I grew up with two entrepreneurial parents - a farmer/electrician and a piano teacher. From a young age, I tinkered with physical objects and with math and science problems. I was accepted to MIT, and was able to attend because of a full scholarship for students from my county in rural Ohio.

As odd as it may sound, competitive swimming led me to study mechanical and ocean engineering because of the time we got to spend in the water for our hands-on projects. My work on underwater pipeline design for my master’s degree led to a job in offshore systems design for Chevron. While managing an offshore installation, I fell in love with seeing complex systems take shape.

Successfully managing the installation earned me a role as the day-to-day engineering manager of an offshore oil platform. I was responsible for ensuring that production met our planned goals, planning improvements, and executing upgrades within budget, on time, and safely. I developed a transparent, no-nonsense management style that enabled us to complete several first-in-kind system upgrades while having the best safety record of all of Chevron’s offshore facilities.

My determination and love of tinkering served me well, but I realized that to progress as a manager I needed formal business training. I earned an MBA, after which I helped engineering-focused industrial companies plan and execute growth and innovation.

Outside of work, I’ve completed two marathons and a solo-bike trip across Italy. My husband Matt and I have moved across the country together before and are excited to put down roots in a new location.