A behind-the-scenes look at Detroit's traffic sign shop
(CBS DETROIT) - Detroit's first female sign shop supervisor is giving CBS News Detroit a behind-the-scenes look at her operation located at Fenkell and Linwood on the city's west side.
"It's a lot, and Detroit is a very large city," said traffic sign shop supervisor Monique Walthall. "People don't realize how large Detroit is, but it is, and we maintain all those signs."
Walthall spearheads this entire operation. She's the first woman in Detroit's history to do it, but she hopes she isn't the last.
"People ask me what I do and I jokingly say, I work in signs, miracles, and wonders," Walthall said. "[As a woman], you can run a business, especially in a man's world."
Walthall supervises a team of about 30 people tasked with creating and installing more than 20,000 signs throughout the city each year, despite being short staffed.
"We still manage to get the job done, and it all takes planning. You plan well and you have a good team, you can get about anything done," Walthall said.
Walthall started with the city's Department of Public Works nearly 20 years ago, picking up trash before becoming a traffic sign mechanic.
"They would tell me all the time, 'You gonna be running this place,'" Walthall said.
Now she is running the place and taking pride in each sign produced with hopes of inspiring the next generation of women along the way.