Jaime Shouldis, Terra Star LLC | Women Breaking the Mold 2023

As the director of sales and marketing for Terra Star LLC, Jaime Shouldis leads and motivates the organization to support its customer base, hires and trains the sales staff, implements strategic plans to drive sales growth, collaborates with customers to provide the best solutions for their needs, and assesses cost and competition.

In her career, Jaime Shouldis has had copious achievements: "I've successfully negotiated multimillion-dollar annual programs with large end users, recruited and developed a top-tier sales organization, expanded the customer base while increasing the profitability of the business [and] drove the need for capacity expansion to support business growth at higher margins."

Her greatest professional accomplishment has been "the development and execution of a strategic plan that drove the exceptional growth of a business and the success through that," she said.

"In my personal life, my greatest achievement has been the birth of my two children and my ability to be a single mother raising them while managing a flourishing career as a woman in this industry," she added.

Shouldis graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in communications and public relations and also received executive leadership certificates from Cornell University.

Her first plastics position was at Blue Diamond Industries LLC.

"I was initially attracted to BDI because it was a U.S. [manufacturer] that was started and managed by entrepreneurs," she said. "In general terms, the plastics industry provides the U.S. society an opportunity to better themselves. [High density polyethylene] pipe is an enabler of that betterment to our society. I wanted to be a part of an industry that provides to our society in a positive and impactful manner."

Now, as the director of sales and marketing for Rogersville, Mo.-based pipe maker Terra Star LLC, Shouldis leads and motivates the organization to support its customer base, hires and trains the sales staff, implements strategic plans to drive sales growth, collaborates with customers to provide the best solutions for their needs, and assesses cost and competition.

Current challenges for Shouldis include "making sure the organization plans and develops the necessary sales structure to support the business in both the short and long term, creating demand while bringing capacity online, driving brand awareness in a cost-effective manner, developing and driving a hiring strategy to hire the right individuals at the right time, [and] winning the trust of the customers in a highly competitive marketplace."

"My personal mold goes beyond just being a female in the plastics industry but to society in general that even in 2023 still believes women should not have careers. I believe that with the right balance, you can raise your kids and be able to have a successful career for yourself," she said. "As the mom to an intelligent and forward-thinking daughter, I want to show her that you really can have what you want if you put your mind to it."