welcome to bets on the future where we highlight the various career paths in the electrifying Metals World from the vehicle you ride in to the bridge holding and up metals are everywhere why not in your career too I’m Jennifer BSS a medals industry veteran with almost 20 years experience here to highlight these incredible career paths As Told by the women who are living them good morning everyone welcome to the last session of the morning um nice fun one before lunch hopefully so slight change of tack um we are going to talk to you about women in leadership uh we were lucky enough to have our inaugural um women in the scrap Market breakfast this morning um which I’m sure some of you attended um some great conversation came up while we were all there getting ready to start the day um so without further Ado I’m going to dive into um the professional lives of some of the uh very esteemed female CEOs that I’m lucky enough to be sharing the stage with um yeah I guess if we’d start with you Mar perhaps um I’d just be really interested to get everyone’s perspective

on how precisely they ended up in the scrap Market because it’s typically perceived as a fairly male domain and yet here we all are so yeah perhaps if you’d like to kick us off well I took um non-conventional I met my husband in college he’s third generation I married in to the family now that being said uh for many years I kind of did you know I honored their business I did all the accounting stuff like that in the back however when we started looking at what is needed for the Next Generation Um when we looked at what did the next season need what kind of vision kind of creativity what kind of changes right shifting in the business uh that’s how I ended up doing that’s of be in my career and so even though it made sense for him to be the next CEO for the next you know 30 years when we looked at what was needed um he decided he was better on his day-to-day Ops and I was more of the leadership needed for the next 50 years lead by example I love it speaking of

which Jennifer um is leading by example dragging us Kicking and Screaming into the 21st century with all of her media outreach and her podcasting some of which will be going out after this event uh Jen you’ve had a really varied career in the metals markets perhaps can you talk you know talk to us a bit about the entry point What attracted you and then really what spurred your Evolution from working for such a huge scrap outfit to what you’re doing now which is essentially spearheading representation and coverage you know what might be perceived it’s called it as a mature Market yes so I always get this uh question and it’s always a 50-50 response I was recruited out of Indiana University and my first job was with David J Joseph so that’s always a love haate whenever I I say that but it’s a great training ground and so I didn’t know what I was getting into I’m a finance major technically really shouldn’t be here in in that world and I was recruited one of the first people that interviewed me was a female Trader and she was just so passionate about

what she did that I was like all right I’ll give them a second interview this sounds interesting eventually it got to the point where I’m sorry you’re going to give me a company car you’re going to give me an expense account and you’re just going to tell me to just travel and and make you know business deals and it it just seemed a little too good to be true so I said I’ll give it six months the people that I met during those six months was incredible um I ended up staying at DJJ ultimately purchased by new cor going from nonfer to feris for seven years and the people in this industry are easily what kept me in I mean six months hooked it it was lifelong decision without being too insensitive what year was your entry point into the market because I find it so interesting that we’re kind of having this inaugural conversation about women in leadership in scrap now but you’d been inspired to proceed with that interview process by a woman that was already in the industry so how you know how long ago are we looking here without putting

too fine a point on it so I graduated Indiana in 2007 so I enjoyed the ride right and then I really had to learn in 2008 2009 so she had already been in the industry 10 or 15 years at that point and so um I’m still friends with her to this day she’s still in the industry and it’s it’s easy connection awesome and Brandy how about you yeah I think I would be the example of of taking an about face on my career Journey um I spent about 15 years in in corporate um working in strategy and organizational development um I was was in at northr Grumman in Aerospace for a few years and I was last with the Walt Disney Company in um Southern California and I remember sitting on the 405 freeway um about to pull my hair out um for those of you in that area you know exactly what that is and um on the phone with my dad at the time who was running South Post Oak recycling center here um and he said Brandy at some point I’m going to want to sell this business and um it

