If you have called White Oak Pastures with a product question, and reached our Customer Service Department, you have likely spoke with Sabrina Carnley, our Order Manager. Sabrina says she has “made lifelong friends and connections here” and loves that “everybody feels like a family- I love the small town feel of everything”. Sabrina fully embraced White Oak Pastures life, moving down to Bluffton after her husband was hired by the farm. Sabrina is married to Ryan, our Permaculture Manager, and lives with her four dogs in downtown Bluffton in one of the homes the farm has renovated.
“It’s been really fun. It’s definitely been challenging, busy and fast paced, but it’s good. I’d rather be busy and on the go than just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. The personal growth that I've done through the farm has been great. Starting out as the low man on the totem pole and working your way up, seeing that everybody appreciates your hard work and recognizes that you're a hard worker. I feel like White Oak does a good job of seeing potential in somebody and rewarding that and encouraging them to go above and beyond”.
My job has two parts. I manage all of the retail orders that come through the online store, pushing all of those through, getting those out. I communicate with the customer if we’re short something, I see if they want to sub anything else for it. That's one side of it. The second part is our wholesale program. So I manage those orders as well. I do all the communicating with the restaurants and distributors. I make sure their orders are filled in full and invoice and bill those out and make sure they get loaded on the truck. Bubba, our Loading Dock Manager, and I work pretty closely because he needs to know what to put on the trucks, but I facilitate the orders through the processing plants- making sure Buck, the Beef Plant Manager and Lisa, the Poultry Plant Manager, have their list of cut sheets for the week for products that need to be sent out. So, I facilitate the orders through the plants on an administrative level.
How did you get into the field you work in now?
I was working my old job from home in Bluffton and I got really lonely, having everybody work on the farm and I didn’t. So I decided to find something to do on the farm. Jenni and Jodi were really great and started me off helping in the General Store. I worked up from there into online store customer service and then wholesale and retail invoicing and administration.
What is the most satisfying part of your job?
The most satisfying part of the job is when customers realize your hard work in pushing their orders through or if we’re out of stock with something, going above and beyond to fill that order for them. That’s really nice when they’re really grateful and show their appreciation and see your hard work and appreciate the animals and the land.
What is the biggest challenge you face at your job?
The biggest challenge is probably patience. Patience with the people I work with and with the customers. Having the patience to work with them through fulfilling their orders and understanding what is important to them, while it may not seem like a big deal to me, it is a big deal to them.
What has been your proudest moment since working here?
My proudest moment since working here is getting promoted to manager. With all of my hard work I’ve put in thus far, getting recognized and getting promoted to manager was my proudest moment.
What is your favorite food in the dining Pavilion?
My favorite food is easily anything we do with the pork and the pork chops.
If you could trade roles with someone on the farm for a day, who would it be and why?
I would honestly trade places with our Multimedia Manager, Laura Mortelliti. I think her job is the most fun, being able to go out and be with the animals and take pretty pictures. Farming is not pretty, it's not glamourous, but she makes it glamorous and she makes it pretty. So I would for sure trade places with her to take pictures of the animals.
Choose one word to describe White Oak Pastures.
Passionate. Passionate about the land. The animals, the people. The job itself. I think passion is the word.
What’s the best, and worst, part of living in this part of GA?
The best part is no traffic. For sure. The worst part are the gnats. Those are awful, I hate those.
What is your favorite meal to cook at home (with White Oak Pastures products)?
Again, anything with our pork. Our pork is my favorite.
What’s your favorite daily chore?
My favorite hobby outside of work is hanging out with my animals and Ryan of course. Spending time with my dogs and family.
