Learning to Lead By Example

Posted on by Charli Matthews
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We all need leaders!

Last month, you saw Cieana’s article, “We Cannot Be What We Cannot See“! This has been ‘front and center’ to my mind for some time.  I do have many mentors, but I have been looking for more women to add to my circle. I need someone to “see”.

Charli K. Matthews (left) and Katie Mehnert, CEO of PinkPetro (right)
Charli K. Matthews (left) and Katie Mehnert, CEO of PinkPetro (right)

This past Tuesday, that is exactly what I did! Through LeaninEnergy, I had the opportunity to meet Katie Mehnert of Pink Petro, Experience Energy, and Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook and co-author of Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy.  I have followed Sheryl Sandberg on Instagram for inspiration for some time now. I have always enjoyed a good keynote speaker who can connect inspiration, relevant information, and facts! Why is that? Because you are attending the speech to be inspired, but you are at the event to be educated. These ladies of course did not disappoint in any of those areas!

Kelly Watson (left) and Charli K. Matthews (right)
Kelly Watson (left) and Charli K. Matthews (right)

I was caught by surprise when I arrived at the event. Kelly Watson saw me enter the hallway and excitedly shouted, “Charli”!  I was so surprised because no one knew I would be at Rice University, and I couldn’t place her. I thought, is she the event organizer? But how did she know my name? Embarrased, I inquired, “I’m sorry, who are you?”. I felt even more ashamed when she said her name and then excitedly declared, “My #PumpTalk star of the week!” I was only saved by the grace that we had not actually met in person… just virtually. I have a unique gift / ability where once I meet someone in person, I can remember their face… maybe not their name, but absolutely their face!

Anyway, the reason I tell you this story is because I was quite humbled by the experience. Someone I had never met knew exactly who I was and was so excited to meet me. How Ironic I thought … I am here to meet ladies I admire, and I run into a ‘Charli Fan’! I can’t explain how honored I felt.  Thanks for making me feel like a celebrity, Kelly!

I am always amazed to learn about stories of influencing peoples lives without even knowing. Katie Mehnert is doing that for me. Katie built her company in the midst of a storm which I admire. She had a vision of connecting and mentoring women… so she is doing it! Someone at the conference told me, “It’s one thing to send out a social post about mentoring, it’s completely another to actually DO it!”

This stuck in my mind.  This is what I am working on for the #WomeninthePumpIndustry.  I want them to have the tools they need to be successful. So I found out… the tools are out there! Sheryl (social media) gives them to us! So, I may not have met Sheryl Sandberg officially, but I “see” her, and I sat across from her, and I Leaned In as she spoke… I listened and it is time to put our vision into action!

I want everyone to have a chance to make their ripple in making the world a better place for our children. I want equal opportunity for my daughter and my sons. I don’t want children to have to decide which spouses job is most important or find out they were interested in STEM too late. I want to help the employer understand that diversity is going to make their team stronger and more effective. And I want my place at the table before I have to prove I deserve it. YES, give me the opportunity… let me show you what a great decision you made!

Let’s keep this conversation going about how to empower, encourage, and support each other! There are many different ways you can get involved.

  1. Join our LinkedIn Groups to start a conversation – Empowering Women in Industry
  2. Join a LeanIn Circle – https://leanincircles.org/
  3. Email me if you have a question or want to talk! charli@empoweringpumps.com.
  4. Use hashtags #EmpoweringConnections to stay involved online.

Steve is the Real Hero in the Wonder Women movie

Posted on by Charli Matthews
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Spoiler alert… If you haven’t seen the movie. Stop what you are doing and go buy the movie.  Yes, BUY… It is by far the best super hero movie of all time.  I welcome your different opinions, if you have seen this movie.  Mostly because, I want to watch any one that is better than this!

So, why do I think Steve is the hero.  Think about it… Steve arrives just after Diana realizes she is strong enough to defeat the best of the Amazon warriors.  He also gives her a mission and purpose to use those powers for Good.  The only reason this works is because they are both on the same mission – to stop the war! They make a deal and agree on the terms and they are on their way.  Just Diana and Steve start sailing to an unknown land (for Diana) and they have to trust each other. There is a scene where Diana was asking Steve why he wouldn’t lay beside her because there was plenty of room, and he explained how it is not right to assume these things. He is right and shows he can be trusted.  Sometimes you need to be that close for protection or comfort, but it doesn’t mean Steve is not a gentleman. The next scene is them arriving in the port where they go to get Diana the proper attire to wear.  You know… Suit up for the job you want… to go into a male-dominated meeting. I thought it was so funny when he put the glasses on her to try to hide her face because she is “the most beautiful woman in the world”.

