Beatriz Aranda Podcast Transcript
Neil Dudley: Welcome to the Pederson’s Farms Podcast. We’ve got one of our team members. I was walking up the hall with her and just asked her how long she’d been here. I knew it’s been a while but it’s been 15 years.
Beatriz Aranda: Yeah, I worked for 15 years. I like my work, and everything, okay, I like my work. It is very comfortable for me, work over here. And there’s problems sometimes and the people but… everywhere. So, it is my choice. So, I like my work. It is very easy work. Only I need to be careful to make sure everything is okay. I like the work, so you need to work good.
Neil Dudley: You can hear in her voice that probably English isn’t her first language. I remember when you first came to work here, I don’t know if you spoke English at all. You told me maybe a little bit. But that’s impressive. That’s something I think people should know about you and our company. Even, I want to say, even somebody but that’s not even fair. You, a lot of people on our team don’t have English as their first language. So, did you go to school to learn English? Or did you pick it up while you were working here?
Beatriz Aranda: When I…my husband, when I married my husband, he did not talk to Spanish. So I tried to go to the school in Stephenville, an afternoon for catching English but I catch very little. The more I catch over here, I try to talk to the American people… And sometimes I say, tell me one time more please, and I catch how it is. And I go and catch and catch a little bit sometimes. But I try to catch more English over here in the work. Sometimes my manager tells me… So I catch it the next time when I have it and it is good.
Neil Dudley: It is that truth of when you’re working or when you’re just immersed in the language, you learn it. When I was learning Spanish, which I really can’t speak very good at all, but there was a time in my career where I could speak Spanish in that plant about as good as anybody because I knew all the words for everything. I learned those, and people, a guy named Simone really helped me a lot. Do you remember Simone? Was he here when you first came here? Yeah, so Simone, he would teach me a word a day. It might be [Spanish]. It might be [Spanish]. It might be [Spanish] like for a hammer or something or a tool. So, I think that’s just really cool how you learn. You just pick it up.
Beatriz Aranda: Yes, it is very good to catch the two languages… catch over here in the people, but I try to catch more. I try… the English is very important for over here. I try.
Neil Dudley: Yeah, well it does make it easier for you to tell us what you need or what you think and for us tell you what we need and what we think. So, tell us all a little bit, everybody that’s listening, what do you do? What do you do every day for your job? It might not be the same thing every time. Kind of what is your job?
Beatriz Aranda: It is inspection the package for mail. I inspect the packages. So, I try to watch the package to see if it is good for the sale in the store.
Neil Dudley: The seal? Or how would you say that in Spanish? Just say it in Spanish. Tell everybody what you do in Spanish.
Beatriz Aranda: [Spanish].
Neil Dudley: Yeah, there you go. So, all you English speaking and listening people, what she’s basically saying is she’s watching the packages to make sure the seals are good, that none of the label gets in the seal, that they are meeting our requirements for quality so we don’t have to redo them or so that our consumers can feel confident they’re getting top quality stuff.
Beatriz Aranda: Yes. It is not only the seals. Maybe the shingle can look pretty for the people… good baking, good meat because the people- And now the price is too expensive in the store for everything. So I need to watch that the shingle is pretty for the people…good food and take it for the home. Sometimes [Spanish].
Neil Dudley: [Spanish], what’s that?
Beatriz Aranda: In work. It is… I don’t know in English…
Neil Dudley: Say it in Spanish. [Spanish]. Partners? [Spanish]. Well I don’t know. Somebody will have to tell us.
Beatriz Aranda: Yeah. Well, my friends in the work sometimes don’t understand that I need to make a good shingle. I need to pay attention to the package, how to fix it for the people watching next door and take it. Sometimes they don’t pay attention and put it different, different. And it is not the deal. The deal is… I like my work. I like my check. And I need to work good to be happy and meet my goals.
Neil Dudley: Oh, sure. I mean, that’s right. You need your check. You want your check. But I know this about you. You also want to do it just because you want to do the best job you can. You just like to feel proud of the product. And I hope everybody hears that. We’ve got Beatriz on the microphone. We’ve had Janie. We’re going to eventually have everybody we possibly can from the team to come tell their story and talk about where our food comes from, where Pederson’s product comes from. And that is you. It is everybody on the team taking pride in, you’re saying it like I want to make sure the shingle looks good. I have new people on the team that might not understand why that has to look so good. But it has to look really good because our products are expensive. I mean everything these days is expensive. But Pederson’s products are expensive. They’re not cheap. So, you have to make it look like it earned and deserves that expensive price tag. And that has to be the first step. Then you have to deliver on flavor. It has to actually taste good once they get it home.
Beatriz Aranda: Yeah, everything is very easy. It is only maybe pay attention. But everything is very easy… It is very easy. Everybody is different but it is for me, for myself.
