Employee Spotlight: Silvana Loo

Silvana Loo | Procurement Senior Buyer | Joined Penumbra in 2008

Q. What is your current role at Penumbra?

My current role is a Senior Buyer of the Procurement team. My responsibilities include procuring raw and sub-contract materials, as well as maintaining and coordinating delivery schedules with suppliers to meet production schedules. I also work with Strategic Procurement to make sure the contract services agreements are aligned to the business needs and perform other work-related duties as assigned.

Q. What drew you to Penumbra?

The main reason I was drawn to work at Penumbra was because it offered a good benefit package – specially the medical insurance, not just covering myself but also covering my family. Since I joined Penumbra, I have learned a lot and have enjoyed getting to know more related to medical industries.

Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most?

Penumbra gave me many opportunities to grow by providing trainings, such as “Functional Lead Training,” “Functional Supervisor Training,” “Leadership & Communication Training,” and “Safety, CPR & First Aid.” I also completed all five modules of an American Production and Inventory Control Society course.

I began my career at Penumbra in the Production department as a Builder I, was promoted to a Builder II, became a Production Lead, and was then promoted to a Production Supervisor. After five years in that role, I joined the Procurement team and became a buyer in 2018. It is an amazing feeling that Penumbra cares about its employees and gives them opportunities to grow. The trainings provided by Penumbra helped me grow professionally.

Q. Describe yourself at age 10. What career aspirations did you have at that age?

When I was little, I always wanted to be a flight attendant. They were pretty and elegant in their uniforms. I also wanted to travel the world. My mind did not change after many years. I went to a flight attendant training school after high school, before I came to the United States for university, and I was told by the training school that I can only work within South America because I did not speak English. I came to the United States as a foreign student mainly to learn English, but I ended up staying and I like what I am doing with my current career.

Q. Describe a travel adventure that you will never forget.

Big Island, Hawaii trip in January 2022 with my husband and four friends. I feel like I was revived from this trip, and I will never forget it. Me, my husband, and two other friends were surfing in Hapuna Beach and got pulled out very far away from the beach by waves. Fortunately, we were all wearing swim vests, so each time we were pulled deep into the ocean, we floated back up to the surface. We were all rescued by the beach security guards and all our names are in Hawaii accident record notebook forever. My advice to everyone going into the water is to wear a safety swim vest.

Q. What is your personal philosophy?

Always do my best, help others, and not be afraid to ask questions.

Q. What would people be surprised to learn about you?

It surprises people when I speak Spanish as fluently as South American speakers because I am Asian and also speak fluently in Cantonese and Mandarin. People are always surprised and wonder how I learned Spanish, and I always tell them my life story. I was born in South of China, spoke Cantonese at home and learned Mandarin from school at the same time – these were my first two languages. My family immigrated from China to Peru when I was 12 years old. I lived in Peru for eight years before I moved to California, so I learned Spanish during my teenage years.