Employee Spotlight: Gabrielle Pritchett Is Keeping It in the Family
When Gabrielle graduated from Elizabethtown College with a degree in business, she never thought she’d launch a career in the ball bearing industry. Now, more than twenty years later, Gabrielle thinks she might just stick around.
Alpine’s newest sales engineer won’t be commuting in to Alpine’s Boston office though. She’ll be working from her Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania home. Gabrielle is no stranger to telecommuting. She’s been working remotely for years and has it down pat. “You need a system to make it work,” says Gabrielle.
You might say bearings run in the Pritchett family. Gabrielle met her husband, Howard, at a different ball bearing company years ago. Howard has remained in the bearing industry as well. The couple have more than bearings in common. They have three children; Dean, who’s married with three kids, Genevieve, who’s also married and expecting her first child, and Reagan, who attends Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Working remotely has allowed the Pritchetts to visit their children, who live all over the country. “It’s been great for us as a family,” says Gabrielle. “The ability to work from anywhere enabled us to be there when our grandchildren were born. It also gives us the flexibility to visit our kids and be present in their lives, which is important to us both.”
During the season, a lot of the couple’s travel plans are dictated by the Liberty University men’s lacrosse team. Their son, Reagan plays for the team and the Pritchetts try to make every game.
The fact that family is such a big part of Gabrielle’s life helped her decide to come to work for Alpine and Jim Levin. “I’ve known Jim for years. He and Alpine have customer-first reputations. As a former customer of Alpine I’ve experienced this first hand. Since I’ve always had a customer-centric philosophy too, it’s a good fit.”
Another reason Gabrielle chose Alpine is the company culture. “Jim treats his employees like family. He’s known for it. Since we all spend so much time at our jobs, it’s nice to work for a company that values customers and employees.”
For someone who didn’t plan on a career in ball bearings, Gabrielle has certainly embraced it and we’re happy to welcome her to the Alpine family. “After all these years, I still enjoy working with bearings,” she says. “I love learning about where they go and helping customers find the perfect bearing for their application. I’m really excited about being at Alpine.”