Her Story
About Ellen
Ellen Roth is a leader coach based in Indianapolis, Indiana, specializing in new manager coaching. She brings over 30 years of management experience from roles at Ponderosa, Pizza Hut, Red Lobster where she advanced to executive manager, University Hospital as Operations Manager, telehealth project management, and state government positions including call center supervisor and process improvement specialist. After retiring, she began coaching new managers around March or April to share her expertise. Roth majored in accounting in college and credits her success to being consistent, trustworthy, holding people accountable, providing necessary tools and support, and remaining genuine while fostering teamwork. She values respect and professionalism in the workplace and emphasizes work-life balance with dedicated family time. Roth advises young women entering management to believe in themselves and their abilities without letting others define them.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ellen
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attributed a lot of my success to being consistent, to being trustworthy, to holding people accountable, to giving them all the tools that they need to be successful, to support. Trust is probably very close to the top. Consistency, because once they trust you, they know you're gonna do what you say you're gonna do. Being my genuine self. We're all on the same team. If you go down, I go down, we all go down.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Believe in yourself and your abilities. You've put the work in all of your life. You can't let others tell you who you are. Believe in yourself because that's really what is going to help you sustain a positive career, positive direction in your life. Believe in your abilities and what you've accomplished. Don't let others get you off track.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There's always going to be some kind of challenge because women, even though we've come a long way, there still is that. You know, I'm like, hmm, yeah, you're still a woman. I do see that as potentially being a challenge. Having men in your classroom who are not so open to a woman leading them. I've had that experience as the general manager or executive manager in the restaurant industry, with a male assistant manager that might report to me not being comfortable with that situation, always pushing back, challenging me.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Respect is important. I'm gonna respect the people that report to me, and I expect the same thing in return. It's really just about let's respect each other here. You can disagree with me, that's okay too, but as long as we remain professional. You can speak your truth. Family time has always been important to me. Create that balance in life. When I'm at work, I'm there 100 plus percent. When I step away, I step away.
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