Catrina Blayde

I attribute my success to perseverance, continuous learning, and the determination to keep moving forward no matter how challenging the path becomes. My career has taken me through healthcare, emergency medicine, occupational safety, and industrial hygiene, and every experience has taught me something valuable about resilience, leadership, and purpose.

My family has always been one of my greatest sources of motivation. They remind me why I continue to push myself, grow professionally, and strive for excellence. I want my journey to show that success does not always come from following a perfectly straight path—it comes from being willing to learn, adapt, and believe in the value of your experiences.

Most importantly, I attribute my success to purpose. I have built my career around protecting people, improving workplace safety, and making a meaningful difference in the lives of others. Knowing that the work I do can help someone return home safely to their family gives me a reason to keep growing, leading, and striving to leave every place better than I found it.

The best career advice I have ever received is that before you can become a great leader, you must first learn how to be a good follower. That advice taught me the importance of listening, learning from others, remaining humble, and understanding the work before trying to lead it.

Throughout my career, I have learned that leadership is not simply about having a title—it is about earning trust, setting an example, and being willing to continue learning at every stage. Staying teachable has allowed me to grow across healthcare, emergency medicine, occupational safety, and industrial hygiene while building the confidence to lead with both knowledge and compassion.

My advice to young women entering occupational safety, industrial hygiene, engineering, or any traditionally male-dominated industry is to never allow yourself to be intimidated by being the only woman in the room. Build your knowledge, know your value, and let your work speak for itself.

Be willing to learn from everyone around you, ask questions, seek out mentors, and take advantage of every opportunity to grow. You do not have to know everything when you begin, but you should always be willing to keep learning.

I also believe confidence and humility can exist together. Learn how to be a strong follower before becoming a strong leader, remain open to feedback, and never be afraid to use your voice when something matters.

Most importantly, stay true to your purpose. There will be challenges, but perseverance, preparation, and continuous learning can open doors you may not have imagined for yourself.

One of the biggest challenges in occupational safety and industrial hygiene right now is keeping pace with how quickly the workplace is changing. Safety professionals are being asked to address traditional hazards while also preparing for emerging concerns such as extreme heat, new technologies, changing work practices, mental health and workplace stress, and increasingly complex exposure risks.

At the same time, I see tremendous opportunity in our field. Technology, data analytics, improved exposure monitoring, and stronger collaboration between safety professionals, employees, engineers, and leadership are giving us better tools to identify risks before someone gets hurt.

I believe the future of safety is becoming much more proactive. Instead of only responding to incidents after they happen, we have an opportunity to use data, industrial hygiene, employee engagement, and technology to predict where risks may occur and prevent them. For professionals entering this field, that creates an exciting opportunity to combine science, technology, leadership, and compassion to make a meaningful difference in people's lives.

The values that are most important to me are family, integrity, compassion, perseverance, and continuous growth. Family is at the center of everything I do. Knowing that my children and my fur baby are excited to see me after a productive day keeps me motivated and positive, even when the work itself is mentally challenging.

That same value carries into my professional life. Working in safety constantly reminds me that every employee has someone waiting for them at home too. That is why I believe protecting people, treating others with respect, doing the right thing even when it is difficult, and never becoming complacent are so important.

I also value continued learning and personal growth. I believe we should always strive to become better professionals, better leaders, and better people. For me, success means being able to work with purpose, make a positive difference, and still come home to the people—and pets—who mean the most to me.