Her Story
About Kristina
Kristina Karbula serves as Assistant Manager of Quality for a Tier 1 supplier in the automotive manufacturing industry out of Cardington, Ohio. She began her career in the field in 2010 as a quality lab technician and has progressed through the ranks while managing both incoming supplier quality and in-house production quality. Karbula earned a bachelor's degree in political science and public administration from the University of Toledo in 2010 and later completed a second bachelor's in business management through Western Governors University in 2021. She is a member of the Morrow County Chamber of Commerce Board and serves as president of the Galleon High School Alumni Band. Karbula attributes her success to strong mentors and a stubborn willingness to succeed, noting that her unusual blend of arts and science-based skills provides a creative perspective that helps her analyze problems from a broader viewpoint. She values efficiency, balance, equity, and fairness in managing people, drawing inspiration from her late father who worked in the same industry.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kristina
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success in part to strong mentors and a stubborn willingness to succeed. Having an unusual blend of skills for the field has helped immensely. Generally people in my role are engineers with mathematical or science-based backgrounds, but mine is more arts and science based and I'm more of a creative mind. That helps me see things from a broader perspective and give a different kind of analysis to the problems we're trying to solve.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
A mentor told me that as a woman especially in manufacturing, realize that you're going to have to work twice as hard for half the credit. Up until that point I had been operating under the assumption that everything was going to be very equal, and unfortunately it held very true.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't be afraid to speak up. Don't follow the Coveyism of starting with the end in mind. Be willing to let your career take you where it's going to take you and just take advantage of opportunities as they arise as opposed to having an end destination in mind.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The automotive industry is constantly changing and is a roller coaster. The transition to EV is imminent but we don't know exactly when. It's exciting and will change the inner components for all Tier 1 suppliers. Bringing AI into the field is going to change things quite a bit but all of that new technology also presents challenges and another level of uncertainty similar to the 1970s with robotics.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Efficiency and balance are important. I try to be very equitable as I'm managing people and try to be fair to them. I had the opportunity to work alongside my dad before he passed away and he was very well liked and respected. Getting to model what I do after the way that he did it successfully has been something I've strived to do.
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