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SOUTH JORDAN — One of the valuable lessons Caesar Rayford learned during his professional football career was to be prepared — not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well as it can be the difference between success or falling short of your goal.
And the one-time defensive end, who had stints in the National Football League, Canadian Football League and with the Utah Blaze of the now-defunct Arena Football League, sees the same mentality as he tackles his next career — Amazon.
At 6-foot-7, the native of Washington state casts an imposing figure that drew fear from opposing players, but these days he is using his talents to be a "coach" to the associates he supervises as an area manager at Amazon's South Jordan fulfillment center.
"I have literally just taken all the tools, resources and all things I've learned playing football, and am putting it all together (in this new career)," Rayford said. "You'd be surprised by how everything correlates, having a great work ethic and being organized as an athlete, using those tools to be successful in everyday life."
"I'm an area manager. Basically, it's like a coach. I'm coaching up individuals to do great things," he said. "I'm coaching them up to become a potential area manager, to be a potential operations manager, the potential to be something great."
Among his goals for his team is to work productively, safely and to have a great working experience.
"The possibilities here are endless. There are resources. There are so many different avenues that individuals can grow, so there's no ceiling," Rayford said. "No matter what you want to get into, there's a possibility. You want to be in engineering, there's a field for that. You want to get into programming, there's a field for that.
"It's almost like the mindset of 'shoot for the stars because you might land on the moon,'" he said. "Like many opportunities in life, you set a goal and no matter where you started, it's where you finish."
Rayford said he appreciates the many bridges that could lead to greater career opportunities, especially as he grows into becoming a family man, having recently become a father for the first time. He wants to pass on what he has learned over the years during his sports career into his new role as a leader in the home and in the workplace.
"My thing is I love working with people. I'm a coach. I'm a people person. I like to motivate people. I'd like to utilize my wisdom to help someone, to make an impact in their life wherever that avenue is," Rayford said. "I'm here to serve. I'm here to be a pillar, to hand out the olive branch and build a bridge for people to be successful. I want to be that example so they can see 'you could be here too." Amazon continues Beehive State expansion
This month, Amazon announced the company will be hiring 75,000 associates nationwide in its fulfillment and logistics network across the country, with more than 1,400 jobs coming to the Wasatch Front. The company will offer a starting average wage of $16 an hour and sign-on bonuses of up to $1,000, in addition to the benefits already provided to full-time employees including tuition benefits.
The 1,400 new positions will be in addition to Amazon's current employee population of over 8,000 workers in Utah.
Meanwhile, one of the other major initiatives at Amazon in Utah and across the U.S. has been the ongoing effort to create "Earth's Safest Place to Work" inside and outside of package handling facilities. To that end, numerous steps have been taken to ensure worker health and well-being.
"Everything in this building is designed for safety. And we're always improving our processes here with associate feedback being a major part of identifying and improving the processes," said Nate Fulks, workplace health safety specialist at the Amazon delivery station in American Fork. "(Also), making sure that everything we're doing we are doing for the best interest of our associates and also for our delivery drivers making sure that they can do their jobs to save as possible,"
Similarly, associates who transport packages for a living are also encouraged to make safety a top priority.
"(I do) lots of stretching and recovery (after shifts). I take baths like twice a week, with Epsom salts. I eat pretty well and I stay hydrated," explained delivery driver Daniela Petersen. "Just being cautious, like using (the mounted handles when) stepping out of the vehicle, watching where you are and just being aware."
