Meet Vivian Allen | President, CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Vivian Allen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vivian, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Business at its core is just a lever to pull to change the landscape of the community (large or small) around us. We say internally that just as a human’s purpose is bigger than breathing, a business has a purpose bigger than making a profit.

We take a 3-level approach to our impact and to our giving.

First, we must be faithful to our circle. If our employee needs are not met, we are not doing our basic duty as a business. This means fair wage, affordable benefits, and flexibility that allows them to live their lives to the fullest.

Second, the larger community around us. For us, that’s North Fort Worth, the DFW Metroplex, and the state of Texas. We ask our employees to volunteer in the community and support them by giving paid time off (40 hours per year) toward this effort. We also give to a group caring for immigrants, migrants, and asylum-seekers at the boarder between TX and Mexico. A lot of our policies are built around ensuring our employees are active and impactful members of the local community.

Third, we are responsible for how we impact the larger global community. We do this through several venues. We try to be as disruptive and loud as possible in areas where we believe change is necessary, such as the US Health Care system. We teach and empower our employees to dig deeper into how their health care provider is charging them for services, ask questions and get real answers, and to speak up about things they believe need to change. We also give globally through various charitable organizations.

The last way in which we believe we can impact the world is in our daily interactions with suppliers, partners, and potential clients. We always rely on our core values of Courage, Kindness, Innovation, and Excellence to give us what we need to leave the people we interact with in a better place than they were before. Even when we are not a good partner fit for potential clients, we will help them by sharing information, giving them connections with other industrial suppliers, and leaving them encouraged to keep moving forward in their work.

We seek to always leave the world, our world, better than we found it.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
There is so much that is special about SigmaPro. We will never be like anyone else. We never set out to be and we have accomplished our differentiation in such an organic and wonderful way, it has been a ride that no one would want to miss.

We are set apart firstly by our inability to be scared by new ideas, new technology, and innovative processes. We were born, as many small businesses are, into a need for efficiency and low cost. That has uniquely positioned us to be attracted to creativity and innovation in our work.

Our journey has been an ebb and flow of lacking resources and having and excess, of making good and bad choices, and of creatively experimenting with new ideas – some that stuck and some that didn’t. However, we are not the type of people to see a static end goal to our business. We believe a business should be an organic entity, constantly growing and changing, adapting and improving. There is not a place we envision in the future where we can sigh and say, “We made it.”

Our biggest lesson has come in the form of asking powerful questions. There has never been a place at SigmaPro for the phrase, “That is how we have always done it.” Mostly because we don’t have one way of doing things that has always worked for us, but also because doing something yesterday should never be an excuse to assume it will work today. Each day brings a new opportunity to question what you did before, reexamine your data, and try a new path. Not because each new path is a guarantee of improvement, but because the old path is a guarantee of stagnation. Asking “why” when it comes to rules and processes that our industry has long adopted and accepted will be our story, and the introduction of new processes, the elimination of unnecessary rules, and the challenge of the status quo will be our legacy.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First, I would take them to my home. My house is a wonderful place, I’m an awesome cook, and I love to make people comfortable and relaxed. Too many people don’t get to feel that when they are travelling. Heck, lots of people don’t even relax in their OWN homes!

After a nice aperitif and chilling on the back porch while the kids play in the grass, we’d head to Saint-Emilion Restaurant in Fort Worth. It’s a quaint little bistro serving delicious French food and amazing wine. I love wine.

Last, I’d take them to the Fort Worth Zoo. I love the Zoo and right now they are having a bit of a baby boom. Who doesn’t love baby animals?? If you don’t, you wouldn’t be my friend anyway.

There are few local places that really hold a candle to what we cook and serve at home, so we’d probably end up back at my house again, having another glass of something red and tannin-heavy and some steaks off the grill. We’d end the night with a murder mystery board game and laughing around our large kitchen table.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Credit goes to my family and friends. My husband, who is quiet, kind, and courageous. My kids, who are the sweetest motivation you could ask for! My dad, who started it all and taught me well. My mom who always made a place at the table for everyone….then filled that place with food, drinks, and laughter. My sisters and brother who love me and support me.

My coworkers, but especially Julie Blackmon and Sidnee Silva, who were surrogate moms, the best of friends, and wonderful encouragers to me.

And to the other mom bosses in my life who set the standard of love and success for me. Most especially, my friend and neighbor Sara Paulk. She’s just the best.

Website: www.sigmapromolding.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sigmaproeng/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivianallen/

Other: https://vimeo.com/sigmapro