2020 Wasco High grad running her own business

Another in a series of articles highlighting Wasco High School graduates.

Graduating from high school at 18 years old can sometimes be a stressful time when deciding on the next move.

Rayanna Plazola, a 2020 Wasco High graduate, almost took a two-week vacation before she embarked on an employment journey.

Plazola is employed by Cutco Corporation, formerly known as Alcas Corporation, a U.S.-based company that primarily sells knives through direct sales. It is the parent company of Cutco Cutlery Corp, Vector Marketing, Ka-Bar Knives and Schilling Forge; however its brand name is Cutco.

Plazola sets up a digital presentation where she provides videos of the products she is selling. Each product is individually demonstrated by a professional and if there were any questions, Plazola is available to answer them.

Cutco was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Olean, New York. CEO James E. Stiff has been with the company since November 2016.

Every item purchased through Cutco has a Forever guarantee.

“No matter when you purchased your knife, if there is a problem, just send it back and you will get a replacement free of charge,” Plazola said.

Cutco sells their knives in differing sets consisting of various types of knives, a bagel cutter with a spreader, thinner knives for slicing and dicing tomatoes and a heavier cutting knife for cutting large fruits or vegetables such as watermelon or cantaloupe.

Their knives are designated for different purposes such as carving meat, cutting vegetables, sheers to cut up leafy greens and a pizza wheel that slices pizza into clean slices.

The knives come in three colors: black, red or white.

When you consider these will be the last knives you will need to purchase, they are reasonable; however, if you like to replace your older items with new ones every few years, it could be too expensive for multiple purchases.

The prices range from $80 per piece to $1,000 for several pieces. Customers are able to choose from a storage device that fits inside a drawer to a block that sits on the countertop.

Plazola can earn an All American Scholarship, which is awarded every couple of months and has received letters from the Vector president commending her for her performance within the company.

“I have already received two letters,” she said.

“If you want to purchase Cutco, you can request a professional informative and fun presentation from a young, ambitious representative that’s paying their way through school like Plazola,” said long-time Cutco employee Jim Stitt, Jr.

If you are interested in a demonstration by Plazola, she can be reached at [email protected].