The Uncommon Life

Uncommon Personalities: Meet Valerie Baloga

October 8, 2013

UncommonGoods Customer Service Team Lead Valerie BalogaValerie Baloga, UncommonGoods Customer Service Team Lead

My hometown is…
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

The best customer interaction I’ve had at UncommonGoods was…
It’s always really fun when a customer calls expecting a fight and hangs up completely blown away by how easily their situation is resolved. One of the great things about working here is having enough freedom to really listen to what each customer needs and then being able to offer a solution that is really specific to the situation.

I’m inspired by…
Right now I find I am most inspired by people who take life into their own hands and live their dreams. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

My guilty pleasure is…
’90s pop music.

An uncommon fact about me…
Before moving to New York in 2010, I spent one summer in Upstate New York, three summers in Maine, and an entire year in Richmond, VA working in theatre. I built and painted scenery and worked on props.

My favorite place to hang out in New York City is…
Prospect Park in good weather – and at the risk of looking like a huge nerd, the library. I frequent the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and the Brooklyn Public Library.

My style is…
Casual. Comfortable. Colorful.

Working at UncommonGoods, I’ve learned…
I’ve learned so much, and I have acquired so many new skills – spreadsheets – they’re amazing! What I also learned, perhaps most importantly, is that some companies actually care about their customers and their employees. I’m so lucky to work for a B Corporation.

Would you rather… Tap dance OR ride your bike, in place of all of your walking?
I was all set to say bike, definitely. But then I thought, I might want to take the train sometimes, and how will I get up and down all those stairs on a bike? So I’m going to say tap dance.

6 Comments

  • Reply Pat Cavalieri November 30, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    Hi,
    When I tr4y to send you photos of my work, I get 1200 x 1200 pix
    My photos are excellent on PICASA3
    What can I do ?

    • Reply Cassie December 1, 2016 at 12:06 pm

      We’re sorry to hear that you’re having trouble with our online form. As long as your photos are square .jpg files and they are at least 1200 x 1200 pixels per inch, you should be able to submit them at UncommonGoods.com/designs. If you’re unable to submit them there, please send your work via email to [email protected]. (Just make sure to include all of the info we ask for on the submission form in the body of your email, so our buyers can understand your work better.)

  • Reply Shevani July 6, 2017 at 7:06 am

    Hi there

    I am looking to place a bulk order for some of your goods. Please can you assist me as i would like to purchase this asap

    Thanks

    • Reply Hadley July 6, 2017 at 9:28 am

      Hi, Shevani. You’ll find a corporate order inquiry form on our website here, which may be of help. A corporate order FAQ can also be found here. (At UG, a corporate order is defined as an order “of multiple units of a single SKU totaling $1000 or more shipping to any U.S. Domestic Location.”) If you have further questions regarding the possibility of placing a bulk order, please contact a member of our corporate and bulk orders team at [email protected]. Hope this helps!

  • Reply Nicole October 25, 2017 at 5:05 pm

    Hi,

    Any chance I could make a request for a specific city to be made into a glass? I am sure you get this all the time, I just thought I would ask.

    Thanks,
    Nicole

    • Reply Hadley October 27, 2017 at 10:34 am

      Hi, Nicole! We are always passing suggestions on to our buyers and product development team, so if you have a city you’d like to see represented, please let us know–we can’t guarantee we’ll be able to accommodate the request immediately, but we do value our customers’ feedback and keep it in mind when adding new items (or updating older ones).

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