Automotive News - November 9, 2015 - Supplement - 77W

20151109-Sup1--0077-NAT-CCI-AN_--

11/2/2015

12:35 PM

Page 1

NOVEMBER 9, 2015 * 77W

L E A D I N G

W O M E N

WENDI GENTRY-STUENKEL

●●●
●

decision making, but it provides for more of the flexibility
Director, Supply Chain Management Commercial
that you need in this business, and you actually get a
Operations | FCA US | Auburn Hills, Mich. | Age:
better outcome. Sometimes, when you get a little too
44 | Education: B.S., management systems,
programmatic, you can end up with an undesired
Kettering University; MBA, Michigan State
outcome because people missed the underlying intent.
University
And that's what has the tendency to sometimes break
down relationships. But if you keep the values true and
● What attracted you to the auto industry? The
people know why they're doing what they're doing, they
challenge of it. When I went to Kettering, it was 100
can move much more quickly and more consistently.
percent co-op. I was in high school and you had to have a
That's something that I've taken to other jobs.
sponsor to go to the school. I got an interview at General
● What should be done to encourage women to enter
Motors, and at the time, it seemed as good as anything
the auto industry? We have to focus on more than just
else. I was 18. I left the industry and worked for a
the product. I came back to the industry because of the
consulting firm that served a lot of different industries,
challenge, and if you're somebody who likes really
but I found that they significantly lacked the challenge of
complex problems to solve, this is an
the automotive industry, so I came back
amazing industry. It's a consumer product
because the business models just seemed
that has heavy government regulation,
"What other
so simplistic.
changing dynamics; it's very global; it's a
● First automotive job: In 1989, I started
industry can you complicated product. I think that there are
my career at General Motors' Fort Wayne
some women who would be attracted
go into that, if
Assembly Plant as a co-op student.
based on that who maybe aren't into cars.
you have a sense What other industry can you go into that, if
● Big break: I got to work on some
projects that had some great leaders, and I
of curiosity, you
you have a sense of curiosity, you can
got some visibility with those leaders. One
learn so much every day? I've been here
can learn so
in particular: I was working in our product
over 25 years, and my rate of learning
development group on the Grand
much every
hasn't changed since the first day I walked
Cherokee, and Dan Knott was the head of
onto the plant floor and was just
day?"
Jeep. I had opportunities to face some
overwhelmed with all the parts and the
challenges head on.
vehicles heading down the line. I haven't
● What is the major challenge you've faced in your
lost any of that, but I don't go to car shows on weekends.
career? Leading teams as we went through bankruptcy
● Tell us about your family. I am married, and I have two
and keeping a sense of optimism. Just keeping that
sons, aged 12 and 14. We call ourselves the upsidehope alive and keeping people's spirits engaged, even
down family because my husband gave up his career to
when you're having your own doubts, and doing that with
stay with the kids. In our community, that's not typical.
real authenticity. I worked at that time at a call center,
Even though you think things have evolved, it's not very
where suppliers could call, and that was a great growth
typical. My husband has been home with the boys for a
experience because you were really talking to people who
few years and was at the schools so often that the
were concerned about their futures, particularly when
schools hired him. He runs a preschool in Clarkston
they were at small companies. It was quite a growth
called the Great Start Readiness Program.
experience.
● What's your favorite weekend activity? On the
● Who has had the biggest influence on your career?
weekends, we live on a lake, so we're either out on a
I'll go back to the example of Dan Knott because the
boat with the kids, or we're at soccer games with other
focus was very much: What is our value system, and
families. It's a whole other social network.
what do we really believe in? Sometimes you have a
● What's your guilty pleasure? I have a group of friends
process focus, where you just lay out this process and
who work here, and periodically, we have our girls' night
two plus two equals four. When you have a team focused
out. So it's away from work and away from my family.
on the sense of values, you still can get consistent
Anything that's away from my family is a little bit of a

