Meet the Tribe: Tina Bumgardner

When asked to provide a nomination for Meet the Tribe, Holly Fillipovich, the Director of Finance and Business Operations at The Ziegenfelder Company, immediately offered up Tina Bumgardner. She cited Tina’s willingness to always put her Zieggy Tribe first in accordance with the first Zieggy Essential pillar, ‘THINK Tribe First.’

“When I think of Tina, I think of reliability and dependability,” said Holly. “She’s faced a lot of adversity and overcome that. There’s a lot of beauty in who she is and how she is. She’s down-to-earth and genuine. She wants to do the right thing, she has high integrity, and she has a strong work ethic. She really cares about what she’s doing.”

Tina started working at the Ziegenfelder Company five years ago. Tina initially accepted a position working in the logistics department. Supervisors quickly saw that Tina had skills and past experience related to finance.

“I like my job,” said Tina. “I like what I do and I like everyone I work with. That makes it really nice.”

After working at The Ziegenfelder Company for less than two months, Tina was offered a position as the Electronic Data Interchange Coordinator. She jumped on the opportunity to learn something new. 

“If you do something wrong, the mapping is wrong. So that was scary. It required a lot of responsibility,” said Tina as she worked to explain details about her job. As the Electronic Data Interchange Coordinator, Tina must make sure the customer information and orders in the computer system are processed correctly. Her job helps ensure seamless billing, payment and delivery of all orders that are run through the Electronic Data Interchange. The program helps manage the cash inflow to the company so that all departments are able to run effectively.

Along with successfully overcoming the challenges of learning new job skills, Tina also overcame the biggest personal challenge of her life while working at The Ziegenfelder Company. In 2013, Tina lost Lyle, her husband of 11 years, after he suffered a heart attack. Tina said she got the news that something was wrong while she was on the job.

“They all showed up at the funeral,” said Tina. “Lisa and Barry (Allen) called me at home. Holly (Fillipovich) called me at home. When I came back, they all asked why I was here. Never experienced that with another company, that support. And I had only been here a year.”

When asked about her free time, Tina explained that she likes spending time with her daughter and her 7-year-old grandson who both live with her. She described her grandson as very smart and even remembers lessons taught to him by her husband when her grandson was only 3-years-old.

“My husband taught him about roses. He showed him how to plant them and care for them,” said Tina. “We still have those roses and (my grandson) helps care for them still.”

While talking about family, Tina stressed that her Zieggy Tribe is her extended family, providing her with support she has never found working anywhere else.

“Leaving here is not an option,” said Tina. “I told them they have to put an escalator or elevator in when I get older. I don’t think I would feel as comfortable anywhere else like I do here. It’s like family.”