Page 28 - BusinessWest July 6, 2020

Pia Kumar, seen here reading to children at the Morgan School in Holyoke
as part of
the com- pany’s Link to Libraries sponsorship, says her dis- cussions with employees have helped her under- stand the many barriers that people face when
it comes to succeeding in the work- place.
uals overcome barriers to employment and success in the workplace — and in life itself.
“We have someone in our HR department whose whole job is to make sure that we make people successful outside of work, so that they can be successful at work.” she said of efforts to help employees with everything from attaining a driver’s license to securing day-care services.
As for her own efforts in the realm of work-life balance, she said, simply, “I work at it.”
By that, she meant that she finds time for work, family, and to be alone for a few moments each day, early in the morning — time she spends meditating and planning, for the most part.
“We have someone in our HR department whose whole job is to make sure that we make people successful outside of work, so that they can be successful at work.”
“I need to get my planning done to feel prepared for my day,” she explained. “I do a 10-minute meditation, then I spend 30 minutes planning, and then I take my dog for a walk; it works for me.”
For this issue and its focus on women in business, we talked at length with Kumar about her work with her husband to grow and expand Universal. But mostly, the talk was about people and helping them handle all that work and life can throw at them — even a global pandemic.
Clear Intentions
As she talked with BusinessWest in the company’s recently opened corporate offices, located next door to the Holyoke plant on Whiting Farms Road, Kumar showed off a display of one of the latest additions to the company’s portfolio of products.
These are face shields — which the company started making a few months ago to help meet demand for personal protective equipment within the region — that feature what she called ‘skirts.’
Designed specifically for teachers, these customized products allow for open communication without muffling the voice or hiding expres- sions — things masks can’t do — while providing more protection than
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28 JULY 6, 2020
WOMEN IN BUSINESS BusinessWest