If asked at the dinner table, how would you describe what you do?
Well, when I am not inspecting M&Ms, I am engineering metrics, authoring policies and managing continuous-improvement projects for the L3Harris Engineering Function. Our employees have great improvement ideas and need someone like me to facilitate, listen and help.
Why do you like what you do?
I love to learn, and I learn something new every day in this role. I am fascinated by our L3Harris Aerospace & Defense Engineering solutions. Our solutions really do make the world safer. As I learn more about each product line, I am jazzed to use science and math principals to find savings (money and time).
How did you get to where you are in your career today, and who were your mentors who helped you along the way?
I read a book about how to have a ‘YES Attitude’. Since then, every time I have been approached to stretch and learn a new skill, I have said yes. I haven't mastered the skill of reducing stress levels when I step outside my comfort zone. Mentors help me through the months I am stretching (learning) a new skillset. My first official mentor approached me in 1989, we set goals to meet weekly and discuss my desire to be in the music industry. Through that relationship, we discovered that my goals were not aligned with my passion. I am fascinated with Aerospace, Math and Science topics. Since then, I've worked with spaceships, commanded satellites, engineered system deployment methods, and made great friends along the way. My dad witnessed the moment I learned about aerospace and encouraged my curiosity. He introduced me to what it takes to be a radical leader – ”invest deeply and connect.” We shared a love for technical solutions. He taught me how to troubleshoot. Anytime I had a rough patch in life, he would listen and would start his advice with the same three words – “get over it” – and follow it up with “you were not brought into this world to be anxious.”
What do you like to do outside of work?
I like to drive with the music too loud, watch UCF Knights Football at the Bounce House, watch horse racing, mow grass, and walk the beach.
