STG Bright Lights Series: Yamidle Casas

In our Bright Lights series, we’re showcasing some of our brilliant employees and their experience of working here at STG Aerospace. This time, we spoke to Yamidle Casas, Sales Administrator from our Miami office, to talk about changing industries and her musical background.

If you had have told Yamidle Casas a decade ago that she would be working in aerospace, she wouldn’t have taken you very seriously. That might have been because she thought her fear of flying would be a bit of a barrier, or because she was busy memorising her lines and dreaming of treading the boards on Broadway.

A natural born performer, Yami grew up studying opera before soon finding herself falling in love with musical theatre. After auditioning for the world-renowned Rent, she would go on to play Mabel in the Pirates of Penzance, Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, and the lead role of Kim in key scene selections from Miss Saigon. Yami was at home in the spotlight.

But dreams of Broadway would later turn to banking when she entered the corporate world. Starting as a bank teller, Yami worked her way up to an assistant manager role at Colonial Bank in Miami, where the responsibility she was given helped her progress and learn key sales skills – which would, a little further down the line, come in useful at STG Aerospace.

“It was really exciting coming into aerospace - a new sector,” Yami recalls. “I like learning new things and I found it all really interesting. There’s documentation and certifications to get my head around and I like the challenge.

“There are similarities to my finance roles in terms of quality assurance and checking documentation, making sure you have the right paperwork to send to a customer. If things aren’t done correctly, then the customer can’t use the products, so it’s really about making sure your Is are dotted and your Ts are crossed.”

STG has had an operating base in Miami for more than two decades, allowing it to better serve its customers throughout the Americas. Yami joined the team more than three years ago to embark upon her latest challenge, but in order to align the US office with its headquarters in Cwmbran, Wales, there were a few things that needed ironing out.

Yami’s fear of flying was put to the test when she made the eight-hour journey from Miami International to London Heathrow, before travelling westbound to Wales.  The trip was everything she could’ve hoped for: “It was amazing to be over there, and we got to see everything in action – the cabin simulators, liTeMood® testing, all of it. We learnt how everything was done in the UK so that we could bring it back and replicate it in the Miami office, which was a really good learning experience.”

Not only has Yami got to grips with a new industry since joining STG in 2019, she has completely embodied our values and our ethos as a company. So much so, she has taken a role on our Values Team to support recognising and rewarding employees that go above and beyond.

She took up this role a little more than two years ago, and since then 37 awards have been given for exemplary contributions to the wider team. Yami, along with other Values Team members, review nominations from across the business to ensure that STG people are getting the credit and recognition they deserve.

“The pandemic really brought everyone down,” she explained. “We either felt really disconnected at home, or those that were going into the office were wearing masks all day and needing to be COVID tested. It was a really tough time for everyone.

“The idea of the awards was to lift spirits, to give people some much needed recognition when they went out of their way to help others and to assist the wider team. We’ve found that it gave that extra little bit of motivation, and it still does, even with most things back to normal now.”

Would Yami recommend STG as an employer, then?

“Absolutely! It’s a great working environment, and you come into the office knowing that you’re doing important work, and you’re going to enjoy doing it. The ‘STG team’ is often talked about, and it’s true – whether you’re in the UK office, one of our regional representatives across the globe, or here in Miami, it’s like a big team, and that’s a really big selling point.”