Discover how true influence transcends titles and positions. Learn practical ways to impact others by recognizing potential, sharing knowledge, supporting women, and creating opportunities that help people grow beyond their own expectations.
Her Story
About Victoria
Victoria Jimenez has always believed that you should never stop learning, growing, or challenging yourself. With 35 years in the manufacturing industry, she currently serves as Marketing Manager for a fastener manufacturer focused on the automotive industry. She previously worked in customer service before stepping into her current role.
She earned her MBA from National Lewis University out of Chicago within the past two years, building on her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas Arlington where she attended on a volleyball scholarship. Athletics taught her discipline that carried into all aspects of her life.
Victoria is involved with Women in the Fastener Industry (Wi-Fi) and serves as a mentor in their mentorship program, for which she received a scholarship to attend a trade show. She is passionate about giving back, supporting other women in the industry, and encouraging continuous growth and curiosity. Her advice to young women entering the field is to never believe you are done growing, be curious, ask questions, learn new things even if intimidating, find mentors and people who challenge you, and recognize that you can learn from almost everyone you meet.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Victoria
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success first and foremost to my faith. My faith has kept me grounded and reminded me that there is purpose in both the opportunities and the challenges that come my way. My family has also been an incredible source of love, encouragement, and support throughout every stage of my life and career.
Professionally, I’ve been fortunate to have people who believed in me and gave me opportunities to grow. The management team at Semblex has encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone, continue learning, and take on new challenges. Their trust and support have played an important role in my growth.
I also believe success comes from never becoming too comfortable. I’m naturally curious and always want to learn, improve, and find a better way. Earning my MBA later in my career was part of that journey. Ultimately, I attribute my success to faith, family, hard work, the people who have believed in me, and a willingness to never stop learning.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received is to never stop learning and never be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. Some of the greatest opportunities in my career have come when I was willing to try something new, even when I didn’t have all the answers.
I’ve learned that you don’t have to know everything before you take the next step. You need to be willing to learn, ask questions, work hard, and surround yourself with people you can learn from. That mindset has allowed me to continue growing throughout my career, earn my MBA later in life, and move into areas I may not have originally imagined for myself.
I truly believe growth doesn’t have an expiration date, and sometimes the opportunity that makes you the most uncomfortable is the one that helps you grow the most.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't allow yourself to believe you're done growing. Be curious, ask lots of questions. Learn something new that might be intimidating. Find people that challenge you and learn from them. Find a mentor. Recognize that you can learn something from almost everyone you meet. Don't be afraid to say I don't know how to do that yet.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think one of the biggest challenges right now is simply the pace of change. Manufacturing is dealing with changing customer expectations, supply-chain and market uncertainty, new technology, and the growing impact of AI. At the same time, all of that creates tremendous opportunity.
From a marketing perspective, we have access to more information and technology than ever before, but the challenge is figuring out how to use it in a meaningful way. AI, data, and digital tools can help us work smarter and communicate more effectively, but I believe the human connection still matters.
I also see a tremendous opportunity around developing the next generation. Manufacturing has so much knowledge and experience within its workforce, and we need to make sure we're sharing that knowledge, mentoring others, and helping younger employees see the opportunities this industry has to offer.
For me, the opportunity is to embrace what's changing without losing what's always mattered: relationships, trust, knowledge, and people.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me are faith, family, integrity, continuous growth, and giving back. My faith is the foundation of who I am and helps guide the way I try to live, make decisions, and treat other people. My family keeps me grounded and reminds me of what matters most.
In my professional life, integrity and relationships are extremely important to me. I believe in doing the right thing, treating people with respect, being someone others can trust, and following through on my commitments.
I also place a high value on continuous learning and giving back. I never want to stop growing, regardless of my age or where I am in my career. And as I learn and grow, I want to share those experiences with others. If I can encourage someone, mentor them, or help them see something in themselves that they may not see yet, that's incredibly meaningful to me.
At the end of the day, I want to be remembered not just for what I accomplished, but for how I treated people and the difference I made in their lives.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Victoria
Influence Isn’t a Title: It’s How You Help Others Grow
Leadership is about recognizing potential in others and helping them grow, not about the title you hold.
When we hear the word influential, it's easy to think about titles, accomplishments, authority, or the number of people someone leads.
But I believe some of the most influential people in our lives may never realize the impact they've had on us.
They are the people who saw something in us before we saw it in ourselves. The ones who encouraged us to take a chance, asked the right question, shared what they knew, opened a door, or simply said, "I believe you can do this."
That's influence.
And none of it requires a title.
Influence Begins With How We Treat People
Leadership and influence are often discussed together, but you don't need to manage a team to lead.
You lead when someone feels comfortable coming to you with a question.
You lead when you listen to someone's idea instead of immediately telling them yours.
You lead when you give someone credit for their contribution.
You lead when you take the time to explain something you already know rather than making someone feel like they should know it, too.
And sometimes, you lead simply by noticing someone who feels invisible.
