April marks the 2-year work anniversary of Sophie Hunt, our Office Manager. Sophie joined our team in April 2022, fresh off of the two-year blip in her administration career caused by the pandemic. To celebrate this milestone, we decided to ask her a few questions:

How did you come to work at Catalina?
Catalina needed administrative support, since at the time they did not have a dedicated admin team member. I had left my previous position shortly before Covid started and had been unable to re-enter the workforce with two small kids at home, so a part-time (at first) position was a great fit for me. Catalina has grown since I began, as has my role here, so it has been a very natural transition.

What is your favorite thing about working here?
My favorite thing about working at Catalina is the supportive atmosphere. I see examples of supervisors or team leads jumping in to help or support employees all the time, as well as intentional calling out when people have done a great job. I have experienced both from my supervisor. Catalina very much operates on a system of positive reinforcement, which is so refreshing.

Describe a skill that you use both professionally and in your personal life.
I run a tight ship, both at work and at home. I’m basically Captain von Trapp. We are talking lists, schedules, note taking, and aggressively reducing my inbox to zero. I wouldn’t say it’s a skill so much as a personality trait.

How do you maintain work-life balance in a fully remote job?
There’s been a lot of ink devoted to why being available to your job on all devices and at all hours is a bad thing, but I find it much easier to maintain a work-life balance when I am actually at home. Being able to occasionally stop what I’m doing to focus on personal or household tasks, school pickups, or dinner and then come back to what I was working on has reduced my stress tenfold.

Do you have any hidden talents?
Cleaning, but it’s hardly hidden.

Do you have a favorite book? What is it?
The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown will change your life. It’s the perfect intersection of history, true crime, and adventure. Your friends and family will be so sick of hearing you talk about cannibalism.

If you didn’t work in your current field, what would you be doing?
If time and money were no object, I would go back to school for Historic Preservation. Old houses tug at my heartstrings.

“It’s been awesome having Sophie as part of the Catalina team these past 2 years. She’s hardworking, quick-witted, and enjoys a good true crime docuseries as much as the next person. What more can you ask for? Sophie, thank you for all you do. You deserve to be Catalina’s first Employee Spotlight!” – Tammi