“We’re so lucky to work in a place with such good vibes!” - an Interview with Sara Calvero

The team in the Montana Colors warehouses make up the heart and soul of the company. People who are specialists in handling MTN products, mostly aerosols. Those of us who work in offices have a good relationship with them, but we don't often have time to talk in depth. Today we get the chance to compare notes with Sara Calvero Coronado, to find out her takes on life at Montana Colors and beyond. 

Sara forms part of a Montana Colors company committed to parity and equality of sexes in the workplace. This month we celebrate the contribution of women to the world of graffiti art, search for the hashtag #mtnwomensmonth to find out more.

-Hi Sara! Can you tell us what you do on a normal day at work.

Well, I prepare orders for customers: boxes and pallets of paint, merch and even displays. We pack them and prepare them to be shipped.

-How many people do you interact with on an average day?

Well, about nine or ten people. We all do practically the same thing, with the exception of a couple of people who are in the warehouse and move the pallets and boxes of spray cans from one warehouse to another, and three people who are in charge of handling: labeling cans and tasks that are a little more delicate. The rest prepare orders like me.

-Have you made friends at work?

Of course! All my colleagues are friends… well, except for some (looks at her workmate and laughs). Alicia is from my town, but we hadn’t met each other before!

-How long have you been working at Montana?

Almost 2 years.

-And how long do you expect to work here?

As long as the company will have me!

-What do you like most about your job?

On Mondays, when I get up to go to work, I don’t feel overwhelmed or frustrated. It's work, but I have a good time because I have a very good relationship with my colleagues. I come from another job where there was a lot of bad parts and bullying. When I got here I thought, “We’re so lucky to work in a place with such good vibes!”

-Have you ever used Montana spray paint?

Of course! I’ve painted furniture and other objects with them. I've used them for a bit of everything.

-What do you honestly think about graffiti?

It’s a somewhat mysterious art because it is only known to the people inside the scene. Those of us who work here in the warehouse, for example, are very curious to know how to paint on a wall. Graffiti is an art that’s learned in the street and not everyone has the possibility of trying it. I think people should be better informed, for example, to give people the opportunity to paint. I have always been curious about painting graffiti with spray cans, but it is scary to start on a wall without knowing anything.

-Has anything funny ever happened to you at work?

(laughs) Crazy stuff happens every day, but what happens here stays here (laughs).

- Is there another job at Montana that you find interesting?

Well, the truth is that it is difficult for me to imagine how other roles function, like the people who handle paint in Montana Basics, for example. I don't know how sales works either. So sometimes I think that I’d like to spend a day seeing how a colleague works in a completely different department to mine.

-Well, just before the outbreak of the pandemic, the Montana Colors Human Resources department launched a didactic project that was based precisely on this. It was called the "Rodamontana". Unfortunately, it had had to be canceled, since contact between departments has to be very controlled to follow the guidelines we have to reduce the impact of COVID-19. But I suppose that in the not too distant future it will start up again.

It would be great because I don't know what you do in marketing either, for example.

-Don’t worry, we don’t do much in marketing (laughs).