Meet Noel Zapata: Customer Service Center

If you live on Capitol Hill, you might recognize Noel Zapata as a dedicated runner. Elsewhere in the city, she’s better known as the calm, capable voice helping you with your regular Pagliacci pizza order. Noel lives a short walk away from her workplace at Pagliacci’s Customer Service Center (CSC), located on Pike Street. The center is a hive of activity on any given night, with fifteen to more than three dozen Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) busy taking orders. The energetic vibe is cheerful, but the occasional problem or question arises. Noel, one of the CSC Shift Leads, is there to help when one does. 

“Noel does a great job of keeping employees in mind and often suggests ideas or policies to benefit the crew,” says Nicholas Ortolani, General Manager, CSC. “I can always count on her to be cool, calm, and collected when assisting CSRs, or taking a difficult manager call. She is a go-to person in the CSC.” 

Noel started with Pagliacci in February of 2014 as a CSR and quickly established herself as a talented people person. Soon she took on training new hires. Later, as a Shift Lead, she began creating detailed manuals and bulletins to help with the process. More recently, she added the responsibility of managing our centralized hiring process for all our locations. 

“Pagliacci has been so supportive as a company,” Noel says. “My direct supervisors, and the company as a whole, are invested in my success and the success of every employee, and we see this play out in real ways. They allowed me the opportunity to be so involved in hiring and shaping our practices. They trust their people enough to take a chance on giving us more responsibilities, and then we grow into them.” 

Before coming to Pagliacci, Noel spent some time as a legal assistant. Deciding she wanted a job with less stress, she left the legal field and did some temp work for its flexibility. Eventually, though, she desired more stability and stable benefits. She found Pagliacci. “I didn’t necessarily plan on staying as long as I have, but I’m glad that I did,” Noel says. “This ended up being the best place I’ve ever worked.” 

What makes it an excellent place to work? 

“The people,” Noel says without pause. “We have people who are empathetic, friendly, quirky in all the best kinds of ways. These are qualities that help them succeed as CSRs, and that makes them great people to work with. We work together, rather than competing against each other.” 

Most of the team has been around for years, building camaraderie and friendships. “We’re not just co-workers,” Noel says. “We lean on each other’s shoulders when we need to.” 

One of Pagliacci’s core values is Respect and Care for Employees, a value that Noel embraces and amplifies. Nicholas says, “Not only does Noel respect and care for our crew, but she makes working in the CSC fun and rewarding.” 

“I love that Respect and Care for Employees is one of our core values,” Noel says. “The benefits that we receive show that it is not just lip service but something that the company really does care about. It guides Pagliacci’s decisions from the ground up. They care about us as people. I lost both of my parents while working here. You hear horror stories of how insensitive employers can be, but Pagliacci was exactly the opposite. Everyone was supportive. They let me take as long as I needed to deal with those losses. That’s a big reason why I’m still here.”