A Snapshot of My Professional and Personal Life During My DuPont Career from 1977-2013
Please write something about yourself here (academic background, current professional career, etc)
My Life at DuPont
A Snapshot of My Professional and Personal Life During My DuPont Career from 1977-2013
The Career Growth
My early days at DuPont were quite a challenge. I heard from people that only very few made it working at where they wanted to be. While I was at my job at the Nylon Beaming, I became so determined to reach my goal, which was at that time to work in Nylon Spinning.
While I was at the height of my motivation to excel, word was going on that women could not work in the Nylon Spinning department for more than thirty days—just in time when I expressed an interest in going into spinning. The situation became worse when more than a dozen of men came to me and discouraged me to come back because the work was definitely not for the members of the female species. Nevertheless, what they said did not dishearten me; in fact, it stimulated me to prove them wrong.
True enough, six months later, I was able to admit myself to Spinning. The environment was not healthy; gender discrimination was at its peak. I was not welcomed as a female at all. The men would look down on women, including me of course. A lot of them were not determined to help me even if some of them were down my line. Needless to say, I met some good male friends on the way. In fact, I competed with the males to become better than they were. Just to prove that women are not inferior to the men. Luckily for me, I was chosen to go to Istanbul, Turkey, to help establish the plant. There were some who opposed; it was a messy process but at the end of the day, I succeeded.
My life at DuPont started to get interesting as I begun to achieve a lot of things that I could not imagine possible. I became the Nylon Area Safety Team Chairperson for four years. I also joined the Fire Brigade, which was challenging for a woman struck in a men-dominated environment. Later on, I joined the Mert Team and then to the Control Lab when the Plant III came on line. I was able to help perfect the process in the Control Lab. After the successful work, the company declared that there was an excess of manpower in the department so I was involuntary moved to Tyvek Lines 1 & 2.
Later on, I was moved back to the Nylon Spinning, where I enjoyed the work so much. I stayed and worked happily there for at least ten years until a disastrous fire happened back in 1992.
Things changed for me when the conflagration occurred in the plant. A lot of assignments and transfers were undergone and I ended up in Tyvek Spinning. After two years there, Chuck Page from Line 4 approached me and asked me to join them. I was happy to oblige and became part of them for about six years. After that, I joined the team of Windup and Pack Room for a few years. I wanted to go up so I decided to study the process control room job. Unfortunately, I was bypassed and ended up going back to the Control Room.
With all that was happening, it was Tim Sharpe (who was one of the very few who believed I could make it to Nylon Spinning) who came to my rescue and kept me sane. He came over and told me how wonderful Nomex was and talked me into joining the Fire Brigade, Union Election Committee, ISO Auditor, Hazmat, and Safety Committee. I do not know how I could have survived a tough working environment without his help. Thanks, Tim!
So with Tim’s encouragement, I was able to make it to the Nomex Paper Cultural Exchange! As usual (although it was much to my surprise), I was met with opposition. Nevertheless, I still made it and I just held on to my job by praying to the Lord. Trigger, someone whom I went to school with, was very much against my progress in the company. He wouldn’t train me in the Control Room. Instead, it was Temple who showed me everything and trained me properly. Because of him, I learned what I had to and I could not be more thankful. Others were helpful too and I thank them for that.
The Personal Side
Before joining DuPont, my qualifications included two Associate Degrees, one in Secretarial Science and one in Business Administration. I also worked in the Planning Department in the City of Richmond for seven years. It was then when I got married and had a son, three years later. I was such a busy person that I hated myself for coming home and then putting my son to bed an hour after. I felt like I didn’t have enough time to spend with my child. My sister, who was also my son’s godmother, helped me and took care of him. I could not stand it. At that time, my sister was working at DuPont, and it seemed to me that she had more time with her kids. I told her to let me know when they had an opening.
So I decided to take my chances at DuPont with a goal of moving up the corporate ladder. I grabbed the opportunity in 1982 but I was told that I needed more manufacturing experience to qualify for the job. What can I do? During that time, my experience was not related to manufacturing at all! I was a substitute teacher, a caregiver, and a foster mother to twenty-three children!
Nevertheless, I was able to join DuPont through the Nylon department. But in my head, I wanted to move into the Research and Development division. So I went through many interviews. I was asked for my transcript of records and my resume. But it seemed unfair as later on, they were already asking for papers that I do not have. Needless to say, it was the white males who dominated that section of the business.
I have had a lot of disappointing experiences in DuPont but I was chasing a dream. I continued to apply for positions available. During the last interview, I was told that I needed to be a first line manager and they knew that the records showed that was not where I wanted to go. Then I knew I had to go to school in order to have better qualifications.
When I chased my dreams in DuPont, I ended up with a degree in Organizational Management and Development from Bluefield College. Aside from that, I got a Masterals in Human Resource Management and in Education from Strayer University. However, these did not seem enough. But I had to prove something—that women can go into decision-making fields just like men. And so I never got tired of voicing my opinion over and over again. I only quit when slowly but surely, I began to see the fruit of my effort: females were finally chosen in specialized and decision-making bodies in the organization. Such a relief!
