A Bittersweet Goodbye and Insights from 23 Years of Service
Barb Mendoza has been an instrumental member of the Carow Packaging family for 23 years. In fact, other than Steve Carow, our President, she is the employee with the longest tenure. In her time with Carow she has made life easier for our customers, trained and welcomed new employees, and seen many changes as the company has grown and expanded.
When asked what Barb M has meant to the company, Steve Carow said, “Barb M represents all that is right in a team player: Customer Driven, Collaborative, Always Learning and Quality is Priority. She helped us form these Carow Core Values!"
We wanted to take a moment to congratulate Barb on her upcoming retirement. We are honored to have had her with us for so long and are going to miss her greatly.
Before departing, we asked Barb to reflect on her time with Carow. Here is what she had to say:
What has changed the most of the past 23 years?
“Processes. As the company grew, there was a need for more formal procedures. Steve Carow patiently implemented several over the past 23 years which meant that my job was always changing and I was always learning.”
What are some of your favorite stories from working at Carow?
“There are so many wonderful memories, but I’ll share two. The first was during my interview. In my application, I had written in my resume that I spoke German fluently and to my surprise Bob Carow, the founder of the company and Steve’s Dad, challenged me and conducted the whole interview in German. Talk about sweating an interview! He offered me the position and I have been grateful to the Carow family for all of the opportunities that they have given me since that day.”
“The second story is about how we used to process orders. We would keep hard copies of the customer sales order on the front windowsill in the office. We would issue PO’s by email, but official documents had to be typed with a typewriter that was kept in a small storage area outside of the women’s washroom.”
What will you miss most?
“My Carow family. I have always felt at home at Carow. Starting out with Barb & Bob Carow, who always welcomed me and made me feel like family, to Steve Carow, who has been my esteemed boss and mentor for all these years, as well as every person that I work with today, and those who have come and gone. I will miss my Carow People.”
What are you most proud of?
“That I have been instrumental in bringing about the success of this great company, by my work here these past years. The vision and guidance of Steve Carow and the company he has built, has been a very satisfying place to be.”
What is one piece of advice you would like to pass on to the Carow team?
“As the company grows, and adds more personnel, collaboration becomes more and more important. Each person in the company has their own knowledge and specialty. As Bill Koza, our Director of Operations says, we are like links on a bicycle chain. One person’s action causes something to happen in the entire chain. Keep communicating with each other.”
We are going to miss you Barb! Thank you again for all your hard work and dedication. Enjoy having the freedom to do anything that you choose to do.
Please take a moment to send Barb an email at barb@carowpackaging.com or give her a call at 815.455.4600 x13 to say thank you and wish her well before the end of the year. Happy trails and Happy New Year Barb!
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About Carow Packaging New Products
Carow Packaging has been innovating and investing in dispensing solutions since 1987. We pride ourselves on being good listeners, and always strive to introduce products that satisfy the needs of our customers. Have a dispensing need that is not being met? We welcome the request.
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