So, when the time comes, when she needs to stand up for what she believes in, she is prepared because she has the right attire for whatever the occasion. This theme plays throughout the entire movie. I am especially fond of the blue dress that drew her enemy close. My favorite part though is when she disagrees with Steve’s comment “this isn’t what we came here to do” and she Suits Up and says “no, But this is what I am going to do”!  Steve observes that she is successful and then decides… Ok, she’s leading the way – I think we can go help her now!  And he does, and they save the day together!  This is where Love arrives but it was a mutual choice!  But this was about Steve… Sorry I got distracted by the love story – I’m a hopeless romantic…

OK, Steve is also on a mission. He needs to stop the war.  When Diana kills the evil general and realizes men were still killing each other.  She doesn’t understand and believes Steve is just like the rest of the men, because he kept her from saving the town from the general’s attack.  But in the end, he was right.  The general wasn’t Aries and she still had work to do!  When Diana resisted, he didn’t force her to come with him.  He said, please come with me.  She refused and Steve took on the current problem… She began the battle with Aries who reveled himself to her even in her sadness she could see the truth and regained her focus on the mission.

Then, he saved the day… spoiler alert!

When Aries does indeed show up, the crew knew that only Diana could beat that enemy, so they would work on the problems they could manage.  There was a plane filled with deadly gas on a timer… So someone had to fly it away or it would be more death and destruction.  He runs to her, he says I have to do this job.  I wish I had more time with you but this is something only I can do.  And then he says…

“I can save today, you can save the world.” –Steve.

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And he does…. And this Empowers Her To Save the World!

As we continue to move the needle, with the Gender Gap, we will need many Steves in Leadership to support Women who have shown they can exceed the standard and kick butt. I challenge you to support women because you are better with a woman by your side and we are better with a man by ours!

Who will be the Steve that supports you and who will be the Aries.  Make sure you get the right one on your side!

An Open Letter to the Women in the Pump Industry – Exceed the Standard

Posted on by Charli Matthews
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The Truth is… I’m not an Entrepreneur. I was fired. I have failed. I will fail again! But… I will Exceed the Standards and raise my voice for doing what is right! I am not perfect, and I don’t pretend to be.  I just don’t like to focus on the negative… I focus on constant Improvement!  This will allow me to penetrate a very difficult landscape for women in male-dominated industry… Here’s my story… I hope it will inspire you to Work Smarter, Work Educated, Work for a Better Tomorrow for Women in our Industry.

I was introduced to the Pump Industry through the publication planning meetings when I worked as an ad sales rep.  We would plan where association “trade-out” columns would go. At the time, HI and FSA were the main ones to provide content for pumps and fluid sealing to the publication. However, we never discussed WHY these organizations were important to the industry.  It was only talked about that they didn’t generate revenue through advertising. This bothers me still today!

This bothers me because I understand the value of the content. Without awesome technical content, you really aren’t serving the industry and its community.  They need answers to the questions they’re facing every day.  It became my mission to help strengthen the relations between these organizations and the media. I worked to get to know these organizations and to understand the needs of not only the marketing team, but the industry as a whole. Media wasn’t allowed at HI at the time, so I started my journey at an FSA meeting.  You can read my story about that experience here!

Long story short, there was a problem to be solved, but since I wanted to do so much more than was allowed “in my position” at the company, I was fired.  I was fired because I put the Pump Industry, my clients, and my passion, before the company… I would do it again!  Because at the CORE of myself… I love a healthy PUMP… from the human heart to the pump system to the people in the heart of manufacturing.

I was fired because I stood up for my clients on the value… You do what you say you are going to do!  Some people call this Integrity… I call this doing the RIGHT thing! There was an open meeting where I was asked “What do you think, Charli?” after we were told that we were not going to add the extra distribution to the HVAC industry as promised.  But I had already sold the ad to the client, received their content, and it was an industry that I thought was Extremely important! My response was, “I think it SUCKS! I think we should spend the money and do what we said. After all, Integrity was one of the ideals listed in the company culture.”  I know now that I should have had that discussion in a private setting, but I still stand by what I said 100%. And given the chance I would do it again.. just differently so it would be more effective!   This is something I would like to teach the women of tomorrow. How to Communicate with the C-suite in front of their employees.

The reason the tone came out when asked was because of many other factors, and I was just fed up.  I am sure some of you can relate!

