Her Story
About Emily
Emily McAnany serves as a Production Lead at Tesla in Reno, Nevada. With two years of experience in the manufacturing field, she ensures the production floor stays running, allocates headcount, tracks output, and manages first field pass. McAnany earned a Certificate for Leadership Management through Wharton University. Her earlier career at Smith's, where she worked as a grocery manager and non-foods manager, helped shape her leadership skills. She has been involved in a startup project at Tesla, collaborating with engineering and cross-functional teams to influence processes and drive growth. McAnany credits her success to her determination and the guidance of supportive managers who provided opportunities for personal and professional development.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Emily
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'm very determined and my managers have been very helpful. I've been very direct and honest about my want to exceed and move farther in Tesla, and all of my managers have always helped me with that and given me those next steps and helped me grow personally and professionally.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received was just to go into every role as who you are as an individual. Never let anybody hold you back. Because women specifically in manufacturing have a little bit harder time starting out. It really takes a lot personally to just be able to show up every day. For me being a younger woman in manufacturing sometimes it's a little bit harder to really be taken seriously. As long as you show up for yourself every day and you really have faith in yourself that you belong there you go very far.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The biggest piece of advice I'd give a young woman entering manufacturing is to believe that you belong there. It can be intimidating at first especially in male-dominated environments. But your knowledge, your work ethic and attitude will earn you the respect over time. It's not to be afraid to ask questions, to take on difficult tasks and continue learning every day. The people who grow the fastest are usually ones who stay curious and aren't afraid to admit when they don't know something.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
My biggest opportunities is that I work for a startup project for Tesla. So I really get to be involved with my engineering teams and my cross-functional teams, and I really get to have a say in how things go and helping be involved in processes and changing things, and really getting my becoming known in that project and within the Tesla company, and with that there's a lot of opportunity for growth. It'd be for me to learn new skills. Some of the biggest challenges was building up just overall confidence in yourself, and finding a way to give credibility to yourself in fast-paced environments. If you show up consistently and you're prepared, you have a strong work ethic. People are more willing. They'll listen to you, and it's easier for you to adjust and adapt to those roles as you need to.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity, accountability, and overall just teamwork and continuous improvement.
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