Boss Lady | Meet Kathy Miller. Keynote Speaker, Coach, Author, Senior Operations Executive & Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame
Kathy Miller started working in manufacturing at 17 years of age as an Industrial and Systems Engineering Co-op student. She worked in a vehicle assembly plant and immediately fell in love with the sights and sounds of the factory and the fact that every 60 seconds, a working vehicle came off the end of the line. She always said that if she could not be a rock star, she would want to be the Plant Manager of a vehicle plant someday.
Well, if the truth be known, she did not become a rock star, nor did she ever get to run a vehicle assembly plant. But she did get to do many fulfilling jobs along the way. She ran a vehicle electronics plant that was recognized with a Shingo Award for business excellence, served as a Global Vice President of Quality, Lean Enterprise, & Strategy Deployment for a $12B diversified industrial company, and was the Global Director of Manufacturing, Assembly, and Test for Rolls-Royce Defense. She has supported operations in over 25 countries, including as the General Manager for multiple plants producing millions of engineered seals. There, she and her team transformed the operation from a traditional batch manufacturing company to a lean enterprise, converting the culture from the traditional hierarchy to one characterized by inclusivity. Everyone in the operation contributed to improving the business to achieve impressive productivity and profitability. Then, with her friend and colleague Shannon Karels, she wrote a book about it: Steel Toes and Stilettos (Routledge, Dec. 2021). She was inducted into the Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame (2021) not only for her significant accomplishments in this field but also for supporting others to achieve success.
Kathy always wanted to study psychology, so she enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania's Masters of Positive Psychology program. Created by Dr. Martin Seligman, known as the Father of Positive Psychology and taught by some of the most preeminent scholars in the field, she became armed with the science of human flourishing.
Combining her impressive experience, business acumen, and knowledge of positive psychology, Kathy has started her own company, yk2020llc. These days, she works with businesses that want to improve their performance results through proven processes, sound leadership principles, and the science of well-being. She does this through keynote speeches, business advising services, and individual and group leadership coaching.
She is generous with her knowledge for anyone working to excel in the industry. She is often called upon to share her insights and passion with women's employee resource groups, human resource professionals, and executive leadership teams. She will soon be adding resources to her portfolio aimed at helping individuals with disabilities thrive in the workplace as well.
Check out Kathy's work or contact her on LinkedIn at kathy-miller-mapp-mba-acc or her website: OPSisters.com.
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