As soon as this happened, I posted to FB “I am no longer with the company where my pump family could find me”.  Within a few minutes, I had calls from those that understand my passion for the industry and that I was a hard worker.  I had several job opportunities to “sell” pumps or pump software… and having been told “JUST SELL” for the previous year,  I wasn’t sure I was ready.  Also, if I took that job, I would be looking for two jobs because my husband’s company thought you had to in the office to make sales… A really funny concept that my sales network should get a kick out of  😀  So, WHAT to DO?

The truth is I had little flexibility. Our life with 3 children under 6 years of age, and only two months of savings – I knew it had to be a job making an advance sales salary… and in 2 month… that just doesn’t happen. Not to mention I was leading in sales at the company for two magazines at the time I was fired… I was expecting my June sales month to really take care of some debt items…

So my daughter was 7 months old and I had unsettled hormones (or I probably wouldn’t have said the word Sucks to my boss’s boss… only amplified by the stress that was being placed on me.  This is not an excuse for my behavior.  I should have had a private meeting… I should have stood up for my situation… I should have documented what happened so I could prove to leadership that I had been exceeding the standards but was being punished for it!  This is something I want to teach women how to manage more effectively.   

And to be honest, it wasn’t the company’s fault.  They just didn’t know any better.  When you don’t have the whole story, it’s sometime hard to understand why people are doing things… So keep up with the story. Get the FACTS.  I had been at the company for 8 years; my first job was moving their office as an admin. I had built their spreadsheet (they still use today), and I was involved… Highly motivated and Passionately involved.  It is all I knew… So when the culture changed, new people came in and roles were siloed… it was HARD. I lost my HEALTH. I needed EDUCATION on how to move forward.  This is also something I want to help women manage!  

I had been loyal to the company for 8 years, and they dismissed me without even letting me gather my own things and say goodbye to my #PumpTalk family. So, I was sad for ONE day… ALL DAY! Then… I reflected on what I had accomplished, what I was most passionate about, and set out to EDUCATE people on social media. Because, after all…. like many of you… I LOVE developing PEOPLE and training the NEXT generation.   My #1 Partner said for me to let him know when I started my own pump digest, so I called him.  With his support and belief in me, along with a handful of others, I set out to CREATE a JOB for myself.  I knew I could grow an audience; I had just been tasked to do that with my last audience and exceeded expectations in the first month (WITH no authority to CALL a meeting). So, I knew I could if I was the BOSS… and well I did graduate from the University of Alabama with a BS in Finance & Banking and a minor in Economics (I LOVE Economics and ALAN is COOL!) So… like many engineers – I am a CREATIVE Problem Solver!  I am a social media guru for the PUMP INDUSTRY and I MADE it because I SET THE STANDARD.  I educated the pump industry while connecting it (well, for the ones that gave me a moment to explain it) how to use Social Media to build a business – I teach and believe it because I LIVED IT, Used it, and became an Influencer in the industry! My standard is based on constant improvement, inclusion, and doing what is right.  So here’s my truth I finally shared with you… I hope it helps you understand how and why people say #SHEMADEIT and inspires you in the future to speak up and become an influencer for your passion!

My passion is for the Heart of the Industry…. And that is the people I call family, friends, and those I LOVE dearly…  As I am recruiting more and more Women to the Pump Industry, I am at peace knowing I have a wonderful team of support!  Thank you ladies!  I solute you for your work building your careers in the Pump Industry!

I would like to invite people to share their stories of ‘getting back up again’ after being knocked down or experiencing a ‘failure’.  You can share them publicly here in the comments or send me a private email. charli @ empoweringpumps.com  I am here for you whatever the need!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manufacturing Day – Why is it important?

Posted on by Charli Matthews
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What is Manufacturing Day?

Manufacturing Day brings together manufacturers and mixed generations of those interested in it. This one day is aimed to connect as many schools and manufacturers as possible. Manufacturing Day events can be an expo, a tour of a facility, an open house, a virtual or actual presentation or even an “industrial block party”. These events can be held for students, parents, chamber members or the community. 

Why Manufacturing Day is Important 

This day is intended to open students’ eyes about manufacturing and plant the seed that it can be a career for them. Although there is one day set aside for this celebration it can be any day that is convenient for everyone. There are many career fairs throughout the year with a focus on the manufacturing sector. We’ve participated in many career fairs on Manufacturing Day and all through the year. 

These types of fairs and expos allow students to explore their career goals from a broader perspective. Often be when asked what they want be when they grow up young girls respond with hair, nails, or be a pediatrician. Now they are asked to consider a career in manufacturing. We want to try to help them see past stereotypical “serving” jobs and focus on careers with benefits.

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