cleaning her pool, Jeanne’s assistant came outside and asked me if I knew of anyone who could work directly for Jeanne with the renovations. I told her assistant that I’d like to know a little more about the work needed, so she went inside and spoke to Jeanne – and the next thing I knew, I was working for Jeanne part-time! I worked for Jeanne Monday’s, Thursday’s & Saturday’s – and my pool job on three other days. After working for Jeanne for a week, her assistant asked me to go inside and to meet Jeanne. I went in – and of course I was a nervous wreck.
Patrick: I bet!!! So what happened next??
Tiago: Well, in typical Jeanne Bice fashion, she asked me a million questions! She wanted to know where I lived, what I was doing, what my goals were, what my background was, etc., etc., etc. – I had never been asked so many questions in my life!! And then she told me that she had been checking up on my work the last week – and that she was impressed with my work – and my work ethics. She told me that she felt like I was a good person – and the next thing I knew Patrick, she was offering me to work for her full-time! I couldn’t believe this was happening after only working for her for a week! I of course was excited – but I knew that eventually all of the renovations would be completed – and then what would that mean for me? I knew I had to think of the long-term since I was new in America and needed to support myself in the future – so I asked her if there would be work for me after all of the house renovations were done? She paused and thought about that – and then said “Tiago, that’s a very good question. Yes, there will be work for you after that – I want to hire you full-time as a member of my inner team.”
Patrick: WOW!!!! What did you do?!
Tiago: I thought about it for a few seconds – and I said YES. I took a leap of faith and gave up my job at the pool company – can you believe Patrick that was almost 15 years ago?! Meeting Jeanne that day changed my life forever!
Patrick: I LOVE that story Tiago! And I love, love, LOVE this picture of you and Jeanne taken all those years ago – look at the smiles around that table!
Patrick: So tell us what happened next?
Tiago: Jeanne lived in that house for another 2 years until she bought her bigger house – the one you and your parents have been to Patrick on Spanish River Road in Boca Raton. When she bought the new house, she wanted to make sure that I had an office next to hers – as you remember Patrick, my office was right across from hers. Little by little, Jeanne started having me do more and more with Quacker Factory. It started with taking pictures of the new design ideas, sending emails on Jeanne’s behalf, going to the local stores to get samples – and then I started helping with the old website. And then Jeanne had me working with her other assistants. I was still maintaining the house – I guess you could say I was like her House Manager at that time – along with doing other activities directly for the Quacker Factory business. Basically, if Jeanne came up with an idea or an activity, she threw it over to me to make sure it happened on time, and as expected.
Patrick: And of course most of our viewers know you as the guy who decorated the Christmas trees throughout the year in Jeanne’s house – because Jeanne used to talk about that on air all of the time. Tiago, what’s the most number of decorated trees Jeanne ever had at her house??
Tiago: Can you believe it was 28?! That woman LOVED Christmas!!
Patrick: I did NOT know that the most was 28 – that is Quack-Tabulous!! You must have been one busy boy that year! Here’s a picture of one of those trees – isn’t it beautiful?! You did such a great job helping her decorate this!
Tiago: But it wasn’t just trees that she decorated Patrick. She also decorated just about every inch of surface in that huge house! Here’s one of my favorite areas of her house all decorated for Christmas.
Patrick: Now Tiago, MOST people would have to worry about WHERE they were going to store all of that after Christmas was over – but not at Jeanne’s – because she kept her trees up all year long! She just had you decorate them different for EVERY other holiday of the year!
Tiago: That’s very true Patrick. Here’s a picture of one of the trees redecorated for the 4th Of July.
Patrick: Heck – let’s be honest with everyone Tiago, Jeanne didn’t even need a holiday as an excuse to decorate a tree – if she came up for a new idea for a tree, she sent you to the crafts store to help her put it together. One of my favorite non-holiday trees she had you do was this one – her ‘If Life Gives You Lemons’ tree – how cool is that?!
Tiago: Ha – you are so right about that Patrick! The creative side of her brain just never shut down!
Patrick: So what did you honestly think when you first met Jeanne??
Tiago: I had NO idea who she was. I also had NO idea what QVC was – remember, I had just moved to Florida from Portugal – so this was all new to me. It wasn’t until I had worked with her for a while that I realised who she was. So when I first met her, I just thought that this guardian angel had appeared in my life! I just met her – and she gave me this great opportunity – and I knew that I couldn’t mess it up. I just looked up at the heavens and thanked God for putting her into my life.
Patrick: Did Jeanne ever give you any good advice that you remember?
