Women in Engineering and the Power of STEM – #Eweek2017

Posted on by Charli Matthews

Women in Engineering and STEM

Today, I snuck away from the office to the movie theatre with my sister.  Hang on! before you get too excited, it was actually to do a little research for writing this very blog… and of course to share the experience with one of the smartest ladies I know…my sister!

The backstory; I recently watch the Golden Globes where I heard about a movie called Hidden Figures, sounded interesting so I took a mental note to go and watch it…  Then, last night I saw a tweet that said this movie had inspired girls to take up careers in ***STEM.  I didn’t read the whole article as it was ‘shut off the phone time’, I did however immediately contacted my sister, a nurse and lover of science and #girlpower, to see when she was available to go see this movie.

Well I just have to say – YOU HAVE TO SEE IT! It is the best movie I have seen in a while.  But, there is more… It is more than just a story. It is a TRUE story.  I’ll try not to give all of it away but consider this your spoiler alert.

It is a movie about three women that work behind the scenes at NASA, until they decide to ‘push the bar’… and move front and center to one of the most important NASA space missions of all time! Think about how their hearts must have been racing as the astronaut successful splashed down safely at the end of his mission, all because of their work! These three women (Numbers – a pure genius in calculating numbers, Engineer – a phenomenal engineering mind, and the Supervisor who thought “mechanically”) had very different jobs but worked for one purpose… To get a man into space and back safely!

These three courageous women had to stand up for themselves individually and work hard, but they also had to be each other’s support group when they needed a little pep talk!

Let’s look at Numbers. She could calculate any problem without a calculator! But it wasn’t until the leader encouraged her (saying she was better at computing than anyone in the room) that you saw her stand up for herself and demand that she be recognized for her work. The leader’s confidence in her work is what helped her to the next level.

The Engineer was the most “mouthy” of the group.  She knew what should be done, but also realized not to have unrealistic dreams and focus on doing her work. It wasn’t until her #bossman encouraged her that she decided to become an engineer… She had many obstacles to face and she faced them by research, hard work, and confidence!  This is because her work environment allowed her to grow. I think this is key in any industry that is predominately male… We need more men willing to encourage #WomeninSTEM & #WomeninTECH, and we need more women willing to ‘push the bar’. I’m a believer that this starts by encouraging high school girls that the ****STEM education Classes offered by their schools are great choices and are in fact really fun and cool – who wouldn’t want to learn the basics of robotics, I know I would.

I think the reason these ladies were successful was partly because they had each other… They looked out of one another, encouraged each other, and pushed each other outside their comfort zones. We need this in our industry… any industry.  Women Empowering Women.  Too many times, we judge each other or think only of competing. We can accomplish so much more if we push and support each other instead of pushing each other down. In the movie the leader in the group was the encourager, the one that pushed and supported the others to grow and eventually succeed.

I don’t have an engineering degree or think I could design anything at NASA but I can see talent in others and I believe in “CAN”.   The power of positivity is the topic of many blogs, books, and events – but the reality is that it starts with ‘you’ and it works best when you are encouraged and supported by those around you – just like in the movie….can you tell just how much I loved this movie!

My daughter isn’t an engineer “yet” ? … but I hope to raise a leader who follows her own mind who understands she can accomplish her goals by doing the work!  The Dream Big mind set starts at a young age; and that is why I am actively supporting #Eweek2017.

So, as we look ahead to February we will be covering Engineering and Engineering Week! I am excited to participate in raising awareness to supporting DiscoveryE’s #Girl Day and help #BringitOut! Let’s teach our girls what engineers do, and then let them go #BethatEngineer!

Make sure you follow all the hashtags in this article and comment below with any great engineering stories you know!

***STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. STEM is important because it pervades every part of our lives. Science is everywhere in the world around us. Technology is continuously expanding into every aspect of our lives

****This is the theory behind STEM education. By exposing students to STEM and giving them opportunities to explore STEM-related concepts, they will develop a passion for it and hopefully pursue a job in a STEM field.

Tracking the Shift in My Strengths

Posted on by Charli Matthews

 

Empowering Connections Charli

Many of you have read my blogs about my strengths: Positivity, Empathy, Woo, Developer, Activator.  I didn’t come up with these “strengths” myself. I took a test called the Strengths Finder in my twenties during a ‘Ministry by Strengths’ class. I decided to take the test again when I asked my team to take it a couple months ago. I was shocked… My strengths had changed.  Part of me was upset that the guide I had been living by had changed, but at a deeper look… I found it just was an extension of the traits I had. Which means improvement!

I believe my first writings about my strengths was to help me understand what I needed to do to build my career and truly discover my passion.  I think I have a good handle on that now. I am extremely thankful that my first test had positivity as my first strength.  I really needed to believe in the positives when building my business.  The world and even your most supportive friends and family cannot always make you believe in positive outcomes – thankfully I was able to lean on that inner voice that says “I can. It is Possible!”

My new strengths list is Woo, Maximizer, Futuristic, Strategic, and Communication.  I was so happy to see the Communication strength appear. I have been working hard on improving the ways I communicate with our audience.  I have been forcing myself for several years to reach outside my comfort zone.  I have been presenting at tradeshows, taking on committee leadership roles, and writing when honestly I felt… I had no business doing so… Thankfully, I have a very supportive team and the encouragement and support helped me strengthen that muscle.