was alluded to earlier the challenges with family business and because I I didn’t really have an interest in the industry um and I said great you can sell it you know and so he proceeded to hold it and then continue to grow it um fast forward and I think a lot of us can do this for people in our lives I was I was working with an executive coach um at Disney and he said hey Brandy what’s next for you like what’s next and I was like what do you mean what’s next I got a nice cushy job I love the company that I’m with you know who wouldn’t want to work for the mouse and um and so anyway he just painted this picture and I think a lot of us as we talk about attracting people to this industry he said’ what about this family business in Houston and I looked at him sideways and I said the scrap business and he said yeah he said um he said I have to tell you I really so this was 2009 2010 he said I have to tell you I really think that

recycling is the way of the future and I said do you um and and I was and I was buying it and he said and there’s not many businesses that successfully transition from the first to the second generation let alone the second to the third and so he and then he said I just don’t and I don’t see that many women in this industry he said you have a you have a solid business background maybe something to think about and I tell you it’s just those seeds that there was already a seed planted but I think it was the seeds that were watered um and so for me then Amy I really said you know I’m never going to catch up to the years of experience that my my mom and dad had in this industry um and so I really just kind of put my efforts toward trying to understand the business the supply chains and Etc to see if it struck my fancy um and it did just kind of my pre-work if you will and flying back here to meet different customers um and so anyway in in 2011 not

that it was required but I decided to go back to business school I got a business degree not that it is required and I moved back here um in 2013 so I moved from Los Angeles to Houston um to take over the business and transition from my dad so I tell people I went from pixie dust to real dust and I’ve not looked back so speaking about that fantastic transition from pixie dust to real dust obviously you not the only person that might have had a career about turn that led you here obviously yours was for you know carrying on a f family Legacy um what is it that’s retained you in this industry because there’s every chance that you might feel pressur to follow in a familial footsteps get there and decide goodness me I’ve you know I’ve messed this up royally but you’re still here doing fantastic things so what is it that’s really captivated you and kept you doing what you’re doing I think it’s a fascinating industry and a I think it’s a fascinating business I used to tell people when I first came into it it was like an

onion you think it just has one layer but there’s so many layers to it when I talk to students today um about industri their career in recycling space I said you can you can do Finance in this industry you can do chemistry you can do science in this industry but what’s kept me here honestly is um the ability to actually Le the ability to make the decisions to advance the growth you know there’s one thing working in a company and you can be an entrepreneur and influence quite a bit but there is another to steer the ship and then build a team around you who’s aligned around your vision um and be in a space honestly that I think the time is now for the recycled materials industry John I’m with you um and so I think that you know for me it’s like why why not be in this industry why not be in this space um when it is flourishing fantastic and nidy to turn our attention to you I’m lucky enough to have had you on two panels now you’ve had a similar um entryway into the industry as Brandy in

the sense that you’re carrying on a family business um can you talk to us a little about was your pathway similar like what precipitated you to carry on that baton or was it always your intention to just continue on in in that line definitely not was not always my attention I will be very honest with you um my even though I grew up in this industry I am second generation so throughout School High School Middle School um I was you know interning at my my dad’s scrapyard um but I didn’t really grasp the exact Concept in the big picture of recycling until way later on in my life um so fast forward graduated college in 2003 and uh my hopes and dreams were to go to law school um but at that time my dad was starting a second company and so started with a bribe it was like come work for me for 6 months if you don’t like it I’ll pay for your law school um never went to law school actually changed my entire entire path and did a MBA and um to ultimately answer your question Amy like why am