Neil Dudley: Yeah, sure. Well, I mean, you’re making it- you’re saying it’s easy, but it’s not as easy as you say it is because the bacon’s coming by fast. If some things are messed up, it slows the day down. It can be frustrating when you have to redo it. So, it’s easy to say, I’m tired of redoing them, we’re going to just let those pass. That’s why you stand at the end of the line because you don’t ever- you know how important it is.
Beatriz Aranda: Yes, yes. And we say no, ma’am, this is not good. They said no, you know, because to you next door, you take this package and say no. Well, you need to fix it, how you take it in the store.
Neil Dudley: That’s right. Okay, so remember back to when you first came to work at Pederson’s. Think back, remember those years ago. What was that like? Do you remember anything? How has the company changed since then?
Beatriz Aranda: The change in the top?
Neil Dudley: Well, just moving the rooms.
Beatriz Aranda: Yeah, move the rooms.
Neil Dudley: Yeah. So, there’s a truth. We’ve added more rooms. We’ve added more lines.
Beatriz Aranda: Oh, yeah. I remember when it’s 14 years behind or 15 years behind, when it’s small, the company. And now it is more big.
Neil Dudley: 15 years ago, we probably didn’t have 20 total people.
Beatriz Aranda: Yes, it was small, and now I like it.
Neil Dudley: We got a little- probably close to 100 now. So that’s fun for me to have somebody in the room that was here 15 years ago and can remember it because it’s changed a lot. And that’s kind of part of our culture and part of our story we have to try to share with all of our new people. The new people need to- They can only learn about that from you and me and Cody and the group and Caroline, some of the people that have been here for so long. Chad, Luke, Isaac. There’s no way to know about that story if we don’t tell it.
Beatriz Aranda: Yeah, I remember when they parked the cars in front over there. And one day it was Luke. And I said… in Gustine. What happened over here? And he said he worked over here.
Neil Dudley: Oh, that’s how you got the job? So, you just met somebody in Gustine that worked at Pederson’s, and then you came over here and applied and got the job? Is that what you’re telling me?
Beatriz Aranda: No, no. I said, one day, I see Luke in front and I come back. He goes, I come here to work… and I said who is this guy? I see him in Gustine. Where is he?
Neil Dudley: You had seen him in Gustine, but now he started working here. There we go. I mean, even when I was talking to Luke on the podcast, he was talking about how a lot of our team are from Gustine. And for those who aren’t familiar, Gustine is a small town. The town probably has maybe 200 people in the population. And a lot of our team members come from there. Okay, so what is your favorite product? What do you try to get and take home?
Beatriz Aranda: It is the no sugar. I like no sugar. The bacon, no sugar. My sister in law, she likes organic bacon. Yeah, but I like the no sugar.
Neil Dudley: Yeah, any sausage, any of the other items you like?
Beatriz Aranda: Yeah, I like the spicy sausage.
Neil Dudley: Spicy?
Beatriz Aranda: Yes, I’m sorry.
Neil Dudley: It’s okay. It’s okay. So, the spicy breakfast one that we cook on the oven?
Beatriz Aranda: Yeah, I like it. It is very good.
Neil Dudley: Good. Okay, so tell me a little bit about your family. So, you got a husband. Do you have kids?
Beatriz Aranda: No, I don’t have. My husband, he works at Ingram I think for 25 years.
Neil Dudley: Okay. Ingram’s a concrete company. They make the concrete, deliver the concrete for all the slabs and for houses and any businesses that are being built and probably even roads too.
Beatriz Aranda: Yes. And now, last weekend he started work at 1:30 in the morning because the cheese factory is making the big freezers, big, big freezers. So the people for the construction need the cement very early in the morning.
Neil Dudley: Yeah, it is so hot. I think they have to pour concrete in the morning.
Beatriz Aranda: Yes, yeah. He works, he is very busy, very busy. He works in… move assistant to the manager and… But when it is the big, big, big construction, he does the inspection that everything is okay for the temperature, …and everything.
Neil Dudley: Yeah, sure. Okay, so, bacon, no sugar bacon, spicy breakfast sausage. What do you like to eat that’s not Pederson’s products? See, what I really want to ask is what do you think about our chorizo? But I think I have to start that question, and I tend to ask that to Mexican, Spanish people because I feel like chorizo is a food ate in that culture. Is that true? Am I dreaming that?
Beatriz Aranda: I like the chorizo regular. It is a very good favor.
Neil Dudley: The Pederson’s one or what you get-?
Beatriz Aranda: The Pederson’s. And sometimes I take it from HEB because sometimes I’m not over here so I take it in HEB, the regular.
