Her Story
About Emily
Emily ShaughnessyMohs serves as Strategic Account Manager for the national account team at Fastenal, where she has worked for all 16 years of her career in the industrial supplies industry. In this role she manages roughly $160 million in business, collaborating with local branch teams and strategic corporate partners to drive sales growth, develop contracts, and align with customer key performance indicators. She began her career at Fastenal in inside manufacturing sales support after attending Winona State University in Minnesota for three years as a psychology major without graduating, and she advanced through leadership development positions, including nearly nine years as a market manager overseeing multiple specialties. Emily has earned multiple sales goals awards and the Blue Team Ambassador Award on multiple occasions. She maintains a Lean black belt certification and has completed various negotiator, negotiation, strategy, and sales classes through Fastenal School of Business, which requires 30 hours of continuing education credits annually. She is a member of Women in Fasteners (WIC) and has participated in recruiting efforts to bring more women and diverse talent into the industry. Emily attributes her success to the strong work ethic instilled by her single mother and the Midwest values of hard work that align with Fastenal's leadership principles of challenging rather than controlling, sharing rewards, listening, developing empathy, and continuous self-improvement. She advises young women entering the field to ask questions, advocate for themselves, build connections, and maintain confidence in their abilities and contributions.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Emily
01What do you attribute your success to?
I was raised by a single mother who really instilled work ethics for me, of, you are going to have a successful life if you put in the work. I kind of go back to the Midwest mindset of you put your nose down, and you work hard, and you put out the best input you can every day. It ties well in with our company's leadership skills that our founder created for us of challenge rather than control, share in the rewards, listen rather than speak, develop your empathy, let people learn, and remember how little you actually know. I think about them daily and reflect to myself of what can I do better to help my team.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Be yourself and follow through, and people appreciate honesty. If you're going to do something, or if you're saying you're going to do something, then actually do it. The follow-through is just as important as the initial pitch. Treat people the way that you want to be treated, go back to the golden rule.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Do not be afraid to ask questions and advocate for yourself. Success is making connections and just saying I would love to hear a little bit more about your career. Be curious and advocate for what you want to do next, and don't be afraid to reach out. Don't be intimidated by your age or gender. When you walk into a room, recognize that you're there for a reason because of your success and your accolades. Your gender maybe doesn't necessarily matter. People are there because of what you bring to the table, and you need to have your confidence in yourself.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Pricing is very challenging due to geopolitical times causing uncertainty, supply chain issues from 2020, and tariffs. Everything is more expensive but we help alleviate that to provide hard cost savings for our customers while driving quality and service. The market is prime to gain market share if you go about it the right way in business. Data centers are a big thing we're focusing on, and if you don't jump on that now you're already 5 years behind.
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