Her Story
About Jenniffer
I'm originally from Venezuela, where my career began and where I always felt very respected in the industry. My godfather was a chemical engineer, the only one in the family, and I admired him very much. He was an extremely smart guy who did his Masters and was a manager for Flint Hills in Venezuela. When I took a test in high school, I scored 50-50 between accounting/business and engineering/science, but having him in my life and admiring him so much, I decided to go into engineering and be like him. The funny thing is, yes, I'm a chemical engineer, but when I came to the United States, I also did the accounting and business degrees as well, so I have them all because my mind works in that way. Throughout my 28-year career, I've worked with major companies like Pequiven in Venezuela, and here in the U.S. I've worked with Total, Enbridge, and Plains. I've held different titles and positions, including U.S. supervisor, liaison between Europe and the United States, and global manager overseeing 14 countries. What I like most, or what I feel most proud about, is being able to coach other people with my experience. That's why I came back to consulting, because I can help more people being a consultant than just being an operator with big companies. When you're with one big company, you're only helping one company, but in consulting I can help as many companies as possible, which reduces the chances of accidents in the industry. I'm a member of AIChE for at least 14 years, and I've been a chair of one of the sessions at the Global Conference of Process Safety since 2020. I'm also part of the technical committee. Over the years when I was doing operator companies, I participated in AFPM and API as well.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jenniffer
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
First, don't lose your essence. You have to speak your mind. Always have the facts, collect them all, make sure you have them all together before you speak up. Even if you don't have everything, you still need to express what you're thinking. There's never a dumb idea, and that's something that is important for women to understand. Don't feel threatened by a male, or even if you are in a minority in the room. Always express your thoughts. You just have to do it clearly and with as many facts as possible. That is how you gain respect. It doesn't matter what position you have or how long you've been in the industry, always being humble is important. Keep your feet on the ground and realize that everybody is the same. I still call my colleagues and say, hey, I think this is the way we need to do, but what have you seen? It's always important to have that other side, because we all had different paths, different backgrounds. The sky's the limit. Whatever you think you can go and do, you can, but you have to have some basis, and that is education, and then being humble, being yourself, and work for it. You just have to go for it.
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