Karyn Bunt has a background in art and a fondness for jewelry, so when she noticed a clerk struggling to answer a customer's questions about a ruby ring at a store counter in Florida, Karyn stopped for a look.

"I just started answering the questions for her," she said. How was the ruby set? How old was the piece? And so on. "Finally she turned to me and said, 'Okay, honey, I'll take it.' At which point the manager said to me, 'Okay, would you like a job?' "

That story explains how Karyn came to spend a decade working for the Finley Fine Jewelry company, which operates the jewelry counters in a number of department stores.

It also does a lot to explain why we hired Karyn this month to fill a new advertising sales position at the Valley News: She understands, as a good sales rep must, that the best way to sell is to help.

Unlike the five fine Valley News sales reps who already work with hundreds of local businesses, Karyn will not be based in a geographic territory. Her mission is to call on "dormant accounts" -- businesses that haven't advertised with us in more than 15 months, if at all -- to see if we can do something to help them succeed. Karyn will also focus on selling special products, starting with print publications such as our weekly Valley Classifieds.

If you'd like to hear from Karyn, please email her or give her a call at 603-727-3244. As you know, she's here to help!