Camilla Manzano Banks

I would really say resilience. I've been put in some hot pot, sink or swim situations where I was, you know, 6 months into the position and they're asking me to lead a whole project where I had zero clue. But I was gaining more confidence and gaining skills I didn't know I had. Being thrown in these sink or swim situations, it's about resilience. You could not have the experience, but if you're able to show up and be consistent, if you do your research and have your own back, you'll go far. The second thing I really have to attribute to my team, to my leaders. They took their time to help me hone in on my skills. They saw that I had some forte with certain skills that came naturally to me, and others not so much. They helped me strengthen the weaker side and helped me develop my strengths that I didn't even know were my strengths. Having good leaders can make a difference. Having that team of leadership that wants to see me succeed and wants to help me develop has really made a difference.

Follow your instinct. Sometimes we don't necessarily understand our instinct that well, but we do understand uncomfortable, for instance. Really honing in on that instinct of, okay, I'm feeling uncomfortable right now, why am I feeling uncomfortable? Something's happening. That has saved me multiple times. There are times where you're the only woman in the meeting and certain conversations are going above my head, and I would feel like I wasn't understanding something. Either calling it out or asking - sometimes playing dumb is the best way because it leads them to explaining things, and when you play dumb, they tend to say more than they need to. If I'm feeling unease with a decision that we took, I'll play dumb and say, could you explain this to me? How did we get to this decision? I wasn't clear. They'll explain, and I keep asking, and it gets to a point where they're not able to explain themselves, and so we have to take a moment and look at it and say, maybe this isn't the right decision to take. So I would say go with your instinct, really hone in with your instinct, but also don't be afraid to ask the dumb questions. It might feel dumb for us at first, but it might clarify things for others, and it might surprise you that probably the person themselves didn't know what they meant by it.

Not seeing each other as competition. Seeing each other, helping each other shine, wanting the best for each other. Especially us women - we have a history of being competitive with one another, wanting to outshine the other when really, when we hold hands, we are unstoppable. One of these managers that helped me develop has been a woman and she had my back. Help others shine. Manufacturing is truly a man's world. I don't see a lot of women in the higher power, in higher positions. We don't see a lot of us being represented. It's hard when you're coming in as a young woman having to coach these men, some of them military white men from the South, and they look at you and say, what is this little girl telling me what to do? But instead of finding that discouraging, I find it as a challenge. I see it as a challenge. Most of the men who fought me or pushed against me in the beginning, we became best friends afterwards.