We’re just connecting the dots.
VOLUME 8 • ISSUE 10 • December 14, 2022
hello FROM KRISTI
•••
I
still have to pinch myself sometimes. Fifteen wonderful years serving the Winter Texan community! We’ve grown by leaps and bounds, and it is all because of your support and encouragement…well…that and an incredible team that works day in and day out to make sure the ship doesn’t sink. I started this business on my dining room table 15 years ago, having been laid off from my “real” job. It has been the most exciting, rewarding, and sometimes scary journey, and I can’t wait to see where we grow from here. I’m incredibly proud of the work we do, and yet at times, I forget how the smallest things we do can sometimes mean so much. I was brought to tears last week when Jeanie from the Lambs Loom stopped by and told me, “The work you do matters.” I’m happy to say we have no plans to stop what we’re doing, and we know you’ll be right by our side. ~We’re just connecting the dots. •
Kristi
THANK YOU TO OUR 2022-2023 SEASON SPONSORS
Fifteen Years of Welcoming Winter Texans to the RGV
Story and photos by Eryn Reddell Wingert
W elcome
Home RGV officially celebrated its 15th anniversary Thursday, December 1, with an open house and ceremonial double-ribbon cutting at its McAllen office location. “I started this business when I was laid off from my ‘real’ job,” shares owner Kristi Collier. “I wanted something part-time so I’d be home for school pickups.” (She then joked with her husband, Kevin, how she wasn’t home before 9 p.m. the night before the open house.) Her daughter, Kirby, was in third grade back then. Kirby has since
graduated from the University of Texas--her father’s alma mater--and now works in Austin. In a video-recorded message to her mom played during the event, Kirby claimed the title of Collier’s “Number 1 Fan” and recalled when the company was named “Welcome Wagon” and the signature color was green. I t ’s h a r d t o i m a g i n e g r e e n associated with Welcome Home, considering the color orange has been well established as its signature. A large gathering of Winter Texans in the Rio Grande Valley is bound to include at least
one bright orange Welcome Home RGV t-shirt or cap produced by the in-house Promotions Division. Its Collier’s favorite color. She wears it with pride, as does her staff when called together for events like the annual Winter Texan Expo, Connection Fair, and Summer Supper Club or a Tours by Welcome Home excursion. They even wore orange while touring the Midwest. Collier and her team have spent the past 15 years connecting visitors FIFTEEN YEARS OF WELCOMING WINTER TEXANS TO THE RGV CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 >>