I still here and why do I still want to carry on that Legacy it’s it’s the relationships that for me that I think I’ve built and just being able to be in the room with all of you guys and knowing your stories um I think that’s what’s kind of kept me here and U being able to educate the Next Generation moving forward marvelous and in terms of um I’d like to talk a little bit about what it takes to be a female CEO in scrap because you’re already you’re all seite um people and you know there’s perceived maybe to be a bit of a barrier glass ceiling for women in every industry but the scrap Market is so fascinating in the sense that it’s so varied that’s so Dynamic there’s so many factors at play um domestically abroad it it’s you know really rich Market to be a part of the people are very interesting some of the you know having worked in other metals markets I can say that none other compare and what does it take to be a female CEO not just in the SE Suite but in scrap specifically Marcy

if maybe we could start with you yeah I mean for me work ethic is work ethic right so whatever it takes to get the job done right so for us being a smaller yard family-owned I mean it might be being on this panel and then I might drive home tomorrow and be running cans because that’s what we need to do and so it’s just the willingness to jump in get the work done right connect with people hear their story you know and just work after that I really believe the respect just comes whether it’s from the people in the yard to people right in in positions from learning if you work they know and that’s what you and I say that’s not a unique um characteristic of being female is it it’s actually just grit and tenacity is a kind of gender neutral consideration I supp there’s something to be said for that as well on the reverse as much as we focus on like positively building people up and we focus on inclusion and diversity there’s something to be said for remembering that it’s not necessarily um preent to label or over

label um the point um anybody else have anything to add to that we have a couple of slid question questions so I think we should should address them as and when they come in because I think we’re going to get plenty um what would you say to encourage young female professionals to consider leading in this industry and how would you advise them to take it forward to a better future State don’t know if anybody has I I just say know that there is career potential here there’s a lot of career potential I think um male or female especially younger generation want to know that there’s a career path they want to know that that um that we are doing something that is Meaningful you know that there’s a why and that there’s a purpose um and I think the more that we paint that picture um for whoever is looking at this industry that um that what we do every day impacts the environment that what we do every day has strong economic benefit um I think that those are ways to kind of show people um what is possible I also think that

there is something where that there’s a saying if I can see it I can be it and so I think um everyone in here probably works with women you know you know you work alongside women you know you may be led and I think that there is something to people seeing folks who look like them um and it’s not required you know but I think it helps you know that you know when we show up you know we know the business you know we build effective relationships which I would think and then we get involved um and I think that that’s a way that people can become privy to this industry I think isra or The Institute of scrap recycling Industries is a great way for people to get visibility you know to the recycled materials industry so those are some of the things that I think can kind of help entice people I would build on what Brandy said is has a council women recycling they also have a young Executives that didn’t exist when I entered the industry so I had to make connection either within my organization or with who I

did business with those were the people that that I saw and Flash forward to when isra started women recycling all of a sudden and you can tell me which which year it was it past five 18 2018 okay so 2018 and I have seen such a steady rise every time that I go to a women and recycling event and also awmi which is the association of women and Metal industry which is open to both male and female members the steady rise in participation and I think part of that also comes from a digital marketing perspective we all work with women we all work with women and yet when you go online to company websites to their social media to the the podcasts that exist out there you’re not seeing an accurate reflection of who’s actually in this industry and so that’s part of why we’re doing this to show case that there are experienced individuals out there that happen to be female to help encourage the Next Generation that these things are possible that you can stay in if you have a career path a passion in mind it’s possible I want to add

one thing to that Amy and um so NY and I um looked to launch uh or relaunch women in recycling through is back in 2018 um and if you’re sitting there thinking what is that needed for um what it’s needed for is exactly what we’re seeing today I remember getting a lot of side looks like why do we need this um but I think what that did was it it created some intentionality around at least having people raise hands to say hey we’re in this industry we’re in this industry too um and oh there’s Community for me within this industry not not a sorority life but there are other people that I can talk to um and so I think sometimes having organizations you know like a women in recycling that is purposeful you know that is there to continue to grow people build people cultivate relationships it can serve a purpose for a period of time um where it brings people together and say hey there’s a place for me in this industry in this group but also um in the broader organization so as members of those groups um can you give

