Monday Manufacturing Motivation – with Meaghan Ziemba

Curt Anderson  0:00

Stretch. Hey guys, sir, it is Monday, Damon. Good morning, my friend. Happy Monday. Thank God it’s Monday on manufacturing Monday motivation. How are you today?

Damon Pistulka  0:11

I’m awesome, Kurt. Glad to be here today.

Curt Anderson  0:13

Where would you rather be than right here right now with our dear friend Meaghan Meaghan. Good morning. How are you today?

Meaghan Ziemba  0:22

I’m great. Thank you. I’m excited because it’s a short week, we got Thanksgiving coming up and yummy food I’m about to eat and I’m really excited about it.

Curt Anderson  0:30

So you know what, why were there instead of I was gonna hit that last. Let’s do it right now. So Megan shirt, what? What are you thankful for this week as we come into this time of year? What are you thankful for?

Meaghan Ziemba  0:40

I just did a video this morning about this. I’m actually really thankful for all the amazing people that I’m meeting on this journey that I’ve done with mavens manufacturing, and just really all the good advice and support that people have been providing, because there’s a lot of interesting individuals in the sector. And they’ve helped me along the way and taught me some really helpful things that were necessary for me to learn and they didn’t charge me for it. So that was really nice. Awesome. They’re really thankful for just all the support and encouragement and inspiration that I’m getting from everyone.

Curt Anderson  1:18

Oh, that is awesome. Very inspiring. Of course, the men in your life. How about Declan Kyle, right. Thankful for those dudes, right?

Meaghan Ziemba  1:24

Yeah, so I’m a mom of three I get it for if you want to include my husband. But my daughter Annabelle is graduating this year, and my two boys, Declan and Ronan. They’re three and four will Ronan will be three in March. And then my husband, which he’s a kid at heart, so yeah.

Curt Anderson  1:45

And he’s a proud police officer. So again, so you do an amazing job. So anybody that doesn’t know, Megan, you are doing all sorts of amazing, incredible things. For the manufacturing community. We have a ton to unpack tonight on cover. So I’m going to kind of run through the list real quick. And now Megan, you and I connected ironically, several years ago, believe it or not. And you know, I think like maybe maybe you’re having your youngest said that time you’re going to take like a little break and then all sudden I started seeing you all over the place again. And so here we reconnected and so let’s just kick things right, right off. mavens of manufacturing, you are an incredible podcast host the hostess with the mostess. How, what inspired you to start your podcast and like what why manufac why mavens a manufacturing.

Meaghan Ziemba  2:30

So I’ve been writing for manufacturing since 2008. My niche is professional and technical writing. That’s what I went to school for. It’s really pretty much the only skill I am really good at in terms of professional careers. And when I started out, I started in the trade publication industry. And one of the very first things David Madden Mansi told me, because we went to a trade show, he was like, just be as professional as you possibly can. Because you’re going to get looks, you’re going to get stares, you’re going to get comments, and I had no idea what the heck he was trying to prepare me for. And so I actually walked him to the trade show floor and really noticed that guys tend to look at girls a little bit differently on the trade show floor and had some pretty negative experiences within this space. But the positive actually outweigh the negative. I learned about a lot of cool technologies and products and services from a variety of different companies, the trade publication that I worked for focused on product design and development. So we were learning about things in aerospace, telecommunications, medical, and automotive. And it was just really interesting. And then they promoted me to an editor for wireless design and development. So it was still product design, but mostly focused on the wireless industry. And when I thought of wireless, I thought it was just cell phones. But there’s so much more to it than that. And during this time learning about all these different companies, I noticed that men highly outnumbered women and then fast forward to what I’m doing today. You know, we’re still at, you know, a high 20% of the women in manufacturing, released a stat a couple of weeks ago on a new study that they they promoted in women are at 33% now, which is fantastic. But, you know, I noticed the lack of women in the sector and just hearing conversations my daughter was having with some of her friends. None of them in our area are really interested in manufacturing or understand what manufacturing is and everything involved in it. A lot of them are going to school or pursuing four year colleges for medical to be nurses, childcare teachers, something in sports, and not very many manufacturing an engineer conversation so I wanted to you know get back to the storytelling element that I love really, like, that’s my favorite thing about what I do. And I’m really good at connecting people to other people and making bridges and finding helpful resources. So I wanted to combine all of that, and see if maybe I could make a difference in the skills gap that we’re facing, while at the same time empowering younger girls to get excited about STEM opportunities. So I talked to one of my friends who’s also a mentor of mine, and brought up the concept mavens manufacturing. And he’s like, Well, why aren’t you doing it? And I’m like, because I don’t have anything prepared. I don’t have a website. I don’t really know how to do things on YouTube. And he’s like, Well, that’s ridiculous. Those are so easy. And I’m like, maybe to you? Yeah. But he basically just told me to make an announcement. And I did. And when that happened, I actually booked out shows up until April of this year. So I had to go back to him. And I was like, Well, now you got to really do this with me, because I have no idea what I’m doing. And yeah, it’s gotten 1% better each time that I’ve done it. And it’s had such an impact, which is very humbling to me, because I really just wanted to do it to kind of fill up time and just be a storyteller because I love interviewing people and asking questions and hearing their stories. And I really just wanted to provide a platform for women because I was seeing podcasts and interviews, and most of them focused on the men in the sector. And I already knew all the cool women from being in the pub. So I was like, you know, I’m gonna make one for women so that they can brag about some of the coolest stuff that they’re doing. And it’s, it’s been successful, so I’m really, really thankful for that.

