Kathy Mayerhofer, Chief Sales Officer at Xometry, joins ChedHER to discuss why women should consider careers in manufacturing, and what opportunities are available for them in this industry.

chedHER

Why Women Should Consider Careers in Manufacturing

joining us now is Kathy Maierhofer, chief sales officer exam a tree and Ai and ai based digital marketplace company Kathy, you know, this is the second annual report that gives key insight into representation across the industry, What are some of the big takeaways from this report? I think it's several big takeaways. First of all, women are interested in manufacturing, you know, but there exists this perception that manufacturing is old school and doesn't present the same opportunities for advancement as other industries. So this tells us that we need to do a better job of branding the industry better to demonstrate, you know, there are limitless career opportunities for women and people from diverse backgrounds, what we do, that we will be creating even more pathways for women to become entrepreneurs, you know, leaders and C suite executives in what is arguably one of the most pivotal industries there is today. So as we do more of that, hopefully in the near future and as more women consider a career manufacturing, what are examples of jobs they can land on, manufacturing is really is really changing. You know, i it's I believe it still has some of this, it's, you know, it's not your grandfather's industry anymore. In fact, it's ours to shape to define and passed down to the next generation, you know, for women and people from underrepresented communities, the sky is the limit manufacturing underpins every industry on the planet and as a digital revolution, it only accelerates, manufacturing will present unprecedented entrepreneurial opportunities and leadership opportunities, Women should look to manufacturing for top roles. I mean, this includes data scientist, product and business development. Chief sales officers like myself and of course Ceo you know I look at manufacturing given the state of supply chains and where they're at right now and all the shortages that we have seen. It makes me think there cannot be an industry with any more opportunity than probably manufacturing. And to your point there there's a variety of roles of roles potentially here from you know on the floor to even in the C suite positions. Can you talk a little bit about why stem education is so important for career manufacturing? Absolutely. I we're seeing real world implications from a broken supply chain and manufacturing can fix that and be part of the solution but to be part of the solution it requires talent who are skilled in science and technology. We're a global company and one of my colleagues in china told me that the big difference between china and the U. S. When it comes to manufacturing is that china views manufacturing in the tech sector. The U. S. Is coming around to that thinking as well and we're doing our part to spur the digital. Excuse me, the digitization of it. I know but to truly realize that we need people from all backgrounds skilled in science and technology to truly realize the unlimited potential of manufacturing. What kind of opportunities can the current economic environment present for women in manufacturing cause I feel like this is another layer of opportunity for them, you know, all the women in business that I know are incredibly skilled at solving problems and our world has so many problems, you know, in the in need of solving and women can play and are playing a pivotal role in solving those problems whether it's solving the big supply chain issues and or just as importantly, coming up with ideas for the next generation of products that will lead our world, you know, in cool industries like aerospace, autonomous and electrical vehicles and clean energy and a variety of other emerging industries like robotics and automation that really require, you know, a technical view and a really skilled labor to to in order to support those. So really the sky is the limit for economic opportunities for women and and I couldn't be more excited about it. Speaking of that, you lead a team that is 40% female. How do these dynamics benefit your team as a whole? So, I'm really, I really worked very hard to to help support and increase that percentage and actually I'm a little bit more closer to 45% today. So, you know, the adage is, as we all know very well is true, diverse teams perform better than non diverse teams and in a world that is getting increasingly complicated by the hour, you know, women will play a pivotal role in helping us to solve big challenges and plan for the future. You know, I see that on my own team and it's so incredibly rewarding for me to see that Kathie really appreciate your time and your insight and congratulations, getting above 40% closer to 45% there. As you noted, Kathy may hofer, excuse me, chief sales officer at exam a tree.