In honor of Veterans Day which celebrates all U.S. military members, we wanted to recognize two Zazzlers who go above and beyond the call of duty every single day. Both are named Andrew, and manage teams of more than a hundred people at our manufacturing facility in San Jose, California.
Also, Zazzle is now offering official U.S. Army merchandise that you can customize and make your own. By federal law, licensing fees paid to the U.S. Army for the use of its trademarks provide support to the Army Trademark Licensing Program, and net licensing revenue is devoted to U.S. Army Morale, Welfare, and Recreation programs. Truly a great program, and we’re proud to be partnered with the U.S. Army for years to come. And you can also count on the fact that our very own Army guys are on the look-out to make sure that your mugs, shirts, postage, keychains, phone cases, stickers and posters are going to be made to order quickly with the highest quality.
We invited both Andrew and Andrew to share a bit about what challenges them every day to grow their skills and expertise in both of their professional pursuits.
Andrew Kim oversees the customization and manufacturing of embroidery products, skateboards, cases, buttons, magnets, and keychains:
I joined Zazzle in 2008 and also serve as a Specialist in the U.S. Army, since enlisting in 2010. It is definitely hard to balance both my Army career and management position at Zazzle without letting my foot off the gas on either side. The Army encourages you to grow your career by leaving it all up to you. It’s a hard balancing act but I like to be challenged. Being in the Reserves means that I’m on call all the time. Travelling, or training exercises, I’m often called away for a few weeks at a time. I’m fortunate that Zazzle is a supportive place to work, but even more fortunate that my wife and son are always supportive, too. I’ll be making a unit t-shirt for myself with our official crest now that we’ve got an Army store at Zazzle.
Andrew Lumidao runs the digital press finishing which includes holiday cards, stationery, and custom postage:
There were only 20 of us in manufacturing when I first joined Zazzle in 2004. We’ve definitely grown a lot since then. I joined the U.S. Army in 2005, where I’m still in the Reserves as a Specialist. It’s definitely a challenge to juggle my role at Zazzle with my military career, but I manage to get by. I was deployed in Iraq from 2007-8 for one year. It was an interesting experience to say the least, as we were in the thick of things with no showers and no bathrooms in a highly targeted area. In the long-run, I aim to grow my career at Zazzle, and also raise my first child who is expected to arrive in just a few months. Since my unit will be deployed again soon, I plan to send some care packages to them because I know how much it meant to me when I received care packages from my colleagues at Zazzle while I was away.
On Veterans Day, we wanted to thank all of the brave and hard-working members of the U.S. military for their service, including those members of the Zazzle family who currently serve. Thank you!
