Automotive News - November 9, 2015 - Supplement - 46W

20151109-Sup1--0046-NAT-CCI-AN_--

11/2/2015

11:52 AM

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46W * NOVEMBER 9, 2015

L E A D I N G

W O M E N

PAMELA FLETCHER

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Executive Chief Engineer for Electrified Vehicles | General
Motors | Detroit | Age: 49 | Education: B.S., mechanical
engineering, General Motors Institute; M.S., mechanical
engineering, Wayne State University

"

"

"Every 30
minutes to an
hour you are
on to new
things that are
exciting."

"

"This industry
gets a bad rap.
You can touch
and see cars,
and they are
extensions of
our personality."

"

● What attracted you to the auto industry? The adrenaline of being
around cars gets you. My dad had a lot of hobbies, like weekend warrior
racer. And I was always doing something automotive-related for fun.
● First automotive job: I was a co-op student at the Fisher Guide plant in
Columbus, Ohio. That plant made hardware, such as door frames. I used
a stopwatch to see how long it took to spray paint parts. I was 17.
● Big break: Being named the chief engineer for the Chevy Volt
propulsion system.
● What is the major challenge you've faced in your career? The
business of electrification - to make it make sense for customers and
the business.
● Who has had the biggest influence on your career? My parents. They
were always encouraging. The never said, "Girls should not do that," or
"That's not something you should be interested in." They let me follow
my passion.
● What should be done to encourage women to enter the auto
industry? There is a ton of misconception of what we do in the business.
I think people would be interested in some "day in the life" stories. My
days are incredibly interesting. The subjects I deal with vary widely. Every
30 minutes to an hour you are on to new things that are exciting. We
need to do a better job of communicating exactly what we do. In the chief
engineer role, each vehicle is a project. You manage the business of it,
the design, the development, the content.
● Tell us about your family. My husband works at General Motors Milford
Proving Ground. He is a director for the vehicle dynamics center, so his
team works on all the cool stuff. We find it best to stay away from the
work thing in our private lives. But I will ask him for advice at times,
because he's got experience in areas I don't. He's very supportive, which
is important. He's very busy and I am very busy, so that makes it a
challenge to find enough personal time together. My children are grown
and out of the house. One's an attorney, one is a college administrator
and the other is a biochemist.
● What's your favorite weekend activity? We recently moved and we are
remodeling our house. We've moved walls.
● Are you able to maintain friendships? I think that is essential. There
are a lot more friendships I'd like to maintain, but time is limited. There's
a few I really cherish and put a lot of effort into.
● What's your guilty pleasure? Retail therapy.
- Richard Truett

REBECCA VEST
Vice President, Purchasing | Nissan
North America | Franklin, Tenn. | Age:
49 | Education: B.B.A., business
management, University of Kentucky
● What attracted you to the auto industry?
I was graduating from college in Lexington
and the big employers in the region were
Xerox and Procter & Gamble. But Toyota was
building its plant there. My favorite professor
recommended me to Toyota. My father
urged me to take the job because, he said,
"You'll never get the chance to start a new
plant again." So I took his advice.
● First automotive job: I was a buyer in
purchasing for Toyota in 1988.
● Big break: Coming to Nissan and
becoming VP of purchasing. I decided
several years ago that I wanted to run my
own purchasing team, and Nissan gave me
the opportunity to do it. I didn't take the
decision to leave Toyota lightly, but Nissan
has allowed me to grow professionally.
● What is the major challenge you've
faced in your career? I was promoted to this
job in February 2011. Thirty days later, the
tsunami and earthquake hit Japan. Moving
into this position meant being thrown into a
natural disaster and a global crisis. I learned
a lot quickly - how to work globally to solve
problems and find solutions. You have to
react quickly and develop a team who can
manage through the crisis. My goal was to
minimize the impact of the crisis on our
supply base. Our downtime would cause our
suppliers pain and suffering. So I strived to
keep production going in this region to help
them.
● Who has had the biggest influence on
your career? My father had a lot of influence
on me. He was an HR expert and always
talked to me about the way you should work
and why it's important. My dad had the
respect of all the people who worked in his
manufacturing plant, and he taught me
about respecting the role each person plays.
I also had the benefit of working with Gene
Tabor in the early days of purchasing at

●
Toyota. He became my career role model.
He's retired now, but I learned so much
from the way he worked with suppliers and
the way he acted in the workplace.
● What should be done to encourage
women to enter the auto industry? This
industry gets a bad rap. You can touch and
see cars, and they are extensions of our
personality. And yet for a lot of women, it's
just about manufacturing and it's not
glamorous. I think we would benefit from
educating young women about what
automotive is really about. It's not just
about making cars but about designing and
marketing and financing. It's awareness of
the field.
● Tell us about your family. I've been
married 19 years, and my husband's name
is Lance. I have two sons, John, who is
almost 16, and Ben, who is 12. They're very
active in their schools, so when I'm not
working and traveling, we spend a lot of time
together at sports events and school events
and church.
● What's your favorite weekend activity?
I'm a runner. During the week, I have to run
indoors on a treadmill. But on weekends I
get to go out in the morning and go for a
long run. Five to seven miles is long for me.
I also love to cook on the weekends -
things that require a knife and fork to eat.
● When and where was your last vacation?
My family goes every summer to Amelia
Island in Florida. We go over the Fourth of
July week for the fireworks and celebration.
● If you could have dinner with anyone,
living or dead, who would it be? George
Washington. I would love to sit with him and
hear his beliefs on liberty and freedom and
the founding of the country. I'd like to know
how he persevered and motivated his men
to do what needed to be done in the midst
of huge adversity.
● Name one talent you wish you had. I
wish I could dance. My ballet training as a
child didn't stay with me, much to my
mother's regret.
- Lindsay Chappell
Automotive News - November 9, 2015 - Supplement

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