Arial Montag, MOL, SHRM-SCP, LCOP

I attribute my success to a combination of hard work, a willingness to continuously challenge myself, and the strong mentorship I’ve been fortunate to receive throughout my career. Early on, I connected with mentors who invested in my growth by sharing their knowledge, experience, and guidance, while also encouraging and advocating for me along the way. Their support played a pivotal role in opening doors of opportunity, and although I had to make the choice to step through them and do the work required to grow, I recognize that many of those opportunities may not have existed without their influence.

The best career advice I’ve ever received is to be as authentic as possible, because authenticity shapes how you move through the world and how you feel about yourself. I was once reminded that, at the end of the day, it doesn’t truly matter whether everyone likes you; what matters more is being able to look at yourself with integrity. A phrase that really stayed with me is that you can be the juiciest peach, and still, not everyone will like peaches—so you should not measure yourself by universal approval. This advice resonated deeply with me at a time when I was questioning whether my naturally optimistic and outgoing personality would be perceived positively or as “too much,” and it encouraged me to fully embrace who I am and carry that authenticity forward in both my personal and professional life.

My career advice would be to find a strong mentor who can sort of, or mentor, or group of mentors, think about it as like your own personal board of directors, or someone that you can really go to to help shape you. Hopefully, we're doing the giving back as well and a mentor finds you, but you can't always wait for that to happen, right? So go out there, ask someone that you admire to sort of serve in that capacity to you, because that is something that you need to have in order to progress and to challenge yourself, to have someone who can challenge you and support you and help you in your development. And while you're doing that, and while you're trying new things, and you're working, hopefully, to get some feedback and support, also think about your career and everything that you're doing in terms of like a portfolio. You may find yourself early in your career doing things that aren't exactly what you want to do, but everything that you're doing is building towards the future that you're trying to build for yourself, and where you're trying to get to, and it will all come full circle. So, find what in this moment am I getting that is building for that dream job, dream opportunity, dream place that you're looking to arrive in. I think that will sustain you.

The biggest challenge and opportunity in my field right now is AI—specifically, learning how to effectively leverage these new tools and technologies to expand impact while still clearly defining and preserving our unique human value. A key focus is finding the right balance between technology enablement and people enablement, ensuring that innovation enhances rather than replaces the human element of the work we do. At the same time, our industry is growing rapidly, which requires us to bring in new talent who may not yet have the experience or technical skills, and to invest in their development so they can grow into the roles needed to support continued progress. Ultimately, this balance is essential to sustaining the positive impact our industry has on communities and the broader energy sector.

The values most important to me in both my work and personal life are family, alignment, and excellence. Family is my foundation, and I define it broadly to include not only my immediate family but also my chosen family—those I work with, those I serve, and the communities I engage with—built through a deep sense of loyalty and connection. Alignment is also essential to me, as I strive to ensure that my values, energy, and actions remain in sync with what matters most, allowing me to show up with purpose and intention. Finally, I value excellence, which to me reflects integrity, accountability, and consistently bringing my best self to everything I do.