The DS Murphy Newsletter

By: Kate Merrihew – Director of Education and Marketing

If you think you have occasional trouble with property valuation, just try valuing an antique tea set.  Glenn Lancey can probably tell us all a thing or two about antique and consignment valuation as his previous job was running his parent’s store, Eclectics Consign and Design in Flowery Branch.  He still works there on Saturdays to run payroll and occasionally handle the IT and overhead but he has been the HR Assistant with D.S. Murphy for 6 months (hired 4 days before his birthday).

A native-born Atlantan, his mother worked at Coca-Cola for 30+ years and father with the Navy before they both retired.  They divorced when Glenn was 5 but found their way back to one-another 7 years ago.  They currently spend half the year in the Atlanta area and half in a cabin in Montana.  Glenn is closest with his brother, a Cobb County police officer.  Glenn joked that any time he gets a call from his brother in the middle of the day, it’s likely a “life lesson”.  He hears “all the great stories.” 

Glenn attended Joseph Wheeler High School in the Advanced Science, Math and Engineering Program.  He had quite a few friends involved in robotics and was driven by a strong childhood proclivity for Legos and video games.  *This would later lead to a long relationship with World of Warcraft.  Upon graduation, Glenn went to Auburn for a couple of years and mentions that he “wasn’t quite ready for college right out of the gate.”  He went on to work for the same PET manufacturing company as his father where he was a product technician.  In 2016, he decided to return to college and attended University of North Georgia where he received a degree in Business Management in 2020.  There would be no graduation ceremony for Glenn, thanks COVID-19.

His family bought the consignment store that year and he went to work with them.  He playfully remarked that his parents would call themselves “antique-ers” and he would call them “impulse buyers.”  This job would inform his customer service style and affinity for the gray-area that is personal property valuation. While most people at D.S. Murphy might know him as “the payroll guy,” he has his hands in many tasks including (but not limited to) back-up customer service rep and gathering onboarding information.  He is also the self-proclaimed “hoarder of the merch.” 

Glenn’s favorite book is “The Count of Monte Cristo” and he recounted that in high school he was required to read this book but was not aware of the abridged version.  That’s right, he read all 1276 pages.  We are happy to have Glenn on the D.S. Murphy team because clearly, he will go the extra mile and then some!

I asked Glenn the following questions…

Q: What made you want to go into HR?

A: I think HR just showed up to me.  I was friends with Tabitha’s son Dallas and heard about the opportunity.  My emotional intelligence level was always decent and knowing how to work with people.  My years in customer service helped with that as well. This job showed up and I jumped in.

Q: What would you like to do when you are no longer working?

A: The Social Security system is going to collapse so I’m not sure I’ll ever stop working but likely take a VERY long nap.  I hope you are prepared to be stuck with me for the next few decades.

Q: What the weirdest thing you have come across when talking to clients?

A: Usually the weirdest thing that happens is when the mega homes come my way on the phone. It’s the thing that throws me off the most.  I took a call for commercial – 19,000 sq ft event center and a 24,000 sq ft house.  I was just trying to figure out as much as I could.   I do remember this strange email address from an order – the official email was fatboymaximus@gmail.com.

Q: Something no one knows about you?

A: I am good with people because I am terrified of people.  I go into overdrive trying to interpret and I think that is my compensation technique – knowing as much as I can.

Q: What words of wisdom can you share with the team?

A: There isn’t a more solid foundation than rock bottom because all you can really do from there is go up.  There’s a lot to learn from that position.  It was the thing I personally needed to remove all expectations of myself.