California Soul

In this Industry Dialogue, a fifth-generation Californian talks about turning a niche product into a 40-year running international business.

While working for Oliver & Williams Elevator Co., Leslie Malloy, now founder, owner and president of WestCoast Innovative Pro Pads in Pasadena, California, saw a need in requests for pads to protect elevator cab walls. Having degrees from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and the University of California Los Angeles, this seemed to be a great opportunity for Malloy to combine her design and business experience. She removed all of the furniture in her apartment, leased an industrial sewing machine to sew pads herself and made her first sale to Westinghouse Elevator. The rest, they say, is history.  

In this Industry Dialogue, Malloy (LM) spoke with your author (LF) about 40 years in business, new products, recent challenges and the future, as her daughter prepares to take the reins of the international elevator pad company. 

LF: The story of how you got started is so unique. How did you choose the elevator industry and why did you stick with it?

LM: I really just fell into it. I have to say the elevator industry has been especially good to me. I think it’s because they have so many smaller family-owned businesses and that’s unique. I don’t know how many industries follow that pattern. It’s probably the main reason I wanted to stay in it and continue. Even though it wasn’t exactly what I originally planned to do, it was a very welcoming community to be involved in.

LF: How would you say the number of women in the industry has grown or changed over the years in your perspective?

LM: When I started, I only knew three other women other than spouses. I was very fortunate to have had Pauline Park of Oliver & Williams as my mentor. Since then, the industry has grown tremendously. There are so many more women in it today and not just in the industry, but women holding high positions with the OEMs and taking over family companies. I have to credit Martha Hulgan – I still can’t believe she’s gone – for starting the VIEEW (Vertical Initiative for Elevator Escalator Women). I think it was something that was very much needed. I think it still is.

I forget what the numbers were when we started. I think there were only 10 of us, and I think now the group is close to 400. It really helped women. She addressed things like: what to expect in the industry, safety protocol and professionalism. She was a great influence and really encouraged women to take positions that were difficult to get into but would further their careers. 

There are so many more women now. It’s great. Even my daughter, when she attends industry events, says it’s almost one-third women to two-thirds men. I think it’s progress. 

LF: When you were starting out, why did you decide to start your own company?

LM: I was always interested in business. My great-grandfather founded the Weber Baking Company, which back East is called Butternut Bread, so I like to think it’s in my genes, but it’s also been a lot of hard work and luck.

LF: It looks like when ELEVATOR WORLD profiled you in 2013, your company was called WestCoast Companies, Inc. Tell me about when the name changed to WestCoast Innovative Pro Pads, and why. 

LM: When I started, it was WestCoast Pads, with the plan to supply the West Coast. That’s what I set my sights on. And then my CPA encouraged me to incorporate, so it became WestCoast Companies, Inc. Later, I had a consultant suggest, “If you broaden the name, it allows you to expand your product line and eventually drop the West Coast so it’s not so limiting.” So, we decided to go to Innovative Pro Pads. It happened mainly to expand the product line. We never actually dropped the WestCoast. This is my 39th year in business, and everyone knows us as WestCoast. 

LF: How has your product line grown and expanded over the years? Has anything surprised you in terms of popularity? 

LM: We mainly focused on elevator pads and then realized that museum case covers for exhibits traveling all over the world have to have these custom-fitted case covers. We did that for a while, and that was fun. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles had a shark exhibit, so we made pads in teal colors to showcase it. We did picnic pads for school fundraisers, covers for pianos and government work, among other things. 

I’ve focused more on new products within the elevator industry as opposed to custom case covers and other things. They’ve all sort of evolved from the original: the fishhook eyelet hole, which then became a combination hook and then became a spring steel hook. Then we had the continuous loophole, which is a great way to hang pads on wall studs. 

And now, we’ve just launched our all-in-one clip. I think it’s fantastic. You have a base clip, and then you can attach a panel or a ceiling hook to it so it works wherever you need to hang a pad. That is really exciting. They’re plastic, which I was always shying away from, but metal has become really expensive. The product launched in late 2021 and will replace 14 other styles of hooks. That’s how great this product is. 

That’s the part I like — I like figuring stuff out and finding a way to make it work. That’s part of the design thing, I guess. That’s what I miss about being in the fashion industry or even making fancy pads. We made some fancy pads specifically to match lobby interior fabrics. They look great, and they’re fun to make, as opposed to just the basic stuff, but it’s a small percentage of everything. 