Curt Anderson  6:43

Well, that’s awesome. Speaking of cool women, let’s give a couple of shout outs we have a few people saying hello and good morning to you Meaghan. So we have anger. Our dear friend man if you guys are connected need to connect with anger and of course our love of our lives Damon gale of both over in Canada, we have John in New Jersey saying hello to so we’ve got friends coming on board here Megan and so and you just you hit so much and I want to unpack a few things right there that you’re a lot of there was a lot a lot of meat on the bone there you know, and it’s lunchtime where I’m at so like this is this is phenomenal. Let’s go back in time you said you know so your career your superpowers are you know and again eight superpowers Can I see that T shirt again? Megan, what do you got going on there little Batman. There’s an awesome, awesome story.

Meaghan Ziemba  7:27

Wonder Woman cup or Wonder Woman guy? Oh,

Curt Anderson  7:29

so let’s so your superpowers include copy editing, copywriting, your marketing coordinator for photo fab. I have that correct. Right. You started your own firm, z z Inc. You mentioned David Manti dear friend of David and myself. And so Dave, again, Megan, we connected years ago. And when you kind of when I started seeing you back on the scene, David man, he was like, Kurt, you got to connect with Megan, man, she’s a rock star. So let’s go back to 2008. What drove you like you’re such an advocate, you are a champion of driving of empowering women drive, you know, shining that bright light on opportunities for women in manufacturing? What sparked What was your inspiration in 2008? What drove you into this b2b Space industrial marketing? What What led you that direction?

Meaghan Ziemba  8:15

Well, I was really not intentional at all, I was just trying to look for a job because I had my daughter at 20. And unfortunately, her biological father decided that he was not ready to be a dad. And so I needed to make a decision, personally, for me to just step up and not really be one of those statistics of you know, I had a kid and then that was it. I wanted to set up a role model for her. So she knew that she could do anything that she she put her mind to, as long as you know, you did hard work and just kept pushing forward. So that’s, that’s where my inspiration came from. And I’m sure David can tell you some stories, because there are a couple of times where she actually came in the office, when I worked in Madison with ABM, where I worked with David and we did a bunch of video series. And it was just fun working with those guys, because Eric and David are so talented. And Alex is really talented too. And it’s never a boring day working with them. They full of laughter and joy. Yeah, you did an event with David. So I brought Annie in a couple of times during that time, and just to see her get excited about what I was doing. I knew right then and there like anything that I’m doing. She’s watching and she’s taking notes. Yeah. So I just wanted to kind of set her up for success by leading by example. And I want to do that with other people as well too. And just, you know, let them know. Yeah, you might have a bad history or a rough situation. But you can change your story. You can put if you put your mind to it. You can change your story and do something that you’re really passionate about and help others

Curt Anderson  10:00

That is so good. So Damon Knight, we’re both proud girl dad. So again, we just think you are such an inspiration. So anybody out there is not familiar with David. David Manti, he’s manufacturing that now industrial equipment, news, a whole whole list of brands under their umbrella. And he’s, again a fierce advocate for US manufacturing. So Megan, so let’s do that. So you know, so out of necessity you find yourself but again, it kind of became a calling and became your passion. You’ve been zoo mentioned a company with David manti. You were at manufacture? I think making chips calm or making chips. The podcast itself,

Meaghan Ziemba  10:37

right. Yeah, they, that was a interesting situation, because I started out as their content creator, when it was advanced machine and engineering. And then Nick Goldner, who is, I believe right now He’s the VP for sales and marketing for Amy and Hennig, so he always had a passion for marketing. He loved what Jim Carr and Jason Sanger were doing with the podcast weaking ships. So he wanted to kind of create this marketing agency for metal, the metalworking industry that focused on CNC machining, and that’s how making chips the marketing agency came to be. And it was really fun. I never was a part of a startup before. So it was interesting to see how that stuff unfolded. And I think they’re doing amazing stuff, especially with animations and renderings. It’s a really great tool for anyone that’s looking to like highlight their tombstones or even any products outside of CNC machining, renderings, and animations are a really beneficial tool, especially if you have a great sales team. It just adds on, on to their their capabilities.

