Cambro products wouldn’t be what they are today without the people who make them. In our Meet the Camily series, we introduce you to some of the people that make your favorite products possible. From manufacturing to distribution to corporate, every Cambro employee has a story to tell. Our next story comes from Donnie Hudson, who has held four very different positions at Cambro during his 35 years with the company.

What is your current position?

Customer Service Manager

How many years have you been with Cambro?

35 years

How did you get started at Cambro?

“I actually found the ad in the newspaper for a position in shipping and receiving and I applied. I spent about a year and a half as a shipping and receiving clerk.”

Describe the journey to your current role.

“I transferred to the accounting department because that was my major in school and I was going to school at the time. I had spoken to the accounting manager and told him what my interest was and that I really wanted to transfer into his department. He said, ‘When the opportunity comes, we’ll give you a shot.’ I was in the accounting department for 12 years. In 2000, I was encouraged to apply for the job in marketing for the tradeshow manager. People implied that with my personality and my love of people that they thought it would be a good fit for me. I did it and I got the position.”

How do people describe your personality?

“Positive, outgoing…I’m very personable. People believe what I have to say and they trusted me as being an honest person. I think it kind of helped me find who I am because actually growing up I thought I was a shy boy and as I got older, I realized, you know, that I’m actually a people person, pretty outgoing.”

You were Cambro’s trade show manager for 20 years. How many trade shows and events do you think you went to in that time?

“In the years when I was trade show manager, I worked on approximately 600 events.”

What did you love about trade shows?

“Most people come from all parts of the world, so by me meeting and working with all these different people I get to learn different cultures and get to know people in general. Whether they’re from the South, the North, from England, from Europe, and I enjoyed getting to hear about where they were from and their culture.”

Describe the Cambro culture.

“When Argyle Campbell took over for his dad, Bill Campbell, he seemed to have passion for all the employees and his dad was kind of the same way but Argyle has taken it another step where people feel like he really cares for every employee here and that has transcended to all the other people, all the employees at the company that now we call it ‘Camily’ because people really support and help each other like they are one big family.” 

How important is customer service to Cambro?

“Customer service is very valuable to Cambro because we are the front-line people that actually talk to the customer. Recently, one of my CSR’s (Customer Service Representative) got an ‘Above and Beyond’ [recognition] because she one entered the order, made sure that everything was correct on the order, she worked closely with the planning department to make sure that all the parts were available to ship by a certain date to meet the customer requirement. It was a big order and the customer was elated that he got everything in great shape.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ADRIANA DESIDERIO IS THE DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER AT CAMBRO.