We have opportunities every day to influence the people around us, often in ways we will never fully understand.
People may forget your title, but they will remember how you made them feel about themselves.
See Potential Before Someone Sees It in Herself
There have been people throughout my career who saw potential in me and encouraged me to do things I wasn't completely sure I was ready to do.
Looking back, I realize how powerful that can be.
Sometimes the difference between someone staying exactly where she is and taking the next step is simply having another person say, "I think you're ready."
Think about the women around you.
- Who is quietly doing exceptional work but rarely receives recognition?
- Who has a great idea but hasn't found the confidence to share it?
- Who has potential she hasn't recognized yet?
- Who needs an introduction, an opportunity, or simply some encouragement?
Influence isn't always making the big speech in front of the room.
Sometimes it's turning to the person beside you and saying, "You should be in that room, too."
Share What You Know
Over the course of a career, we accumulate an incredible amount of knowledge.
Not just technical knowledge. We learn how to handle difficult conversations. We learn which mistakes to avoid. We learn when to speak and when to listen. We learn how to navigate setbacks, advocate for ourselves, build relationships, recover when something doesn't go as planned, and keep going when the path isn't clear.
That knowledge becomes far more valuable when we share it.
I believe strongly in mentorship, but mentorship doesn't always need to be formal.
It can happen in a five-minute conversation.
It can be an introduction.
It can be answering a question without judgment.
It can be sharing a mistake so someone else doesn't have to make the same one.
Or it can simply be asking someone, "What do you want to do next, and how can I help you get there?"
We don't have to reach the pinnacle of our careers before we're qualified to help someone else.
Whatever you've learned up to this point may be exactly what someone behind you needs to know.
Make Room at the Table
There is a difference between achieving success and using your success to create opportunities for others.
As women, I believe we can have tremendous influence when we choose to support one another.
- Recommend someone's name when an opportunity comes up.
- Invite someone into a conversation she could learn from.
- Celebrate another woman's accomplishment without comparing it to your own.
- Give credit generously.
- Introduce people who could benefit from knowing each other.
- Encourage the woman who isn't speaking to share her thoughts.
- And when you finally earn your place at the table, look around and ask who else should be there.
Someone else's success doesn't diminish ours.
There is room for all of us.
You Don't Need All the Answers
Sometimes we hesitate to lead or mentor because we think we're supposed to have everything figured out first.
We don't.
One of the most valuable things we can model for others is the willingness to say, "I don't know, but I can learn."
I never want to stop being curious. There will always be someone who knows something I don't, regardless of their age, position, education, or experience.
The strongest relationships I've experienced aren't built around one person having all the answers. They're built around people who are willing to listen to each other, challenge each other, learn from each other, and grow together.
That's especially true of mentorship.
Yes, a mentor shares experience and perspective, but if we're doing it well, we should be learning from the people we mentor, too.
Influence doesn't flow in only one direction.
Encourage Someone Before She Is Ready
One of the greatest gifts we can give another person is confidence.
Not false confidence. Not empty praise.
The confidence that comes when someone we respect recognizes something in us that we haven't quite recognized in ourselves.
Most of us have had moments when we've wondered:
- Am I really qualified?
- Am I ready?
- What if I fail?
Sometimes we need someone to remind us that readiness doesn't mean knowing everything.
It means being willing to learn.
When you see someone standing at the edge of an opportunity, encourage her to take the step.
She may not feel ready.
Tell her to take the step anyway.
Growth rarely happens when we're completely comfortable.
Influence Is Often Quiet
We tend to celebrate visible leadership, but some of the most meaningful influence happens quietly.
- A conversation no one else hears.
- An encouraging email.
- Staying a few extra minutes to help someone understand something.
- Giving another person the spotlight instead of taking it yourself.
- Checking on someone who's struggling.
- Offering grace when someone makes a mistake.
- Saying someone's name when an opportunity arises and she isn't in the room to advocate for herself.
There may never be an award for those moments.
You may never even know what came from them.
Do them anyway.
Because leadership is not always about being seen.
Sometimes it's about making sure someone else is.
What Will Your Influence Be?
At some point, our titles will change.
The projects we spent countless hours completing will be replaced by new ones.
Someone else will eventually sit in our chair.
But the impact we've had on people can continue long after we've moved on.
That's why I've come to believe that success isn't simply about asking, "What did I accomplish?"
We should also ask:
- Who did I encourage?
- Who did I teach?
- Who did I listen to?
- Who did I advocate for?
- Who is more confident because I believed in her?
- Who received an opportunity because I opened a door?
- Who will someday do the same thing for someone else?
That's influence.
It doesn't require a certain position, salary, education, number of direct reports, or years of experience.
It requires us to pay attention to the people around us and recognize that every interaction gives us an opportunity to leave someone a little better than we found them.
So, as you continue building your own career, don't focus only on moving up.
Look back. Look beside you. Reach out your hand.
Bring someone with you.
Because ultimately, influence isn't a title.
It's how you help others grow.
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