By Taylor Duffy
“I don’t like the word ‘balance.’ To me, that somehow conjures up conflict between work and family… as long as we think of these things as conflicting, we will never have happiness. True happiness comes from integration… of work, family, self, community.” -Padmasree Warrior
When thinking about work and family, it is a common struggle to uphold and be successful in both areas. Often the ties between the two do not grow stronger with time, but become strained and difficult to maintain. However, one of our manager’s, Alison Perry, found the “work-family” environment here at SimVentions to be one of the most important aspects of finding happiness in her life and career.
Prior to working for SimVentions, Alison spent 10 years working at Dahlgren, supporting combat systems certification. Even though she thoroughly enjoyed her work, she did not have a strong relationship with her company or her management. She was lucky to interface with management once every three months. She felt as though she were only a number, solely employed to make the company profitable. She didn’t have the visibility or insight into career growth opportunities within her own company. This was her idea about how work was supposed to be until she came to SimV.
Previous coworkers and Alison’s father had already begun working at the company. Because of this she was comfortable and excited knowing she would be working with family and others she knew and respected. Her interest was piqued by SimV’s family-friendly environment and the ability to move up in the company.
Today, Alison is a great leader and program manager of the Professional Services Team of 8. One of her favorite parts about her position is the opportunity to mentor junior employees and interns on her team. She wants each of her team members to think of SimV as their home away from home. No employee should have to work for a company that sees them as a statistic. Everyone at SimV is reachable and employees care about interacting with one another, no matter their “ranking.”
Alison finds that SimV stands out because you are part of a greater family here. Not only are there many actual, blood family members here, but these people that surround you every day become your work family. Your coworkers care about you as an individual and value your self-growth. There is no need to feel like one will overshadow the other in the relationship between work and family because family, self, and community are always put first at SimV.
If you are looking for a workplace experience like Alison’s, please feel free to check out current job openings on our career page!