Emily Jewell sure has come a long way since her days of making pretzels in a North Carolina mall.

Today, she’s a floor supervisor in the Table Games department, living proof that the Oneida Nation Enterprises is more than happy to reward deserving employees with mobility and a chance to learn.

“I never, ever thought I’d have a job working in a casino,” said Emily, who originally hails from Rome, New York. “Now there’s no question about it—I can’t picture myself spending a career working anywhere else.”

Emily’s story certainly is nontraditional; when she applied for a job at Turning Stone, she had zero casino experience, and didn’t even know how to play most of the table games on the gaming floor. Emily was visiting her aunt when she submitted her resume; her aunt, who works at another Oneida Nation Enterprises’ property YBR Casino & Sports Book in Chittenango, convinced her to join the team.

Emily was asked to come in for dealer school almost immediately. So she quit her job making pretzels in North Carolina, moved back to New York, and dived headfirst into training for her new career.

Her first assignment was as a blackjack dealer. Over time, Emily continuously sought to expand her knowledge of casino games, so she went back to school and learned craps, baccarat, and roulette so she could add those games to her skill sets, too.

Emily was promoted to floor supervisor from dealer in less than two years—a lightning-fast climb.

“When you put in hard work, Oneida Nation Enterprises is going to notice and see dedication and respect your interests,” she said. “I love working for a company who sees their people; there are a lot of places that don’t do that, and they just shuffle people through.”

When asked about her favorite parts of the job, Emily responded by citing people. She loves talking to guests. She loves that there’s something new every day. She loves being around others, even strangers.

All told, Emily said this job has helped her gain and develop confidence she never had.

“I truly feel like I can do anything now, that Oneida Nation Enterprises will support me no matter what,” she said. “That’s a nice feeling to have.”

When Emily isn’t patrolling a table games pit on the gaming floor, she’s probably at home practicing ukulele—her favorite song is “Riptide,” by Vance Joy. She added that she loves learning new vocabulary words, and has been using the word, “splendid” a lot lately.

We are proud to have Emily on our team.