Pegasus Technologies CEO Matthew Tucker interviews HR/Accounting specialist Debbie Conley as part of our “Meet the Team” series.
Matthew: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Meet the Employee here at Pegasus Technology. Today we have Debbie. Good morning, Debbie.
Debbie: Good morning.
Matthew: All right. So Debbie’s been with us for 12 years. We were just talking about it. Can’t believe time has flown by so fast. In fact, we’re coming up on 13 this October. So congratulations and thank you.
Debbie: Thank you.
Matthew: All right. So Debbie, why don’t you start off by just telling everybody a little bit about yourself.
Debbie: Like you said, I’ve been with Pegasus for almost 13 years and it wouldn’t have been that long if I didn’t love it here. And I also love my job in accounting and HR. And I am married with three grown children. So we’re semi-empty nesters just starting that next part of our life.
Matthew: Good, excellent. I’m only a couple of months behind you. So we’re a lot different. Trust me. We got one left there, so good. All right, so now we get to the fun part and why everybody tunes in and these are questions that have been submitted by your peers here at Pegasus so you cannot hold me responsible for any of them so don’t get angry. We’ll dive right in. Looks like a pretty reasonable set of questions here that I think will be fun. So starting right off is what unchecked items remain in your bucket list?
Debbie: Um, I’m pretty boring, believe it or not. I am. So I always wanted to go to Thailand. I don’t know if that’s something that will ever be possible for us. I know people that have been there and it’s like a super expensive trip. So that’s one thing. What’s another thing? I’m trying to think what I’ve always wanted to do. I do like to travel. I was to Europe one time when I graduated college and that was Paris and we’re talking about a family trip to Italy either this fall or next spring. So that’s definitely on my bucket list also.
Matthew: Awesome. Yeah, we just did the family trip to Italy. So if you need any input, let me know.
Debbie: I will ask you definitely.
Matthew: Good. Great. All right, next one is have you ever had an embarrassing moment in front of a large group of people?
Debbie: Yes, yes, I have. And actually, I have. But it’s funny, because it was a long, long time ago when I was young. And it always sticks in my mind. So it’s obviously the most embarrassing moment of my life. I was actually graduating from eighth grade. And as everyone knows, I’m 6 feet tall. And that I’ve obviously in 8th grade was not 6 feet tall, but I was always the tallest. And when we graduated at the back of the auditorium, they put you with a partner, and then you walk down the center aisle together. And believe it or not, they put me with Claude Anderson, who was not even five feet tall. So he and I walked down the center aisle together and the entire audience busted out laughing. So I was really embarrassed and of course in tears being a 13-year-old girl. But you know what? I learned as I got older to embrace it and that nothing’s gonna change it. And you know, today there’s a lot more tall people than there were back in the 60s and 70s, so.
Matthew: That’s good. That’s a great question. All right. What would your name be if you were a professional rapper?
Debbie: Oh my goodness. You know what? Oh, that’s a hard one.
Matthew: Yeah, right. And aren’t you supposed to put like two things together? Like you’re… I’ve read about that before, people that… how they pick it. You know, I have no idea.
Debbie: There’d be gold teeth.
Matthew: Maybe, but I don’t have any gold teeth. So yeah, no, something with the height. It would have to be something with the height.
Debbie: It would definitely and that’s something I would need to think about. So sorry, sorry I didn’t answer that one.
Matthew: That’s all right. We, we, there’s no requirements here. If you hosted a late night talk show, who would be your first guest?
Debbie: Kristen Wiig. I love her.
Matthew: Who’s Kristen Wiig?
Debbie: She’s a Saturday Night Live alum. Yeah. And she is, which goes to say my favorite movie is Bridesmaids. She was in Bridesmaids. And she does some more movies now and I just think she’s hilarious.
Matthew: Good. Excellent. I have a lot of questions for her.
Debbie: There you go. That’ll be a good interview.
Matthew: What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
Debbie: Probably octopus and only because my husband put me up to it. I am typically not a, as I call it, weird food eater. And I’m not big on trying different things and yeah. So, I mean, I, I like other types of food, but if it’s like, you know, the guts of some animal or so, I’m not going to try that. So yeah, that was it.
Matthew: All right. Good. What is your favorite season and why?
Debbie: Fall and it’s because I love the leaves changing. I love just having the small jacket on and I wish fall was longer and sometimes we hardly even get a fall, but. I just, I love the crisp weather and, you know, taking walks and we live near a park. So I see a lot of different, the leaves changing. So that’s, that’s why it’s my favorite.
Matthew: Good. All right, we’re staying with the favorites here. The next one is what is your favorite type of cheese?
Debbie: Well, that’s a good one. Okay, so here’s one. It’s called Black Pepper Toscana and it’s from Trader Joe’s. So I think it’s a mix between a Parmesan and another cheese, but I’m not sure what the other one is. And it’s my absolute favorite to put either on crackers or to shave over salads and pasta.
Matthew: That’s great. I’ll reach out to Trader Joe’s, see if we need some sponsorship for this plug.
Debbie: Trust me, it’s fantastic.
Matthew: All right, good. Just a couple more here. So do you have any pet peeves?
Debbie: Oh yeah, I have a lot of them actually.
Matthew: Just give me one.
Debbie: Well, one of them is people that hang in the left lane when you’re driving, when I grew up learning that that was the passing lane. And that if you weren’t going the speed limit or over, you better get over.
Matthew: Right.
Debbie: That’s one of my-
Matthew: I think that’s the law, but nobody follows it.
Debbie: It is the law in certain states, believe it or not, but it should be every state and it should be taught.
Matthew: Right, good.
Debbie: And one other one is stupid people, but we all have our definition of that, yes.
Matthew: Good, good. No names?
Debbie: No.
Matthew: All right, good, good. Which part of the roller coaster do you usually ride in? The front, the middle, or the back, or prefer to ride in?
Debbie: When I used to ride it, my kids always had to sit in the front. Now that I’m older and I’m not big on roller coasters, I would be sitting in the middle.
Matthew: The middle.
Debbie: Yeah, sure.
Matthew: Yeah. All right. The last one, which is appropriate. We may have already gotten the answer earlier, but who is the tallest member of your family?
Debbie: Well, if it’s immediate family, it’s our son, Brett, who’s 6’2″.
Matthew: 6’2″, yep.
Debbie: If it’s my family, my father.
Matthew: How tall was he back then?
Debbie: He’s 6’4″.
Matthew: 6’4″.
Debbie: And he has shrunk, he’s 83, so.
Matthew: Ah, so was the 6’4′ his peak or was he taller than that?
Debbie: He was probably 6’5″.
Matthew: Wow.
Debbie: Yeah, well. His dad was even taller and his mom, my grandmother, who’s passed on, was 4’4″.
Matthew: Wow
Debbie: Well, there goes back to the embarrassing moment of walking down the aisle.
Matthew: Yeah, right. So good. Well, Debbie, I really appreciate you taking the time and being a good sport on these. Thank you so much, not only for the questions but your years of commitment to Pegasus. We love having you here. We thank you for your time and look forward to the many years still to come. So thank you.
Debbie: Me too. Bye-bye.
