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Keeping people moving is the mission of Monique Swyer and her team. After 15 years in the accessibility industry, she has helped many people stay in their homes and access public places in spite of different abilities. She didn’t plan on becoming the “elevator lady”, but when you find work that you enjoy, you just have to go with it. |
| Monique graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in French and International Communications and Relations. In 1993, she was able to put her degrees to use in international sales at Access Industries (now TK Access.) She served as the liaison with the manufacturing plant in the UK, as well as handled the dealer sales in Canada, Asia and Latin America. Eventually, she took over the Midwest territory in the United States where she was in charge of dealer sales in 14 states. Through her travels within the industry, she met many accessibility dealers. She came to admire certain dealers for their dedication to their customers and their drive to serve them. These were not necessarily the largest dealers in terms of volume of sales or size, but definitely the type of people you would want to take care of your own parents – the ones with the biggest hearts. They treated their customers like friends, often giving where other companies won’t. It’s a different way of doing business, and surely not the most profitable one, but at the end of the day, you can feel good about what you have done. |
| Monique also places a high value on knowing your product inside and out. You can’t sell something that you don’t know how to install. She has been through the training classes of many of the manufacturers, including Cemco, National Wheel-o-Vator, Inclinator, Access and Garaventa. She is very hands-on and will help with any questions. It’s all about making people’s lives easier and better.
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| Helping people has been an integral part of life for Monique. She has always been involved as a volunteer in one organization or another, but after becoming part of the accessibility industry, she found that volunteering with people of different abilities actually helped her understand her clients better. While at Access Industries, she felt that working at a factory where their main clients were people with disabilities, that people from the factory would want to give back to the community that made their business viable. She found out about the opportunity to volunteer at the Paralympic Games in Atlanta in 1996. She and her father spent a week working with the amazing athletes from all over the world who came to Atlanta to compete in the Olympic venues. She also has volunteered at the National Veteran’s Wheelchair Games and served on the board of Whole Access. She currently volunteers at Homeward Bound, a no-kill animal shelter and serves on the Gilmer County Land Board whose goal is to preserve and protect natural resources while providing access for all.
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| The volunteer work as well as her everyday personal interactions with customers in their homes gives Monique a well-balanced sense of the world. Making millions is not Monique’s goal – but helping people is. She has realized that no matter how much money you have, you cannot buy your health or your happiness. She is content to live in a small cabin in the hills of North Georgia with her husband and five dogs. She rides a motorcycle, gardens, travels, and reads for fun. She lives each day to the fullest and hopes she is able to help other people do the same – by keeping them moving. |
| You can feel confident that Monique and her team will help keep you moving - in the right direction. |