Curt Anderson  11:48

That is That is awesome. So again, anybody listening, if you’re not connected with Megan, you have to connect with Megan, you need to follow her content, you post consistently. And just I want to share a few things of comments that people say about you, Megan, I know you’re very humble, modest, you might you might blush a little bit. But if you go on your LinkedIn profile people who claim you as the ultimate, team player, top notch editor, most driven person I’ve ever worked for intense motivation. In a button, you always go above and beyond. And so again, you’re kind of guys are getting a taste or a sense of like this inspiration that Megan drives on a weak daily, weekly basis. So I want to cover a couple things now. So let’s we mentioned mavens mode of manufacturing. Okay. And let’s talk you have incredible guests, you said you have a bunch lined up, share some of the incredible guests conversations, success stories that have really blown you away so far in these conversations.

Meaghan Ziemba  12:46

Yeah, so it’s really hard for me to choose because every single person that’s been on Naviance, I’ve learned at least something from them, and just are so passionate. And that’s what I want to show to the next generation like, these people actually love what they’re doing. And they’re not going anywhere because they love what they’re doing. And this is something you can do as well. So I interviewed Allison greylist, who is the founder of Women in manufacturing. And she talked about the importance of women based organizations is sort of provide that place for women to come together and ask each other questions and talk about their experiences and just have that commonality. And it’s a wonderful group to be a part of, if you’re not a part of it, I highly suggest both men and women to join. They have a variety of chapters throughout the United States. I know she’s been working extremely hard to getting chapters on an international level. So she’s actually hitting other countries with that organization. And she’s just bound and determined to get as many women excited about manufacturing, as anyone, as all of us are. So she was a really good guest Nicole Walters from HM manufacturing. She’s such a firecracker. I love her, her spirit her great. She’s doing a lot of things with social media that might not be favored to some old school traditional manufacturers. So she actually is hiring. I guess you could call Millennials but she’s letting them do stuff on Tik Tok and Snapchat and creating videos of their processes, which I think is really interesting. Ashley Walters from Onyx she also wrote a book called leading with great and grace. And she talked about her experience going into onyx and helping change the management style that was that you know, lead by demand and kind of instilling fear in the employees and then switching it over by like coaching and learning and involving all the employees and some of the decision making that goes on with onyx and she was able to get that company out of some of the financial distress that it was facing. And Mark A constant. She’s not really in manufacturing. But she talks a lot about mentorship and the importance of it, which is something I think we need to do more of, especially when we’re trying to get kids excited about manufacturing. Tony Neary from Haas, she is just so amazing. And she has such an energy about her, she gets people excited, just having a simple conversation. She does a lot with Haas and the Morris group, where she actually visited, she visits high schools who are thinking about bringing CNC machining and some of their tech programs. And she helps them figure out the layout and the types of machines that they need. So they’re doing really good. I’ve also talked to Jessica, who used to work at making ships as well, too. She She came on and talked about the importance of brands story and how manufacturers can develop their brand story to hit those targeted audiences that they need to do. Chris Granger was actually one of the few guys that I found on there. And he talked about being a girl dad himself and some of the things that he does at home to get them excited about STEM opportunities, and how he kind of feeds their hunger for curiosity, and some of the games that he plays with them. And then I recently just had a conversation with a Nisa, who is the CEO of pioneer. And she recently just got elected for the PMPA. I believe she’s the president of that group right now. And she is going to come on, and she’s going to talk about some of the processes that she has that pioneer and what they’re doing to, you know, get workforce development and some of the things that they’re they’re focusing on to get the next generation. And just, yeah, I could go on and on and on and on. Yeah, there’s so many options to Yeah, and I’m really excited for next year, because I believe my video editing skills have gotten a little bit and just looking for to just, you know, keep the conversation going with a lot of these women that are in the sector that, you know, a lot of people haven’t heard of, yeah, you’re doing amazing things, especially in leadership positions. It’s awesome to see.

Damon Pistulka  17:11

Yeah, there really is.

