SAM Employee Spotlight: Justin Furnia
Information Technology Administrator of Storage Asset Management
Justin Furnia
Q: Can you introduce yourself and provide some background on your role within the company? What are your primary responsibilities and areas of expertise?
A: My name is Justin Furnia and I am an IT System Administrator for the stores. I assist with the Help Desk tickets and work on fixing gates, phone (RingCentral), Microsoft issues, Sitelink software (but not settings), and a variety of other items that come up. Phones and gates seem to be my specialty. I assist with corporate items as well, as my workload allows.
Q: How did you come to be part of the team at SAM? What attracted you to this role and our company?
A: I was doing part-time IT work at my last job and was looking to gain more knowledge of IT and find a full-time position. SAM found me not long after posting my resume. I applied to a few full-time positions and I believe Mickie, SAM IT Manager, called me within days of posting my resume. I never heard of SAM but was interested to see how SAM maintained so many locations across the US.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working at SAM? Is there a specific aspect of your job or the company culture that you find particularly rewarding?
A: I enjoy fixing tickets in the field. During a call I like to find out about the facility and how the manager is. I enjoy connecting with the field while working on tickets, and the same goes for when I am working on items at the home office. I like that SAM gives back and shows appreciation to the employees. I have worked in some environments where the opposite is true.
Q: Is there a memorable life lesson or piece of advice that has shaped your outlook or approach to life and work?
A: Always be on time. I had a teacher in middle school that said, “To be early is to be on time. To be on time is to be late. And to be late is unacceptable.” People’s time is valuable and if you’re late it makes them feel like they are not valuable. This is true in work and life. Give credit to those that helped you or have better ideas then you.
Q: Outside of work, what are some of your hobbies or interests that you enjoy pursuing in your free time?
A: I have a small farmette where I like to grow some produce for our family. We also have several fruit trees including peach, apple, pear, and cherry along with raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. A lot of the items are turned into breads, jelly, salsa, apple sauce, apple butter, or cider. I have made hard cider before, but if you do not do it right the bottles can explode. We also have laying chickens and goats. During the summer, my family and I do a lot of camping which allows time to disconnect from the outside world and enjoy my family. I also like playing video games when I have the time. The other thing I do is work on home improvements for my house, or houses I help my wife’s family rehab and sell.
Q: Can you share a fun fact about yourself?
A: My parents are originally from New York state. Both my sisters were born there as well. I am the only one born in Pennsylvania, which is always funny to me because my mom’s family is from PA. My grandparents left PA for me to return two generations later.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share about yourself?
A: I’ve been married to my wife, Kayla, for almost 11 years. I am the happy father of three kids – Luke who will be six soon, Will who is three, and Claire who is one. I would like one day to have enough apple trees to make a variety of ciders.
Q: What is your go to Sunday cleaning/organizing song?
A: Usually a compilation of music from Frankie Valli, Huey Lewis and the News, Eminem, Fall Out Boy, Eric Church, Luke Combs, sprinkled in with Disney Music.