Would the mechanic and the new sales rep working out of the same office have connected on their own? Probably. But the office administrator was taking no chances. “She was always asking me, ‘Have you met this mechanic?’” Vanessa Kline recalls. “And she was always asking him, ‘Have you met the new sales rep?’”
Twelve years later, Eric and Vanessa Kline look back on a relationship that sprouted at KONE. Now married, they’re the parents of two daughters – and they’re still working at KONE.
Connecting over family
Family is everything for these two. Early on, when Eric learned that Vanessa’s dad was on an organ transplant wait list, he reached out to her via social media. “He said, ‘I know what you’re going through,” she remembers. “My dad died of cancer. If you need to talk, let me know.”
The two had met only once (“It was in the office,” Eric says. “Hi, bye, awkward handshake.”) but Vanessa appreciated his gesture. “I did need a friend to talk to,” she says, “so we agreed to meet one night after work … and we talked for hours.”
Could either have fallen for anyone else? Probably not. Vanessa’s twin brother is an elevator mechanic. Her dad has worked as a mechanic and an elevator consultant. Eric’s brother is an elevator mechanic. “Holidays are interesting,” she says. “We’re always talking shop.”
Working together at KONE
As a Modernization mechanic with 25 years’ industry experience, Eric has worked for KONE since 2008. Vanessa, who joined KONE in 2011, was recently named District Service Sales Manager for Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey.
Today, beyond the fact that they work for the same company, there’s no overlap in their work lives. “I think that’s why this works for us,” Vanessa says. “We’re close enough to understand what the other is going through, but there’s still enough distance. We have such a strong commitment to KONE: We want to be here (“My best years have been at KONE,” Eric interjects). And it’s nice to be able to show our girls that we really care about what we do.”
Pictured left, Eric and Vanessa’s daughter, Madison, used a wheelchair while recuperating from a broken leg. For a safety presentation, she dressed as a mechanic, complete with a KONE hard hat and safety vest.
“Through that experience, she learned a lot about Americans with Disability Act,” Eric says. “While she was using a wheelchair, she used the elevator at her school. That helped her understand why the school had an elevator.”
