Pamala Hush Roberts

I attribute my success to having a strong work ethic, being trustworthy, staying optimistic, and persevering through challenges. I believe that if you have a problem, you might not know how to solve it right away, but you should at least not give up and just keep going, because things do get better. If you're at your all-time low, you just know that things do get better, but you can't sit there and wait for it to happen - you have to be involved. You know that saying, if you keep doing the same thing, you're always gonna have the same results, so if you don't like the way something's going, you gotta figure out how to change it to make it different. I also learned early on to tackle the hardest challenges. When I was on the Flex team, I requested the job that they said was the hardest job in the plant, because I felt like if I can do the job that they say is the hardest in the plant, then I can do any of them. That approach of not being afraid of difficult work and proving I could handle anything has really shaped my career. Being a single mom with four kids, this job really helped me, and I've worked hard to build the knowledge and skills that make me someone people can rely on and trust.

The best career advice I ever received came from my mom. She basically said that when you start a new job, if you don't like it your first day, keep going and give it at least two weeks, because your first day you're learning, and then once you learn it, you're still gonna be slow at it until you build up speed. She told me not to quit anything until after I've done it at least two weeks, and then form your opinion - don't just make an opinion right away. I think that advice has helped me in life too, because when I see conflicts, I like to hear both sides. I don't take sides. I'm kind of more of a mediator. I think people know that about me too. I've actually had a friend's mom tell me that I had a calming effect on people, because I do have a softer voice and I'm more of a positive person. I don't like to be around a lot of negativity, and I like to see people work things out, not just walk away.

Go for it. There's a lot more women now than when I first started, and I think it's good to see there's more women out there. Just follow what you want to do. When I first took auto mechanics in high school, my choice was between auto mechanics and cosmetology, and I picked auto mechanics. When I first walked into my auto mechanics class, one of the guys told me that I was in the wrong class, that cosmetology was down the hall. At the end of the two-year class, I was in the top three students, and the guys were a little embarrassed because one of the top students was a girl. They used to bring people from the middle school over to walk through the technical classes to see what they wanted to do, and they would try to find me to show the girls that you can take this class if you want to. I think I was only the second girl that finished that class. I enjoyed it, and I want other women to know they can do it too. There are a lot more opportunities for women now, and the pay rates aren't so one-sided as they used to be years ago. I think some of the challenges are that some people still, because you're a woman, try to treat you differently. I think women still have to prove themselves a little more than men do - it's gotten a lot better, but I still think women have to prove themselves. I like to work with other women that have the confidence. There's more women engineers now than when I first came to this plant, and it's good to see. Women need to know that they do have the opportunity - just whatever you like to do, follow it.

There are a lot more opportunities for women in my field now than when I first started. The pay rates aren't so one-sided as they used to be years ago, which is a huge improvement. Some of the challenges are that some people still, because you're a woman, try to treat you differently. Like if me and one of the guys walked into somewhere and they had some big parts or something, they would assume that the guy is gonna get on the forklift and move them, not me. Sometimes when we work overtime, the guys will say, oh, if those parts are too heavy, just leave them and we'll get them. That's one reason I really like working with the other woman in my group now, because she has the same attitude I do - no, we're not gonna leave anything for the guys. If they can do it, we can do it. If we have to go get a crane or a forklift, we will figure out how to do it, and that's exactly what we do. We don't leave stuff for the guys to do, because their title's the same as ours. I think women still have to prove themselves a little more than men do. It's gotten a lot better, but I still think women have to prove themselves. I like to work with other women that have the confidence, and there's more women engineers now than there were when I first came to this plant. I was the only woman in my department, and the only other two women that I would even see during the day were two engineers and a secretary. The rest of this whole side of the building was all men. So there's a lot more females now, and it's good to see.

The values most important to me are having a good work ethic, being trustworthy, staying positive, and persevering through challenges. I like to be around people that have good work ethics and are trustworthy. I don't really care to be around pessimists. I think if you have a problem, you might not know how to solve it, but you should at least not give up and just keep going, because things do get better. If you're at your all-time low, you just know that things do get better, but you can't sit there and wait for it to happen - you have to be involved. You have to actively work to change things. If you keep doing the same thing, you're always gonna have the same results, so if you don't like the way something's going, you gotta figure out how to change it to make it different. I'm more of a positive person and I don't like to be around a lot of negativity. I like to see people work things out, not just walk away. I'm kind of more of a mediator - when I see conflicts, I like to hear both sides. I don't take sides. People have told me I have a calming effect on them. I believe in listening to both sides of a situation and helping people understand each other rather than making quick judgments.