us an idea about how they function and how they promote the interest of women in the industry kind of through specific initiative Ives it would be just really fascinating to hear some examples of real time work that’s being done yeah so uh for women and recycling um there’s a few things that we have done uh Brandy and I when we um decided we’re going to relaunch or reinvigorate this Council um we were very purposeful um so we started a mentorship program um we also flew and attended as many chapter meetings within isra as we could so they would see us in person um and feel like they’re welcome and involved um we’ve also partnered with local communities at these cities that we’re flying to um to do some sort of community service give back whether it’s you know a food drive or a clothing Drive um so there’s quite a bit that we’ve done on the women recycling side um for awmi which is another organization that Jennifer just spoke about um I do know they have a annual conference um which is usually highly attended um I’ve also sat on the board for

awmi uh but this was way back in the day um and um I it’s one group that I do applaud in the sense that when I do attend those conferences the ratio is actually reverse um I I feel like awmi uh the room is usually filled with at least 80 85% women um and so it all depends on what you’re kind of looking for in terms of an organization so those are my comments did I miss anything all right that’s really interesting and actually continuing on with the kind of formalized settings where we’re able to kind of spearhead women’s leadership and development it’s really unique for us as fast markets to be able to give a platform um to inclusion and diversity and I know it came up as um part of our conversation at breakfast this morning um you know the evolving role obviously Pras bring transparency to markets but humans formulate business um it’s an integral part of what we do how do you perceive that a company like Fast markets might be able to assist in that kind of formalized development of women in leadership I can take yeah think no

I was thinking you the more the better I can get to all of you I promise I’m very vocal online if anybody uh is connected with me so not afraid to say uh slightly different opinions women in manufacturer is an association that tracks essentially diversity in the manufacturing space I believe they have something like 30 40,000 members um they very similar to awmi and is’s women recycling multiple chapters I put metals and recycling under the manufacturing umbrella they have done studies that show that around 30% of the full labor force not just seite but the full labor force that manufacturing is female and yet when you go to conferences or you go online that is not truly mirrored right exactly and so I do truly appreciate fast markets for this particular conference when you take a look at the percentage of female versus male they’re falling right in line with around that ballpark of of speakers so it is possible to find educated experienced individuals that do truly reflect what is happening in the manufacturing World okay and I can see that the slido questions are stacking up which is fantastic so I’m

just going to address some of those um there’s a great question here about um feminine qualities that are beneficial but um before we lead into that I think there’s I once read a study that said that women’s intuition makes women fantastic Traders and Jennifer we obviously kicked off with your um your Fay into trading which led to where you are now so to that end what feminine quality has been the most beneficial for um your leadership role if Jennifer let’s start with you since I put you on the spot there and then we can see what the others think that’s a that’s a good question I’ll I’ll be very Frank I struggled with the femininity aspect early on in my career I worked for David Joseph like it’s it’s it’s mainly male Traders I I can say that and so I tried to fit in I was like wearing the polos the blue Blazers I had khakis it really wasn’t until later on in my career when I was at AK Steel or when I launched magar medals when I started feeling comfortable enough to be truly more me right and I think that

actually came across and helped benefit my trades and my business opportunities because people actually saw me as more authentic at that point I think early on in my career I was just trying to like fit into this mold into this box and it it probably held me back to be honest and and away right it wasn’t truly authentic so leaning into some of the femininity aspects of who I am as a person just makes me I think more relatable to who I do business with I would I would add us I think of this is a very simple example I think having people skills is can be agnostic you know and I think but sometimes people will say um it that’s more of a feminine trait I don’t think so in business I think it’s necessary um but here’s the example I remember when I came into the industry and um joined my family business um we started celebrating birthdays um and we we would uh when people would come on board they’re through the onboarding process you know we have them fill out a card that says different things like what’s your favorite

dessert just to kind of get to know them and then the HR team would keep it kind of stockpile so when somebody’s birthday comes up you know we would pick whatever dessert that they want and we give it to them for their birthday and I remember my dad says who cares about that like who cares about that people want to make money you know they want to make more money they can care less about a cake I tell you today people are like singing and it’s just like whose birthday is it but the comments that I got from some of our team and it’s such a simple example is I I would have employees specifically that said you know what I’ve never gotten a birthday cake you know are my people never you know my family has never celebrated me this way and so it is it was it’s such a small detail but I say that that was an area of compliment at least that I was able to bring was I think more um people orientation you know more of that Personal Touch so that folks felt Beyond just a hard worker

