Inc. Magazine 09.2019

(Amelia) #1
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54 ● INC. ● SEPTEMBER 2019 ● ● ● ● ● ●


and talking a little bit before we started
working. 

This kind of tells you that God has a
hand in everything, but Sunny’s birthday

was September 13 and her fiancé’s was


September 10, so she was going to be in
the office only a couple of days that week. 

That particular morning, we were just
kind of gossiping. Sunny had TVs in her

office. She was like, “Did you see what


happened in New York?” At that point,


we didn’t know that both towers had
been hit. We didn’t know how serious

it was. We thought it was an accident. 


Suddenly, she screamed and the phone


went dead. I tried calling her back and


got a busy signal. I still knew the exten-
sions in that office. I would call a number,

get a busy signal. Call another number,


get a busy signal. All of a sudden, it hit
me: Something had happened.

Someone came running into the room


and said, “There’s been an explosion at
the Pentagon.” And immediately I was

like, oh, my gosh. I called Chris and told


him what had happened. He got in his
car and drove to the Pentagon.

There was a lot of hope that she was
unconscious in some hospital somewhere

and we just needed to find her, so we


started making calls. That went on for a
couple of days. Then there was hope that

they might find her stuck somewhere


in the building. After a week or so,
we finally had to give up hope on that. 

A few weeks later, Sunny’s family got


the call that they had found her. Her
desk had been right near the area that got

hit. Around that time, we found out that


General Maude had died, too. They
were renovating the Pentagon when the

attacks happened, and their team had


been moved there just a few weeks prior.


There was a lot of guilt. Had General


Maude let me take the secretary job, it
would have been me. And great sadness.

It was really difficult to lose her and to


lose such a good mentor to me as well.


Sorry, I just don’t talk about it very


often. 


I worked a few different jobs over
the next few years. I met my husband,

Adam, when we were both working


for the Defense Information Systems


Agency in 2003. That job let me see
how the contracting world worked.

A lot of it is networking and knowing


people. I realized all those years I had
spent in the military and the people I’d

worked with were going to help me get


to the next step.


We officially founded SABG in 2013.


We provide programmatic and technical
support for the most advanced military

systems in the world. Our biggest client


is the Missile Defense Agency, where
Adam and I both worked for several

years before we broke away and started


SABG. We’ve grown to 150 employees. 


I remember when I worked for


General Maude, my son was 6 months


old and had to have ear tube surgery.
General Maude called me after the

surgery. He took time out of his day


to ask how my son was, how I was,
whether I needed anything. I just

remember thinking he cared. I want


those types of things to transcend what
our employees do for our company.

I want them to know: You’re not just a


number, you’re not just somebody I’m
selling off to the government. I want you

to feel like you’re a part of this. You’re a


part of making us all successful. 


We’ve started something that we


call Honoring a Hero. We ask employ-


ees for stories about a hero they
know, and then we try to honor that

person on social media and in the


company newsletter.


I don’t think I’ll ever be the same


person I was before. That day really
changed everything, even my relation-

ships at the time, and kind of pushed


me in a whole other direction.    


Something like that makes you recog-


nize the opportunities you’ve been given


and be more grateful for them. Sunny
and General Maude didn’t get those

opportunities. They didn’t get to go on


and live the life that I’ve been able
to live. In my work and in my life, I try

to make sure I’m honoring them.


We ask


employees


for stories


about a


hero they


know, and


then try to


honor that


person.


The Mentor Who


Changed Everything


Keri Mungo with


Lieutenant General
Timothy Maude, for


whom she worked
at the Pentagon.


Maude died on 9/11,


but in many ways set
Mungo on a path to


an ambitious career.

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