KELSEY: My name is Kelsey, and I’m a service specialist for the pest elimination team. And this is my Ecolab story. When I first started, I didn’t know what the job entailed. I took a leap of faith and tried a completely new career. And it’s been a very big blessing for our family. Generally, new employees start at night working the night routes from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. And your hours can vary depending on what your customer needs and when they need you to start. Time management is really important in this job.

From a day-to-day aspect, you are alone. I appreciate the training Ecolab gave me about my safety and working independently. I get into my vehicle, turn my music up, have some coffee. And when I get there, I am ready to rock and roll. When I start my service routine, I check in with the customer and then I start my service on the exterior, do everything I need to do, and then I work my way inside and check all of my interior equipment and take notes for the customer.

Just because they have a rodent program doesn’t mean that’s the only issue you’re going to solve for them. We’re in the problem solving business. They could have flies. They could have Asian beetles, box elder bugs. So you want to point everything out, so they know exactly what’s happening and you can take care of it for them. You will come into contact with pests in this job, and with your training and knowledge that you develop, you’ll learn how to safely work with and around them.

In my service, I protect my customers’ assets, which protects their reputation. Because of the relationships I’ve made with my customers, it increases my business, which increases my income as well. This job is very physical. You are getting down on the ground constantly, reaching under heavy equipment, looking behind equipment, moving equipment, getting up into the ceiling.

There’s so many things that are very physical and you’re repeating those motions constantly. So that’s why you want to make sure that you are doing it safely and wearing your kneepads, goggles, hat, because you want to protect yourself. Safety is a non-negotiable Ecolab standard that I take very seriously.

I loved going to training, because you make friends with people that know exactly what you know. So you learn at the same pace. You make friends with your teachers. You can email them. They’re another resource you have when you have all these questions starting out. I have so many resources with Ecolab that I can do anything to make a customer happy. If you’re ever interested in growing in the pest division, there are so many opportunities to further your career.

One of my favorite things about my job is I get to make my own schedule. I wake up, and I go to the gym probably three to four days a week. I get to make dinner every night. I get to play with my kids every night.
​​​​​​​

I get to pick them up from daycare, spend as much time as I can with them during the day, and that really is refreshing to me. I love what I do, and I love the people I work with. And this is how I own my future and impact what matters.