Mai Mai's journey started with the influence of her father, who was an engineer. She exceled in math and science, so Mai Mai knew that this would be a great foundation for her desire to study Engineering. Upon graduating with her B.S. in Materials Engineering, Mai Mai landed her first job in the electronic materials division of a large, $2B chemical company which housed divisions including chemicals, metal, and ammunition. Mai Mai's role in the organization was in the engineering group, supporting electronic materials within the semiconductor industry, but upon sale of that business unit, she had the opportunity to enter into the chemical division of the company. She spent time in roles such as technical services, market development, and account management, but once again, her business unit was sold. At the same time, Mai Mai's husband had an opportunity out of Boston, so instead of moving on to the new owner, she decided to take a break from her career to focus on family and relocate to the Boston area. After the break, Mai Mai began looking for a job that would allow her to use her transferable skills. After years of searching for the right opportunity, she found a job at Jungbunzlauer; Mai Mai has been with Jungbunzlauer for 15 years.

Dr. White holds her Masters in Biology and her Doctorate in Environmental Toxicology, and as a part of her role at ACC, she has the opportunity to work with some of the leading scientists and key regulators engaged with the chemical industry. Throughout her education, Dr. White thought she would work in a research lab for her entire career, but during graduate school she accepted an internship working on science policy with the state department, which ultimately led to her career in environmental compliance and regulation. Dr. White sought out a career where she could make a larger impact in the industry and working at ACC allows her to engage with leaders in the business of chemistry focused on research, sustainability and innovation. She thoroughly enjoys the combination of R&D and policy, and in particular, sharing this information with the public. Dr. White does not come from a family of scientists, but her love for science started when she was eight years old when her parents gifted her a red microscope. From that day forward, Dr. White spent hours on end utilizing her microscope and exploring all things science related.

Kathleen joined the industry directly out of undergraduate studies, where she studied Criminal Justic & Political Science. Upon completing her undergraduate degree, Kathleen planned to go to law school, but after starting a job with J. Tech Sales, she quickly changed her mind and decided to stay in the chemical industry while pursuing her Masters of Business Administration. Kathleen was one of the first employees at J. Tech Sales, a small family-owned business, and she quickly gained exposure to different areas of the business with her roles in areas such as Operations, Customer Service, Sale and Finance. J. Tech Sales was eventually acquired by Maroon Group, and upon this acquisition, Kathleen's responsibilities shifted to overall responsibility for the Commercial side of the business.

Shea started in mortgage after she graduated, but after about a year determined that she wanted something different. After using her university resources, she joined Brenntag in 2006 as a marketing assistant. From there, she has held many positions including pricing and account management, product management, sales, business development, and her current position as manager of the integration and project management office. We learned from Shea that her decisions to take on new roles within Brenntag have been a combination of her great support network working with her as well as natural progressions from her prior positions. When asked about advice for those listening in that are earlier in their careers, Shea shared with us the importance of finding our passion and sharing those with our networks. Shea appreciates that there is always something new at Brenntag bringing new challenges, opening the door for new chances to grow. Shea discovered her current position by communicating interest to her networks.

Christine is a second generation Asian American who grew up in Western Canada. She is a chemical engineer by trade with her Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification. Christine has an extensive background in technical roles including new product and process introductions and process scale-ups, which paved the way for her to make the jump to Supply Chain & Transportation. Christine is currently based in New Jersey with her family. Upon obtaining her B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and eventually an MBA, Christine started in a R&D role at a pilot plant and then moved into production. She originally started her career in the food industry, transitioned into the pharmaceutical industry, then accepted a role at Univar where she spent 3 years utilizing her lean six sigma background to work on transportation improvements and 2 years handing vendor performance management. Her most recent role, which she has held for the past 5 years, has been in a tactical and strategic transportation execution role for Univar.

Chantal was born and raised in Lebanon. She speaks three languages (English, French, and Arabic) and represents many nationalities. Chantal has a Master's and PhD in Physical and Analytical Chemistry, an MBA, and is now preparing for the CFA degree. She has international experience, moving between countries like Lebanon, France, the United States, London, Dubai, and Belgium to pursue new educational and career experiences. Chantal moved to the United States and joined Rhodia (later acquired by Solvay), a specialty chemical company. She started her career as a scientist in the research and innovation department and later transitioned into the commercial side as a business manager in the oil & gas sector. Among other roles, her most recent one was Vice President of Strategy and Business Development leading global functions and the P&L of the distribution sales channel.

