Meet Thelma Quijano, Revenue Director and the accomplished and talented Manager of our worldwide Customer Order Center. Thelma is great at juggling multiple balls in the air at once (which is perfect for her position), all with a smile on her face! We invite you to take a minute to learn more about this lovely lady…
With a “teamwork makes the dream work” attitude, Revenue Director Thelma Quijano drives for success with dedication and accuracy to ensure customers receive their orders correctly and on time. Thelma believes that teamwork and communication are key to fulfilling customer orders. “I enjoy working with a team of talented individuals with different skill sets that come together with a sense of purpose and pride in the work we do every day.”
Conducting a Cross-Functional team meeting
Thelma hails from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (a.k.a. Sun City due to its abundance of sunshine) where she spent her childhood in the Chihuahua desert rolling down sand dunes, enjoying family barbecues, and reading many novels. Though she no longer lives in a sunny environment year round, she brings a shining outlook to her coworkers with an upbeat and hardworking demeanor.
Ciudad Juárez is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua and is home to over 1.5 Million people.
Thelma received her Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Tecnologico de Juarez and an MBA from the University of Texas. She began her career in 1997 at Universal’s Mexico office as an accountant and soon moved up to the position of Finance Manager. One of her many accomplishments, was the creation, implementation and management of a NEW sales office in Brazil. (If you’ve ever done business in Brazil, then you know this is no easy task, due to their complicated rules and regulations.)
Thelma in front of machines crated and ready to be shipped to customers!
When the position of Revenue Director became available, Thelma filled in temporarily, but it wasn’t long before Universal tasked her to move to headquarters in Conklin, NY and permanently take on the role! (And we. . . and leagues of our customers are very happy she did!)
When asked how she feels about her Universal story so far, Thelma stated, “I have been given the opportunity to take on increasing levels of responsibility and have enjoyed the challenge. I’ve been able to meet new people and had the chance to travel to different places. I have learned to appreciate people no matter their background and have gained a better understanding of cultural differences, but in the end, I am convinced that at the very core we are pretty much the same.”
Have we mentioned that she always conducts herself – inside or outside the office – with a big friendly smile on her face!
That infectious smile!
In her role as Revenue Director, Thelma drives closure of revenue opportunities and supervises Universal’s worldwide Customer Order Center (COC) to execute the sales and order management process from the receipt of purchase to the delivery at the customer’s site. This involves precise coordination between the customer and Universal’s sales and operations teams, to ensure the solution is built to match the customer’s exact specifications. According to Thelma, “COC doesn’t sleep! Part of the team resides across the world, so there is always a member of the team ready to support our customers.” Thelma also organizes and runs cross-functional review meetings between Universal’s various departments to strategize and execute build plans to meet customer’s needs globally.
Shipping equipment via sea freight to all destinations across the globe!
When asked about the most challenging orders that Universal has faced, Thelma indicated, “The most challenging ones must be fulfilled by multiple Universal sites in different countries while shipping the full solution to several customer sites – each with different customs requirements.” From her twenty-two years at Universal, she believes that UIC values cooperation and is always willing to step up to difficult situations. Universal in her eyes is “uniquely positioned to deliver solutions for our customers’ ever-changing needs”.
