2010 Automotive News 100 Leading Women

Why did you want to work in the auto industry? I had been living in Texas doing breast cancer research and pharmaceutical research. My personality didn’t match lab work, so I was looking for something different and exciting. When I transferred with my first husband to southwest Iowa, I came across a large population of automotive suppliers. It was one of those serendipitous events where I picked up the Sunday Des Moines Register on a whim and saw a job opening for environmental and chemical manager in Red Oak, Iowa, at a supplier that made seats for the Chrysler minivan. I applied on a Monday, had an interview on Wednesday. And when I walked in the plant with the plant manager, there was noise, there was energy, there was excitement.