Jennifer Clark Denson

I attribute my success to my mom, who is no longer with me. She was an HR representative, and maybe that's where I make that connection of wanting to be in HR but not really wanting to be tied to a desk. She was very instrumental in how I move, period. And when I say how I move, I mean how I interact with people. I really watched her emotional intelligence, and I really watched her be in a male-dominated field, displaying confidence in a room sometimes where you're the only female or you're the only African American. I really have learned everything from my mom, and I kind of go back and try to remember conversations and ask myself, well, what would she say if she saw this situation now? What advice would she give me? And I'm not too ashamed to say, I sometimes will say, hey, I know you see what's going on, I need a sign. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but that connection helps me keep moving forward.

The best career advice I've ever received is to really focus on your own emotional intelligence in the workplace. Try not to be reactive to everything. Take that extra time before you send that email or before you send that response - and when I say that extra time, I mean at least a good 24 to 48 hours. It's fine to acknowledge you received something, but walk away from it and recognize that not everything is personal. Not everything is personal. It may feel that way, but it's really not. I learned it the hard way, but that lesson has been invaluable in helping me navigate my career and workplace relationships.

Learn as much as you can. I don't want to say necessarily keep your nose down, but I would say learn as much as you can and focus on your own emotional intelligence. Be open to learning, and don't be afraid. What you don't know, you'll learn. You're gonna learn things at day 5, day 10, day 25, year 25. So be open to learning, manage your own emotional intelligence because you can't manage others, and soak everything you can up. If there's any opportunity that's presented to you, raise your hand. And even if it's not presented to you, say, hey, I'd like to be considered next time. Is there opportunity to shadow? Is there opportunity to get involved? Just take every opportunity. I wish I had done that more, so that's my advice - be a joiner and take advantage of every chance to grow.

I would say regulation is one of the biggest challenges. We are a state plan here in Michigan, and we have to be as good as the feds, which means the federal government still monitors us. So whatever's happening at the federal level can impact states. Right now, maybe along with everybody, it's just the economy - the potential of layoffs, the potential of restructuring, the potential of AI, the potential of tariffs. There are a lot of industries that are worried about their continuing future, and sometimes that worry negates their safety. Employers tell me, Jennifer, I don't have time to talk to you about training or having a safety plan, but your doors are still open and you're working, so you still have to keep your employees safe. So I would say really, the economy and just business in general, and what the next year, year 5, year 10 looks like. We're always operating a year ahead on the budget, and a lot of our budget - over 50 to 60% or more - comes from the federal government. We're looking at projections and maybe some cuts, and when people hear cuts, they think it means staffing. Sometimes we may not have to cut staff, but we won't fill positions, which means more work and bigger territories for those of us who remain.

Honesty, integrity, and respect are the most important values to me in both my work and personal life. I need people to respect themselves, because if you don't respect yourself, then I can't expect you to respect me. I need you to be honest with yourself, because if you're honest with yourself, hopefully you're honest with me. And I need you to have that integrity - I need you to know right from wrong. I recognize that not everybody can speak up, but if you feel something isn't right, have the courage or have the insight to maybe tap on the shoulder of somebody else to bounce it off of. These three values guide everything I do, both professionally and personally.