Staff Spotlight: Abby Storms
Job title: Program Director
Years at Make-A-Wish: 11.5 years (staff) + 1 (Intern)
Work anniversary date: March 30th, 2011
What’s a typical day look like for you? Define Typical. As a member of the relationship team, I am working with families that are starting their wish journey all the way through actively determining their wish. My morning could consist of following up with wish granters on wish meetings or – could be chatting with a family about expectations around a Disney wish. The main goal of the relationship team is to determine the best wish for the child and set clear expectations around what this experience will look like. By lunch, I am chatting with team members on various questions around the “grey” area of our job (each family is so unique and it’s never black and white) and the afternoon could consist of team meetings chatting about processes and efficiencies to ensure that we are working toward our goal of 630 wishes while
providing the best customer service to our constituents.
Favorite part of your job: Without a doubt – it’s hearing from the families when the wish experience is everything they could have hoped for. Seeing the smiling faces or hearing a mom recount that this week gave her the opportunity to simply spend time with her family, something that we often take for granted. I am also loving getting to serve in more of a mentorship role with team members. It’s been such a joy getting to flex new skills in this arena.
A memorable wish experience: One of my most memorable wish experiences was Austin, who wished to build and design a challenge for the CBS show Survivor. He was able to visit the set in Nicaragua AND although we had set expectations low that he would be able to design a challenge for the show (he was 13 at the time), Jeff Probst and the entire team loved his challenge so much that they used it during the season and even brought it back during an All-Star season. Austin and Jeff connected, and Jeff flew the family back for finale night and kept in touch and would text every Wednesday after the show to get Austin’s thoughts!
Hobbies: Hobbies? What Hobbies?! Just Kidding – in my (limited) free time I love to try new restaurants, connect over a glass of wine with a girlfriend, or visit a sketchy foot massage place. I hope to start traveling again with my husband and it fuels my soul to have one on one time with each kiddo! I am always up to date on the “C List” Celebrity Drama, and I thrive on a good reality show. I’m your girl to talk about shows like Housewives, Bachelor, and Love is Blind!
Something people might not know about you: I am quite introverted outside of a work setting. I am often quiet in big groups of people. I live for learning and trainings. All kinds – but mainly things that are so outside of my scope of reality. I think it’s why I have gravitated towards podcasts in the last couple of years because it satisfied my love of learning, zoning out, and listening to something other than Coco Melon in my car.