We definitely have had some fun. Especially when the studios call, and we’ll see our pads in movies or on TV shows, like Scandal on ABC and The Hills on MTV. That’s always great. 

LM: What is your top seller and why? Any other new products planned moving forward? 

LF: The new hook is doing really well. We find that customers prefer the cloth/canvas pads. They’re easier to put up, take down and store. Oddly enough, people like the storage bag and the idea of being able to keep their pads in one place and find them when they need them. I was surprised by that. 

Elevator companies will order pads for their customers who didn’t order them from the get-go. We do have an advantage being on the West Coast: You can call at 3 p.m. and order pads, and we can get pads to you by the next morning. The storage bag was sort of the “feel good” product for customers. 

New hanging hardware is always popular. The new clip is just better. I’m really pleased with how it’s doing. It’s patent pending. I’ve never really had a patent. Now, I have four in the works.

LF: How would you say business has been over the past few years? How did COVID-19 impact your business? How were you able to get through it? 

LM: No remote working because it’s all manufactured here on-site. We were able to pivot and make gowns and masks. We donated them to hospitals. We still donate masks to the city for homeless people. We were able to do that by staggering shifts. Before that, we were considered essential. We were able to keep working through the whole thing. We just didn’t make pads the way we used to. We made gowns and masks. It was nice to feel like you could do something to help. 

We were able to stay busy and stay in business. We put up all the plastic partitions and followed other protocol. We were extremely careful, and also very fortunate.

Early COVID, we were unable to get new materials delivered.  We were at least able to continue to manufacture with the stock we had, although customers had to be flexible about color preferences. Just when we were down to the wire and nearing depletion, suppliers started calling to say, “We can deliver next week!” I’m glad that we had stock to use or we would have been in trouble.

Now, with the all price increases, we have to allow four months to order certain things, even cardboard boxes. We use many different sizes, and we don’t know what we’ll use the most. Ordering ahead is different now, but we are working through it. It’s certainly not as bad as it was. We just have to allow more time. Before, we didn’t know when anybody was going to produce or deliver. Now, we know. We just have to plan.  

LF: Let’s talk about the California industry – How is it doing? What makes it unique within the U.S. elevator industry?

LM: I don’t know if this is strictly California, but the independents that we work with (and there are a lot of them here) are slammed. It must be new construction because I haven’t heard of any real code changes or modernization necessities that would require pads. They are very, very busy, which is great for us. It’s a lot of opportunity. California is very difficult to manufacture in. They don’t make it easy, but I’ve lived my whole life here. I’m a fifth generation Californian, and my daughter is a sixth. I can’t imagine living anywhere else!

LF: How does the company’s future look? How has it been to have your daughter grow up with you in this business? What are your thoughts on her taking the helm of your company at some point?

“That’s the part I like — I like figuring stuff out and finding a way to make it work.”

LM: I was very pleased that Marghi was interested. She wasn’t always. She went out into the world and experienced other things and decided, “I think I’d like to see what you do and get involved.” The younger generation has been a great way to meet people and get involved. She’s been going to trade shows since she was four months old and knows the people. She has a BS in business and marketing, so it’s been a good fit. 

We’re in the process of acquiring the building next door to expand our facility. We’ve already purchased another state-of-the-art machine — and this is going to make a huge difference in our production line. I am very excited about this and it gets even more exciting because it’s the future — as computer run technology is doing more and more.

We’re expanding, and Marghi is an integral part of that. She’s not just running the company the way it has always been run. 

“I have to say the elevator industry has been especially good to me. I think it’s because they have so many smaller family-owned businesses and that’s unique. I don’t know how many industries follow that pattern.”

I just turned 63, so I want to work only a couple more years. It’s nice because I can do that. I’m just very pleased. I can start easing out as Marghi learns and improves the company more and more. She brings the fresh energy and eyes that I am so grateful for.

She’s very excited for the industry and the future. I told her, “You have to find a part of the job that you love.” For me, I love the traveling. I’ve been able to see so many places because there are elevators and shows all over the world. She likes the marketing and especially the people, so that’s great.

LF: Anything else to add that I didn’t ask you about?  

LM: I’m fortunate we’ve made it through the pandemic this far without any of our employees contracting COVID 19, and we’ve been able to stay in business. So many businesses and people have fallen upon hard times. I’m so grateful to have this business, in this wonderful and important industry where we are considered essential.

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