Our Spotlight on Super series highlights the SRC team members who help keep SRC a great place to work and grow. For this installment, we sat down with Gina Kim, a 2-year SRC employee who currently holds the title of Procurement Specialist at SRC’s Richmond, Virginia division.
Q: First off, where are you from? Where’s home?
GK: I’m from Virginia – my dad and grandpa left Cambodia in the 80s/90s due to the violence that was happening there. They settled in Virginia, and we haven’t left since. There’s a pretty big Southeast Asian community in Richmond, which is great because I was able to get kind of the best of both worlds growing up by being able to stay connected to my family’s roots but also get the experience as an American kid growing up.
Q: How did you come to work at SRC? What’s the story there?
GK: So, both my grandpa and my dad worked at SRC. My dad still works here, and my grandfather retired a few years back after working here for 30+ years, so SRC is something that’s been in life since I was a kid.
Q: What were you doing before coming to SRC?
GK: I was working for a manufacturer that made medical equipment, and I started there working in inventory management and warehousing and ended up moving into more of a procurement role, which is when I realized I like doing that sort of work. I really enjoyed the team I worked with, but I was missing that connection to the company at large. We were a really small team, but it felt like that personal connection to the company was missing.
Q: What is your role at SRC? What sort of things do you work on?
GK: So, I’m a purchaser. I work in our purchasing department under Noah (senior supply chain manager). When I started, I was mainly buying things like return bends, distributors, fittings, lots of smaller, miscellaneous items, and since then my role has expanded a bit, and now some of primary responsibilities are sourcing for special projects – in addition to the materials I was already sourcing.
Q: In your time with the company, what are some of the traits you’ve seen among people who are successful at SRC? What sorts of people tend to do well here?
GK: I think caring is a huge part of it. We all care deeply here, and I think that’s a super important part of being successful – especially on the purchasing team. And if you’re willing to be jump in and be adaptable, SRC is a good place to be. And, as the company has grown and evolved over the past few years, that adaptability and willingness to change has become even more important.
Q: What do you like most about working at SRC?
GK: I love the team I work with. I know that, even though our roles come with a lot of pressure, that if anything ever goes wrong, we work together as a team to get it right. Because if we don’t do our job right, it makes other people’s jobs harder who are counting us to get them the materials they need. On top of that, I love what I do, too. I love digging into the numbers, managing all the ins and outs of our supply chain, and the strategy piece behind all of it.
Q: What about when you’re not at work? How do you like to spend your time?
GK: I like to spend time outdoors when I can – I love playing volleyball, fishing, things like that. And I’m always down to try something new – I try to keep my interests diverse. Other than that, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends when I can.
If you’d like to know more about working at SRC, be sure to stop by our Careers Homepage to learn more about who we are, what we make, and where we work. And stop by our job listings page to see our open positions. Manufacturing experience is preferred, but not required. If you’ve got a positive attitude and a good work ethic, we’d love to hear from you. Thanks for reading.
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