DIANE ALLEN

●

Senior Design Manager | Nissan Design America
| San Diego | Age: 55 | Education: B.S.,
transportation design, Center for Creative
Studies
● What attracted you to the auto industry? I went to an
auto design show and I just knew flat out this is what I
wanted to do. It just blew me away. It just sort of
connected. And I knew I didn't want to design toasters or
computers, that it was going to be cars. I'm not a
motorhead. I don't have oil in my blood. I'm all about the
form. I'm all about the expression.
● First automotive job: I did an internship at Ford for
two months in summer 1983. I'd switched schools
without telling family and made the jump to CCS. I
already had four years at Wayne State and I had another
semester to do to finish. So I told CCS I can do this at
CCS if you give me just two years for a transportation
design degree. Ford was that first summer after that. And
suddenly I was making more money than my dad at the
time, and that's when my mom came on board.
● Big break: It was that first semester. I had to take out
a student loan and pay for it. [CCS] gave me a modest
scholarship. But they stacked me up, I think I had to do
21 credits hours. And then we had a show that first
semester and my stuff was just screaming off the wall.
And I ended up getting a full ride the rest of the way.
● What is the major challenge you've faced in your
career? The challenge is to not take it home with you.
Because sometimes the work gets so heavy, you find
yourself taking it home and working on Saturday or
Sunday. And sometimes that is a bit much, but it's not

always that flow. It's an incidental flow. Plus during the
truck program, it was such a complicated logistical
process. We had to do all these bed/cabin relationships
and configurations to make them work throughout the
lineup, so that made it a really heavy load.
● Who has had the biggest influence on your career? I
don't know if I could say a single person. I would have to
say the [Nissan Design America] culture. The culture of
this design facility is very supportive. It's not like
anything else; the guys are not cutthroat, they're very
supportive of each other's work, but they all strive to win
the design. So the fact that the culture is very embracive
and supportive. And I would have to say friendlycompetitive, not in-your-face. Not edgy. We have a lot of
fun here.
● What should be done to encourage women to enter
the auto industry? So few people know about car design,
and then the guys who know about it have always dreamt
about doing it. So early on, like in high school, no one

guilty pleasure. About once a month, we get together and
have our night, with girl time of what we're struggling with
at work or family or with the kids or whatever it is. It
might be a form of group therapy. We just go to a local
restaurant around here. There are four of us.
- Larry P. Vellequette

knows about it. I went to college for four years before I
found out about it. So more could be done in the primary
school years to raise awareness.
● Tell us about your family. I don't have family out here;
I just have my two kids, who are twins, a boy and a girl. I
moved here from Michigan. But my family does come to
visit, and I make sure to take my kids back to Michigan
for summer vacation and for winter. They love the snow.
My brother lives up near the Crystal Lake [Mich.] area
and every winter as soon as we unload the car, mom
makes the luge. It's 180 feet down this steep slope and
I make it go flying. We set up lights so we do it at night.
It's a different experience there. Here they have the
beach all the time.
But they're a handful. They just went to Florida to
compete in Muay Thai kickboxing and they both won a
belt bigger than their head. So they keep me busy. My
daughter, ever since she was 4, she said, "I'm going to
be a cop." And as she's gotten older, she's changed that
to an FBI agent. So she's got the Muay Thai, and she's a
fantastic shooter.
● What's your favorite weekend activity? It depends on
what my kids and I have planned. Usually it's a day at
the beach, sometimes it's just to have friends over and I
feed them and feed them and feed them. They're
monsters about eating. And also my son is really
interested in cooking so we like to cook together.
● Name one thing about yourself that most people
don't know. I'm a really good seamstress. I come from a
long line of - my aunts are all upholsters and sewers
and stuff. To put myself through school, I was a men's
tailor at a tailor shop in northern Michigan.
● What's your guilty pleasure? Lounging by the pool
with a cool glass of lemonade - spiked.
- David Undercoffler

Automotive News - November 9, 2015 - Supplement

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - November 9, 2015 - Supplement