Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/177117
EDITOR'S NOTE | NIKKI KALLIO n k a l l i o @ i n si g h t o n b u si n e ss. c o m Getting started How did you get your start? What happened Ceman, says Loch told her during her interview that she was that set you on the path to where you are now? looking for a career, not a job. That's what did it for Ceman. I love hearing these stories, particularly when And that's the key word: Career. Many young people people can pinpoint an event, a moment or a might not have considered manufacturing as an avenue person that set their careers on the "up" track. because no one showed them what it could be. We need Wanda Sieber, who owns Unishippers franchises lots of opportunities, classes, and interested mentors to help in Green Bay, Seattle, Wash., and Mobile, Ala. connect young people, perhaps young women in particular, (see "Why Women Win," p. 8), traces her start to a world of new possibilities. back to a class offered to the public by NEW Curative Rehabilitation in 1982. "I felt like I was a smart person, but I just In this month's Insight From column, Chris Linn, who is developing career connections between local manufacturers and the Appleton Area School District's Career and didn't have anything where I could earn more Technical Education staff, explains how manufacturers and than McDonald's money," Sieber recalls. "So one educators need to find a key person who will be a catalyst for day I just saw a tiny little ad in the newspaper – connection between the two groups. it was kind of a retraining program, and it was to learn the 'new word processors!'" (No young person today would ever get how cool word processors were, she adds). That basic class led to job experience that "Without these strong, assertive advocates, even wellconceived career exploration programs are likely to become ineffectual," he writes. We need these strong advocates, and we also need awareness that everyone is in a position to influence choices. ultimately gave Sieber the confidence to jump What can you do to help start someone down a new and into franchise ownership with her husband, Bill. exciting path? Get involved with a school, be a mentor, teach "Now we can look back with awesome rearview mirror vision and see how it all came together," Sieber says. Career paths like Sieber's aren't often planned (and maybe most aren't). Sarah Loch, operations a class, give a presentation? Offer someone encouragement and advice? You never know what will do it, or how much you could impact a young person's career path And that's way cooler than a word processor. F manager for Aurora Manufacturing, started in printing and then moved to Oshkosh Corp. before finding herself at Aurora. One of her bosses, Aurora Manufacturing co-owner Deana w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m September 2013 • Insight on Manufacturing |7