Meet Alicia, Sewing Machine Operator
Alicia has been with Sew What? for three months
Do you have any children/grandchildren? Names/ages? 2 girls: Karla 33, Julieta 32.
Do you have any pets? No.
What is your favorite food? Soups and Seafood.
What is your hobby? Spending time with family and co-workers.
Where is your hometown? Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
What are your favorite sports teams? Baseball: The Dodgers; Soccer: Las Chivas
Well, after a relatively light list of anniversaries for June and July, I am back with a longer list for August and September.
These staff members have a combined 29 years at Sew What? Pretty great, don’t you think?
August
Michelle, Director of Operations – 2 years
Araceli, Production Manager – 6 years
Antonio, Sewing Machine Operator – 2 years
September
Esther, Sewing Machine Operator – 9 years
Silvia, Human Resources – 7 years (yes, that’s me!)
Gloria, Sewing Machine Operator – 3 years
A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the “art” in a craft business. Along those lines, I thought that this was a good time to tell you a little about Shane Nelsen, Sew What? Creative Director.
Shane’s association with the theatre and film began in his hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah, where he worked both as a model/actor and as a sound engineer, designer, and art director. Upon moving to Southern California, he worked in the Entertainment and Special Events Department at Knott’s Berry Farm, where he designed sets and lighting for shows and concerts at the park, as well as working in the production, design, and art direction fields on the park’s annual Halloween Haunt.
Shane then ran his own business, Technical Entertainment Network (TEN), a production support group providing production design, art direction, lighting, sound, set construction and painting, staging and crewing for clients such as Dick Clark Productions and events such as the 1983 Olympic Summer Games. During this time, Shane also served as production designer, art director, and scenic artist for numerous film and television projects and rock videos, and worked as a lighting technician at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater and Pacific Amphitheater..
In 1994, Shane transitioned into an emphasis on the special events industry, serving as Sales Director for Special Events and Corporate Event Design for Modern Display in Salt Lake City, and then as the primary Art Director and Project Manager for Party Planners West in Southern California, servicing client events including the 2004 Olympic Summer Games as well as numerous major sporting events, premier parties, and conventions.
Shane joined the Sew What? team in early 2005, serving as Senior Sales and Creative Director. His extensive knowledge and expertise in design, production, and project manager makes him an invaluable resource to the company and our clients, whether the client is representing a major rock ‘n’ roll tour, a special event, or a traditional theatre.
Meet Antonio, Sewing Machine Operator
Antonio has been with Sew What? for two years
What kind of work did you do before coming to Sew What? I sewed shirts and pants for a company in downtown L.A.
What do you like most about your job and why? I always liked the idea of sewing drapery, so when I saw the ad in the paper, I came. Something about theatrical drape was very interesting.
What keeps you motivated at work? More than anything, my coworkers. I get along with mostly everyone.
What would be your Karaoke song of choice? Vicente Fernandez – Las Llaves de Mi Alma.
What is your favorite dessert? Cheesecake.
Carley, our Purchasing Agent, is getting close to her due date (early September), and we are all so excited for her and her husband Caleb. It has been great to follow her along in the process, see the Ultrasound photos, and find out it’s a girl!
A couple of weeks ago, Silvia (you know her, she is a contributor to this blog) threw a baby shower at her home for Carley, and we had a great time. Check out Carley opening baby gifts:
Silvia made some great food for the shower (love those potato tacos!), and Violet brought some darling ladybug cupcakes – yum!
Now, we are all waiting with bated breath for the big day (and waiting to find out the new baby’s name). We are going to miss Carley a lot while she is out on maternity leave (could happen any day now), but we are so excited for her and Caleb to be welcoming their first child.
Congrats to Carley, Caleb, and their entire extended family!
Today, Sew What? celebrated an incredible feat – two years (730 days) injury free! What do I mean by “injury free”? I mean that there have been no workplace injuries at Sew What? in two years.
This really is an amazing accomplishment. Most traditional offices don’t think too much about workplace injury – there just isn’t very much likelihood for injury. It’s different at a manufacturing company like Sew What? Our sewing and warehouse staff work with a variety of machines (sewing machines, grommet machines, forklifts, large format digital printers, etc.), and even the slightest distraction on the part of the staff member could result in an injury. Many of our custom stage drapes are large and heavy and unwieldy. So to go two years without an injury is a tremendous accomplishment.
We are so proud of our staff for their diligence in working safely. Every 90 days, we celebrate by providing a catered lunch to all of our staff, and on the large milestones, we take the celebration up a notch. This time, in addition to a delicious catered lunch, we brought in a mariachi band to entertain.
The mariachi band was a hit! Many of our staff are Latino/Latina, and so they had a great time singing along. The rest of us simply enjoyed the music (and even some dancing!).
I want to send a big Felicidades (Congratulations) to the entire Sew What? family – we truly appreciate your dedication to safety!
Meet Ana Rosa, Project Manager
Ana Rosa has been with Sew What? for five years
If you could take a vacation to any place in the world, where would you go, and why? I’d like to visit Cuba.
Who is your favorite music artist? Laura Flores.
Do you have a special talent? She doesn’t think so, but those of us at Sew What? think her cooking is pretty amazing!
What is your favorite movie/TV show? Spanish soaps
What is your favorite memory from Sew What? All of the hospitality and the Christmas parties.
What project have you worked on recently that was interesting or challenging? Some challenging red stars.
Meet Mari Chui, Sewing Machine Operator
Mari has been with Sew What? for 2 1/2 years
If you could take a vacation to any place in the world, where would you go, and why? I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii.
Who is your favorite recording artist? Jenni Rivera
Do you have a special talent? Making desserts
What is your favorite movie/show? La Familia Peluche
What is your favorite memory from Sew What? The Christmas parties and the games we play always make me laugh.
What project have you worked on recently that was interesting or challenging? The drapes in a sheer silver fabric that were shirred with elastic instead of lift lines. It was VERY challenging, but it worked out!
A few months ago, Violet Rangel (Sew What? Sales) got a great idea to plant a vegetable and herb garden in a little patch of unused ground here at Sew What? So, she went out and bought everything we needed – plants, potting mix, fertilizer – and a bunch of us spent a Saturday morning planting a garden. We named it “Sow What?” and even put up a little wooden sign.
Fast forward to last week, and the garden is doing great. We’ve got lots of herbs, tomatoes are riping on the vine, and we have even been able to pick some zucchini. Violet decided to make zucchini bread, so that we could all have a taste of the fruits of our labor. It was a nice sized zucchini, but she was afraid she wouldn’t have enough, so she also bought zucchini from the supermarket to supplement.
Well, it turned out she didn’t need the supermarket zucchini after all – the one zucchini from our garden yielded enough for the entire loaf of zucchini bread.
Check it out. The one on the left is from our garden; the one on the right is from the supermarket.
And the zucchini bread was delicious! Thanks, Violet, for the great idea and all your hard work in creating this little garden in the middle of the city!
For those who are regular readers of this blog, you know that every month I post on employee anniversaries.
Since we have just one anniversary per month in June & July, I thought I’d combine the two into a single post. Next month, I’ll bring you a post on another related topic instead.
June
Tammy, Bookkeeper – 2 years
July
Maria B, Sewing Machine Operator – 4 years
