Celebrating 75 Years of Volt’s Journey

I had gone through some personal matters and was experiencing a rough patch. I applied for a job with Volt and was called for an interview. When I left the second interview at the corporate office in Orange, CA, I drove around the corner and pulled over because I was nervous and giddy all at once. I called my mom and told her, “I think this is the job that will change everything.” That was on a Friday, and I got the call on Monday offering me the job.

On my first day when I pulled into the parking lot, I posted on Facebook that my future starts today (which often comes up on my Facebook memories and always make me smile). Here I am, almost 10 years later! I would tell anyone who is thinking of a career with Volt that I have had an amazing career here and have been afforded the opportunity to learn, grow, and advance my career. I will always be grateful to Volt, and the company will always hold a special place in my heart.

I began my career with Volt more than 25 years ago—essentially half of my life. Over the years, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to work alongside some truly wonderful and talented individuals. My journey started somewhat unexpectedly. My college roommate was working at Volt’s corporate office and told me about an internal position that had opened. I decided to interview but didn’t get the job. Months later, I received a call from a local branch manager who was hiring for a sales manager role. I accepted the position, not even fully understanding what staffing was at the time. That decision turned out to be the beginning of a long, meaningful, and memorable career.

Throughout my time at Volt, I’ve experienced moments that were funny, challenging, emotional, and deeply rewarding. One story that stands out happened many years ago when I organized a summit, bringing together our entire program management team for a two-day meeting at corporate. Back then, the team was just 18 people—today, we’re nearly 60 and still growing. After the summit, I was walking through the hallway when Mr. Shaw stopped me. He invited me to sit down and, for over an hour, shared advice on how to succeed in business. Up until that moment, I had only interacted with him two or three times. As we talked, I couldn’t help but think to myself about how remarkable it was that a person worth billions is taking the time to sit down, get to know me, and offer his insights. That conversation left a lasting impression. I realized that titles, tenure, and experience are important, but what truly defines a successful organization is its people. To this day, I strive to lead with that principle in mind—the value of people, relationships, and having fun. Volt has become part of my extended family, and I’m excited to see what the next 75 years will bring.

Over the course of 20 years plus working in different areas of the business, I would say Volt always goes above and beyond for our clients. We take the time to truly understand what our client’s goals are and tailor them to fit their needs. This is why I love onsite work so much and working with Allen Brown for so many years.

I have sat onsite at one of our client sites for my entire tenure, which will be 24 years on January 2nd.

This site has played a big part in my life. I have gotten to know the plant business, how the machines work and the peaks and valleys in the work schedule. But this plant has also brought me such joy and pride. I like to say its “my site,” and I own it proudly.

One of my favorite traditions is our annual Christmas Dinner. The client has been doing these for 25 years, and we love it! I came in at the beginning when we were still learning how to manage over 250 people for each dinner. This was a catered dinner where upper management would serve the employees. Turkey, dressing, all the fixings. It’s truly amazing in every aspect.

We were working 12-hour swing shifts and had four working crews, so the plant was working 24 hours a day. While the dayshift dinners were during the middle of the day, the night shift dinners took place from midnight to 2:00 AM. We sometimes wouldn’t finish until 4:00 AM after cleaning up. But let me tell you about the fun we had. They had the high school send the choir during the day, and at nighttime, we played Christmas music, and we would sing and laugh. But the part that I loved the most was the time I spent talking to the employees, not just Volt but the full-time client employees as well. Quite a bit of those employees had been mine from Volt, and some are now even supervisors. But to get to talk to everyone that you don’t see day in and day out, those on the night shifts, that is what is most memorable. You talk about how they are, how their children are (I have seen their children grow up) and just how they get along. It’s the best feeling to smile and serve the people who have helped me make my job easy by being such dedicated and great employees. It warms my heart each year to be on the committee and get the holiday planning started.

Another moment that I will always remember is that a Volt employee who was not from Cynthiana, not even from Kentucky, worked for me several years ago. She was a young lady and was going to have a baby. This was back about 10 or 12 years ago, and I would see her as I would walk the production floor several times a day, I would always ask her how she was. She was due in November, and I would always say “You know you have to have that baby on my birthday.” She would smile and say, “I’ll see what I can do.” One day she stopped by my office and asked me a very important question. Much to my surprise, she asked me, if in the instance her mother couldn’t make it to Cynthiana, she would need someone to go into the delivery room and would I go in with her.

