Today we’d like to introduce you to Vivian Allen.
Hi Vivian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
David Underwood, my father, started this plastic injection molding business 25 years ago. We grew to about 250 employees in 2022 when our largest customer purchased the majority of our assets in order to run the facility as a part of their organization.
At the time, I had worked at SigmaPro for the previous 10 years after leaving my previous career in Federal contracting with the General Services Administration. I have worked and been involved with the teams in HR, Facilities Management, IT Management, Supply Chain Management, as well as been involved in a great deal of the operational activities, but not very much in the technical side of things at all. When we did the asset sale, I was faced with some pretty drastically different options of where to take my personal career, including staying on staff with the company doing the asset purchase and moving to a new corporate environment; through years of challenging self-exploration and emotional intelligence training, I was able to navigate the situation with an understanding that my own happiness and ability to thrive in a new environment were at stake with this decision.
Thankfully, one of the options in front of me was to “restart” our manufacturing business, thus keeping my father’s legacy in work positioned to continue to grow, continuing to serve our other customers and maintain the consistency in their supply, and realize some of the dreams I had in building an organization that valued it’s people above all else, which is quite possibly the biggest part of my father’s legacy at SigmaPro.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Heck no! If anyone tells you personal satisfaction and happiness in life has been easy to find, well, I’m just not sure they’ve actually found it.
I believe success is just what you feel when you bravely push against anything in the way of leveraging your life to have the greatest impact on loving the people around you. That’s never going to be an easy or smooth road to traverse. The world, your own vices, and negative voices will all battle you along the way. People have made life too mundane. I like to think of it as an epic and glorious battle, a-la-Lord of the Rings, or a great Dungeons and Dragons storyline. Sure, the distinction between good and evil is often found in your own soul more than it is in a darkly shrouded villain, but thinking of life like this with the beautiful score of orchestral music playing in the background of each interaction and decision you make helps me see the outcomes of such decisions as at least possibly being extraordinary in their impact. Loving the people around you, treating people with kindness, giving of yourself for the betterment of others, it all becomes not just a sweet idea to be learned in grade school, but the very weapon you wield to slay a dragon, the very act you take to change the world.
We’ve been impressed with SigmaPro Engineering & Manufacturing, LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
SigmaPro Engineering & Manufacturing is a plastic injection molder. Injection molding and plastic manufacturing is a big space, but SigmaPro takes a very specific niche within it. Our most important differentiator is the size of the parts that we make. We specialize in very small, complex plastic parts with tight tolerances. We are also involved in development and post-molding activities, like part decorating for our clients who need it. Since we are a custom manufacturer, no two of our client’s needs are alike, so it’s a challenge for us, but one thing we prioritize in the folks we work with is a meaningful relationship. This isn’t just for the benefit of our own operations and services but because we believe that real and honest discussion can only occur when there is a relationship of trust built on a human level between businesses and not just a cold or distant supplier/client relationship, which is a bit of an antiquated approach to doing business in my opinion.
We mostly serve small to medium-sized businesses but are open to serving OEMs and larger corporations as well, with a large capacity of technology and machinery to serve a wide variety of needs.
Our brand can be summed up in not only what we do but how and why we do it. We don’t just believe in giving businesses access to innovative and valuable solutions to their need for small plastic parts; we believe in bringing ideas to live and products to their market efficiently and quickly. We do this because we believe that giving our best makes us happier. It’s a proven fact that the human experience is greatly enhanced when meaningful work can be accomplished, so we are providing that opportunity for a meaningful existence to our employee, our partners, and our customers with each new product line.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
I learned one important thing: arguing is never productive. As if I didn’t already know this, the COVID-19 crisis proved it. People’s opinions are built on their experiences, which is something you cannot change or affect, no matter what your similar or differing experiences have been.
My life and time on the earth are finite, and arguing with someone only serves to make them feel that their own experiences are diminished or invaluable, which is never a good result or worth the effort.
It takes some self-discipline not to argue or push your dissenting opinion forward, but unless you are in a meeting meant for the purpose and the other parties are prepared and open to a productive discussion with differing thoughts, it’s not worth my finite time to force someone else to hear that I don’t agree with them.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sigmaproeng.com
- Instagram: @vivianmallen
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/vivianallen
