Overcoming Curveballs and Challenges

For Tamara, landing in the maintenance and reliability industry was definitely more of an accident than it was destiny. Tamara started off her career at Nutrilite as a Brand Communications Specialist, a position heavily focused on marketing. 

After several years of being in this role, Tamara was offered a position as a Project Manager. To prepare herself for this new role, Tamara went back to school and got her Project Management certification.

Her first project was to solve major quality issues found in one of her company’s buildings. However, after three months of working with a global team to create solutions, the company decided to make some changes in management and assigned Tamara to be the supervisor of the entire plant’s maintenance and operations.

As a supervisor, Tamara was no longer in charge of completing a mid-scale project, but she was suddenly given the responsibility of leading a team of 50 people to fully manage a 24/7 operational plant. Despite this radical shift, Tamara faced her challenges head-on, and quickly caught up to speed on the facility’s equipment and maintenance methodologies.

The company noticed Tamara’s immense growth and asked her if she would consider taking over a plant in a different state as a Maintenance Manager. Excited for yet another challenge, Tamara took on the position and has been in the maintenance and reliability space ever since. Now, she is a Maintenance Manager at Refresco Beverage.

Closing the Gap

For Tamara, a prerequisite in solving any problem is building a world-class team. As an experienced and adept Maintenance Manager, she makes it a priority to close the skills gap within her team and provide the necessary resources for her team to achieve success. Tamara shared,

“I’ve learn that when turning a plant around, it always starts with the people.”

Renewing and revamping plants can present many obstacles. But, a great team will have the ability to navigate those issues and do great work together. Tamara stands by this philosophy, and it has proven to be extremely effective even now.

Investing in People

Investing in members of her team stemmed from Tamara’s experience with having an exceptional mentor who invested in her. Tamara shared,

“I was lucky to have a mentor who walked me through what I needed to know and answered millions of my questions.”

To Tamara, being a good manager also means being a good teacher. As a manager, she strives to build a team to meet the demands and challenges of the present. And as a teacher, she strives to mentor her team to develop their potential, as well as set them up for success for the present and beyond.