With roots in education and a passion for helping others grow, Jamilyn Bertsch combines real-world experience with a non-traditional approach to help employees develop skills and advance their careers.
When Jamilyn Bertsch began her first job as a middle school teacher in Indianapolis, she didn’t know that her passion for education would one day lead her to the car wash industry. But her current position as chief people officer at Express Carwash Equipment, as well as the teacher, administrator and consultant roles she has taken on during her 23-year career, all have one thing in common: they have involved helping people learn more effectively.
“I’m fascinated by examining how people can grow, be transformed and even shape the world around them through learning and sharing ideas,” Bertsch said.
Bertsch was inspired to pursue an education degree by the “amazing” teachers who taught in the public schools in her hometown of Avon, Ind. While earning her teaching degree from Anderson University in Indiana, “I realized that not all public school students were in a school community with the same kinds of opportunities. I knew that I wanted to eventually work in a place where I could potentially make a real difference,” she said.
She ended up teaching middle schoolers at Indianapolis’s Sidener Learning Community and at the Center for Inquiry, which emphasized an inquiry-based approach to learning. She also explored nontraditional options for education, including a dual teacher program.
“It was a great opportunity for me to learn a whole new way to approach public education with struggling learners,” Bertsch said. “I started pursuing every opportunity I could to participate in professional development opportunities and pilot programs to bring more real-world learning opportunities to my students.”
During her 13 years with the Indianapolis Public Schools, she earned a master’s in education, became an assistant principal and then a principal and started a new Center for Inquiry school. She also began focusing more on adult learning to support her teachers, and began working toward a doctorate in instructional systems technology from Indiana University Bloomington while transitioning to a consulting role with schools and businesses in Grand Rapids, Mich.
“I eventually started working in other industries and loved the new challenge of designing and evaluating learning and development programs for companies. Adults bring more unique life experience, have a strong self-concept, have more internal motivators and need to know the why,” she said. “Creating effective programs for unique contexts and for teams with diverse individual learner characteristics can be challenging.”
DEVELOPING THE CAR WASH WORKFORCE
Bertsch initially became involved in the car wash industry through her husband Nathan, who is now a partner on the Express Carwash Equipment team.
“After many summer breaks visiting washes around the world with him and discussing his work over every dinner, his passion for building and operating washes constantly piqued my curiosity,” she said. Over time, Bertsch noticed a change in the conversations they were having with owner/operator friends in the industry.
“We used to talk mostly about the best locations or the newest equipment and chemical technology. But then I started to see a shift toward a focus on people. It became clear that to have a competitive advantage, you were going to have to make it a priority to find great people to hire, treat them well and train them effectively,” she said. “I couldn’t help but get roped in by all of the fresh passion I saw in this industry for building great teams. Plus, I began to see how the car wash industry could be a perfect place to build a career pathway for young people who maybe didn’t have the best school experience.”
“I’m fascinated by examining how people can grow, be transformed and even shape the world around them through learning and sharing ideas.”
—Jamilyn Bertsch
She consulted in the car wash industry for several years before assuming her current role in 2022. Since joining the company full time, she has focused on a complete overhaul of the training programs both for Express Carwash Equipment and for the pair of Alaska-based Sudzy Salmon Car Washes that she and her husband own.
This is an excerpt of an article from CAR WASH Magazine.
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