Her Story
About Megan
Megan Gillespie is an accomplished operations and manufacturing executive with 18 years of experience leading operational excellence, organizational transformation, and large-scale manufacturing initiatives. She currently serves as Director of Operations at Avibank Manufacturing, where she is responsible for driving operational performance, continuous improvement, and strategic growth. Throughout her career, Megan has specialized in transforming underperforming manufacturing organizations into high-performing operations and guiding startups from concept through successful production launch. Her expertise spans aerospace, automotive, industrial manufacturing, construction, food manufacturing, and digital dental industries, where she has consistently delivered measurable improvements in productivity, quality, and operational efficiency through Lean manufacturing principles and data-driven decision-making.
Megan's passion for manufacturing began long before her professional career. Naturally curious and hands-on from an early age, she enjoyed taking things apart to understand how they worked and putting them back together. That curiosity led her to pursue Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where she discovered a discipline that perfectly aligned with her strengths and passions. Since graduating, she has applied her engineering expertise every day, combining analytical thinking with practical leadership to solve complex operational challenges. Her ability to work alongside frontline teams while confidently presenting strategy and results to executive boards has distinguished her as a versatile and highly effective leader. Her career includes leadership roles with globally recognized organizations including Tesla, Danaher, Plenty, Dandy, and ABL Space Systems, where she successfully led manufacturing transformations, production launches, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Recognized for her results-oriented leadership and commitment to operational excellence, Megan has steadily advanced into executive roles by building high-performing teams and fostering cultures of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement. She is highly skilled in the Danaher Business System, Toyota Production System, Lean methodologies, Kaizen, advanced problem solving, KPI development, and servant leadership. In addition to earning a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering with a minor in Green Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, she holds advanced Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and finance certifications. Looking ahead, Megan is focused on expanding her executive leadership within a large global manufacturing organization, with the goal of overseeing multiple facilities and driving operational excellence across a billion-dollar enterprise while continuing to mentor future manufacturing leaders and deliver lasting organizational impact.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Megan
01What do you attribute your success to?
I was raised very blue-collar and was always having to get my hands dirty and chip in. I started at a very young age helping my dad in his body shop, and my parents, my dad specifically, has a very entrepreneurial mindset. He didn't let the fact that he didn't have a degree stop him - he had his own business. I've always seen him push and work. Then my mom went back to college when I was a senior in high school, so she didn't let the fact that she started as a stay-at-home mom stop her. Seeing my parents drive and the fact that they worked hard to change things for me so that I could go to college really put the work ethic that I have in me. That work ethic came from watching them.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The biggest career advice I received came from my career coach, Lisa Goldman, when I was at Plenty. She would always push me to be comfortable being uncomfortable and to advocate for myself and to believe in myself. She really transformed how I think as a woman in a male-driven world and how I present myself in meetings. I still use those lessons and recommend her book to people because she was absolutely fantastic.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think the biggest thing is to trust your instincts and to believe in yourself. It's really easy to second-guess yourself and fall victim to imposter syndrome, especially when you're in a room full of men who may have each other's backs. It took me a while to figure that out, but once I started really finding my own voice, and trusting in my voice, and standing my ground for what I knew was right and what I believed in, it really helped me push past that mental block. The biggest thing I see young women going into the industry is they fall victim to the imposter syndrome, and it's really unfortunate because most of them are very talented in what they're doing. They're just in a system where they're not set up for success, and there's not a lot of women in leadership that can help mentor them. That's why I take a lot of passion in mentoring young women coming out of college and into the industry, because I didn't have that when I was coming through the system.
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