Employee Spotlight – Jay Russell

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! It’s no secret our Restoration Technician, Jay Russell, is a huge fan of the Indianapolis 500, but did you know he has only missed two Indianapolis Colts football games in the last 22 years? Learn all about Jay’s love of local sports and why our customers specifically request Jay for appointments in today’s post.

Jay — 12 Years of Service

Jay has worked for Langenwalter Carpet Cleaning for the last 12 years. His areas of expertise are carpet and upholstery cleaning and water restoration, but he tends to help out wherever he can. Jay said, “We have a team of 10 technicians who are really good at what they do. Some specialize in carpet cleaning or upholstery cleaning, but what’s great about our team is we all know how to do everything. That way, if someone needs help on a job, any one of the technicians can jump in and help. We have the best staff in the business!”

The heavy emphasis on training and learning new techniques and adapting to new technology has given the technicians an advantage against the competition and the customers take notice. Jay said, “Our customers notice the difference between us and the other guys. We are very customer driven and while we do wear a lot of different hats out in the field, customer satisfaction is the most important part of the job. Like they always say, the best customers are repeat customers.”

Carpet cleaning might sound like a 9-5 job, but sometimes it can start much earlier than that. Jay said, “Typically, a work day will run anywhere from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. We will go above and beyond and arrive at a customer’s home at 6:30 a.m. if that’s the only time they can fit us into our schedule. We adapt to meet our customers’ needs. A regular day consists of maybe five or six appointments, but if we are working on a big job, it might be the only job scheduled for that day. Because our team is trained so well, we know the right questions to ask our customers when scheduling appointments. We are able to get an accurate idea of how long the job will take so we don’t get over-booked.”

And while no two days are ever the same, Jay has seen his fare share of strange stains. Jay said, “One of the weirdest calls we received was a customer who was on vacation in Florida and when she came back home she had a bird who flew down her fireplace and made a mess all over her home. It was pretty wild.”

But beyond carpet cleaning and water restoration, Jay has some passions you might not know about. The first passion is his involvement with the nonprofit organization, Locks of Love. Jay said, “I have a good friend who works for Q95 and she mentioned I should think about donating my hair to Locks of Love. So I thought about it, and this charity is very near and dear to me, so I went and talked to Mitch and he gave me the thumbs up. This is my seventh year donating.”

But donating hair to Locks of Love isn’t the only thing he’s passionate about. He is also a huge supporter of local sports teams and the Indianapolis 500. Jay said, “I have lived in Indy my whole life and as a kid growing up, we never had a lot of teams to cheer for. But we always had the Indianapolis 500. It became a family tradition to go to the track and I’ve stuck with it ever since. The rev of the engines just gives me chills. That sounds and feeling it gives me will never get old.”

After attending the Indianapolis 500 year after year Jay has had the pleasure of meeting drivers and collecting their autographs. Jay said, “I’m kind of an autograph geek, so when I have the opportunity to ask a driver for their autograph, I take it.”

So why should Indianapolis residents choose to work with Langenwalter Carpet Cleaning? Jay said, “I work with the best people. Our customers are great people and they remember us. Sometimes they just want to call the office to talk to us. We work really hard to create lasting relationships with our customers. I think other companies forget that that is really important in this industry. Our focus on providing exceptional customer service is what sets us apart from everyone else.”

To learn more about the team members at Langenwalter click here and here. For more information about our services or to schedule an appointment, visit our website or call 317-876-9944 today.