Sonata Maselienė: "I've been working here for 16 years and I don't feel monotony"

We are interviewing Sonata Maselienė, a sourdough and flakes preparer at the Panevėžys production unit, who was elected by her colleagues as an ambassador of the Value of Openness.

Sonata, how did you end up in Vilnius Bread?

My education is preschool, kindergarten, in other words. Since I didn't have a job, I registered with the Employment Service and they offered me. I came and stayed.

I realized that my profession also requires love, and this is where love is needed. I realized that this really suits me.

Bread needs love?

I think it is necessary. It rises better, ferments better and bakes better. This has been the case since ancient times. And my mother-in-law baked like that. Really, you need love. Without love, bread will be poor!

You can watch the VIDEO with the Sonata HERE.

And what kind of bread do you like?

I really appreciate the traditional Vilnius Bread. It reminds me of that plain good old black bread I used to eat as a child. And anyway, I like all of them: Urtė and Agota, grainy breads, they really taste good to me. But my body misses and demands the black "Vilnius Bread".

How long could you go without bread?

Without bread? Not a day goes by! My body requires bread.

You bake bread, you are surrounded by it. What does your family know about your work?

She knows that her mother is leaving, that she works a twelve-hour shift. That when he gets tired, he should not disturb me, give me sleep, he knows perfectly well what I am doing.

They know that bread or baguettes are made here in my bakery. Everyone knows and everyone has their own tastes. There are quite a few fans of Agota in the family. We taste it.

And what about that shift work for you?

Over the years, I've gotten used to shifting, putting together, coordinating and that's it. I have been working for 16 years. It's interesting for me to work here. I used to work on packaging bread products, then the shift manager offered to form semi-finished products, I tried, I was satisfied and succeeded. I have already been able to take my colleagues on annual leave as a substitute.

Later, I learned how to weigh raw materials and dosage food additives in the warehouse. The environment there is completely different, calmer, quieter. I tried very hard, although it was difficult to memorize all sorts of names, not to confuse everything.

Hard work?

Sometimes there were very large orders, we had to rotate quickly, do a lot, prepare products for all the lines, weigh them. Later, the master suggested that I learn how to prepare sourdough and leaves, because I didn't have a permanent job, I substituted for those on vacation or in case of illness.

I liked that I could learn everything. And now here, next to the bald and leaven, my permanent place of work.

I am responsible for the preparation of baked and wheat and rye sourdoughs.

Here, too, there is a lot of responsibility, a lot of calculations, how much to prepare, how much sourdough to prepare, it takes a lot of attention.

The dough bags continue to take over everything from me.

Who is suitable for such a specialty, a preparer of sourdoughs and sourdoughs?

It is suitable for strong young people, you need to move a lot, walk a lot, not be afraid of night or shift work.

We work for four days and then we rest for four days. Plus. Because you can easily plan your free time, and you don't have to apologize from work everywhere.

Don't get bored of 16 years in the same job?

I know a lot of positions, if I change positions, I don't get tired, because in another place there are different movements, different environment. I don't feel monotonous when I pay so much for operations. I like it.

What is a good day at work?

It's a good day when everything goes according to plan. It is important that there are no technical failures. When something gets stuck, you have to do something different, plan differently, then the mood deteriorates.

Is there time to exchange words with colleagues?

It stays, it really stays sometimes. We talk, we talk, we study, where we travel, where we go, we share our impressions.

And how do you spend your free time?

I really like to attend all kinds of events, concerts, performances or cinema.

If I manage to travel around Lithuania, I like to go to the Latvian seaside.

You are elected by your colleagues as the 2023 Ambassador of Openness. What do you think led to this?

I think that this is why they nominated me, that I openly accept new challenges, I have learned more than one and not two production operations, it is important to have the desire and not be afraid to accept those challenges. I am friendly, non-conflictual, I take comments calmly, I listened carefully to the advice of my colleagues. The advice of the old-timers helped me a lot in the beginning.

I want to thank my entire team, my shift manager, the head of our bakery, who elected me for the openness nomination. Thank you all sincerely. I am in a very high mood that I have such a nomination and such a beautiful memory from Vilniaus Duona.

I am very proud that this name of Vilniaus Duona has been around for more than 140 years. It was a beautiful anniversary, I participated in it, it was a beautiful celebration and I liked it very much. I would like those anniversaries to continue. Because it shows the longevity and solidity of the factory and the company. Let that name live on and continue to this day.