10-second recap: We love Thanksgiving for all the usual reasons. We get to spend time with family and friends and reflect on all of the best moments past as we plan for even better ones ahead. Did you know that much of the CITIBIN team is made up of family members and even school friends? We’d like to take a moment to thank the team members who feel like family (because they are!)
CITIBIN personalizes our trash enclosures, planters, parcel boxes and everything we create. We love what we do, essentially beautifying individual properties and neighborhoods as we keep critters out of your garbage and porch thieves away from your packages. Today and every day, we’re so thankful to work with a team of wonderful coworkers and friends. There’s also a family feel to CITIBIN since many of us are related.
Since this is the time of year to give thanks, it’s the perfect time to introduce you to a handful of CITIBIN team members for whom we’re thankful. They do everything from taking orders and overseeing quality control to traveling overseas to work with our production factories, measuring and installing, ensuring you have the best possible quality and experience.
We also love the fact that we grow together. As CITIBIN grows as a business, our treasured team members meet new challenges and opportunities for growth and career progression.
“CITIBIN employees are never kept in a box,” said Liz Picarazzi, Founder and CEO. “Some start as installers and before long are developing new products and doing commissionable sales.” Adaptability is a trait that Liz looks for, and said that foreign-born employees tend to bring a wider mix of skills to the table, particularly trade skills.
Alejandro as an installer back in 2017
In 2017, CITIBIN posted an installer job on Craig’s List. Alejandro, who had just arrived from Venezuela, responded to the ad and was hired immediately. He began as an installer, working on custom CITIBIN projects and pre-fabricated enclosures. As his career progressed, Alejandro realized he wanted to spend more time in the office than the field and segued to sales.
Alejandro has worked on nearly all CITIBIN projects at some point. From production matters — including product quantities to order — to tweaks and improvements, product design and development (especially our CITIBIN bear-resistant products!), and much more.
Fast-forward to 2024, and Alejandro has a massive portfolio of clients, many of them repeat clients, ranging from homeowners to property managers to municipal city officials. He especially likes projects in Aspen, and is known to offer himself as the installer during the winter snowboarding months.
Carla moved to the U.S. from Venezuela some years before the rest of the team. In 2018, Carla moved from Florida to NYC to work for CITIBIN. And it was a whirlwind career move.
Within weeks of starting, Carla traveled to China with Liz and CITIBIN’s previous production manager, who was training Carla. While in China, Carla met the manufacturing team and saw production firsthand, which was crucial for her role. While Carla is still somewhat involved in production elements, she’s shifted to a more creative role with CITIBIN.
As of 2024, Carla handles most of CITIBIN’s administrative and marketing needs, including content creation, editing, photography, media asset management, and more. As with all longtime CITIBIN team members, Carla does commissionable sales.
Carla at the factory in China┆Carla working on CITIBIN photoshoots
Daza started out with CITIBIN as a technical assistant. His first installation was in Times Square - a complicated, incredibly technical, and high-profile job. He soon realized his talents would be better used in the office than in the field, so he hired his replacements.
Daza currently works as CITIBIN’s lead technician, managing two full-time installers and the nationwide service schedule. While he still works in the field if needed, Daza has transitioned to a multi-faceted office role. Since Daza has an accounting degree, he’s also shifted to the role of CITIBIN’s in-house bookkeeper.
You may have already realized that CITIBIN Founder and CEO Liz Picarazzi is married to COO Frank Picarazzi. But our team members are connected as well. Some hail from the same part of the world, while others share branches of the same family tree. Daza arrived from Venezuela around the same time as former schoolmate and close friend Alejandro. Alejandro is Carla’s uncle. And they all feel family pride in creating and installing the trash enclosures that NYC rats famously hate.
Happy Thanksgiving from the CITIBIN family to your family!
If you’d like to meet some of our team members in person, you should probably order a CITIBIN trash containerization system! Not sure where to begin? Download CITIBIN’s buyer’s guide, which helps you through the process and explains CITIBINs - and even our competitors. If you need inspiration or are unsure where to begin, call us at 347.549.4121 or email us at info@citibin.com to discuss creating your customized trash bin setup, complete with a StorageBox for everything else, planters or ParcelBin.