Samantha Kent

I would say follow-through and determination, being willing to work hard for something that I want. Throughout my career, I've learned that if people doubt your ability, which happens as a female in the automotive industry where there's not a lot of us, you just have to prove them wrong. Instead of getting frustrated or offended or trying to make somebody feel bad, just prove them wrong. If they are wrong, then show them they're wrong. Let them sink their own ship, don't let them bring you down with them for their negative perceptions of you. You kind of have to fight for it. Like in college, for example, I was the only girl in a lot of my classes, and there was one class specifically where I was on a lab team and all the guys in the group just wanted me to type the report. They were like, oh, you don't need to actually participate in the lab, let us do that, and you could just put the report together, and I was like, no, I know how to type. You just gotta kind of fight for that piece and fight to learn.

Prove them wrong. Basically, if people doubt your ability, which I mean, I am a female in automotive industry, so there's not a lot of us, and I've learned throughout my career that you get doubted and questioned a lot. Instead of getting frustrated or offended or trying to make somebody feel bad, just prove them wrong. Just, if they are wrong, then show them they're wrong. Let them sink their own ship, don't let them bring you down with them for their negative perceptions of you.

It's kind of the same thing, just prove them wrong, keep doing what you love to do, and don't let people talk you out of it. Don't feel bad that you may be the only female in the room. Hold your ground and just keep trudging forward. You kind of have to fight for it. In college, for example, I was the only girl in a lot of my classes, and there was one class specifically where I was on a lab team and all the guys in the group just wanted me to type the report. They were like, oh, you don't need to actually participate in the lab, let us do that, and you could just put the report together, and I was like, no, I know how to type. You just gotta kind of fight for that piece and fight to learn.

Well, I mean, mobility, period. It keeps going back and forth between whether we're supporting electric, or hybrid, or alternative fuels. Basically, we are a testing consultancy, so we kind of solve whatever problems our customers ask us to solve. Keeping up on all the technology and the equipment needed to have that diverse testing portfolio is always a challenge because you don't really know what's coming next or what's going to be the next big trend that everybody wants, the next big problem everybody wants to solve. So that's a constant challenge.

Honesty and transparency are most important to me. I also like to get buy-in from people, not just making unilateral decisions, but including the right people at the right times and having everybody on board, especially for big changes. That's pretty big on my list.