It’s just after lunch on a Tuesday afternoon when I sit down on the comfortable couches of the Holiday Inn Express Bellingham lobby. Across from me are Jenny Zenaida Perry, the executive housekeeper, and Terri Sirmans, the manager of the hotel.
Jenny Perry moved to Whatcom County in 1996 from Manila, Philippines, leaving behind her children, family, home, culture and familiarity to pursue a better life for her children. Over the past two decades, Jenny has worked her way from an entry-level housekeeping job to a managerial position and along the way she was able to send her son and daughter to private school in the Philippines, build a house, bring her kids here, become a US citizen and grow confident in herself.
“It was hard moving here,” she began. “The culture is very different, the language was different and I knew no one. My sister is in Texas but the rest of my family was in the Philippines.” Darryl, her husband of 22 years and a retired marine, is from Whatcom County. Jenny made the decision to move to the USA, not for travel and adventure, but to be with her new husband and for a better chance of supporting her children. “I never dreamed I’d be here, speaking English, being interviewed,” she shared, laughing. “I’ve never dreamed of this. Everything I did and do, I do it for the future of my kids.”
Many of the housekeepers Holiday Inn hires come from hard situations in life as well. Jenny has found it easy to manage these other women by simply getting to know them, relating to them and building a family. “Long distance is really hard with children and although they are with me now, it was a hard situation,” she recalled. “It helps me with the other housekeepers, to bond or be like a parent to them. I’m happy to share, I’m happy to help and we like to give lots of chances. I listen and, if something happens, I talk to Terri to see what we could do to help them.”
This was something both Terri and Jenny stressed- everyone has days and times when they just need a break and this Holiday Inn is not somewhere you would have to worry about job security. The team tries to work hard alongside one another.
“Our main crew here has been together for a long time,” Terri said. “We have a good connection as a team and all work together well and communicate. Everybody is valued here. Front desk isn’t going to sell a room if there aren’t nice, clean rooms. That’s why we need people like Jenny. The presentation is as important as the cleanliness and Jenny has a second sense for stuff like that.”
Both Jenny and Terri smile and chuckle, sharing stories from the past twenty years of memories together. “You just take pride in what you do,” Terri said. “That’s what tickles me. It’s our hotel and we treat it like that.”
“When they offered the manager job to me, I didn’t think I could do it,” Jenny said. “You don’t have confidence when you don’t have the talent and, at that time, I didn’t think I could do it with all the drama of managing people.” Still, her coworkers and friends brought her up and worked to give her positive feedback and encouragement. So Jenny asked her husband, Darryl, his opinion. “I asked him, ‘Is it okay with you if I do this supervisor thing? It’s demanding. I’ll be the first person there and the last to go home. Sometimes I’ll go home angry and I might have to go in extra if they need me.’ And Darryl told me to do what makes me happy. So I’m here.”
“She’s a very good role model and has learned to be more strict,” Terri adds, smiling warmly at her friend. “It has taken her time. She had culture shock and she had language barriers but she’s moved through all of that and done beautifully. In her culture, you respect your elders- you are never their boss. It’s taken a while for her to realize that she isn’t disrespecting anybody by being the boss.”
Jenny nods. “Our goal is to have friendship but to not let that get in the way of work. We are friends. I’m not picking on you but you need to do your job.”
“Yes,” Terri adds, “Jenny runs an efficient department.”
Jenny began as a housekeeper then moved to working the breakfast bar, followed by laundry. She now runs the housekeeping staff. Although her job does not require her to do any actual cleaning, you will still see Jenny in the rooms alongside her staff, helping, making beds and fluffing pillows. “It makes me feel good when your housekeepers want to work with you,” Jenny commented. “A lot of the girls tell me, ‘Oh, you’re the best manager we’ve ever had, you’re such a good housekeeper,’ and it makes me so happy. I work with them, I help them and we respect each other.”
Back in the Philippines, Jenny has sponsored her late brother’s children in school and her sister’s grandchild. “I like to put my family together and to help them,” she said. “I’m trying to. Even when I had no money for myself, I gave to them. For just a simple thank you, I wanted to help and support them. That’s my inspiration for work – my children and my family.”
Now her daughter comes to her house every night for dinner and drives her around because she never got her license. Her son is married and living close by. They’ve been in the US for eight years and her daughter just became a US citizen. Finally, they are all together. “Because I could put them in private school, they learned English,” she said. “So when they came here it wasn’t hard on them like it was for me. I’m so thankful.”
Being in America has changed a lot in Jenny’s life, the most notable being income. “We don’t have a lot and don’t spend a lot, because we don’t need things,” Jenny told me. “It’s just material things, not anything lasting.
At her birthday party this year, Jenny’s son gave a heartwarming speech. “My mom in the United States is different here,” he said. “She is always giving help to the nieces and nephews and grandkids. I wish I could be like you.”
“That is a big deal,” Jenny said, “because we have only had a real relationship for eight years. I am always trying to tell my children to give what you have. We came here for life, not for material things. I’m happy with my life, happy with my husband and that’s all you need.”
Jenny grew up in a poor family with nine brothers and sisters. Looking at her life now, the contentment and joy she feels is palpable. Her biggest dream in life was to have a house, a simple place to live and garden. Now she has two – one in the Philippines on land shared with her family and one in Whatcom County with her husband. “I’m happy,” she said. “I’ve experienced life good and bad. I have nothing to ask for. It’s all I need. The only thing is good health. I have a good job, good people to work with and family. You never know what time you will go and I’m thankful to God, my husband and my work for my dreams coming true.”
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