Her Story
About Elizabeth
I started my career in the administrative side of manufacturing, which I believe is the best place to start because you learn the business from behind the curtain. You see how the company works, watch business leaders make their moves, and learn everything from procurement to how engineers work. For 5 years, I was an office manager at a small mom-and-pop manufacturing plant with about 10 employees, where I led office operations and developed my leadership skills. That experience taught me to be versatile and curious about every aspect of the business. I also had a brief stint working for the Department of Energy, which introduced me to new dimensions of compliance and policy adherence, though I found the government sector very rigorous and realized it wasn't the right fit for me. In November 2024, I made a significant transition from administrative work to a technical role as a procurement agent. When Vector Controls acquired our company in August 2025, they didn't have a procurement department, so they opened one up for me to lead. I was promoted to Procurement Manager, and I've now been in this position for over 5 months. My main area of expertise combines strategic growth with a deep understanding of procurement operations and office management. I like to work outside my defined field and learn other positions because that's how I've been able to grow my career. My identity combines professionalism with creativity to position me as a reliable and forward-thinking strategic leader. I'm passionate about filling gaps in different strategies, being self-sufficient, and understanding the 360-degree view of business operations. I'm currently on schedule to graduate with my Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Management from Alvin Community College in May of this year, building on my Associate's degree that I earned in 2021 with a 4.0 GPA.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Elizabeth
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to myself, and I want to put some context to that. I was a mother very young and spent 24 years always putting my four kids first and making sure they achieved their goals in life. I've recently started listening to Jay Shetty and TED Talks, and I'm understanding that to put value in oneself is to understand that all of the hard work you put in and accomplished is due to oneself. A lot of times, especially for women, it's so hard to get a good job or attaboy, and I feel like giving yourself that sense of 'yes, I did it' is important. It was hard, and looking back now, if I had to do it again, I don't know if I could, because I just had the blinders on, looking forward. Now I can breathe a little, and I understand that I did have a big part in doing that. I just never put myself first, and I'm understanding that peace of mind and being thankful that you are resilient enough to push forward is okay. Seeing my immigrant parents struggle and not know the language, and having to help them translate at a young age and seeing their struggle and hustle, made me want to work harder. I never thought of giving myself the high-five that I'm giving myself now, but I think this is the first time I've actually said it out loud.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would give the advice of taking it one day at a time. Some days are going to be full of more than you think you can handle, and the next days are going to be easier, but the days that are full are going to prepare you for 5 years from now when you're sitting in your office and you have that leg up on the people who didn't want to put in the work. Go outside of your job scope. Whether you're in admin or technical, you may need to do things without someone by your side to help you prepare. If you learn to be 360 and understand everything that's going on around you, then that'll make you an asset that's stronger than someone who just sticks and hones into their own group. You have to be willing to expand if you really want to succeed. Dabble in different things, and you might find that you like being in the technical fields more than admin. Be curious, and don't be afraid to fail. Some of our greatest leaders have failed many, many times. We are afraid to fall, but how did we learn to walk? We forget that failure is not your enemy.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My values in my work are having core principles that drive business success and innovation. I always commit to providing crucial solutions to fill gaps in different strategies for different areas in my corporation. I like to be forward-thinking and reliable. In the same manner, I work on instilling the same thing within my family. Raising four kids on my own, two of them with ADHD and no child support, took a lot of grit and a lot of work, so I had to ensure that I taught my kids that the real world is the real world. If my kids were caught doing something wrong, I'd tell them there are no second chances in the real world, even though we'd work something out, but there had to be a lesson in everything. If you're not forward-thinking and making decisions today for tomorrow, then you can't be successful, because everything's continuously changing. I believe that a strong set of core services and values within yourself, if you don't instill them in someone else, then they can't continue to live on and thrive and take a shape of its own, and probably even grow to be something bigger and better, in a corporation as well as in children.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.