Women discuss career successes, challenges

Itasca, Ill. — Women in the plastics industry have found success with mentors and by making strong connections with colleagues, according to participants in a panel discussion at the Plastics News Women Breaking the Mold event in Itasca.

But all the panelists described being aware of gender differences in their roles as plastics industry leaders.

Akemi Mitchell, senior director, quality manager of Amcor Rigid Plastics, said she encountered subtly sexist comments in an office environment early on in her career. (She started in the automotive industry). Her advice: Address it immediately.

She suggested saying: "'What did you mean by that?' Stop, I don't care if we're in a meeting, stop and let's discuss this. ... It then starts another conversation," she said.

Patricia Miller, CEO of Matrix 4 Inc., said biases against women can still be found in other industries outside of manufacturing, when a woman's presence is "unexpected."

But even in manufacturing, Miller said customers "don't look at me as an owner. They look to my older teammates, or male teammates, as decision-makers," she said. "But, I think ultimately, if you know what you're capable of and you're good at what you do, then you can overcome that."

Stacey Bales, president and owner of Bales Metal Surfaces Solutions, said men at her company have no problem speaking up if they feel they aren't paid enough, or if they work harder than other colleagues. Women, however, "keep to themselves, they're there on time every day, they work really hard, they're focused, but for some reason they just don't normally speak up," Bales said.

Which is why, said Bales, communication is the key to her business' culture. She said always having an open door helps alleviate a lot of problems early on, before they become bigger issues, and reaching out to the women employees in particular helps keep them engaged.

Mitchell said mentors are all around us and "we've got to take advantage of the mentors that we do have." She described one of her own mentors, Carla Harris, an author,​ a senior vice president at Morgan Stanley and singer at Carnegie Hall. Mitchell has read both of Harris' books, "Expect to Win" and "Strategize to Win," and referred back to them when she encountered various challenges in her own career. She described admiring Harris for 20 years before finally meeting her in person five years ago at a conference.

"We took pictures [together] and I told her, I think I've sold all of your books!" Mitchell said.

Miller said to focus on "informal mentors," including friends and male colleagues.

"I've had both men and women as mentors and I've found value in the diversity of both," she said.

Kristi Wiechmann, vice president of Specialty Manufacturing Inc., said her company culture focuses on fostering mentor relationships by forming groups of three engineers to share an office, where employees work together as a core group. This means younger engineers work with older engineers, and skillsets are diversified. Weichmann said this tactic helps build confidence in young women engineers to become strong leaders at the company.

When asked if schools are doing enough to expose female students to traditionally male careers, such as the plastics industry, the panel was nearly unanimous: More can be done.

"Generally, we haven't done a good enough job exposing boys or girls to the industry," Miller said.

"We have a great opportunity to redefine what manufacturing looks like and challenge the status quo," she said.

Bales said funding was a major issue in schools.

"When I was a kid, you used to get exposed to how to change your oil. Now those classes are slowly being taken away," she said. She said she's observed more associations stepping in to fill that gap.

Mitchell said she came into the industry through a science technology engineering math (STEM) program, where she went to school for half the day and then went to Dow Chemical Co. for the second half. Mitchell said that if you work for a company that does not have a STEM program, find a way to start one. Or, if your company does have a STEM program, "throw your hand up and ask to get a student with you."