This week’s Zapponian Spotlight is on Tiffany G., copywriter for the User Experience team in Zappos Development, Inc. This native Floridian is known for giving the best hugs around!

Read on to learn more about this fun and quirky Zapponian:

Pick 3 words to describe your personal style.

T: Relaxed, comfy, and lazy – I usually look like I just rolled out of bed!

Who is your favorite musician or band?

T: Sara Bareilles – that girl can sing and she’s really funny, too!

Name 3 things you never leave home without?

T: chapstick, phone, sunglasses

If you could have dinner with one famous person, who would it be?

T: See second question!

What’s the weirdest thing to ever happen to you?

T: When I was in high school, both of my feet were run over by a slow-moving car. (ouch!)

What’s your favorite part about working at Zappos?

T: The people.

This week’s Zapponian Spotlight is on one of our newbies from Zappos Merchandising, Inc., Natalie F.

This Connecticut native is an identical twin who has a penchant for live performance. She graduated with a degree in Theatre and moved to Chicago to train and perform at Second City. She then made the big move to Las Vegas to be closer to family, including her twin sister who happens to work close to the Zappos HQ buildings!

Read on to learn more about Natalie:

Pick 3 words to describe your personal style

N: I have an old roommate that would call me “Way too Connecticut.”  I was a personal shopper for JCrew for 5 years, and used to go overboard with the cashmere and the argyle and the critter embroidery. I would just say Comfortable, Classic and Casual.

Who is your favorite musician or band?

N: I am a huge fan of Carole King and James Taylor.  The singer/songwriters of the 70s are just so passionate about their music; you can’t help but love them!

Name 3 things you never leave home without:

N: Neutrogena revitalizing lip balm in Fresh Plum, my iPhone, and a book.

If you could have dinner with one famous person, who would it be? 

N: I would love to split a nice bottle of Pinot Noir with Alex Trebek, and then start quizzing each other with random trivia!

What’s the weirdest thing to ever happen to you?

N: A year and a half ago, I had to go under general anesthesia to have some surgery.  When I woke up in recovery, my doctor was standing over me shaking her head. Of course I expected the worst, but she just burst out laughing- she explained to me that I kept coming to in the middle of the surgery and asking what the score of the Villanova game was- the NCAA basketball tournament had started that day, and I had ‘Nova going to the Championship game in my work pool.

What’s your favorite part about working at Zappos HQ? 

N: String Cheese Friday!!  Just kidding, although that is pretty rad!  I love the family spirit and positivity.  Everyone is so supportive of each other, coming from other corporate environments, we all know that is a rarity.

A couple of months ago, a few Zapponans, along with our friends from KEEN, went out to do the second annual Mt. Charleston cleanup.

Here’s KEEN CEO James Curleigh talking about the event, and how YOU can volunteer to do a cleanup in your own community.

“Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It does.” – William James

“Your reputation is what you’re perceived to be. Your character is what you really are.” – John Wooden

Your action for this week is to look at what you do that makes a difference in your life, someone else’s life, at work, and even the world.  Remember your higher purpose and that your character is what and who you really are. 

Core Value #1.  Deliver WOW Through Service

Core Value #4.  Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded

Core Value #7.  Build A Positive Team and Family Spirit

Yours in character and making a difference,

 Augusta

(photo taken by Mark Higby.)

This week’s edition of the Zapponian Spotlight is on ZCLT member Tyson W.!

We sat down and asked Tyson a few questions to get to know him a little bit more…

If you could be a mixed drink what drink would you be and why?

T: Scotch on the Rocks

It is abrasive at first encounter and contains a hint of class. Smoother with water and you feel better once finished

If you had a plane ticket to go anywhere in the world where would you go and why?

T: Fiji-Second best goofy footed curl, heaviest waves, and easily the most gorgeous place in the world

Tell us an embarrassing moment…

T: I am English major and was playing Trivial Pursuit with my best friends. One is a valedictorian of their law school, one is a doctor, two are grads in the MBA program at USC. I was winning and they each had one piece left to go. My question was "what do you call an angle greater than 90 degrees."  Being a scholar, I didn't know the answer. After about 20 min they tossed their pieces and told me that the word is “obtuse”. Never played with them again!

We hear that you were inducted into your High School Hall of Fame. What was the best part of that and how did it make you feel?

T: I most enjoyed seeing the slideshow from my junior year and reliving that time since was a magical year for me. It was fun to run into people from high school after 18 or so years and catch up.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?  

T: Succeeding in a leadership role here at Zappos while also being able to be an editor of a local book featuring local authors

“There are people whose clocks stop at a certain point in their lives.”  --French Literary Historian Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve

Your action for this week is to spend some time to identify where you have grown in the last year.  Are you more self aware?  A better communicator?  More patient?  Have you grown as a person or has your clock stopped?

Core Value #2.  Embrace and Drive Change

Core Value #5.  Pursue Growth and Learning

Core Value #9.  Be Passionate and Determined

Yours in "the clock is still ticking",

Augusta

The Zappos Dev team has been notorious for their Nerf gun battles for quite some time now. Well, payback has finally come in the form of the ZCLT Training Class! They have adopted a new tradition of an all-out Nerf gun attack on the dev team right before their graduation!

Some very talented, very crafty Zapponians decided to hold the first “Crafty Craft-a-palooza” (AKA Crafts Fair) today. There were fun aprons, dolls, hair accessories, glass décor, greeting cards, jewelry, and other handmade gifts available for purchase. The best part was everything was lovingly crafted by our fellow Zapponians!