Dana Murphy

I attribute my success to my family. They have always stuck by me and encouraged me to go for things. Some of the jobs I've held, I've second-guessed myself, asking 'Am I really qualified for this? Because I've never worked a job like this.' And they've been like, 'Well, you don't know until you try.' So I tried, and I got it. That's why I always say, just try. You only fail when you don't try. Because when my fears get to me, I wouldn't have applied, I wouldn't be in the position I'm in.

The best career advice I ever received was to just go for it. Don't ever think that you can't do something, because until you try, you don't know. You can always improve yourself. The only reason you fail is because you do not try.

My advice to young women entering this industry is simple: go for it. Embrace opportunities, keep improving yourself, and don’t let fear hold you back—because the only real failure is not trying.

The biggest challenge is that I'm the youngest in my position on staff. A lot of the others are old enough to be my parents, so it's challenging to be their direct supervisor, because a lot of them have been here a lot longer than I have. And they are also so much older than I am that it's kind of intimidating for them to have to take orders from somebody who hasn't been doing the job as long, and who is so much younger than they are. So, connecting with them where I'm putting forth my authority in my position without completely making them feel like I'm just stepping all over them has been my biggest challenge. Some of them have been with our company for over 20 years, doing this job, and I've been here 2 years, and now I'm their boss. But the great thing is that from those people who have been here for, like, 12 and 20 years, I can still learn from them and better my own experience, and it helps me connect with them. I can go to them and say, 'Hey, I've been assigned this task, and this is how I'm thinking of doing it. Could you give me your input? You've been here longer than I have.' And they'll either tell me it sounds great, or they'll say, 'Well, you know, this person is better at this, so if you kind of tweak this section, it would be a lot better.' And so it helps to connect with them and them not feel like I don't value their input.

The values that I use the most, and that I value the most, are honesty, being on time, and being polite. If you don't know something, just say you don't know it. Everybody who lies, eventually the lie comes undone. There's no point in even doing it. So, honesty, and just being on time. Like, you have to be there in order to be there. So, make sure that you get where you have to go, and be honest, and just be polite. A lot of people now, I hate to say it, but a lot of the younger generation, they're too impatient. They have no patience, and they're not very polite. To get respect, you have to give respect. If I had spoken to somebody the way these people do, my grandparents would have taken me over their knee. That's not the way you raise somebody. I always tell people, treat people the way you want them to treat you, because you cannot treat somebody like crap, and then you think they're gonna treat you like you're the best person on the planet.