Her Story
About Edith
I've been in my field since 1999, starting at the Walt Disney Company in human resources before moving into project coordination, which I loved and did for 13 years. During that time, I worked on 47 projects from 2005 to 2020, including being the first coordinator on Cars Land, where I finished the project with fewer people than we started with because other coordinators either quit or were moved. I was then called to manage the building and installation of animated figures and special effects for 3 years until the pandemic hit and I was laid off with 30,000 of my closest friends. Because of my relationships and reputation, I was called to help build the coordination department at SmartRent, where I worked for 3 years in their construction department for smart home equipment, then worked at Airwave for 8 months. In February 2025, I returned to themed entertainment at AOA as production manager after a friend sent my resume to the leadership, who were former Imagineers that already knew my background and reputation. Now I manage multiple top secret projects all over the country for very different companies in different industries, all getting into experiential, interactive features. My main expertise is people managing - I always say my team works with me, not for me, because I feel we help each other along. I make sure my teams have what they need to do their jobs, help them prioritize, and get hurdles out of their way. Last week after working until 11 at night and presenting to a client who had no notes, my entire team sent me messages telling me how much they appreciated my support.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Edith
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to relationship building. I feel so strong about relationship building because you never know what it's going to lead to. You have to be nice to everybody, because it gets you to the next step in life. My reputation and what I've done at Imagineering was already in other people's minds, so it was easy to come into my current role as production manager. Every job I've gotten after Disney came through relationships - someone's wife told my manager 'you need to get this woman to come work for you,' or a friend sent my resume to AOA. I think the way that I treat people, the way that I treat my team, is why I've been successful. My team works with me, not for me, because I feel we help each other along. I think people managing is harder sometimes than managing projects, because you have so many different personalities, and being able to juggle all of them and still treat people with respect has been my forte. I live my life by asking myself: can you tell your child what you did all day and be proud to tell her what you did? Is there anything you did today or said to someone that would embarrass you if you had to repeat it to your child? That's how I live my life - would I be happy and proud to say to my child what I did today.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Support other women. The other day, Clara Rice posted something on LinkedIn about International Women's Week and Women's Month, and it made me think about all the female leaders I've had. She used the term 'mean girls,' and it's hard when you don't have leadership to look up to. As women, we really need to be more supportive of each other. We're not all competition. You succeed by bringing other people with you, but in particular for me, obviously, women. The more you support other women, the more successful you will be.
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