I really didn’t know what to say, but said “Honey, you don’t have any family that you would want in there with you?” She said “No, but if my mother can’t make it on time, I would like you to be with me.” WOW! What an honor, and of course I would; I wouldn’t want anyone to go through an amazing event like that alone. Her mother did make it a couple of days before she had her baby, and wouldn’t you just know, she had a little girl, and it was on my BIRTHDAY! She doesn’t work for Volt now and doesn’t even live in Kentucky anymore, but we keep in touch with her and every year I tell her daughter, my birthday twin, happy birthday.

I love my job, and I love the people that I work with. My best advice to give to any new person coming into Volt, or just life advice: Never ask someone to do something that you would not do yourself.

We live by the “work hard, play hard” mentality, and we know that success isn’t achieved alone—it’s built together. Our strength comes from having a great team of leaders, program managers, on-site employees, recruiters, and sales professionals, all working toward a common goal. That’s why team events have always been an essential part of Volt. They help us stay connected, energized, and aligned as one unified team.

Over the last 21 years, some of my most memorable experiences have come from working on large-scale events. While these projects often meant long days and nights of staffing, they provided a refreshing change from our usual work. The clients and event staff became like family, and we began to view each event as a mini reunion. Our clients trusted us to handle their biggest events and ensure everything ran smoothly, which was a responsibility we took to heart.

I’ll never forget the scale of some of these events. At one of our largest events, we staffed nearly 1,100 people over five days, and at another, we managed around 700 people. Despite the pressure, these events were incredibly fulfilling, and we cherished every moment—stressful as they were. Our Irvine office always found a way to juggle our regular business alongside these large-scale operations, proving just how strong our team was.

I started at Volt in 2008 at a client site in St. Paul, MN. I was honored to have met Jerry a few times but one time that stood out was when we took out our sponsors to lunch and in Jerry’s pocket, he pulled out his medal of honor. It wasn’t in a box, it wasn’t covered with material, it was just in his pocket, ready to show off to the world. He was so proud of that medal and shared his story with the entire table. It was a moment that I will never forget, nor did our sponsors at the time.

Jerry was a kind and humble man, and we were proud to represent him.

Another moment was in 2010, Volt Workforce Solutions (VWS) won the ASA CARE Award for our partnership with 3M and Lifeworks, a local non-profit organization that puts people with disabilities back in the workplace. The award was given for outstanding corporate social responsibility initiatives, and it was Volt’s third consecutive year receiving this award.

This was special for us on-site as the partnership was formed between Volt, 3M (our customer), and Lifeworks. Our objective was twofold: 1) to provide candidates who have a diversity of skills and capabilities to our customer, and 2) to help individuals with disabilities find fulfilling work. We placed people in a multitude of departments including HR, Legal, Global Services, Plant Engineering, and the Lab.

In 2011, Volt was the main sponsor at the Lifeworks Annual Celebration. Volt was nominated for Company of the Year, and I was nominated for Advocate of the Year.

At Volt, I experienced the best of both worlds: a deep, personal connection with clients and a strong, supportive internal team culture. A highlight in 2018 was returning to a specific client site after a couple of years and receiving a heartfelt welcome back from a long-term client. This showed me the lasting impact we made on our clients and their recruited candidates.

That same sense of family extended to our Volt summits back dating to 2011-2013, where collaborative and fun team-building events—like building a tower with spaghetti—reinforced our collective mission and personal bonds.

In reflecting on my tenure with Volt, one thing that stands out to me are the times that I had an opportunity to listen to Jerry Shaw, one of the founders, tell the story of how Volt came to be. I heard Mr. Shaw share the story multiple times over the years, and each time, I walked away inspired by how far the company had grown from its humble beginnings.  I recall how engaging Mr. Shaw would be, and I can still hear his New York accent whenever I think about it.

Back in my day, we didn’t have paperless onboarding. We ordered reams of paper, and it took two of us to carry it from the lobby to the fulfillment room. We had two printers, (most of the time one was not working), a fax machine, and a scanner.

The Employee Relations team and I spent most of our time panicking about:
– Running out of paper and toner.
– Running out of paperclips and staples.
– Warding off the recruiters who needed onboarding done immediately!

