Sisters Amy, Sandy and Mary Singratsabouth (from left) manage vitally important roles at AVB Marketing.
The Singratsabouth sisters are behind-the-scenes champions on AVB’s catalog team
By Janet Weyandt, YSN
Mary Singratsabouth had been working for Torus Marketing for about four years when her younger sisters, Amy and Sandy, both experienced some career upheaval in 2015. Mary liked her job so much, she encouraged them to apply to Torus as well.
They did, and both got hired. Torus subsequently became AVB Marketing (AVBM), and nine years after the two came aboard, all three sisters are now part of the AVBM catalog team, making sure the product listings in LINQ are up to date, accurate and as close to perfect as possible.
It’s unusual to have three siblings working for the same company and even more unique to have them all on the same team, but the Singratsabouth women make it work. Each is soft-spoken and reserved, and they’re most comfortable behind the scenes, handling the vitally important work of populating and managing the vast AVB product catalog without any fanfare.
Home-Work
“We’re close, but we like to do our own thing,” said Mary, who is quality assurance (QA) lead for the U.S. and Canada home furnishings catalog team. “Everything at work is about work. At home, it’s family.”
Sandy, the middle sister, is also on the home furnishings side of the catalog team. She is the QA lead for the contract team in the Philippines.
Shauna Cardenas, catalog data manager for home furnishings, said both are consummate pros.
“Sandy manages the Philippines team’s dedicated QA project board and audits their work, just as Mary does for the U.S. and Canada team,” she said, “ensuring accuracy, uniformity and consistency, and that everything is up to our current product data standards while providing feedback to help them improve where needed.”
And they add a lot to the job beyond the project boards as well, Cardenas said.
Welcome Additions
“Since joining my team, Mary and Sandy have brought nothing but more fun, joy and laughter as well as a sense of harmony and camaraderie,” she said. “Our team has grown, improved and become a more cohesive unit with their involvement and feedback. I can’t say enough nice things about Mary and Sandy.”
Sandy left her previous job when she was reassigned to a commission sales position. As a single mom with two kids, she wanted more stability than that.
At AVB, she found what she was looking for. Now married with three kids ranging in age from 19 to 2, she has grown into her role and is devoted to the group’s success.
Low Profile
“Not everybody knows what we do or sees what we do,” she said. “In order for us to put information into LINQ, we have to research what is important to add. We do comparisons to make our catalog look better than other catalogs out there. It’s a lot of work.”
Youngest sister Amy works on the appliance/CE side of the catalog team, serving as product data lead/analyst — and pretty much anything else her team needs.
“We populate client websites with product data and images,” she said. “Also, the lead position develops ways to help team members better understand what needs to be in LINQ. Working with my peers … I’m learning something new every day.”
Her supervisor, catalog data manager Lydia Deeck, said Amy also serves as her second-in-command, as well as being a constant source of information and support for the team.
Product Knowledge
“She knows appliances and CE like the back of her hand,” Deeck said. “She’s the perfect QA. She has a great relationship with our team. If there are product questions, they go to her. When I’m out … everything runs without hitch. I don’t have to worry about really anything. I know she’s doing a phenomenal job getting things done. She’s wonderful.”
Although the three sisters are major players in their department, their names aren’t well known beyond the catalog team, and that’s just fine with them.
“Everybody is important in a certain area, so it’s OK to be on the back end,” Sandy said. Everybody has an important role to make this a better company and to make the members happy.”
YSN publisher AVB BrandSource is the nation’s largest merchandising and marketing co-op for independent appliance, mattress, furniture and CE dealers.
