Mia Tassell

My journey into automation began 14 years ago in an unexpected way. While attending dental school and working at a production facility in Michigan to support myself, I became captivated by the robots and automation systems on the production line. This fascination led me to make a significant career shift from dental to electrical engineering. I pursued my Associate's degree in electrical engineering while continuing to work at the production facility, graduating in 2016 just as my school was closing. An automation distribution company that had worked with my school approached me about a sales position, which was intimidating since I had never done sales before, but I decided to take the leap starting in customer service. I really enjoyed that role and wanted to be out in the field seeing customers. One of my customers, a machine builder for automation, asked me to join their purchasing department, where I stayed for a couple of years before advancing to an account manager role in the field. During COVID, with two children at home dealing with constant exposures and quarantines, I took time to be there for my kids while also helping my husband advance his CNC shop business by handling office management. When COVID settled down, I joined Neff Automation where I've been for almost 4 years now as a technical sales representative. I love my job because it's challenging and every day brings something different, especially working with the many machine builders here in West Michigan where we're constantly exploring new ways to automate. In the next 5 years, I want to continue growing my territory and advancing technically as an account manager while staying with Neff.