Rooted in Growth: A Conversation with Rita
Rooted in Growth: A Conversation with Rita
Ten years is a long time. It's enough time to watch a company grow, to learn a new trade, and to become someone others lean on. For Rita, it's been all of that — and then some.
Rita joined ALULA on second shift a decade ago as a Quality Technician. Since then, she's moved through Quality Supervision, Encapsulation, Maintenance, and now Production — where she's trained on all 12 lines on the floor. That kind of range doesn't happen by accident. It happens because someone shows up willing to learn, every single time.
When Rita transitioned into the Maintenance Department as a Parts Specialist, she encountered something most people would find daunting: everyone she worked with called the same parts by different names. Different departments, different languages, no single system. So Rita built one. She spent hundreds of hours photographing individual parts, logging product numbers, creating a catalog that finally made sense of the chaos. It was painstaking work — and it mattered.
That's Rita in a nutshell. She sees what needs doing, and she does it.
She'll tell you that the hardest part of her job now is staying focused on her current role. Not because she lacks discipline — but because she knows so much. Years of experience in so many departments means her mind naturally moves toward solutions, connections, improvements. That's not a problem. That's what expertise looks like.
When asked what advice she'd give someone just starting out, she didn't hesitate: "Always learn about new opportunities and don't self-defeat — try." She knows from experience that good supervisors advise and support growth. She's been on both sides of that relationship.
What keeps her here? The mission — empowering individuals with disabilities and the businesses they serve. But also the people. Rita describes her coworkers as good people who give 100% and take pride in their work. ALULA's low turnover means she's worked alongside many of the same teammates for years. She values that continuity. She values that this place is inclusive, diverse, and built on mutual respect.
Outside of work, Rita tends a garden — vegetables, flowers, dwarf trees, bulbs, seeds. Jalapeños on the porch. Life in the ground. It turns out the same qualities that make her a careful, patient gardener — attention to detail, willingness to nurture, the long view — are the same ones she brings to work every day.
Rita is straightforward and honest. She's selfless when people need her. And if someone just needs a little encouragement and belief in themselves? She's glad to give it.
Ten years in, Rita is still growing. And so is everything around her.
Rita is a Production Team Member at ALULA, where she works across all 12 lines on the production floor.