Neil Dudley: See you mentioned HEB. That’s one of our customers. I mean, that’s kind of cool that you make products that go to grocery stores that you shop at. That’s kind of fun.
Beatriz Aranda: Yeah, and I go every week. I go and watch the bacon, how is the difference… bacon because over here, …little package. It is the first for the sale… sometimes the people take it because it’s a different price.
Neil Dudley: Right, a little bit cheaper that way and gives them a chance to be introduced to the product.
Beatriz Aranda: Yes, and I go and watch how the package looks and I try, I show in the rows how I make the package for the people that take it in the sale.
Neil Dudley: Now, what’s it like working in the cold environment? Everybody that’s watching this on video, if you’re not watching it, if you’re listening, you can see she’s wearing a pretty thick coat. How do you take the cold environment for work? You understand what I’m saying?
Beatriz Aranda: Yeah, well, the people say it’s cold, but it is not cold for me.
Neil Dudley: You don’t think so?
Beatriz Aranda: No. Well, I don’t know. I take my jacket and it is not cold for me. Yes, some people say it. And I move the pallets and… inspection… like this.
Neil Dudley: You keep moving, you stay warm that way.
Beatriz Aranda: No, no, it’s not cold for me. But I respect more people’s opinions.
Neil Dudley: I think so. Well, for me, I think if you’re not used to it, also, you’ve been doing it for 15 years, so it’s different. Somebody that is new hasn’t worked in a 45 degree room doing the work we do, it can, it’s pretty tough. I mean, I tell everybody, you should get ready to be sore and a little more tired than usual for sure for the first couple of weeks, just because your body’s getting used to working in the cold environment.
Beatriz Aranda: Yes. I like my work. I like my work, so I don’t know… The next May is 16. So, it is four years more. But I don’t know. I think it’s better… give me a check.
Neil Dudley: What did you just say? Next year is 60?
Beatriz Aranda: 16.
Neil Dudley: 16 years at Pederson’s, okay. I thought you were going to say that was your age or something. I was like no, that can’t be right.
Beatriz Aranda: No. Next year is 16. …no more here. And it is 15.
Neil Dudley: Go to work. Okay, so anything else that you want to say that I haven’t asked you a question about? I just want to say thank you. This, having you on the podcast is enjoyable for me. I appreciate the work you do. I’m glad you’re a part of the team. I’m glad you were willing to come kind of in this crazy environment. We’ve got lights, cameras, microphones, headsets. It’s not what you do every day. So, you had to kind of come in here and be a little nervous and just talk to me. And I want to say thank you for that.
Beatriz Aranda: Thank you too, sir, for giving me work. You sell and you give me work, so I’m paying my bills.
Neil Dudley: We don’t give you work, you earn it. I mean really everybody earns it each and every day. I have to earn it. I have to go sell, make sure that business keeps coming in so we can keep hiring more people. But nobody’s giving you anything. You earn it. You come to work, you show up, you do a good job. So, that’s the truth of it.
Beatriz Aranda: Sometimes the people say go do different work. But this is not a choice. The choice is suddenly you need to love your work. Because you go in different work, it is starting down. You need it and love your work. And try to be more good, more good. The problems and the people are everywhere. I know sometimes my… don’t like… Sometimes it’s beem-beem-beem. And sometimes it’s you don’t like it very well. They go and the next day maybe it’s more better than today. And I’m very appreciative for giving me the work. And I try to be more good every day in my work.
Neil Dudley: I will attest, you help us be the brand and the company and make the products that we make. So, I’m glad everybody got to meet Beatriz. And I hope they keep listening to the podcast to hear more stories of our team members, our people that just make us who we are that play such a big role in where your food comes from. And I think you should listen back to what Beatriz was saying there right towards the end that it’s not always about the money. Sometimes it’s about enjoying what you do and spending the time. You had to invest time. Now it’s 15 years. You know so much about our company, our product, how to do things, simply because you’ve just been here. You’ve been here. You’ve seen it. You’ve done so much. I think that’s valuable, folks. Listen to that. It probably is something you could think about within your job and the things you do, wherever you might be. Beatriz, thank you. Everybody, thanks for listening. I know your time is not free. If you enjoyed this, tell somebody, tell one person. We’d love to have them hear Beatriz’s story.
Beatriz Aranda: Okay, and thank you. I appreciate it.
Links:
Topics:
(0:30) – Introducing Beatriz
(4:03) – What is your job?
(9:12) – How has Pederson’s changed since you came to work here?
(12:02) – What’s your favorite product we have?
(12:45) – Beatriz’s family
(14:12) – Thoughts on Pederson’s chorizo
(15:54) – How do you like working in a cold environment?
(18:09) – Final thoughts
The Pederson’s Farms Podcast is produced by Johnny Podcasts & Root and Roam.