Hannah Chevis

I definitely attribute my success to the way that I was raised. Growing up with such a strong woman as my mother, and her instilling that into me as a child and even as an adult, has shaped who I am. I lean on my mom for a lot of things, and I know that she is so wise in all of her knowledge. I just try to soak it up like a sponge every time I'm around her. My mom definitely instilled this drive and this want to do better. I constantly want to do better because I see my mom constantly doing better. I constantly see her getting accolades at work and being praised for her accomplishments, and I think, wow, that's what I want for myself. I want one day to be able to look back and think, wow, I raised good children because I was raised by such a good person. I would not be the woman I am today had I not watched my mom go through her own trials and tribulations and watch her always prevail. She always prevails. Sometimes when I'm going through something tough, I think about my mom, and I'm like, no, if she can do it, I can. Through my words and my actions, I see so much of her in myself, and that's the greatest gift she could have ever given me.

My best career advice is definitely to be flexible and cross the bridge when you get to it, because fretting about the bridge that you're about to get to is only gonna make matters worse. Me and my current employer always talk about how we'll cross that bridge when we get there. You gotta be flexible, you gotta be adaptable, you know, jump ship if you have to, or change the plans. You can't be set in your ways. You have to be willing to adapt and adjust as things come up.

I would tell women in my industry not to be intimidated when you walk into a room full of men. We should see that as empowering to be like, I'm the only woman in this room, and I'm here to prove to them that I'm in this room for a reason. At first, being in a room full of men was quite uncomfortable for me, especially in the oil industry where these men have all been in the industry for years and years and know so much. Walking in after only being with the company for about five months, it is intimidating because I'm still learning. But I try to keep a positive mindset and think, what can I learn from this person? What can I take from our conversation? How can I grow as a woman in the oil industry by taking advice from these men and gaining knowledge? Even just little things that they tell me, I try to write it down and remember it, because one day this is gonna come up at a conference or at a certification class, and I'm gonna remember what they told me.

I think we just have so much opportunity to grow as businesses and within our organization. My boss actually had planned to retire at the end of last year, but some things fell through, so he came out of retirement. Right now, we are building these businesses back up from the ground. I think there's just so much opportunity to reach out to more people, get new clientele, and honestly just to save more lives. That is our biggest mission - to save lives and to make sure that these companies are meeting regulations in order to remain safe and get their guys home at the end of the day. I just look at it as an opportunity to provide safety and make sure that people are meeting their safety requirements so that these aboveground storage tanks don't explode and end up with thousands and thousands of people dead. Our certification classes create a trickle-down effect. Once we get these guys certified and get them to understand and really comprehend the laws and the right procedures to follow, it just trickles down because they're gonna follow their safety requirements, which in turn is gonna lead the new guys to follow safety requirements. The more people we can reach, the better.

Integrity is absolutely essential. You gotta have integrity. If you don't have integrity, people aren't gonna respect you, people aren't gonna look up to you, people aren't gonna trust you. You also have to be reliable. I get in touch with so many people that are not reliable, and it's just exhausting. I'm like, why can't we just be reliable and honest and good people? At the end of the day, you just have to be a good person. I even catch myself some days and think, wow, I shouldn't have said that, wow, I shouldn't have acted that way. We're human, but being reliable and sticking to your word is crucial. Don't tell me you're gonna do something if you're not gonna do it. Integrity is everything.