We are pleased to announce Karla Ashford, Marketing Administrative Coordinator, as the recipient of the “Jack Hill” Employee of the Quarter award for the first quarter of 2024!
Karla’s Path:
Fresh out of college from Cleveland State University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, Karla started working at Mika in early 2022. Her vibrant personality and positive attitude set her apart from other candidates and made her a clear choice for our marketing and sales assistant. The role was only part-time to start, but Karla jumped in, made herself useful and added value to the organization. That, and her “can do” spirit, quickly expanded the role to full-time.Today, she handles a variety of marketing duties such as keeping the company website updated, creating artwork and publishing social media posts, blogs, the quarterly e-Newsletter along with customer facing email blasts.
As part of her personal development to fine tune public speaking, communication and leadership skills, Karla has been attending Toastmasters, where per usual she has jumped right in and quickly embraced the self-paced Pathway assignments.
Karla exemplifies our “Team Always” Core Value. When tenured staff retired, she gladly took on additional office responsibilities like entering and acknowledging orders as well as creating packing lists and certifications. If she’s given a task for which she has no previous knowledge of how to do, we trust she will figure it out. It is for these, and various other reasons Karla was promoted to Marketing & Administrative Coordinator and has earned her our Q1 2024 Employee of the Quarter Award. 
When we asked Karla what Core Value she most identifies with, she said “Greater Good”. As a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, she is passionate about helping individuals in need, making a positive impact and creating change in the world.
Outside of Work
Outside of work Karla likes reading, listening to podcasts, fashion, playing volleyball at the Cleveland Pier Volleyball courts, and vlogging on YouTube and TikTok. Currently she is reading “Atomic Habits” and listens to several podcasts such as Psychology of Your 20’s, Unpack ‘n Bounce Back and On Purpose.
Fun Facts:
Little known facts about Karla are she has been accepted into the MBA program at Cleveland State University where she will begin classes Fall 2024. She is a certified eyelash technician and has a “Get Ready With Me” vlog where she takes viewers with her on daily activities such as trying new foods, recommending fashion tips and sharing her process of getting ready for events.
Karla describes herself as ambitious, citing she will never shy away from a challenge. She thrives on pushing herself to turn dreams into reality and is motivated toward achieving her goals no matter what obstacles get in the way. Here at Mika, we would whole-heartedly agree and would add that she is curious, upbeat and clearly on the path of becoming a lifelong learner.
Karla’s greatest inspiration (and cheerleader) is her mother, Tarra Ashford. She is Karla’s source of strength, unwavering love, support, and guidance – and the person who pushes her most to keep going - even when obstacles seem insurmountable.
Her spirit animal is an owl because they represent wisdom, patience, solitude, deep connection, and intuitive knowledge.
If time and money were no object, Karla would travel to Brazil. She’s always been captivated by its beautiful rain forests, crystal clear beaches, and the 98 ft. tall statue of Jesus overlooking Rio de Janeiro!
What She Says about her peers at Mika
Karla is constantly amazed by the incredible teamwork and dedication of Mika employees. She says her co-workers are willing to lend a helping hand to keep improving the company and they go above and beyond to support each other to drive our success.
Links:
- https://www.toastmasters.org/
- https://sgrho1922.org/
- https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
- https://www.psychologyofyour20s.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/unpacknbounceback/?hl=en
- https://www.youtube.com/@JayShettyPodcast
- https://www.csuohio.edu/
Related Articles:
- https://blog.mikafab.com/en-us/dave-higgins-q3
- https://blog.mikafab.com/en-us/alex_norris-0
- https://blog.mikafab.com/en-us/meet_nate_campbell
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