Rachael Hallstrom

I was very blessed with a mother who showed me how hard to continue to work, and not just my mother, but my grandmother as well. I come from those who have, like, I'm a first-generation female on my mother's side to graduate high school and college the first time through. The first time through, and all of the women directly in my life, like my mother and my grandmother, they went back and they got their degrees, but they instilled this work ethic in me that what we call grit, to really push through and improve. I also believe that having somebody who really sees your potential and gives you the grace to do the things that you need to do in your personal life, and the flexibility and capability to do that while also still being able to perform at a high level at your position, and the support to do that is bar none to being able to be successful. My most recent manager, who's no longer with the company, really provided that support and saw my potential.

The best career advice that I ever received was that nobody is going to be looking out for you in the way that you need to look out for yourself. You have to take some of your career in your own hands as you grow and become older in your career. As you grow your career, you have to take more ownership of that career and of your own personal growth, because you are going to be the one who has the most interest in your life. It's not that you're not going to find people who give you stepping stones or support you along the way, but you have to be the biggest proponent of your growth in your career. It's just like launching a child out of a home - as you go from internship to development program to full-time work, you have to take more ownership.

I think young women, especially those looking at a STEM-related field, coming in the science, technologies, or engineering realm, should just stay true to yourself. Be able to bring in your femininity, but also bring in your aptitude and feel sure of yourself. I think constantly being able to provide opportunity, resource, and support to each other as females who are in the STEM industries is very important. Be each other's cheerleaders. The majority of the people I work with are all men, my team is all men, and there's myself and a few other female leaders who are directly related to our teams, so that representation of female leaders and females in those technical roles is a huge opportunity.

I think the biggest challenge is the pace at which data and our data center infrastructure is moving, which is extraordinarily rapid. It challenges us on a day-to-day basis to change constantly and rapidly, and change is hard for even the most pro-change person. It can be a difficult industry to step into because you have to constantly be with this agile mindset, aligning yourself onto the little wins and aligning yourself onto the bigger picture. If not, I feel like you can become very lost in how fast and rapid the industry is moving. The biggest opportunity is the representation of female leaders and females in those technical roles. I work with teams where the majority are all men, my team is all men, and there's myself and a few other female leaders. Constantly being able to provide opportunity, resource, and support to each other as females in the STEM industries, and being each other's cheerleaders, is very important.

I would say that having honest and open communication, as well as a high level of integrity, are most important to me. Being very ethical and having pride in what you do is crucial. I want to be proud of the work I put out - I'm going to put my name on that, and I'm going to trust that it's the best work that I'm going to do. It's very important to me to find something that has strong meaning and to work for a company that has a strong purpose, whether that was feeding the world and helping infrastructure at John Deere, or now supporting how data moves and infrastructure at Vertiv. Finding an ethical or an integral part of what drives you and what motivates you to go every day is important.