Merissa Flaherty

For my first 8 years at West Marine, I was a member of the WCF Packing department, where I specialized in packing orders in GRND (catalog) format, as well as holding responsibilty for overnight (FedEx, etc) & international fulfillments. Aside from packing, I have learned to consolidate, meter orders, and handle packing exceptions.

Whenever the department was idle due to low volume of work, I, along with other WCF members, were assigned to cross-train at various other departments, including Inventory, Receiving, and Shipping.

From early 2022 until mid-2023, I was moved into the Selection Department as a Mod Selector who specialized in picking catalog (WCF) and store (ROP) orders, before returning to WCF Packing that very summer of 2023.

In early 2024 up until the end of my West Marine days, I became a member of the Janitorial team in the facilities department, where I specialized in helping keep offices, restrooms and break rooms clean and well kept. A few years prior, in 2020 and during the pandemic, I have experienced in volunteering for this department for one day, by helping keep the main break room clean and well kept all day long.

Throughout my 10 1/2 years with this company, I have had worked with many different managers (5 in WCF Packing, 2 in Selection, and 1 in Facilities), many of them were very reasonable and easy to work with, while others were challenging but didn't stop me from presenting my best work to keep my reputation.

Overall, I have spent many great years with this company, despite challenges I have experienced at certain times, I remained a positive attitude and kept on going in order to succeed and bring out outstanding performance.

In 2011, while my parents both worked full-time jobs, I was offered to help out as a babysitter for my niece and nephew (who where ages 1 and 3 months old at the time). While they were both at work, I stayed to take care of them all day long until one or both of them returned home. Two more additions were added later on, one more niece born in 2012, and another nephew born in 2013. I have received weekly or biweekly minimum pay for this position. It was a great opportunity for experience with children, which I enjoyed, despite it's many challenges, and a great start to a journey of finding my first job. This was an ongoing experience until I found my first full-time job in the summer of 2014.