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Audio Recording "Most companies are surprised to find us here, because they don't know other cutting companies owned and run by women."

"Most companies are surprised to find us here, because they don't know other cutting companies owned and run by women."

About this Item

Title

  • "Most companies are surprised to find us here, because they don't know other cutting companies owned and run by women."

Names

  • Contreras-Mas, Sylvia (Narrator)
  • Curling, Amada (Narrator)
  • Carroll, Thomas D. (Interviewer)

Created / Published

  • 1994-09-15

Headings

  • -  Interviews
  • -  Oral history
  • -  Sound recordings
  • -  Clothing industry
  • -  Family-run businesses
  • -  21st Avenue (Paterson, N. J.)
  • -  V. B. F. Trim Company (Paterson, N.J.)
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  United States -- New Jersey -- Paterson

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews

Notes

  • -  Interview with Amada Curling and Sylvia Contreras-Mas, co-owners of V.B.F., a garment cutting and sewing contractor business.
  • -  Summary of audio segment: How is it to function in a very tough, competitive industry as two women, Spanish speaking women? SC-M says it was hard at the beginning, very hard. They would say, What are they doing here? They should be home. Laughs. That's how it was in the beginning. And in fact, most companies are surprised to find us here, because they don't know other cutting companies owned and run by women. TC asks What is it about you, is it that you're sisters and can work together, have a kind of intimacy and trust and can work together? AC says Yes, I think that's what it is. Because this is a very...people eat each other up in this kind of business. TC says, but establishing credibility? ACsays, It's tougher. It's tougher. But once they see that their work is running, and whatever, they cally ou, they see the work that you have, they call you... SC-M says we're more organized than most companies. AC says, And one of the things we have, that most of the men companies don't have, is that we're honest. You know what I mean, and that's one thing that they find out, nothing is missing, nothing is short, and they have that trust. And also, there's a lot of women working as production managers in the companies, so even though the owners may be males, they can relate to us very easily, and we can relate to them very easily. So it's difficult to get in, but once you're there, it's not.

Medium

  • Digital Audio Tape

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AFC 1995/028: WIP-TDC-A027

Source Collection

  • Working in Paterson Project Collection (AFC 1995/028)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • audio

Rights & Access

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Credit line

Working in Paterson Project collection, 1993-2002 (AFC 1995/028), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Contreras-Mas, Sylvia, Amada Curling, and Thomas D Carroll. "Most companies are surprised to find us here, because they don't know other cutting companies owned and run by women.". -09-15, 1994. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/afcwip004029/.

APA citation style:

Contreras-Mas, S., Curling, A. & Carroll, T. D. (1994) "Most companies are surprised to find us here, because they don't know other cutting companies owned and run by women.". -09-15. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afcwip004029/.

MLA citation style:

Contreras-Mas, Sylvia, Amada Curling, and Thomas D Carroll. "Most companies are surprised to find us here, because they don't know other cutting companies owned and run by women.". -09-15, 1994. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afcwip004029/>.