Natalie started with Milliken 4 years ago, and has since had several different roles including customer service and sourcing with the company. Prior to joining Milliken, Natalie worked in community based and human services roles. Natalie studied psychology before entering the workforce. We talked a lot about Natalie's transition into the chemical industry. She shared with us that she felt a lot of the skills she strengthen while working with her communities were transferrable to her entry into Milliken which was in Customer Service. Natalie also highlighted how intentional she was about trying to learn, and how she had to network with her counterparts to learn as much as she could about the industry. She shared with us how she leaned on her mentors early on, and that she still meets with some of those mentors 4 years after entering the industry! Natalie shared that she had people in her network that were willing to pull her into other initiatives to learn more about the company and the skills needed to be successful. Natalie taught us about her curiosity, her work-ethic, and her humility throughout this interview.

Erika's background starts with a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina. She started her journey at Weylchem as an intern in their process development lab. After some time in the lab Erika moved to a customer satisfaction role. Erika wore many hats including Account Manager as part of Weylchem's sales team and Project manager, before landing her current position as VP of Supply Chain & Sustainability. We talked about Erika's career pivot from the lab to a more commercial facing role. Erika told us how she worked hard to feel comfortable sharing with her leaders that the lab wasn't a long-term career for her. She also took a stepping stone role between lab and commercial essentially focused on communication between the two functions before officially making the leap to commercial. Erika shared with us the significant amount of time and effort that went into her transition to ensure she knew her team members and their strengths and how to marry them up with her strengths.

Please meet Women in Chemicals’ interns, Jake O’Keefe and Tiffany Ngo! Jake is from Connecticut and he’s a senior at University of Vermont Grossman School of Business with a concentration in Marketing and Entrepreneurship and a minor in Music Technology and Business. Tiffany is from California and now lives in Oklahoma and she’s a senior at Cameron University majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing. Tiffany learned about Women in Chemicals while searching for internships on LinkedIn, thanks to a professor's recommendation. She became intrigued by the company's all-female workforce. Tiffany made the decision to challenge herself despite having no prior knowledge of chemicals. Jake came across WIC while searching LinkedIn for marketing opportunities and was drawn to its goals and message. Jake mentioned that he wasn't used to being in the minority and mentioned a statement made by a coworker "men supporting women is just as important as women supporting women."

Priya was born and raised in India and came to the United States to pursue a Chemical Engineering degree. She worked in R&D with the product company SC Johnson but quickly realized that was not what she wanted to do. She leaned on her network and was able to find a new job as an analyst with a small consulting firm in Houston, Texas called Chemical Market Associates, which sent her on a set of market and strategy consulting assignments for the petrochemical industry. She worked there for nearly 11 years. Chemical Market Associates eventually became acquired by IHS, and Priya then moved to her current employer Air Liquide, where she works to identify customer trends and their impact in strategy and marketing for the organization.

Please meet this week’s WOTW, Rena Tabal. Rena joined us from Toronto where she is the Director of Product Management, Financial and Blockchain Technologies at BluePallet. Prior to joining BluePallet in March 2021, she worked in the Financial Services sector for roughly ten years. She has now been with the company for a year and a half. She discusses her various positions with the large banks in Canada and the UK and the majority of her time was spent in the area of risk management. Her responsibilities in these roles included identifying and reducing risks from financial crime activities, business advisory, consulting, and internal auditing. She describes that as her career working in big banking evolved, she came to the realization that she felt like a cog in a massive system and the culture wasn't for her any longer. She changed directions in her career during Covid-19, quit her job in Banking, and enrolled in a course in Financial Technology. Soon after, she discovered BluePallet, met the organization's founder, and decided to make the pivot after learning of their culture.

Michelle was first introduced to Dow during a Co-op opportunity during high school. She then continued her co-op throughout college, and was hired by Dow after graduation. She went to Michigan Tech for a degree in mechanical engineering and pursued her MBA through Northwood University. Michelle has been employed by Dow for 23 years, during which time she has served in a variety of positions, including technical sales and development, research and development, the development of new businesses, marketing and sales roles, product management, and business management. She is currently the commercial director for Dow's Industrial Solutions Business. She discusses how having a large network helped her land her current position and how Dow has a robust hiring process that values equity, inclusion, and diversity.