She may not always enjoy the attention, but it’s time to highlight another standout contributor to Kendall Hunt in our Employee Spotlight! Meet Kristy Kelly. We know her as the Senior Operations Support Assistant, but her friends and family know her as a sarcastic, cat loving, motorcycle riding, die-hard Cubs fan. Growing up in Durango, Iowa, she graduated from Hempstead High School and Magna Cum Laude from Clarke College with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. Within her position at Kendall Hunt, Kristy wears many hats. She is assistant to Vice President of Operations, Tim Beitzel, and provides support to all of the operations departments (Production Services, Event Planning, and Customer Service). Whether it’s working on VitalSource eBooks, other digital assets, weekly reports, or planning convention travel, Kristy has quite a long to-do list. To sum up her role Kristy simply states, “It entails a lot of multi-tasking!”

Speaking of multi-tasking, Kristy also enjoys landscaping and gardening, as well as reading and watching Netflix. She also loves to spend time with her husband, Joe, his 3 sons and their 3 cats. She also loves staying close to the family including sister Kelly Jentz-Ruff, who just happens to work in the opposite wing from her in Kendall Hunt Customer Service.

Though she loves what she does outside of the office, Kristy also enjoys what she does inside the office, as well as where she does it. She explains, “I have been here for 23 years, so I must love something! My boss would say that it is him, and well, I guess he’s okay (lol). I would say the people I work with that I can laugh with (including my boss), and the variety of things that I do help keep it interesting. I also appreciate all of the little things the company does for employees.”

Lastly, let’s just point out this woman’s strong work ethic even more through a quote. She explains, “I totaled my vehicle a couple of years ago on a snowy January day on my way to work. I was an hour late, but I made it to work.”

Thanks for “making it work” and so much more for the past 23 years, Kristy!