Kristine Tryon

I attribute my success to having a boss who believed in me and saw potential I didn't even know I had. When he did a site visit and saw what I had done with the location where I was working as a traveling technician - how I organized, cleaned, and got everything functioning properly - he told me he was wasting my time there and had something way bigger for me. Even though I was still in my 90-day probation, he promoted me to fleet management. That push, that drive, and that belief he had in me is legitimately why I've been able to do something bigger with my career. The best advice he gave me was to maintain what's within my circle - to have goals and be goal-driven, but focus on what I can control, what I can help with. When I do that, I find success and feel achievement. I also wouldn't be as successful as I am without my support system, especially my best friend who talks me through the really hard days when I feel like I can't do it anymore or when I'm so frustrated I cry. Without my boss and my best friend, I legitimately would not have come as far as I have in my career. I've also learned that I have to believe in myself and make goals that are actually achievable so I can have success in my career path. It's about maintaining what's in your circle, believing in yourself, and having people who support you when things get tough.

The best career advice I ever received was from my boss, who told me to maintain what's within my circle. What that means is having goals and being goal-driven, but focusing on what's within my means, what I can control, and what I can help with. I don't have to be involved in everything to be successful. When I maintain what's in my circle and focus on what I can actually control, that's when I find success and feel real achievement. This advice has helped me stay focused and not get overwhelmed by things outside of my control, and it's been a guiding principle throughout my career.

I actually do this at colleges, and the best advice I give young women is this: First, it's going to be very hard physically and totally draining. However, it can be the most rewarding career. There are going to be people who stand in front of you and tell you that you can't do it. You might not be able to do that thing right in that moment, but if you believe in yourself, you'll be able to accomplish that task later in life. My biggest thing is to make sure you have a support system for the days when you feel defeated, when you can't make it through the day, when you feel like you want to wash your hands of it and walk away. Have that system so you can reach out to someone and say, you would not believe what happened with my day. Make sure you're able to talk and communicate and get that out. Because on Facebook recently, there's not a lot of places for female diesel technicians to be widely accepted yet. You get laughed at a lot, and you get told you can't do it, and it is difficult. But as time goes on and society and generational changes happen, it's becoming more accepted. You're still going to run into a couple people here and there that make life difficult, but it's difficult for anyone. So believe in yourself, have that support system, and know that you can do this.

One of the biggest challenges for women in the fleet management and refuse services industry remains overcoming long-standing stereotypes and gaining visibility in roles that have historically been occupied by men. Women entering the field may face skepticism, underrepresentation, and the pressure of constantly proving their expertise. However, Kristine believes there are tremendous opportunities as organizations increasingly recognize the value of diversity, inclusion, and different leadership perspectives. She sees a growing pathway for women to enter technical, operational, and executive leadership roles, helping shape a more innovative, collaborative, and representative future for the industry.

The values most important to me are empathy, compassion, and creating positive environments for the people I work with. I had to completely change myself at one point in my life because I realized I had a really bad problem with my temper, and I knew that if I didn't change, I was going to be miserable for the rest of my life. I prayed a lot about it, I meditated, and I found my happy. It took a lot of rebuilding - I had to restructure the entire way I carried myself, how I treated people, and how I treated myself. Once I found that peace, I try so hard to be a caregiver and be empathetic towards other people so they can also find peace in life and be happy. Happiness is a gift and it's a choice, and we don't naturally just go to that. It's easy to get in a slump, and I don't want people to be like that because I lived a lot of my life like that. I refuse to do that anymore. Whether it's a female technician or a male technician that I have a chance to be part of their life, I want their life to be happy. I want them to go home and feel successful at the end of the day and enjoy coming to work. I try to make the environment positive so we can put out positive energy as well. For my own restoration, being out in nature, camping and hiking, allows me to relax and decompress and let things go. I also believe strongly in diversity and inclusion - I've worked to get female uniforms for our staff and spoken at events about creating diverse workforces and treating employees well.