Tiago: Yes. After I started working for her full-time for a couple of weeks, every Friday I would go to her office at the end of the day to let her know that I was leaving. And EVERY Friday, without fail, she would say to me “Thank you Tiago for all of your hard work this week – I really appreciate it. Enjoy your weekend – and stay out of trouble young man!!!!” I was only 21 years old at that time – and single – so it was like having a mother there every Friday watching my back and making sure that I behaved myself – I’ll forever be grateful for her looking after me like that.
Patrick: She really was like a mother to all of us – how lucky is our whole team to have worked with such a wonderful woman?! Speaking of Jeanne’s family, I love this picture of you and Jeanne working together with Jeanne’s daughter-in-law Karin.
Patrick: What is one of your favorite memories of working with Quacker Factory so far?
Tiago: That’s an easy one to answer – when I got to go to Branson, MO with Jeanne and the whole team – you were there too Patrick – and what a GREAT weekend that was. It made me realize how special and big Quacker Factory was. It was so great to meet so many of our customers – and Jeanne’s fans – all in one place over an entire weekend. I just couldn’t believe it all – it really was something magical! One my favorite nights there was the night we all went to the 50’s Sock Hop!
Patrick: I remember that all too well! Here’s a picture of you with Kristy, Maria & Angel – along with some of our wonderful Design Team – and you all got dressed to the nines!!
Patrick: I also seem to remember that you were very popular with our ladies that weekend – especially at the Pajama Breakfast Party! I even have the proof – here’s one of our Quackers all dressed up giving you a little peck on the cheeks!
Patrick: How cute it that?! You were such a great sport that weekend! But there is someone else giving you pecks on the cheeks these days – tell us about how you met the love of your life?
Tiago: You’re absolutely right –because 10 years ago, I met my gorgeous Mariana. I was out for the weekend in Ft. Lauderdale and was at a bar with friends. Across the bar was this beautiful girl – so I worked up the courage and walked to the other side of the bar to introduce myself. Her name was Mariana – and we started dating shortly after that initial meeting. It didn’t take me too long to figure out that she was the love of my life – so on June 8th, 2013 we tied the knot in Delray Beach. It was a wonderful ceremony at the Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens – it was one of the best days of my life!!
Patrick: I think we can all tell that from this gorgeous picture of the two of you on that very special day. You both look SO happy!
Patrick: Do you have any children?
Tiago: We have a four-legged fur baby. She’s a 2-year-old mixed puppy – a mix of an American Eskimo & Pomeranian – and her name is Chloe – and she is probably the most spoiled dog in the world!
Patrick: Ha – she looks very spoiled – and happy! Okay Tiago, here is a picture of you when you were a little boy. Can you tell us what you wanted to grow up to be?
Tiago: I always wanted to be a pilot. And when I first met Jeanne, she asked me that same question! And after working for her for a couple of years, Jeanne surprised me with a day of flying lessons on a small plane at the Boca Raton private airfield. I remember thinking to myself “Oh my gosh – I can’t believe that someone has been this kind to me and been so generous!” I got to take off the plane, fly over the Everglades in Florida – and then land the plane – it was an AMAZING experience – and all because of Jeanne Bice – she helped me make a childhood dream come true – that’s what kind of a woman she was. I will NEVER forget that day – and how kind she was to me!
Patrick: What an incredible story Tiago. And you’re 100% right – that’s exactly what kind of a woman Jeanne was. If you had a magic wand, what wish would you want to make come true?
Tiago: To bring Jeanne back – she was like a 2nd mother to me – and I would want to hug her one more time and tell her how much she has done for me – and to thank her one more time for coming into my life.
Patrick: What a wonderful wish that would be Tiago. And finally, what is your favorite QVC product – and why?
Tiago: When I was working for Jeanne, she ALWAYS had QVC on. One day there was a Krup product on and it was a Beertender. It allows you to drop in a mini keg of beer that you buy at the grocery store – and it chills and maintains your beer perfectly for a month. I mentioned that I thought that was pretty cool – and in true Jeanne fashion, that year that’s what she gave me for Christmas – and she gave one to her son Tim as well – and I still use it to this day!
Patrick: How wonderful to have something in your home that reminds you of Jeanne! Tiago, thank you SO much for taking the time to sit down with me today – I’ve had so much fun getting to know you better – and I know that our ladies have really enjoyed this as well!
One Team – One Dream!
I hope you all enjoyed getting to know Tiago! I know that you’ll think of Tiago every time you visit our website – especially when you go visit it right now to sign up for our latest contest!! Join me again next month when I introduce you to another wonderful member of our Quacky & Wacky team!!
Quacker Hugs & Love From Across the Duck Pond!
Patrick H. Hoy
Xoxoxo
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