Her Story
About Kayla
I've been working in the manufacturing safety industry for about 8 years now, and it's been a journey with highs and lows that has really built my character and confidence, especially as a woman in manufacturing. My day-to-day work involves reaching out to businesses to assess where they are in their OSHA compliance life, particularly those who have had OSHA citations. I really do care a lot about workers in general and believe that workers deserve to have a safe work environment, so I focus on companies who are really struggling in that area. One of my biggest accomplishments was being able to reduce injuries for one of my clients - they were having about 15 recordables a year, and I took that down to zero for a good running of 2 years. What I love most about my career is being able to help employers make their environment safe for workers. Life is so hard, and everybody is out here just trying to survive. The last thing you need is to go to your job and end up getting hurt and actually ruining your quality of life. That's why it's so satisfying for me - even putting in just a simple safety program for fire safety can really end up saving a life. That's where I get the most gratification.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kayla
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is half the battle is just acting like you belong, not questioning if you belong, just belonging in the space, and owning your space, and taking up space, and not being afraid to be present in the room.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say that the advice that I would give to a woman entering my industry is know what you're worth. Understand that even if you don't know everything, that your problem-solving skills and that natural ability that women have to survive and to do all the amazing things that we can do, raising our children, all of those things, those soft skills can easily be flipped into professional skills. So don't be afraid to be outsmarted in the room. You can survive and just use your smarts and your wits, and take each challenge directly face forward.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the opportunities are that there's a lot of businesses that really can't afford to have a full-time environmental health and safety person on their team, so I think the opportunity there is that I'm able to fill that gap, without putting financial strain on the company, but also getting the mission accomplished for what they need. And I think some of the struggles is that people don't really understand safety. You know, especially when you're a small business owner and you're looking at making sure that you're not in the red all the time, that's what you're caring about. A lot of times, safety isn't understood, but really prioritizing safety can help save you money down the line, by not receiving OSHA citations.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think I value integrity. I think integrity can carry you through, not only in your work life, but also in your personal life. Integrity, I think, is what helps you get up every day and stay motivated, whether you're going to work or whether you're going to go exercise or try to be healthy, or whatever it may be, just having that personal integrity is what kind of carries me through, is what I value the most.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.