(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights Walmart Garden Center Department Manager Sandy Pittman.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in Tylertown on Sept. 2, 1966.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I attended West Marion and went to Pearl River Community College.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I’m the department manager of the garden center at Walmart. I take care of the plants, make sure my department is straight and order when I need to order.
Q: What led you to your profession?
A: My first department manager job was in health and beauty. I’ve been with Walmart for 32 years. I went from health and beauty to houseware then back to health and beauty and then I was offered the garden center position. That was back at the old store around 2000 or 2001.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: Meeting people. I’ve met a lot of people here. I don’t personally know them all by name, but they will come in and ask how you’re doing and you know them. I’ve met a lot of friends here. A lot of people have retired, and I miss them a lot. I never thought when I first started here that I’d be here this long because I started when I was 19 and I’m 53 now. I was single when I started, then I got married, had kids and now have grandkids, and I’m still here. Walmart has been good to me. I also like being outside and dealing with the plants. I’ve always been an outside person.
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
A: During this time of year in the spring, making sure we’re keeping customers loaded. Sometimes we’ll have to 10 to 15 people out there at a time, and we’ll only have one or two people working so we’re trying to help customers and take care of them as fast as we can.
Q: What is the most important lesson you have learned in your career?
A: Doing things the right way. If you don’t do things right the first time, you always seem to have to redo it.
Q: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: A teacher. I actually went to school to be a teacher, and I just never seemed to make it. I never dreamed when I started working here I’d be here this long, but it’s been a good thing.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I worked at Montgomery Ward, which was my co-op job for school. I was there for about three or four years.
Q: Who are the people who have been most influential in your life?
A: Probably my momma, Diane Sistrunk, and my daddy, Jessie Sistrunk. They’ve always worked hard, and my dad worked until he was unable to work. I consider myself to be a hard worker because I don’t like to stand around. I would never tell you to do something that I wouldn’t do myself. My family as a whole has always worked hard. My grandparents worked hard, my kids work hard.
Q: What is your spouse’s name?
A: James Pittman. He’s a driller in an oil company.
Q: Do you have children?
A: I have two boys. Justin is 30 years old, and Hunter is 26. And I have four grandchildren. I’m very proud.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: Probably chicken alfredo. I love Olive Garden’s chicken alfredo.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: I’ve always wanted to take an Alaskan cruise. They say it’s really pretty there. I haven’t been very many places besides like Florida, Louisiana, Arizona and Texas.
Q: What hobbies do you like to do in your spare time?
A: My sister, Kristie Singley, and I make T-shirts and have a craft shop. We do two or three festivals every year. We do woodwork and stuff like that as well.
Q: What do you enjoy about Columbia and Marion County?
A: I don’t think I’d live anywhere else. I’ve lived in Foxworth all my life. I’ve been to other places, but they just don’t feel like home. My husband has always said he would never move past the railroad tracks in Foxworth. I love it here. I have a lot of friends here and a lot of friends here at Walmart that I’ve known forever. My family lives here, and my husband’s family lives here, too.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: Both my daddy and my grandma, Elouise Crawley, because they have both passed away, and I miss them. My grandpa, J.V. Crawley, too.
Q: If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you do all day?
A: Fish. My husband and I love to fish in the river. Fishing and camping is what we usually do.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on who you are today?
A: When I started having kids, I realized it was time to grow up and take responsibility.
Q: What is one thing you want to do that you’ve never tried?
A: Ride on a train. I’ve never been on a train. I had a friend who went on an Alaskan cruise who got to hop on a train there and ride through the mountains then got back on the boat at another point. I just thought that would always be something I would enjoy to see the mountains in Alaska.
Q: Using one word for each, what are your top three morals?
A: Honesty, trustworthiness and hard-working.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: As an honest, hard-working person who loves their family. To this day my kids come first even though they’re 26 and 30.
— Joshua Campbell
