Meet Alex Wedgeworth | District Manager

The difference between who you are and who you want to be stems from what you do every day. And if you want to do and be better, that means you must challenge yourself by straying from the norm.

 

For Alex Wedgeworth, one of CITY’s district managers, treading through unchartered territory is one of the best ways to challenge yourself.

 

 

Testing the Limits

Alex was born in Scottsdsale, Arizona, but his family decided to move to the Midwest for its educational system. Alex grew up in Monona, Iowa, a small town with roughly 1,500 people. By living in a small community, family became important to Alex. As the oldest child of two sisters, Alex said he was always pushing the limits and challenging himself.

 

“I was taught at a young age, that if you want something, you have to focus and work hard for it,” Alex said. “I have always had the mentality to push myself and to look for ways to improve.”

 

When Alex was a child, he saw his father complete a Rubik’s Cube, and then Alex was determined to learn know how it is done.

 

“I was determined to learn how to do a Rubik’s Cube,” he said. “I practiced a lot for two months straight. When I finally got it, I decided I wanted to see if I could do it even faster. I can now complete one in under three minutes.”

 

Aside from mastering the Rubik’s Cube, one of Alex’s first jobs was at the local swimming pool.

 

“During the summer, I worked as a life guard at the local swimming pool,” Alex said.

 

In order to get to work, Alex took it upon himself to get to and from work.

 

“One memory I have of that time is riding my bike to work flying down a big hill on my way there,” Alex said. “One day a bunch of speed bumps were put in without my knowledge. One day, I flew down that hill just like any other day, but I ended up scraping myself up pretty badly. But even so, I still showed up and worked.”

 

College and Beyond

After completing high school at MFL MarMac in Monona, Alex spent the next five years at the University of Northern Iowa earning a business management degree.

 

While in college, Alex worked at the College Square Cinema in Cedar Falls, IA. He applied for a job at the movie theater due to a movie tradition that Alex and his dad went to see a movie nearly every Sunday.

 

Alex also met his wife, Sarah, at College Square Cinema. They met on the first day of orientation. After spending some time working together, Alex said the relationship blossomed from there.

 

“We really bonded over movies and even video games,” he said. “She was more of a PC person, but we both liked to play Mario Kart and other Nintendo64 games.”

 

After five years of dating, Alex proposed.

 

“In 2013, I proposed the day after Valentine’s Day, just to throw her off a bit,” he said.

 

The two married on August 9, 2014.

 

“The perfect date for us is to have dinner at the Galleria de Paco in Cedar Falls, and then go to a movie.” Alex said.

 

Before CITY

Hard work and determination also earned Alex a general manager position for AMC Theatres in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. He and his wife moved there for a about a year before deciding to move back to Iowa when his wife got a job in Waterloo, Iowa.

 

“Working in the movie theater meant a lot of nights, weekends, and holidays,” he said. “The hours were long, so it was a nice chance of pace to come back to Iowa and do something different.”

 

Putting Forth the Effort

Success is all about hard work, but more importantly, it’s simply about putting forth the effort, according to Alex.

 

For example, he first found CITY while searching for jobs on Indeed. He already the route experience as a sales route driver for Schwan’s and FedEx, so he decided to apply. He completed his first ride-along at CITY as a route apprentice in 2017.

 

“Once I learned the job, I wanted to push myself to run my own route,” Alex said.

 

When a route opened up, he jumped in line to learn the ropes. He excelled at his job and says he showed genuine excitement to build relationships with clients.

 

“After about 6 months, I started to think about getting into management at CITY,” Alex said. “With my business management degree, I knew it was something I wanted to try.”

 

President of CITY Colin Wetlaufer and Director of Operations Ken Schnor gave Alex the opportunity to be a district manager in July of 2018.

 

“I’m still learning, and it’s going to take bit more to learn this position than my previous ones, but once I get it down, then I hope to possibly move on to something more challenging and make a bigger name for myself at CITY,” Alex said.

Family Connection

Challenging himself in a management role isn’t always easy, but it helps to have parents to look up to, according to Alex.

 

“My dad inspires me to understand business management as well as to work harder at public speaking,” he said. “And my mom helps me see the emotional side of business by learning to read people and understand what emotions they’re going through.”

 

Becoming a Dad

Working hard every day is also easier when you have family who you want to make proud. Alex and his wife welcomed their first baby in April of 2018.

 

“My eight-month-old daughter means the world to me,” he said. “I remember crying while holding her for the first time and thinking, ‘Okay, you’ll never see me cry again,’ or at least maybe not until she gets married and leaves me.”

 

For Alex, even a stressful day can be cured by smiles and laughter from his daughter.

 

“When I come home and just look around the corner and see her smile, it’s like everything just changes from bad to good,” he said.

 

Reaching for Paradise

When you start to learn something, everything is new and exciting. But once you get the hang of it, boredom and monotony may set in. According to Alex, one way to push past this is to always push for more.

 

“I like to try new things,” he said. “One of my goals is to be a contestant on the show Survivor.”

 

When his parents first introduced him to the show, Alex wasn’t so sure he would actually enjoy it.

 

“I watched one of the seasons, and I didn’t realize how much strategy was involved,” he said. “It’s not just about getting voted off an island. There’s social politics, puzzles, challenges, and more.”

 

If Alex had to pick his best skillset for the show, he says he would be good at completing the puzzles.

 

“I also think I get along with people pretty well,” he said. “But I know enough about the show that I if I ever got the chance to be on it, I would know that you always have to play it safe.”

 

It All Comes Back to Family

Although Alex enjoys a good challenge and a job well done, at the end of the day, spending time with family, he said makes the perfect day.

 

Right now, with a newborn child, Alex said he and his wife don’t get full nights of sleep.

 

“It is a learning experience that no one can really prepare you for,” Alex said. “But the moment that I see my daughter smile, all of the hardships just disappear. Just seeing her smile can make any day a great day.”

 

Looking down the road, Alex is excited to create a tradition of his own and share his passion for movie watching with his daughter and wife.

 

“I’m excited for the day that I get to take my daughter to the movies,” Alex said. “I hope she loves them as much as I do.”