Nellie Melo started working for my father at Ronnie Manufacturing before I ever opened Darn It!.
When my dad’s factory shut down, she came to work for me. That was 1996. She’s been here ever since.
Forty years across the two companies. About ten with my father, thirty with me.
Think about what that means. She was here when this company was a fraction of the size it is now — before the 300,000 square feet, before the 60+ people, before most of the customers we work with today had heard of us. She was here for the first shipment we ever took in, and for the first customer who called with a problem nobody else wanted to touch.
Nellie runs our rework workflow. That means 12 to 15 different customer projects moving through this building on any given day, all of them hers to keep straight.
Thirty years of “we need this fixed by Friday.” Thirty years of shipments showing up wrong, early, damaged, or all three at once. She’s seen every version of this business there is, including the versions I’d rather forget.
People talk about company culture like it’s something you write on a wall. It isn’t. It’s who’s still standing there after four decades, still doing the work, still caring whether it comes out right.
A lot of our team has been here for a long time. Nellie’s been here for the longest.
Thirty years in business this year, and the truth is that a company is just the people who keep showing up. My dad. Nellie. Everyone who’s been part of it.
Thank you doesn’t really cover it. But thank you.
“Your Problem Is Our Business”
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