Katie Vows to Never Stop Learning
Katie's education in the business school at Indiana State University exposed her to many different aspects of business, from finance to marketing, to app development and more. She wasn't afraid to try different things until she found her fit, and that variety of learning experiences is paying off.
Now a Project Manager for the Global Warranty Systems Transformation, Katie helps forge connections between IT and other areas of the company; something she is able to do because she understands multiple points of view.
With Cummins since 2018, Katie was promoted to her current role in August, is pursuing her Six Sigma green belt, and is active with several employee projects. She embraces every opportunity to learn something new, whether on her own or from her colleagues.
I think a lot of people think you graduate college, you get a job and you're done, but, you know, you're constantly learning and you're never going to stop learning.”
Being from Terre Haute, Katie took note back in college that Cummins was a sponsor of Indy Pride. She recalls, “I started looking into them more and learned about their diversity and inclusion and I was like, ‘Oh wow, it's a really great company’.”
Katie ultimately found her job through the combination of a career fair and her personal network. "The person who came to recruit for Cummins was a past student of Indiana State and one of my professors knew him. So, I got a personal introduction outside of the career fair as well. I did my research and was really interested." Lucky for Cummins, the right role was available.
The best part of her job, Katie says, is the people. "Every day I'm working with people all around the world. I've learned so much from them." When she describes her 17-person team she says, "when you need help, you can ask them. They're understanding of things outside of work, you know, personal life and work-life balance."
Katie continues, "It's a good mixture of people, too. There are men, women and different age groups - like all types of people, and it works really well. I know, at some point, I'm going to have to leave this team because you have to grow, but it's going to be really hard because they are like a family."
One area where she has learned a lot about working with others is conflict resolution. In her role, she sometimes deals with a system malfunction or outage. Naturally, these events can cause a lot of frustration for users, so she has had to learn how to navigate those interactions positively.
What often makes a job especially rewarding are the little things one gets to do outside of the job description. As mentioned, Katie is working on her first Six Sigma project, which puts her on the path to earning her green belt. But that's not all.
She helped start Cummins' Pride Ally Program and co-leads the Southern Indiana Pride Employee Resource Group chapter. Outside of work, she is the leader of the Columbus, Indiana Pride Festival and is on a mission to visit all of the U.S. National Parks.
She took a moment to describe the Ally Program. "Basically, we have a form people can read and sign up to be an ally saying, 'Yes. I support the LGBTQ+ community, and I'd be interested in learning more'. We try to have some visual cues to make people feel safe, like laptop decals and things that communicate 'that's a safe person'." She says they also commit to continuing education, with newsletters and quarterly lunch-and-learns.
Where does Katie see her career at Cummins taking her? She says she's not sure if she will continue developing her skills in project management or explore another direction. "I've looked into analytics as well," she muses. "So those are kind of two paths that I'm looking at right now but definitely want to move into some type of management position, whichever way I go."
As for others who may want to work at Cummins, she would highly recommend it. "The way I explain it is, yes, we're a big corporate global company but to me, it still has a small-town feeling. You're treated like a person, not a number, you're able to make meaningful connections even working remotely. I've been able to make some very good, meaningful connections and they're always encouraging you to grow."
With her learning mindset, there’s no doubt that Katie will continue to grow as a professional and a fascinating individual.
Cummins Inc.
Cummins, a global power technology leader, is a corporation of complementary business segments that design, manufacture, distribute and service a broad portfolio of power solutions. The company's products range from internal combustion, electric and hybrid integrated power solutions and components including filtration, aftertreatment, turbochargers, fuel systems, controls systems, air handling systems, automated transmissions, electric power generation systems, microgrid controls, batteries, electrolyzers and fuel cell products.
