The Yellow T-Shirt Award is an annual honor given to one employee who lives the SanMar values of Being Nice and Telling the Truth. Named in homage to founder Marty Lott’s yellow t-shirt story, it’s awarded to someone who goes above and beyond the duties of their job in service to colleagues, customers and communities.

Our 2024 honoree is Hong Kong Merchandising Director Carol Chung (shown above during Chinese New Year with a lion dance character, and also with her husband Steve, their two children Henry and Tiffany, and their dog Yohji).

For Carol, there was an amusing side to winning the award at the State of SanMar meeting last December.

She said, “The day I won, I also got a new name. Wherever I went in the Eastpointe office, people kept saying, ‘Oh hey, you’re Yellow T-shirt!’”

More importantly, it solidified for Carol the idea that SanMar, across all its locations and departments, is one unified team.

“I had always thought this was more of an award for U.S. team members,” she said. “So last fall when I heard I was a Yellow T-Shirt nominee, I really didn’t think about winning. I just thought ‘Oh, OK, that is good.’ After winning though, I knew it wasn’t just me, but all of our Hong Kong team and their support. It also really shows that SanMar is one family, no matter where you work.”

Always Willing to Learn

Carol began her career more than 30 years ago in Hong Kong as a trainee at Triam International Limited, a longtime SanMar supplier.

“I started from scratch and needed to learn everything about manufacturing,” Carol said. “I was lucky to have a very good peer who taught me a lot.”

Over the years she continued learning and moving up the merchandising career path at companies like Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis, Li & Fung and Ralph Lauren. In 2012, she joined SanMar as General Merchandise Manager. Six years later, she earned a promotion to her current role as merchandising director.

Growing the Business Together

Carol’s career and growth have mirrored that of SanMar in many ways.

“When I began, my team was 10 people, and there were only 19 employees in the entire SanMar Hong Kong office,” she said. “Now my team is 30 people, and there are 54 of us in the office.”

A key part of Carol’s job is working closely with product suppliers.

“The Managing Director and I visit a lot of countries all around the world to keep relationships strong with our current suppliers and onboard new ones,” she said. “We want to understand the support they need and address challenges they have so we can grow the business together. I’ve learned much from these visits about how we take products from concept to finished garments.”

“In addition, our Hong Kong office works closely with many teams at Eastpointe (SanMar headquarters). We are very involved in developing products, often starting from scratch with a special yarn or fabric to build the product. So our Hong Kong office is not just merchandising—we fully support tasks like product development, color approval and QC inspections. There are many interactions between Hong Kong team members and their Eastpointe peers.”

It’s Not All Work

There’s more than team growth, supplier relations and product development that Carol enjoys about SanMar.

“I really treasure all the relationships and the people who’ve supported me,” she said. “I’m a very transparent person, so whatever they need from me I will not say ‘No’. When I’ve needed support, these people usually don’t say ‘No’ either. We always try to build trust, and respect is very important.”

Then there’s Carol’s enjoyment of singing, which SanMar also supported.

“They said ‘Yes!’ when I asked to form an office choir, complete with coaching,” she explained. “Then, SanMar asked our Together Choir to perform during our 15th Anniversary Celebration for the Hong Kong Office. That was an honor.”

Another memorable SanMar moment for Carol happened in Sri Lanka.

“The Hirdaramani Mihila factory had a big ceremony while we visited. We donated bags and supplies for all the students at the Yatiyana secondary school, which the manufacturer supports. For me, it showed SanMar is about more than business. We also care about supporting the workers and families in our suppliers’ communities. Spending time with people in each country is something I really enjoy.”

Living Our Core Values

SanMar President & CEO Jeremy Lott had this to say when announcing our 2024 Yellow T-shirt Winner:

“Carol is the linchpin of our team in Hong Kong. She’s built an inclusive, joyful and service-oriented culture that so wonderfully reflects our core values. She’s crucial to our success in launching new products, managing vendor capacities, defining our sourcing strategy, and navigating endless geopolitical challenges.”

SanMar Chief Product Officer Pat Noonan’s nomination of Carol included these key points:

• “Her SanMar partners across planning, product development, sourcing, quality assurance and logistics all count on Carol as a rock of support, insights and can-do positivity.”
• “We would not have our amazing strength of relationship with our factories if it weren’t for Carol and her impact on how we work with partners.”
• “Her focus on relationships with SanMar teammates in the U.S., Dubai and Honduras is a major force in helping people buy in and move forward.”

Co-workers love her winning approach:

• “Carol is an incredible mentor and leader. She’s so supportive and encouraging. She really knows how to bring out the best in us.”
• “The iconic message she always delivers is, ‘Go ahead. I’ll support you.’ This is very encouraging and helps the team build up confidence.”
• “Unquestionably a great team player and partner to everybody across the organization.”

Congratulations, Carol!

You embody the Yellow T-Shirt spirit. Thank you for letting us share about you and your team’s good work for SanMar, our vendors and our customers.

Read about our past Yellow T-Shirt Award winners:

• 2022: Anne Grogel
• 2023: Ry Bowling