Rebecca Whitney Controller and Human Resources

What I like about working here are the Bloomin' people! I also like the diversity of our clients and the variety of the work that we do for them. And I value the high ethical and quality standards we hold for ourselves and our clients.

My degree in Accounting from the University of Georgia and my position as Controller with a real estate investment and development company prepared me for my responsibilities at The Bloom Agency, but I also apply experience gained at each of my jobs – including my volunteer positions and my years as a stay-at-home Mom.

I've been a volunteer with Girl Scouts for 20 years. My philosophy about almost everything is summarized in the Girl Scout laws, and my all-encompassing favorite is "to be honest and fair". I try to live my life with that goal in everything I do, every relationship I have, and every plan I make. I also take very seriously "use resources wisely", which extends from human and financial resources to our planet's natural and non-renewable resources. Waste of any kind, be it tangible, time, money, or energy, frustrates me. I drive a hybrid car.

Art likes to say that we are stewards of our clients' budgets and I certainly do my part. I view every invoice as though I was receiving it myself, to assess fairness and accuracy.

As An Aside
In case you are curious, here are the Girl Scout laws:
I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.

I love the enormous project we finished in February of 2008! For six months, we endured the continuous banging of hammers and buzzing of saws and we worked around the inconvenience of having our offices and workplaces turned inside out. Yes, we did an extensive renovation of The Bloom Agency office. And I loved being involved with every detail of it.

This project grew out of necessity; we wanted private offices for our staff members, and we needed more offices to accommodate our growth. I spent many hours at the drawing board with pencils and rulers and templates of desks and chairs. We designed and redesigned. We mulled over many ideas and plans until we conceived
the Perfect Plan.

You might ask, "Why not simply move to a location that could accommodate us all better?" Well, if you saw our building, you'd understand why we choose to stay.
When the remodeling and redecorating were done, we decided that a grand party was in order. We invited our clients, suppliers and reps, and friends and family to The Year of the Rat gala. From freshly cut bamboo to hanging Chinese lanterns, everything played on the theme of the Chinese New Year. The catered menu included Asian glazed salmon, vegetable spring rolls, rare seared sesame ahi tuna, chicken potstickers with teriyaki, sweet chili and hot mustard sauces, and an artistic rat carving on a papaya. We even served Chinese beers and wines!

The photographs will give you an idea of the level of attention to detail applied to every aspect of the gala. Even the stamps for the invitations celebrated the Chinese New Year. May I offer you a Chinese fortune cookie containing a custom Bloom marketing tip?

One consequence of our Year of the Rat gala was an invitation to showcase our beautifully renovated office as part of Piedmont Craftsmen's annual downtown loft tour. I served as a tour guide for an evening, and would be honored to give you a private tour and history lesson about this treasured Winston-Salem property. If you cannot visit us personally now, please take a photo tour and give me a call so that I can tell you all about the Bloom Agency and the work that we do.