JENNY COBOS

“She has never once made anyone feel unwanted,” her team wrote when nominating her for BBG Employee of the Month. “She always has a smile on her face, even if she is having a rough day. She always greets the donors with a bright and welcoming personality. And she treats her team with the same care.”

Her efforts took the Supervisor Fixed of Site Operations at the STB&T New Braunfels Donor Center to the next level, as she was recognized as the 2022 BioBridge Global Employee of the Year.

Long before joining the team in 2003, Jenny knew she wanted a career in the medical field. She maxed out on science credits while in high school and worked hard, first at making sandwiches and later at H-E-B, to reach her goals.

“Going from school and then changing into uniform and going to work, I did that and I figured this is all for a good gain so that I can start working in the medical field,” Jenny said.

Thanks to a professor who submitted her resume, she got an interview at the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. She nailed it, and from the start, she was excited to contribute to our mission.

“Can you believe it, I save lives?” Jenny recalled telling her mother. “I’m just there at the front lines so that one day their loved one can get blood.”

Once on board, she became a sponge, striving to learn and was supported by her coworkers, who helped take her to the next level. They quickly became like family.

“I had a lot of peers that were my more, and not just stay where I was.” team leaders that brought me to where I am right now,” Jenny said. “Those people are what brought me to where I am and I want to share that with (my team, too) because I know they can become so much better, so much greater.”

As the organization shifted, so did Jenny, reaching for a team lead role.

“When she was just a tech, she always did her best every day," her team said. “However, when she became supervisor, she has done so much more than she even realizes."

Starting as a phlebotomist, Jenny worked hard to become indispensable, taking the initiative to jump in to help before and after mobile drives. Though she admits it was a struggle, she took on more, mastering the ALYX system during STB&T’s early adoption of the new blood collection devices, as well as contributing to special collections efforts.

“I got to learn more,” Jenny said. “I got to be a little more thorough working with patients, talking to doctors, physicians. I got to grow with the company, and it was a great learning experience because that’s what I wanted to do, I wanted to learn more, to accomplish

The New Braunfels Donor Center has undergone several positive changes since Jenny became a supervisor in February 2022. She sought her staff’s input and restructured the facility to make it more efficient and also friendlier.

“She has created a great atmosphere in New Braunfels for our donors and our team,” said Tony Piatt, Manager, Fixed Site Operations.

A sign of the donor center’s success is the large number of regular donors. The positive messages they leave the team stuck on the walls are a testament to the positive experience they’ve had.

“I’m always happy to see them because I see them like family,” Jenny said. “That's an awesome feeling to see them again and smiling and helping (to meet) the need of their particular blood type. Especially if they’re O-negative and O-positive donors, definitely.”

She also is happy to share the same encouragement she received as a young team member with her own staff.

“I’ve always told them as their supervisor, I want you to grow better, I don’t want you to stay comfortable where you’re at. I want you to grow in the company,” Jenny said. “One of my girls just got promoted as a team leader as a floater, which is a great accomplishment and I'm so proud of her.”

When not encouraging her team, supervising the donor room or learning, she enjoys spending time with her husband and 4 dogs, Chippy, Trixie, Lucy and Natsu. n