"I was recruited to BMW in 2018 from another car company as a maintenance technician.  I worked in the assembly department within the Powertrain/Marriage area. I did that for two years and I wanted to grow in the company. I was chosen to enter the Road to Production Management Program (RPM). This was the first time to include IT maintenance management in the RPM program. This ten-month program was very different than any other supervisor/management roles I had been in previously at other companies. It gave the tools I needed as I shadowed different section leaders and different roles.

During the program, I went to the Body Shop and Paint Shop and learned each section leaders' ways of doing things. I actually learned the BMW way of doing things and it gave me the tools I needed. I learned how to network and work with other people.

After the program, I became a section leader in Assembly for four years. During this time, all of the skills and knowledge I learned in the RPM program, I used to coach, mentor and guide my team. It helped me to show my team the way to get better in their field and become successful.

All these connections I made doing the program came back to me about a year ago. I was asked to go to the new battery plant. This was a chance for me to show my skills and to mentor and continue to grow within the company. So I took the position.

So now I'm here in the battery plant learning all new things. I have had the opportunity to travel to Germany and Hungary to learn new things about battery cell technology.  But not only is it a work thing, but you learn to have a relationship with everybody you travel with and you become a team. BMW has instilled in my team that we are not only work partners, but we are family. So as we come out on the floor working together, everyone knows we've been there together. We have traveled together, lived in hotels thousands of miles away across the ocean. And now we are one. And that's it. That’s the biggest team building I have ever seen in my entire career."