you know I’m an asset because I’m a hard worker but I’m a person and you acknowledge me as well um so again I don’t think it’s a pure you know feminine trait but I do think that it was complimentary in the environment that I entered I want to actually build on that brief Brandy um cuz when I I I saw this question that was the first thing my mind also said I’m not sure if I’m going to qualify this as feminine or masculine because I don’t think it is I think it’s gender neutral but um what Brandy’s speaking about and the first thing that came into my mind was emotional intelligence I think that is a quality that you can possess as a male or a female or you know if you’re um binary um but that’s something what bry’s speaking to is about how you can emotionally connect with other people and make them feel like they are valued I think that is a huge um asset our quality to have in a leadership role whether you’re male or female interesting and sort of carrying on something that might be perceived as a

feminine challenge in particular and we have a question can you speak to the challenges of leading a family in a company um obviously as women become more prevalent and have become more prevalent in the workforce across all Industries you see people leaving it later and later perhaps to have a family um some people opt not to at all I would argue that perhaps you know motherhood is is a great juggling act it gives you a skill set that probably would befit you very well for an intensive environment um so yeah what do you perceive to be the challenges um any of you or you know do you see it as a boon has it helped you with skills that you really can use you know at home and at work yeah I I’ll speak to that one at some point I had three kids under two and a half um yeah it happened uh I had a 2 and a half year-old and we had twins and so you know and the family business right it’s a family business right I mean we I was there probably three days after the Twins were

born and it’s it’s a Juggle act and it’s real um even to this day you know now the twins are about to turn 11 and I have a 13-year-old and you know I might be getting ready for work and someone just got sick but I still have an 8:30 meeting and so now what do I do and it’s one of those things that it’s real it happens right but I think part of being a leader and and really a parent or in a village is how do you create that support group that allows you to still move forward and be able to prioritize in a second of okay we’re going to do this this this and this and this you know and that’s something for me you know and I want to speak to to the women particularly where Bloom where you are at this moment right because there’s nothing that is wasted right at some point when I had that going on I didn’t think that it would serve me in this SE right but it’s those moments in life where you’re in it and you’re stretched that truly add

the value right and then you go into the next obstacle and that adds value and so it’s just about being flexible it’s about being willing to shift it’s about knowing who you are right it’s already innate in us it’s if we’re willing to tap into it Jennifer we had a conversation yesterday over dinner about how one of your children has requested to actually join you on a work trip which is uh yeah so I guess you’ve obviously got you the sphere of influence you have extends far beyond the marketplace I wonder if you could talk a little bit about the challenges of leading a family as well and but obviously it’s working out really well for you because you have a mini scrap dealer on your hands uh yes I I think I do he is nine and a half and um anytime that he sees something metal Mom Mom you got to you got to check this out so it’s he’s already starting to recognize this and it is a really cool thing as a parent to to see that so you might see them in in Vegas uh might take them to

the expo hall not to any of the after just take them to the casino is all I would right yes yeah it’s a full training program um so I would have to say here that this this is obviously something that’s very commonly asked of of women just from a biological standpoint but this is really a parenting question takes two to tango right and so I would really ask of the companies that are here what is your parental leave policy what is your um maternity policy as well but to understand that in this generation of millennial dads and gen Z dads the fathers I forget what the exact stat is but you can look it up it’s something like they are 85% more likely to be engaged with their children than previous generations right and so to assign the family questions of who’s going to take them on when they’re sick or they’ve got the doctor’s appointment and only assign that to the mom is unfair because different relationships have different structures my husband and I both work from home we both travel occasionally and so we have a partnership and it’s really about whose

schedule allows us to be able to pick up the kids at a certain time or to take them to the appointments and so just understand that in the next wave of parents you’re going to see more male and female parents having these types of issues in the future and to that end um there’s another very nice follow on question how important is flexibility for encouraging women um to enter and remain in the workforce you I would speak as an employer I think it’s integral um but I think Jennifer hit on something now when I came into our business it was 90% male and 10% female um and I noticed even then 11 years ago there was a need for flexibility across the board um because there are just more active parents there’s more active dads there’s more active moms um and so I think we will continue to see a need you know for those that need it’s not in every environment if the work will allow an 8:30 start time or if it’ll allow leaving at 3:00 one day to go make the football game male or female I think um

