Elizabeth Chirayil

I attribute my success to being taught by my parents the importance of hard work and how to be resilient. I never really take no for an answer, and I think being resourceful is key - if you don't know something, you can figure it out. My parents were immigrants who came here back in the 70s and really wanted to make a good life for us, so I have a hard work ethic built into me from watching them. I try to teach that same lesson to my kids - the importance of hard work, being kind and good. A lot of who I am comes from that foundation, and I believe that ability to be resourceful and never give up has carried me through my career.

The best career advice I ever received was just two words: 'You can.' When I was approached to take my role as Vice President, I was in my late 30s or early 40s, and as an Indian daughter of an immigrant family, my whole life has been filled with a lot of insecurity. My first response was, there's no way I can do that - I'm not equipped to be a vice president, I don't have supply chain experience. But the person who offered me the role told me, 'You can.' Those two words really meant a lot to me, but it was more about believing in yourself because people believe in you. When you start having people champion you and having someone who can motivate you, I think people really need to find that in others, because it's hard to be a working mother, it's hard to be a person in this world trying to figure out your career, and a lot of people have more insecurities than they say. So I think it's important to find champions and mentors and people who will encourage you. That advice was really important to me back then, and I try to take that same mantra with people that I mentor - I say the same thing to them.

Always believe that you can. Go in with confidence and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, because there's no reason why you can't. That ability to say that you can - people talk about speaking things into existence, right? Don't think that you can't. Think that you can. It's so important to have that mindset from the beginning, because if you believe in yourself and speak it into existence, you'll find that there really are no barriers to what you can achieve.

I would say, especially with supply chain, there are just market constraints when it comes to lead times. That would be the big challenge I'm facing right now. The ability to get equipment when I need it is becoming harder and harder due to these supply chain constraints. It's one of the most significant obstacles we're dealing with in the field today.

Trust, respect, and kindness are the values most important to me in both my work and personal life. These principles guide how I interact with others, lead my teams, and raise my family. I believe that building trust with people, showing them respect, and approaching every situation with kindness creates the foundation for success in any area of life.