A native Texan, Thomas traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico in the late 1970s after his first year of university studies in the U.S. The trip turned out to be a life-changer—he moved to Mexico and switched his major from business to English so he could become an ESL teacher. After earning his degree, he stayed abroad, living for the next twenty-five years in Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico, Spain, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, before returning to the U.S. and settling in El Paso, Texas.
“The size is just about right,” he says of his adopted city. “It’s not a small town, but it kind of has a small town feel.” Besides working as part of one of our dedicated, single-client teams, Thomas helps international university students with the nuances of the English language. Though he misses Peru, the last country he lived in before returning to the States, Thomas isn’t planning on moving again. He bought the house where he lives with his 140-lb. snow white Canadian shepherd, Snowy. Living right on the border with Mexico, he says, lets him stay close to the Latino culture he grew to know so well during his years abroad.
At AnswerConnect, Thomas uses his understanding of Spanish-speaking culture to handle bilingual calls, often during the evening shifts he’s come to favor. “Working at home is really a privilege,” he says. “As long as we can keep our act together as employees and as a whole company, we’re all going to go places.”
