Her Story
About Leah
I started my career as a stay-at-home mom, and when my kids were old enough to go to school, that was my first day of work ever. With no job experience, manufacturing was the easy gateway to get in. I worked at JTEC for about 7 years where they manufacture steering columns for Toyota and Nissan, and I was able to move up pretty quickly there. When they transferred their location to Mexico, I found Hunting Titan where I manufactured explosives for the oil field. In the short time I was there, about 3-4 years, I was able to move over and do some of the international work for shipping and receiving. When the gas prices went down significantly and fracking slowed, I left and found my current position at Sherwin-Williams. I started on third shift as a supervisor, and in the short amount of time over the past 5 years, I've been able to move myself up to first shift senior supervisor. I got moved up to production supervisor after my first year, and I'm the first female supervisor this site has ever had. Being raised by a single mom, I learned that you have to get that work ethic going for your family and your kids. I'm very goal-driven and motivated with a strong work ethic. Last year alone, I did 3 different Kaizen projects and helped save the company a little under $100,000. I'm currently in my second year working towards my bachelor's degree for Operations Manager, and I've encouraged 5 other employees at this site to enroll into school. Now that my kids are both grown and graduated high school, with my daughter in college and my son in trade school, it's time for me to focus on me and growing and developing my career.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Leah
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being self-motivated, self-driven, and self-starting. Since I haven't had anybody consistently be able to be by my side to motivate me and mentor me, I've had to rely on myself. Being raised by a single mom, I learned that you have to get that work ethic going for your family and your kids. I'm very goal-driven and motivated with a strong work ethic. I've been able to make myself stand apart and get noticed in a short amount of time in a male-dominated industry. I try to be that person for my team that I didn't have - someone who can consistently motivate and mentor them. That's what keeps me going and has helped me succeed.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say don't be scared of it. I know it can be intimidating at first being the very few females in a room in a male role. Don't lose yourself in a job - that is very easy for some people to do. Don't be scared of going all in. It can be challenging being in a male-dominated field, but you can make yourself stand apart and get noticed.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge working in a male-dominated field is being heard. I'm the youngest one at the table with people who have lots of tenure, so being able to absorb that knowledge and speak on it in a knowledgeable way has been very challenging. I have to reassert my knowledge plenty of times, letting people know that I do know what I'm doing and what I'm talking about. When they're not used to having another female at the table outside of HR, it becomes a situation where they wonder why you're there. They feel like the conversation has to be more executed than if it was in a room full of men. That's been my biggest challenge.
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