Chandra Douglas BiographyDo-It-Herselfer
Written by: Brian Douglas
|
|
|
|
CHANDRA DOUGLAS found her first creative inspirations in working with her father on home improvement projects and with her mother's many cooking and sewing endeavors.
When the time came to choose a course of study, Chandra knew she wanted to have a career that let her utilize the ingenuity she learned from her father and the creativity she learned from her mother. While studying Industrial Engineering at Clemson University in South Carolina, she gained formal education that built on the lessons learned from her youth. There are a number of things Industrial Engineers do in their work to make processes more efficient, to make products more manufacturable and consistent in their quality, to increase productivity, and reduce costs. To anyone that knows Chandra, this was a logical course of education for her.
|
In 1998, upon receiving her BSIE (Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering) she began her engineering career with the Cutler Hammer Division of the Eaton Corporation. She later moved to Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations where she worked at the Aiken SC plant as well as in the corporate office in Nashville. It was in the Supply Chain Management group of the company headquarters that we met, as I was also an Industrial Engineer in the same group. As an aside, the Bridgestone Americas CEO who knew both of us well, quipped one day that he should place both Chandra and I in the same office space as a cost saving measure. Shortly after our engagement, Chandra was promoted into the Financial Business Planning group of the company where she developed her financial and business planning acumen.
Chandra orchestrated so many home improvement and culinary projects (more than I knew was possible by one person) while we were dating that I nicknamed her 'Martha Vila'. (Martha Stewart is well known for "Discovering Everyday Good Things" in the kitchen and the home; Bob Vila is best known from home improvement shows such as This Old House). At that time, Chandra actually had more power tools than me and knew very well how to use them. As I recall we (Chandra, her father and I) completely gutted and restored a bathroom, tiled her kitchen floor, installed new countertops, planted trees, installed gutters, and completed numerous landscaping projects. All the while she kept us fed with amazing entree's and deserts from her kitchen - particularly her chocolate cake.
|
And after marriage... even more projects! The most memorable are a 14' x 14' pergola that she designed; a 16" x 14" outdoor patio with slate tile; a tiled kitchen backsplash; sets of personally designed and sewn blackout curtains for our media room, baby crib bumpers and skirt, a garage storage system, custom Adirondack chairs, many more trees, and now... you guessed it... children's clothing. Chandra has a keen fashion sense and was having trouble finding the right look for our two little girls. Thus it is not at all surprising that she solved the problem the way she always has - she Did It Herself.
I hope you will find something here that suits your needs. We are able to keep our prices low and quality high because our formal education has taught us how to do so. The creative side might just be genetic! Thank you for considering Wiggleworm Kids.
|
