JULY 5, 2012 - "The Customer is Always Right "

Erin Russ is a Jacqueline of all trades but mistress of few.  She has formerly worked as a U.S. Army officer;  a youth wilderness program manager; a call center representative, team lead and trainer; and most recently as the Southern Arizona Gender Alliance's Program Coordinator at Wingspan.  Erin pastors Ad'Ullam Church in Tucson and is a prolific speaker and community educator who is just beginning to explore the wonders of story telling for the sake of telling a good story.  Erin currently plans to enroll at Pima Community College in the fall to pursue a post-baccalaureate certificate in Paralegal Studies.

Back to Archive and Photos

Ray Moody is a native Arizonan, growing up in Buckeye, AZ and spending most of his adult life living in either Phoenix or Tucson. As student body president of Buckeye Union High School and lead cook/server of the town’s only major chain restaurant, Pizza Hut, he found himself as a very influential high school student. His first move to Tucson was in 1999 to begin his college career at the University of Arizona, studying Psychology while working at Mimi’s Café. Ray completed three years at UA before returning back to Phoenix and taking a job as a self-taught system administrator for his Dad. He eventually got a job working for a non-profit drug and alcohol rehab doing intake assessments of applicants, searching for only the most “highly qualified” drug addicts and alcoholics. He returned to the UA in 2010 to finish his degree where his 4.0 GPA was a stark contrast to the previous three years he attended. Upon graduation in 2011 with a BA in Psychology, he acquired his current job as Lab Coordinator in the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences and coordinates multiple research projects. Ray has a “colorful” past which has helped him learn many of life’s lessons and has led to his infinite appreciation for friends, laughter, and the value of a smile.

Elizabeth Tilley is a poet, writer, and teacher who lives in Oracle, AZ. She recently finished her Ph.D. in Family Studies and Human Development. She is enamored by the art of storytelling. She believes that there is a story in everything we do and is inspired by the spark of the story ideas that come at seemingly inopportune times. She calls this spark, the tickle of a sneeze. Sometimes it passes and nothing happens, but other times, a wonderful story or poem flows forth. She is excited to share her stories with the Odyssey Storytelling Group. While working the graveyard shift at American Airlines, one of her many extra jobs during graduate school, she encountered stories in the strangest places and she learned that some companies do not believe that the customer is always right....

Jon Bromfield briefly pursued an theatrical career while in his early twenties, acting in community theater and summer stock, going as far as quitting engineering school and moving to New York City, where he fell in with a motley group of similarly deluded dreamers.  After a year of debilitating poverty and daily assaults on his ego, he happily returned to school and his second great love, building things.  He is currently supervising the construction of a major facility at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.  Now, older, wiser, and financially secure, he's fallen back in love with his old flame. His participation at this Odyssey Storytelling event is his first public performance in over thirty years.

Pat Archie has lived in the Tucson area since 1962 and became a licensed real estate agent in 1971.  During her time in Tucson, she has certainly seen a lot of changes in the Tucson real estate market, and has encountered many different types of customers.  In addition to residential real estate, Pat also helps customers with property management and commercial sales.  In her spare time, Pat loves to play golf (on a cool day!) and enjoys hanging out with her two border collies.

John Wakefield was born in NE England but as a child spent hours studying maps and dreaming of exotic lands and strange people. Degrees in Geology gave John the opportunity to work and in Botswana, Saudi Arabia, Zambia, Brazil, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands satisfy his desire to see exotic lands. He arrived in Tucson in 1984 and started a new career as a Glass Artist and entrepreneur as owner of Artistry in Glass on E Grant Road. In this capacity, he has rubbed shoulders and locked horns with numerous strange people many of whom will be caricatured in his satirical analysis of the US customer/retailer interface.

ASL Interpreting provided by Pima Community College Interpreter Training Program