Page 28 - Newcom

28 DIVERSITY
Female trucking executives working to overcome stereotypes
three women and four men.
And most recently, she hired the
company’s first female director of op- erations.
Katie Erb, on the other hand, said that so far in her position, she has had no issues regarding her gender.
“My brother is one year older than I am, and we’re sort of spearheading the next generation at Erb together,” she said. “Growing up, my brother and I were treated the same. We were equal. We got the same opportuni-
For Crisan, the challenges she faces at work have more to do with her age than her gender, she said.
At just 25, Crisan said she isn’t al- ways taken seriously in meetings and once had a client jokingly ask her if she could legally work at her age.
Despite this, Crisan said she be- lieves being a millennial has helped her grow the Andy Transport busi- ness, even if it is the most challenging part of her job.
“We have two generations build-
and knowledge that wins over the ex- perience. But learning how to accept the other person’s opinion...is how we overcome that challenge.”
Erb agreed with Crisan that being a millennial within the family busi- ness, while challenging, is helping the business.
“We know how to move a truck from A to B,” she said. “(Erb) has trucking down pat. So as the mar-
ket changes, we need to be innova- tive...and I’m part of a business de- velopment team to help re-brand the company with a new Web page and a stronger social media presence. So we can teach the older generation at Erb about the impact of social media and smart marketing, and they teach us about transportation.”
On managing their work/life bal- ance, each of the panelists offered up their own advice as to what works for them.
Meyers said that managing her ca- reer and social life has been some- thing she has struggled with, but she has found a solution by making friends at work.
“One of the things that I’ve done that has worked for me is surround- ing myself with co-workers, custom- ers and suppliers that I respect and enjoy. So if I have to be entertaining on a Friday or Saturday night, at least it’s with people I enjoy spending my time with,” she said.
In contrast, Erb said what works for her is separating her personal life and her work life equally.
“Everything I do I give it 100%...so when I’m at work, I’m all work. And I like to leave work at work,” she said. “And that’s hard nowadays because you’re constantly mobile and you’re just one click away...but you have to have a personal life because if you get out and do what you enjoy, you’ll have more energy to give to work.”
Kalhar said after she suffered an injury years ago, she has better man- aged her work/life balance by keep- ing one thing in mind – her health.
“Being in a leadership role is very demanding,” she said. “I need to be able to perform to support my team, and they need to be able to perform. I had a significant injury a few years ago...I had seven surgeries in a year- and-a-half and it really drove home how important it is to take care of yourself...there’s a few non-negotia- bles in my week, which is going to the gym and getting fresh air. While that life balance may not be able to happen every day or every week, it’s important to have downtime to take care of yourself.”
Finally, all panelists agreed that in order to drive more women into the trucking industry, mentoring is re- quired.
For Meyers, having a mentor was “life-changing.”
“I’ve worked very hard on sur- rounding myself with people I can learn from that can help me grow and it has changed my life,” she said. “It has changed my personal life, my ca- reer. I’ve been very lucky.”
She added that at first she resisted help from others in the industry be- cause she felt she was a burden, but she quickly learned that mentoring is rewarding for both parties.
“Don’t feel guilty about taking their time,” she advised the audience, add- ing that if you’ve been in the industry a while, to consider mentoring oth- ers.
Continued from page 1
port; Angena Kalhar, president of KTL Transport; Jacquie Meyers, president of Meyers Transport; and Katie Erb, inside sales/account representative at Erb Transport.
Moderating the session was Kelli Saunders, president of Morai Logis- tics.
To kick things off, Saunders asked each of the panelists how their gender challenges them in the workplace.
Meyers said that being a woman in a leadership role means she (and oth- ers like her) have to work harder to overcome the stereotypical percep- tion that women are weaker and less intelligent than their male counter- parts.
“The good news is, most of what we’re doing is overcoming the per- ception that women are the inferior or weaker sex,” she said. “So there’s no science that backs this. It’s been ingrained in our heads over the last hundred years that women are inferi- or. So really the challenge that wom- en face every day is overcoming that perception that we’re weaker.”
To combat this, Meyers said she supports women in the workplace, for starters, by hiring them.
She explained that Meyers Trans- port is well balanced, with as many females working in the office as males. She added that since she be- gan running the company, she trans- formed the all middle-aged male ex- ecutive board into a younger one with
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“Most of what we’re doing is overcoming the perception that women are the inferior or weaker sex. So there’s no science that backs this.”
Jacquie Meyers, Meyers Transport
ties...So in business, Kyle and I have progressed together.”
She went on to say that she has nev- er thought of her gender as something to discourage her from achieving her potential.
“I was a tomboy and I was always into male-dominated things. So I’ve never looked at things and said, ‘Oh
I can’t do something because I’m a girl.’ I’m going to do it because I want to do it,” she said.
Kalhar echoed Erb’s viewpoint, saying her parents were open-mind- ed and she gained a love for truck- ing riding along with her father as a child.
ing the company at the same time,” Crisan said. “(My father and I) are building the structure, we’re hiring people...so sometimes there are di- verging opinions. Sometimes there are arguments, but learning how to work those arguments out and make the best decision for the company and for our team wins. For me, that’s the biggest challenge. My father has a lot of life experience and I have an educational background. I’m the first person from my family to graduate from university. But through mutual respect and trust, sometimes experi- ence wins over education and knowl- edge; other times it’s my education
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