I was just talking to somebody about attracting talent I think showing that there is some level of flexibility with the expectation that you still get the work done is going to be necessary it’s going to be necessary not only to attract and retain females but to attract and retain males as well especially those that want to be involved you know in not only their kids life but they want quality of life so I think it’s a essential and I think we should look at it as a as a talent acquisition tool yeah I’ll Pig you back on that we have a wonderful female that works in our office has a special needs daughter right and so her work schedule varies and so some days she comes in at 9ine some she comes in at 10: depending what appointments she has and things like that she’s key to what we do we just got to be able to will see it differently right so sometimes the HR calls are done by Zoom because that is what is needed and it works and I think as we’re in this season of just the way things are

changing if we’re willing to change with it and really really really just accept of what’s going on and what’s going on perfectly when that season passes you already have someone who has loyalty to you right you’ve already earned the strip with them and they’ll go to battle for you and that’s really ultimately what it’s about and I want to piggy back on that Marcy um flexibility is 100% key I think our generation and the generations coming after us are changing in in terms of our mentality um I do understand like for example my dad I mean his work ethic is I’m working when the sun’s rising and I’m working when the Sun is setting and beyond that right um now with technology and everything that we have in place it’s made our lives a little bit easier to where we don’t have to put in 12 to 15 hour days which is great however I’ve also recently kind of learned especially post pandemic um is that flexibility is definitely important but but now people actually want to come to work they do not want to be home and I think that is key like

if you’re running a company in an organization to where your employees want to be here I mean they will call me and be like I’m tired of my husband can I please come in I’m like didn’t you take PTO today but come on you know so things of that nature they really do want to be at work now so I’m happy to see that change excellent and we’ve got so many great questions here talking about the sort of encouragement and development that starts young um how can the metals and mining industry better partner with K12 schools to inspire interest in related stem Fields especially for girls because I think there is always there’s still a perception that we’ve got a long way to go in terms of education for girls you know the saturation of females in stem subjects at universities it seems like it will be a natural stepping point for someone that was intentionally joining the scrap or the metals market so what what would we really be looking to do there’s a lot of programs out there there that I think are just don’t get the visibility that they need um

one that we’ve worked with and we were introduced through um isri is called Jason’s learning um and Jason’s learning is an organization anybody can look it up that focuses on stem based learning for get grades K through 12 and I brought it up is because isra partnered with Jason’s learning to create stem based curriculum aligned with Recycling and so it’s so it’s phenomenal you can pull up templates you know um to teach at every grade level stem curriculum integrated with Recycling and so I think that that’s one of many ways and so I know we’ve sponsored students we’ve sponsored schools in the Houston Community um we sponsor teachers to have access to this curriculum so they’re not creating anything from scratch they can just pull it off the shelf um and then they integrate it into their science programs um or their after schoolst sustainability clubs that they have and so I think that that’s a very approachable way to actually introduce girls you know and and more to our industry and not through a lens of of just a scrap if you know lens it really says this is how recycling is tied

to stem and oh I can have a career in this and be exposed to something that I care about ie recycling at a very early age and uh we were talking about this at dinner last night um but there’s also two books that have been published about scrap and I believe it was published by scrap University kids uh scrap you kids um so these are books that are available you could purchase you know if you have you know children and you want them to learn a little bit about recycling it’s a great book for kids I mean it’s just it’s beautifully created and very visual I think Jennifer actually coined a new one for finished product was it the M on the hill hill we’re just going to close the loop there little shout to watch this space Sorry I interjected carry on I I do want to add to that so we’re talking about uh K through 12 we’re talking about children’s books but how do we consume our news and our information these days video right visual there’s photos so I would really heavily encourage everyone here to take a look at

