Pioneer' Gilliam's retirement from Levi's should leave lasting impression

By LUPE CHAVEZ

The Monitor

McALLEN -- Elena Gilliam didn't burn a bra for the Women's Rights movement.

Instead, she quietly revolutionized the male-dominated world of business by building a bra and lingerie maquiladora in Reynosa and later becoming the first female plant manager for Levi Strauss & Co.

''I didn't realize it for about two years,'' Gilliam said before her retirement Friday. ''I started looking around and I was surrounded by men. I was the oddball.''

Today, she said, it's wonderful to see more women in managerial positions.

Gilliam devoted almost 25 years to Levi Strauss, including 20 as director of the clothing manufacturer's McAllen plant. An immigrant from Madrid, Spain, she launched her career behind a sewing machine in West Texas.

''I was accustomed to hard work,'' she said shyly.

In Spain, Gilliam managed her mother's tobacco store. She decided to follow her dreams to America, flying to New York City and traveling by boat to Texas. She settled in West Texas in the mid-1960s.

Speaking little English, she said, she glued herself to a television until she learned the language.

''Within six months, I understood everything I said,'' Gilliam said, laughing in mid-sentence, ''but I'm sure everyone else didn't understand me.''

Gilliam realized she would always speak with an accent, so she decided to assume a role representing not only women, but an ethnic group.

''I've always stood up for minority groups,'' she said proudly. ''Discrimination, especially where I was in West Texas, was something that I was lucky I never experienced in my country.''

In 1969, the year Neil Armstrong took one small step for man, she moved from West Texas to McAllen and took a giant step for women.

''My husband Leslie followed me,'' she said. ''Back then, it was unheard of for a man to follow his wife to a new job.''

Her mentor, Cal Frazier, with whom she had worked in West Texas, hired her to help build Rey Mex, a lingerie maquiladora, from scratch.

''When we started Rey Mex, we didn't have a building or anything,'' Gilliam said. ''It was real accidental, because he needed someone who knew the business and who knew the language.''

The challenge was enormous.

''And you know how a Hispanic male is about getting orders from a Hispanic woman,'' she said.

In 1973, Levi Strauss courted Gilliam to assume the role of plant manager, but she felt too inexperienced to run a factory for the apparel giant. Instead, she asked for an assistant manager's position to learn the ropes.

Five years later, she became director of the McAllen facility.

Mike Allen, president at the McAllen Economic Development Corp., described Gilliam as a competent manager and a wonderful person.

''She's a people person and gets things done,'' Allen said. ''Elena has done a tremendous job in giving Levi's a tremendous amount of credibility down here.''

David Robledo, Gilliam's replacement, credits her with Levi's growth from a 130-person operation in Mission to its current McAllen location, where more than 700 people work.

''I think we are all going to miss her, because I don't think anyone can come into this building and not think about Elena,'' Robledo said.

''She is a pioneer in the company, who embarked on a journey toward partnership and joint decision-making process with ou>

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