We were always making extra onboarding packets if we were not busy filing candidate folders or boxing older ones for off-site retention. We were responsible for all payroll questions and issues. There was no hotline. Paper timecards were faxed to a 1-800 number. The candidates picked up their paychecks from our branch. When they did not show up, we had to FedEx their checks to their home. Sometimes the checks did not arrive, but that did not stop the candidates from showing up. We worked with candidates from all over the US and would FedEx packets with returned self-addressed FedEx labels. In one instance, I personally drove 30 miles to an Aerospace hanger to deliver weekly checks to the airplane mechanics and back to the branch. My team (including the recruiters and managers) were extremely close. Even though we were swamped and scrambling around to get everything done, we always had time to walk across the street for coffee and energy drinks in the morning, and there was always plenty of laughter.

I have had the pleasure of being a proud employee of Volt since August 3rd, 1992. I have experienced many memorable moments in the past 30+ years, but my most memorable was the opportunity to open Volt branch offices in Taipei, Taiwan and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2005-2007). I had never been to either country and did not know much about the culture, so I researched and studied for months to familiarize myself with the culture and employment laws. I was very familiar with our onboarding process and rules of employment here in the US, so after my research, I was able to create onboarding paperwork and training materials that were in line with each country’s rules and processes. Once in the country, I was responsible for hiring and training the staff, securing office space, furniture, and all the necessary equipment required to conduct business. With the help of my colleague and executive leadership, we were able to open two branch locations in Taipei and one location in Kuala Lumpur. I will always be forever grateful to Volt leadership for trusting me with such responsibility and allowing me the opportunity of a lifetime to contribute to our continued success!

There are so many things that make Volt special. Jerry Shaw and Bill Shaw, two brothers bonding together in their dining room, $13.00, and a dream.

From 1950 to today, our culture has been truly remarkable. I joined Volt in 2005 when my daughter was three months old and this fall, she will be a junior in college and is now 20. The organization has been so good to me through the years. We have the “work hard, play hard” mentality. Volt has allowed me to expand my career over the course of two decades, while being a present mom at the same time. The work-life balance has truly been a blessing for me. We have the best leaders who are hard-working, caring and compassionate. Twenty years filled with lasting memories!! I love to share my experiences working for Volt through the years with new hires so they know they are joining an amazing organization.

Around 2008, we were still doing paper checks.  I had an employee in Atlanta, and the payroll team sent her check to our office instead of the local Atlanta office. We received her check on Christmas Eve, and she had two young children she needed to do her Christmas shopping for, so waiting until after the holiday to receive her check wasn’t an option. I spoke to the employee and asked her where she banked. I proceeded to our local branch of the bank and made sure that the employee got this check into her account in time for Christmas.

When one of our clients grew from being a local retail client to a national client, our local group had significant issues with their current supplier, where they wouldn’t get feedback for days or the employees could never reach their point of contact. In an effort to make them feel more confident in us taking over their staffing, we initially conducted four site visits a week where we set up in the clients cafeteria to be available for any questions or concerns employees were having as well as checking in weekly with the managers to address any of their recruitment concerns.

I was given the chance to pursue a manufacturing outsourcing opportunity with a client 25 years ago.  After a lengthy and intensive sales process which included a 3-hour in-person presentation in front of 40 client employees and a video recording so they could re-watch for clarification, we were given the chance to compete against another supplier for the engagement. We were given 50 openings two weeks prior to Christmas.  I pulled our personnel assistant, along with the North Dallas branch manager, to work with me onsite while we used our recruiting strength from five local branches to support the effort. We thoroughly outperformed the competition and secured all of the business.  By mid-year, we had over 1,200 manufacturing specialists working in cleanrooms across locations in Dallas, Sherman, Richardson, and Houston, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; and Portland, Maine. At our peak, we had over 1,800 employees working across all locations.

Based on our performance and the client’s desire to have consistency worldwide, we were given the opportunity to expand by opening Volt locations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Taipei City, Taiwan.  Opening branch offices and hiring staff in foreign countries is truly a highlight within my Volt career—not to mention the amazing opportunities I was given to travel to Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China.