I believe that positivity is still there in my Communication strengths. I am focused on sharing positive messages to help build up others in my network as well as educate on the benefit of using digital media tools. I look forward to continue to work this muscle and make it stronger.  You will see more writing, live coverage, and presentations from me this year. That brings me to my next strength: Maximizer. I really love helping others find the strength inside that drives them.  And now, I am working with others who have a common mission to actually help them discover how to build from that knowledge of their strengths and use it to accomplish their career goals.

When I look at my next strengths, Futuristic and Strategic, I see them as a product of owning a company. I also see it as an extension of my Activator trait.  Because I am one to get things started and with a “want to do it right now” attitude, I have had to force myself to be strategic and not jump before thinking about the future or the opportunities that might be lost if I “jump”.  The experience of building a business and running an established one has given me insight that I will hopefully be able to share with my network, help them through some of the obstacles, and identify opportunities.

Lastly, WOO! I like the definition of Woo; it means “ to seek favor and support”.  I am still working to Connect, Inform, and Educate the industry.  I will continue to seek support from strategic partners that have this common mission to amplify the voice of industry and the systems and people that make it all possible!

Thankful Thursday

Posted on by Charli Matthews
thankful thursday

Today I started my morning by asking the question… “What are you thankful for?” I asked each of the family members to tell me what they were thankful for. The answers compiled of your normal responses – Jesus, Family, Work, Dog, Food, Shelter – But there were a couple profound statements that I would like to share with you.

A story was told about the morning church sermon that was focused on listing 100 things you are thankful for. At first this seems like a lot, but if you start with the people in your life that you know and love this list adds up fast. I encourage all of us to make that list today… and review it often!

Another answer this morning was about being thankful for freedom and ancestors. The freedom to learn to read, drive to church, and build a home. I found that statement very inspiring because we often take those for granted. This reminded me how important leaders today are important for future generations. Starting with your spiritual leader and then looking at the leaders around us in government, industry, education, sports, and entertainment. These are the people who mold the future of our lives. Think about how you can be a leader for the future. 

When I asked Carter what he was thankful for and he said, “you” (safe answer but it still made me smile )… I am thankful for him as well and what he did next is an example of why… he surprised me with his thoughtfulness.

As we were downstairs talking about the fruits of the spirit,
“the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23), he shared this video with me on Facebook which is a great example of a leader that exudes Kindness:

Ellen ends every one of her shows with “Be Kind to One Another” This little statement should inspire us all. You can tell it is genuine:

I will end this blog with the answer from my eleven year old son, “Remember the 7 “F”s and be thankful for Fun, Family, Food, Friends, Forgiveness, Faithfulness (believe in others as he described it), and of course… Football!

ROLL TIDE Yall and Happy Happy Thanksgiving! My family, staff, and I are thankful for each and every one of YOU!

Connecting Business and Life

Posted on by Charli Matthews
Live Happy

One of my favorite sayings is “There is no work-life balance, there is just life!” I say this because I live it everyday. I enjoy my work, but it is more than that. I am blessed to get to work in an industry that shows me daily how my business, the pump industry, is vital to life. From drinking water to manufacturing, none of it would be viable without pumps. Wait a second, let’s not walk past this thought! This is a huge!!! You should stop what you are doing right now and tell all your friends and family about this discovery… Pumps Are Everywhere, they Power our Lives, and are the heart of many process systems. It’s that important! I tell my family constantly how important pump systems are to our lives. I am encouraging my sons and daughter to be engineers so that they can help develop the next and more efficient system… why? Because it’s important to our business, AND it is important to our lives!

A lot of people might think we are just an advertising company; maybe even saying things like, “you want to educate pump users or inform the pump industry; talk to Charli”. But Empowering Pumps is more than that… it’s bigger than advertising a product. It is about being a significant part of our customers and readers stories. The unexpected email from the reliability guy that says you made his day with a solutions or the hometown friend reading a blog that inspires her to act; this energizes me and it energizes my team, making us to want to have a bigger impact. It is all about the connections. It is about networking with your connections in business to better their lives.  It’s about loving them enough to do what you can to help them succeed. And, whenever possible… put a smile on their face during the process!

When I started Empowering Pumps, we focused heavily on educating the industry about social media.  We hosted webinars, wrote blogs, and sat beside them to show them exactly which submit button to click.  We started to teach others how to create a LinkedIn profile; as basic as this may sound today people needed to be shown how to do this.  Now, we need to show them the “why”.  Why are we doing this? What is the purpose of networking through social media? The answer is… it has power!

I have been privileged over the last 5 years to be able to define my company’s culture and set its business goals. My personal goal and that of my business is to keep improving in every area. As a constant reminder to myself I wear bracelets that read, “Anything is Possible” and “Live Happy”.  They are mantra I have lived by every day since I started EP and I work to instill the same passion in my team. I believe you can work hard and accomplish what you put your mind to. I believe we all have different abilities and gifts so we should be realistic in our goals, but if you have a dream – GO FOR IT!

In order for me to live happy, I need to travel. Some people say I travel too much and that it isn’t all work.  The latter is true; I always try to add some time for fun to my work trips… An hour, A day, or once in a while A week.  This may seem selfish to some, but it helps keep my passion alive.  I need to experience new things and have quality time and conversations with my customers. I have many business travelers tell stories about never leaving the conference room or eating dinner in their hotel rooms; never taking the time to see the area they just traveled all day to get to! I urge you… Get out and SEE SOMETHING NEW…. Meet Someone…  Network with a stranger! They may just have the answer to your life’s question! Something you will never know if you stay in your hotel room.


Get out and connect your life with your business and live happy!