your company’s digital marketing presence and showcase show people what you do we’re in this industry because it is a fascinating cool industry the equipment is basically like Giant toys like it’s really fun to see that and it imagine a child seeing for the first time what a shredder can do on a video imagine what a child would you know wow I I want to go work at a steel mill because like they see you know the charge bucket drop in and the the the fire coming out and they can see the products we all know that’s normal that’s like our version of normal and that’s not normal for the everyday person but a lot of people gravitate towards it if we just showed them you mean even as far as we did an Earth day and we had a tent and we had our hot pink like uh hard hats and our vest and we had little girls trying it on I think it’s even little things like that that shows them that it’s truly you know just about getting the Curiosity and the question going but I think just being able to do

little things like that it’s not as scary like when they come to our yard we hand them little plastic hard hats right and kids get a treasure box when they come into our yard those are little things that get you know kids asking about oh what is this and it’s not something else someone does I can do this and I can do it here well speaking of the way that the younger generation consume media Jennifer you’re a prolific Tik tocker um that’s kind of the the social media app dour um are you finding that because um you know and I know not just you but other um scrap outfits that are very active in in isre um are on that app are you finding that that has um broadened your Outreach do you get feedback from younger people I’m assuming that that would be an excellent way to kind of increase exposure for younger Generations that are considering a career at some point absolutely yes I’m on Tik Tock The Marvelous Mrs medals if anybody wants to to follow along on that Journey the Gen Z and younger use Tik Tok search feature more

than they go to Google this is where they’re consuming information this is where they’re learning about careers this is where they’re learning about the news that’s happening in their communities and we’re not on it as an industry we are hands down missing out on the Next Generation because we’re not taking a look at where the audience where the next generation is just because there might be some personal beliefs of like well I don’t really want to be on that app right and there is some strategy behind which particular social media channels or digital marketing presence overall that you want to you know match up with your your business but I have gotten comments on a lot of my videos when thank you John for all the wonderful video content of the steel mills and uh metal recycling facilities that people young people I didn’t know we made Steel in America your job seems so cool like where can I find a a company like this they’re out there and they’re interested again if we actually showed them what of I’m conscious of the time so I want to make sure we get through all

of our slider questions I’m so slight change of TAC here but what um are your biggest challenges as female leaders in this industry um Brandy maybe if we want to start with you you know I think I think early on and things have changed I think because this is such a relationship ship oriented business um I think you have to be very keen on building relationships and I think a reality is that a lot of relationships are built over dinner you know they’re built at the bar they’re built on the golf course and I think early on I I had to realize that I have to build these relationships in order to navigate so the challenge would be you know going to a meeting you know or going to a board meeting and then not having anything to do at dinner because folks were already they had already formed their groups you know and not realizing oh that’s just a part of how business gets done you know because people naturally gravitate to people they know like or trust and so I do think it was a challenge for me early on just figuring

out what is the best way to connect with people to build some authentic relationships um and you know I can think of four years ago I think I was there were a group of us in DC and everybody had gone off to dinner and there were like five women that were left um and we quickly realized we were like we need to be cultivating relationships differently you know um and so it it might sound subtle or like not important to people um but that is a part of inclusion you know and I think as a female um in the in the industry knowing that business gets done through relationships that part of inclusion is actually important so so that was challenging for me honestly early on um and I’ve since kind of navigated it and built some effective relationships but I think people can be turned off by it um if if there is not this level of inviting you know um so I and I don’t think it’s malice I don’t think it’s malicious intent I just think people gravitate toward people that they usually hang out with I’ll follow on um to