Because of the partnership we built with this client and the innovation we brought to the outsourcing arrangement, Volt was awarded their Supplier of Excellence twice. At the time, Volt was the only vendor out of the thousands who supported the client to receive the award twice. The client’s SVP of Worldwide Manufacturing and their SVP of Worldwide Procurement traveled to Volt’s corporate office in Orange, CA, to make the presentation. Jerry Shaw sat in the corporate board room with our program leadership team and I to accept the beautiful crystal award from their leaders. They also gave miniature crystal replicas to each onsite team member. Mr. Shaw took everyone to dinner at his favorite restaurant in Newport Beach. He was like a proud father glowing over the accomplishments of his Volt family. Another memorable and proud moment in my career.

The final thing I want to share is the amazing opportunities I was given to work closely with Jerry Shaw. We made countless sales calls and attended presentations and award ceremonies together. He even fell asleep in my car while I was driving him to dinner with one of our client’s stakeholders.  His passion for Volt and our business was contagious. I never wanted to let him down and would always go the extra mile to make sure we delivered, because his reputation was on the line. He made me a better leader and better person, and I’m forever grateful to him for hiring me. And, yes, I did interview with him over 30 years ago. His final interview question was, “Why do you want to be part of my Volt family?” I consider myself blessed beyond measure to be part of his Volt family.

About the time that COVID hit the world and shut down everything, we were transitioning the garnishments, verifications and employee set up to a different team. We had just hired our garnishment team and ended up training via Zoom. Spending hours and hours every day explaining the processes and demonstrating everything over computer monitors. In addition, we were receiving paper orders by the tons from various state agencies. I developed a process where we received all requests electronically and were able to put them on an online drive, where they could be answered electronically every day and then sent back electronically. It saved the scanning, printing and mailing of the response, and with COVID making everything shut down, we were still able to stay on top of our responses. What made it memorable was the fact that we were all in different time zones, states, and even the world and somehow, we were still able to make things happen and work well together.

The Shaw brothers, with pennies in their pockets, turned a dream into reality and made a family company into a competitive business with global reach and services. Dedication and hard work can make dreams a reality.

The annual tree lighting in the atrium of the building in Orange was one of my most favorite small traditions—when Mr. Shaw would speak to all of us about the history and the importance of all we did to represent the company to the clients, the community and to each other and how proud of what he and his brother had accomplished on that kitchen table with just the germ of an idea.

I joined Volt in 2002 and did not know anything about aerospace engineering. It took me four months to get my first hire and after that, they just kept coming.  At that time, we had a leveling program, and I jumped 4 levels which had never been done before and went on to become #1 aerospace recruiter for Volt and put Wichita, KS on the map!

Aerospace was a very competitive industry.  We were determined to take market share from our competitors, so Volt gave me all the tools needed that attracted engineers to us, through roll-ins, per diems, and more and we became the gold vendor for one of our clients!

At my very first President’s Club meeting, I was able to speak with Jerry and Bill and their son Steven.  I still have a picture of me with the Shaw brothers and their stories really kept me motivated and made me proud to wear the Volt colors and I am still very proud of that name today as it means a lot in the industry.

I was a part of the first transition from recruiter shared offices to cubicles.  I was told they wanted the team to share my energy and excitement of Volt.  The very first day in the cubicles our office administrator held a sign up that said “shhhh.”  Me not knowing I was loud and was just excited and high energy thought cubicles might not be the best option for me. My manager at the time said, “I don’t care if you stand up and shout across the room; keep doing what you are doing”, and I have been doing it ever since!

I don’t know if I have one story as much as a collage of memories of wonderful people and events over the years. Training in the corporate board room with Mr. Shaw coming in to tell the Volt story, always with a new twist or something I hadn’t heard before. Star Performers events in Palm Springs, Conferences in Vegas with Mr. Shaw taking us to Cirque de Soleil afterwards, field time with Mr. Shaw, too many things to mention them all. The thing that I admired and treasured more than ever was the time I got to spend in the field with Mr. Shaw. Introducing him to my clients was the constant leads that he would send me. In his daily trip up from Del Mar on the train, he would often meet individuals and develop leads for potential business. The humility with which he lived his life, talking to everyone and anyone, was one of the things that I try to emulate in my life. The business that would result from such interactions was actually just a byproduct of how Mr. Shaw lived his life. I learned from him that by always staying open to the world around you and interacting with all walks of life that you encounter, you live a more fulfilling life. I am grateful to Mr. Shaw and all the wonderful leaders who came about because of what he started, and my life is better because of everything that has come from all my years here at Volt.