Hidden Gems: Meet Russell Baingo of P’ZAZZZ Industries

Today we’d like to introduce you to Russell Baingo.

Hi Russell, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started P’ZAZZZ Industries in 1984, and I can tell you that a 40-year business plan was about the last thing on my mind. I had a wife, a young child, and a sales job that wasn’t bringing in enough money to support my family the way I wanted to. Something had to change, so I figured I’d take a shot at building something of my own.

I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, graduated from Van Nuys High School (go Wolves!), and have always called Los Angeles home. To have started a business here and still be doing it more than four decades later is something I’m pretty proud of.

P’ZAZZZ started small. There wasn’t some grand strategy or a big team behind me. I just went out, found customers, worked hard to keep them happy, and tried to make sure the next project was better than the last. Somewhere along the way, that little business grew into a global product development and manufacturing company. We’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in beauty and consumer products, developing everything from promotional merchandise and custom packaging to displays and large-scale manufacturing programs.

One of the things I’ve always loved about this business is taking someone’s idea and figuring out how to actually make it. Sometimes that’s easier said than done! It’s also taken me all over the world. Nearly 40 years ago, I was in Portugal checking the quality of towels being manufactured for Giorgio. Just recently, I was in Cambodia inspecting recycled paper and the boxes being made from it. The products have changed, the technology has changed, and the way we communicate has certainly changed, but I still like getting into the factories, meeting with the people making our products, and seeing things for myself. You learn a lot more when you’re actually there.

Looking back, though, I think the relationships are what mean the most to me. I’ve worked with some of the same people for decades. We’ve been through job changes, company changes, marriages, kids, and probably a few more gray hairs than any of us would like to admit. Some of those business relationships have turned into lifelong friendships. That’s something you don’t necessarily think about when you’re starting a company, but it’s become one of the best parts of the whole experience.

And here I am, 42 years later, still at it. I’m proud of what we’ve built, but I don’t spend much time looking backward. There’s always another interesting project, another challenge to figure out, or someone new to meet. I still enjoy all of it, and I think that’s probably why I’ve stuck around so long.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth? Not even close!

When I first started P’ZAZZZ, the biggest challenge was simply keeping the business going. I had a family depending on me, and if I wasn’t out finding business, there wasn’t any business. That’s a pretty good motivator to get out of bed in the morning.

Over the years, we’ve dealt with recessions, changes in the retail industry, and more supply chain headaches than I care to remember. When you’re manufacturing products around the world, things don’t always go according to plan. Sometimes they go spectacularly wrong.

I remember one project years ago when we were manufacturing sweatshirts in Sri Lanka for Giorgio. Everything was going perfectly. The order was finished, we were on schedule, and the merchandise was ready to ship. Then fighting during Sri Lanka’s civil war disrupted shipping, and suddenly we couldn’t get a vessel to dock and pick up our order.

Now, these were sweatshirts. A lot of sweatshirts. They were supposed to travel by ocean freight, which is considerably less expensive than putting them on an airplane. But we had a deadline, and Giorgio was expecting their merchandise. So I air-freighted the entire order out of Sri Lanka, at my expense. Let’s just say that wasn’t one of my more profitable projects!

But we delivered on time, and that’s what mattered. Sometimes you have to make a decision that’s not particularly good for your bottom line because it’s the right thing to do for your customer.

And then, of course, there was COVID. That was a whole different experience. Factories were shutting down, shipping was unpredictable, and suddenly we couldn’t travel or meet with people the way we always had. I’ve never been a big fan of doing everything through email, so that was an adjustment.

I’ve had plenty of projects that didn’t go exactly as planned, and I’m sure there will be more. At this point, I’ve learned not to get too excited when something goes wrong. You figure out what your options are, make a decision, and keep moving. Preferably without having to air-freight another container’s worth of merchandise halfway around the world.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
P’ZAZZZ is a custom product development and manufacturing company. Basically, we help companies make things. Sometimes those things are pretty straightforward, and sometimes they’re ideas nobody has quite figured out how to manufacture yet.

We’ve done a lot of work in the beauty industry with companies like Kao and Henkel, as well as health and wellness brands like Herbalife. We’ve developed everything from custom packaging and promotional merchandise to retail displays, bags, accessories, and specialty products. But we’re not limited to those industries, and I like it that way. You never know what someone is going to walk in and ask us to make next.

Some clients come to us with detailed designs and specifications. Others have a sketch, a reference photo, or an idea they haven’t quite worked out. We help them figure out the materials, the manufacturing process, the costs, and all the little details that can make or break a project.

And there are a lot of little details! Making one beautiful sample is one thing. Making 50,000 of them, all looking the way they’re supposed to, arriving when they’re supposed to, and staying within budget is another story. That’s where we spend a lot of our time, making sure what looks good on paper actually works in production.

I think what sets us apart is that we’re willing to take on the unusual projects. We’re not just handing someone a catalog and asking them to pick a color. If a client has an idea that needs a little creativity to pull off, that’s usually where things get interesting for us.

One of my favorite parts of this business is walking into a store and seeing something we developed sitting on a shelf. You can spend months working through samples, materials, and production details, and then there it is. I still get a kick out of that.

So if someone is wondering whether P’ZAZZZ could help with a project, my advice is to give us a call. You don’t have to have it all figured out. That’s part of what we’re here for.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to listen more than you talk. And coming from someone who spent a good part of his career in sales, that’s saying something!

When I was younger, I probably thought I needed to walk into every meeting with all the answers. Or at least convince everyone that I had them. Over time, I figured out that asking a few good questions and actually paying attention to the answers was a much better approach.

Sometimes a customer comes in asking for one thing, but once you sit down and talk about what they’re trying to accomplish, you realize there’s a better way to do it. Or maybe what they originally wanted isn’t going to work at all. I’d much rather have that conversation at the beginning than six weeks into a project.

I’ve also learned that it’s okay not to know everything. I’ve met some incredibly talented people over the years, and I’ve picked up a lot just by being willing to ask questions. I still learn new things all the time, sometimes from people who’ve been doing this for 30 years and sometimes from someone who’s been doing it for 30 days.

And a sense of humor doesn’t hurt. There are plenty of things in business that will drive you crazy if you let them. I’ve found it’s a lot easier to deal with the occasional disaster if you can at least laugh about it afterward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pzazzzindustries.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pzazzz-industries