Kelly M. Sigmon ('89, Industrial Engineering)

Kelly M. Sigmon

Vice President, Customer Experience, United States Postal Service

BS Industrial Engineering, Cal Poly Pomona, 1989

MBA, Sloan Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010

Kelly M. Sigmon started at Cal Poly Pomona with an undeclared major, but soon found her niche with industrial engineering.

Upon earning her degree, Kelly started with United States Postal Service (USPS) as an industrial engineering trainee, and learned the ropes of processing and distribution operations by shadowing employees and managers.

Later, as an industrial engineering analyst, she worked on a variety of large projects, including implementation of a new technology that enabled USPS to automate mail sorting, as well as the simulation tool to project the impact of this equipment nationwide. She trained employees at over 200 sites to use this tool.

As she climbed to vice president of Retail Operations, Kelly oversaw over 30,000 locations. Her team redesigned their retail platform and upgraded both the hardware and software of their retail technology.

She also led the reformatting of USPS’ training program for new and existing sales service associates that focused on customer interactions. During this transformation, Kelly led several activities, like conducting focus groups, and visited post office locations to watch and listen to employees. Over a five-year period, performance of the company increased by over 50 percent.

“I would encourage engineering students to get a lot of different experience—and not to create self-imposed barriers,” says Kelly. “Remember to challenge yourself, learn the skill of listening, remember to involve your team—and above all, make it fun.”