Her Story
About Takira
I've been working in quality management for over 20 years, with experience spanning oil and gas, supply chain distribution, maritime, and manufacturing industries. My typical day deals with quality management, overlooking processes, and seeing that we have met customer specifications, internal requirements, and regulatory requirements. I also manage inventory and lead people. My key responsibilities include inventory management, overseeing inventory accuracy, quality of products produced, and quality of products received. I got into this field when I was working with a company and was just kind of thrown into the position of quality manager. I was told, basically, hey, we need the certification to continue doing business with certain customers, you're smart, I'm going to send you to become a quality auditor, I need you to develop a system. Just being thrown into that position and learning more about quality awakened the passion.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Takira
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say a lot of it's been raised by grandparents, to where I had a strong foundation of discipline. That foundation gave me the structure and work ethic that has carried me throughout my career.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice that I ever received would be never be afraid to fail. To always look at failing as failing forward, so meaning you're getting up, starting over. I would always say that success is not driven by titles or accomplishments, but by those you serve and the impact that you leave.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say, number one, don't be afraid, because it's kind of a male-dominant industry. But also, you can achieve the accomplishments through certifications. I kind of started the long way with degrees, but now you can start through obtaining certifications. So, I would say work hard, look for those opportunities where there's certifications that will help you move into your career.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say maintaining consistency and adhering to the systems that's put in place. It's kind of hard, especially if it's a new system where people are usually doing things, used to doing things their way. So when you first implement ISO systems, people generally deviate from the practices. So, building that bridge to where they understand you're not interrupting the old to disrupt it, but to bring improvement and continuous improvement. To sum that up, I would say driving continuous improvement is one of the biggest challenges in the field.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Values that are most important to me would be respect and integrity. I think they go hand-in-hand in the work life, as well as the outside work life. And then, strong communication. So, I believe it's operating integrity and respect for others that you'll create an atmosphere and culture of opportunity and mutual respect.
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