Discover the Difference Joely Gath Makes

Joely Gath personifies Watco’s brand: She makes a difference. In Watco’s Pittsburg, Kansas, corporate office, where she is a revenue account specialist, Gath will rally a smile when a team member is down. She will rally a joke to lighten stress, and she will rally to help colleagues with their workloads at the end of the month when “things are straight chaos.” “I try to be as positive as I can. I hope it doesn’t come off as annoying,” she said. For Brian Manning, Watco General Manager of the Yellowstone Valley Railroad and the Dore Terminal, Gath is anything but annoying. “Joely is definitely one of my favorite people to work with,” Manning said. “She has helped me out many times when it comes to billing issues, etc.” Watco Teammate Chase Gunnoe agrees. “Even though she might be 800 miles away, Joely’s knowledge of our customers and railroads makes it feel as if she’s right here with the team in the Appalachian Mountains. I’m grateful for that type of reliability,” said Gunnoe, a Watco Sales Manager based in West Virginia. Clients appreciate Joely’s enthusiasm, too. “I worked for Watco before I took my current role with OCM, and during that time, she was always helpful for anything I needed, while maintaining a positive attitude,” said C.J. Miller, General Manager at Oklahoma Construction Materials and former Watco Trainmaster at the Stillwater Central Railroad.

Joely doesn’t hide her emotions about her team members, past or present. “They are fantastic people. I hope they like me, because I like them a lot,” she said. Gath also strives to make a difference in her community, where she rallies citizens for good causes. She and her cousin, Erika Steeby, organize two charity events each year: the Pittsburg Area Toy Run in November and the Mutt Run in the spring. The annual Toy Run could have ended when Gath’s Uncle Dan passed away in 2017. He had organized the event for years, but Gath couldn’t bear to see local children go without gifts on Christmas morning. That’s when she and Steeby stepped in to continue the tradition.

In 2020, the 36th annual Toy Run drew 100 big-hearted bikers – including multiple Watco team members. Everyone pulled into the large parking lot at Big Lots!® and went on a shopping spree. With bags of dolls, Nerf guns, Lego® sets and stuffed animals strapped to their bikes, riders paraded down Broadway Avenue to the local Salvation Army. Members of the rally donated more than 300 toys that day. In the spring, Gath and Steeby organize the Mutt Run, a fundraiser for the S.E.K. Humane Society in Pittsburg. And, yes, it’s a motorcycle rally, which is funny, because Gath doesn’t like motorcycles. “I’m scared of them,” she admits, laughing, “which is quite ironic, and everybody jokes with me about it.” But she does have a soft spot for animals, having two rescued fur babies of her own, and sees the Mutt Run as a way to make a difference. “I have a lot of people I look up to at Watco,” she said. “I bounce questions off them about these events. When it’s stressful, they help me stay in the right headspace.” Making a difference often requires going the extra mile, but it comes naturally for Gath. “I feel like doing the minimum in life is just wasting your time. I have a job, and I have the means. Some people aren’t that lucky, by no fault of their own, especially this year,” she said. “I always want to be able to say I helped out.”