the next question is what changes can companies in this sector under take to remove biases and obstacles for wound and other underrepresented groups because that’s obviously a been quite a focus on sort of intersectionalism so there’s you know there’s certain amongst us on the panel that maybe have faced additional um obstacles so yeah perhaps nidy if you want to kick us off with that one sure um just a few years ago Dei was such a Hot Topic right um I know you all remember that um yeah it’s definitely fizzled out um but because of that it it pushed me to kind of reorganize how we look at HR and recruiting um so some simple things that we have done that you could probably start doing today if not tomorrow um is your resumés if you’re out there and you’re recruiting your job po post sorry your job postings um when you’re recruiting just remove the subtle things such as must be able to lift 50 lbs or you know looking for um you know someone that is you know bilingual if you’re in Texas remove those things that would eliminate a huge Workforce that

could potentially be there and the by the way and these people if you have the right DNA they’re willing to learn um so some small things such as that is just changing how we recruit and how we look at HR and view um just to bring them in I think was one of one of the things that we started with a few years ago I you know a quick one I’d add I would I have this term where I say fishing in other ponds yeah go fish in other ponds I mean often times you know we go back and we recruit at the University that we went to or we talk to our friends from the golf course and that’s how referrals are coming in right so you’re going to start to and it makes sense you know you go to people who who know people um I think fishing in other ponds looks like what universities have we not tapped into you know what historical served you know University have we not tapped into what schools are we we not tapping into what career and tech ed programs are we not looking at

because that wasn’t the natural path you know what Second Chance programs can we be working with you know because we had naturally explored it I think that that’s a part of change is being conscious that again we do things often times that are familiar and that’s easy it’s easy for me just to call Jen and say Jen who do you know in this space it takes a whole lot more to say you know what I’m going to go to this this event that I don’t normally go to and then try to find people so that that would be mine is fishing in other ponds and I think we could probably squeeze these last two questions in and I don’t know if this actually applies to anybody here but would you recommend the MBA track or deem it necessary for leadership roles so I have my MBA there you go I stand corrected um I have my MBA I actually um did it at night while I was working full-time uh that I do not recommend if you’re going to go for your NBA just knock it out in a Year guys okay um

I don’t think in this day and age I do not think it’s necessary to have for a leadership role um I do think that there were some courses I learned through this MBA program that were very crucial um on the Finance on the accounting side you know just how to be a good manager but I don’t think you really need to go out and get the Master’s anymore just my opinion so I did it too there you go and I did it at night um while I was working full-time um at Disney and um is it required no um I think one everybody has to look at what they’re looking to do what you’re what you’re looking to do career-wise I don’t think it’s required but for me you know I was able to build my network for me I was able to use it as a place that was part of my pre-work before coming into this business is to study the industry you know to take more theoretical run evaluations um and just assess our business from a different lens so is it required no um I think you

got to look and say what is it that you want to do because the skill set or maybe even the the relationships can complement or be of value in the role but not required and then I think we ever so slightly over but we’ll do the last one anyway um can you elaborate on the Journey of emotional intelligence and how can women gain a recognition to uh Voice or recognition in a male dominated industry nidy was it you that mentioned emotional intelligence if You’ like to round us off with a a little bit of um additional info on that so I am a I’m a nerd at heart um I read a lot um so my journey for emotional intelligence and just how to gain that um was done through a lot of reading and what I’ve read I try to apply in person um so that was my journey um um and as far as the second part how can women gain a recognition to voice in a male dominated in be present it’s as simple is that show up be present if someone’s asking you to sit on a panel out of

fear please don’t say no say yes because practice makes perfect uh a few years ago I probably would have fumbled throughout this entire 45 minute session um but because being here and just being used to it and and getting a little bit more comfortable it helps I would like to say that all of our panelists here by their own free will um no one was no one was forced to be here on Direct uh and on that note um thank you so much ladies for joining me this has been really Illuminating and um also thank you all for listening I think that rounds out our morning and we’ll see you back at 2:00 for the 2024 Outlook thank you so much