Curt Anderson  17:12

Yeah, this is phenomenal. And I just I just I love how you’re just like you’re just lighting up talking about all these folks. And Megan, you’re just you’re doing such an amazing job, just shining a bright light on amazing individuals that, you know, probably don’t get a chance to talk about, you know, all the incredible work that they’re doing. And again, you know, you know, a lot of our folks here Ted just dropped a note. He said, keep up the great work, Meaghan. So morning said Happy Monday. Thank you for chiming in, in our group here. So in Gord John Gale, again, we love all of them dearly. They’re part of a Thursday group. It’s a Twitter chat group for US manufacturers. It’s the USA, USA, MFG. Our Twitter group and I know Nicole, who you mentioned, she’s active in that group. So a tons of women are in that group and fierce leaders for manufacturers. So I mean, there’s so many opportunities for folks to get involved with communities, online opportunities, like you know, now, you mentioned Costco and tic tac and you know, some other activities, bring in young folks in let’s talk about you did a fantastic conference last month. We were I was trying to get you to come on our program in October like Kurt, I’m too busy. I got things rocking and rolling. Man, you like you really crushed it did a amazing job. Please share with the folks about the conference that you put together in October for Manufacturing Day.

Meaghan Ziemba  18:31

Yeah. So I wanted to pay it for it in my community. Because when my family is actually originally from upstate New York, and we moved to Beloit when I was around three years old, because my dad got a position at Fairbanks Morse. And the light used to have quite a few manufacturing strongholds within the community. And by the time the late 90s, came around early 2000s, my sister and I were still in high school. And most of those places close and Fairbanks lost a significant number of their workforce because of everything going on. And it was really interesting for me to see the the effects of that because a lot of our friends who we knew in high school, their career pathway was for those companies, they were just gonna fall in their parents footsteps and pursue that job. They didn’t they weren’t thinking about college, they were thinking about anything else, because they were like, No, I have a job here. My parents have been working there 20 plus years. I’m good, I’m set to go. So when those places shut down and started cutting their workforce in half, they had to rethink what they needed to do. And some of them got in such a huge depression state that they went to drugs or alcohol or you know, it was just not a good situation. Yeah. So, you know, I think that uh, I think that experience is still kind of resonating with some of the parents of today and even some of the grandparents of today. And they believe that manufacturing is not a stable career pathway. Because all that we experienced back then. And you know, it does, it fluctuates, there’s bad moments, and there’s good moments. And I really just wanted to show these kids from the high school that I graduated, you know, you’re learning the basics here. But there’s so much more that comes after you learn the basics. And there’s a lot of opportunity for you to grow a career. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be the four year college university route. Um, I did that route. And the only reason why I succeeded is because I got pregnant with my daughter, I went out, um, the first two years I was in college, I was on academic probation in my first two years, and then I got pregnant with my daughter, I’m like, I really need to change what I’m doing here. So I wanted to do a face to face facility tour. But thanks to the Delta variant, COVID. A lot of manufacturers didn’t want to be liable for getting any of the kits, which I completely understand and was really respective of their their choice. So I talked to the head of the department there, Deb Proust, she’s amazing. And I asked her, I was like, if I can get a virtual event going, is this something that we can do? And she’s like, Yeah, absolutely. So I reached out to a group that I’m part of called the manufacturing mafia. And Tony Gunn, Eddie Saunders, will Healy, J a call? I mean, there’s a lot of incredible Gail, she’s a part of it there. There’s a lot of incredible people within that channel. So I reached out to him, and I said, Hey, you know, if I do this event, can any of you like, volunteer 20 to 30 minutes of your time and present what you’re doing in manufacturing? Because I’m really trying to get these kids excited. And they all said yes. And initially, I wanted some women in there, but the first people to respond, were guys. Okay, so that’s fine. But then Tim Wellborn brought his wife on board member and one of his employees, Mary, and it was fantastic. But the really cool thing about it was a couple weeks before the event, Jesse Salazar reached out to me on LinkedIn, and was like, Hey, I’m a huge fan of yours. And I was like, Who is this getting a hold of me from Department of Defense? Because he sent me an email. And I was like, why am I getting an email from the Pentagon?

Unknown Speaker  22:39

Like you’re in trouble, right? Yeah.

Meaghan Ziemba  22:42

And I talked, I talked to my husband about it, because I was like, What the heck is this? And he goes, let me let me see. So he actually did some research on Jesse to and he’s like, No, he’s Burke’s legitimately for the Department of Defense. I’m like, okay, cool. So he really loved what I was doing with mavens, and he also was a huge fan of Andrew Grove is doing amazing things with DIY stuff within manufacturing. And I just thought Andrew would be the perfect keynote speaker for the bullet community. Because the high school that I graduated from, they don’t necessarily have the best reputation. And I think it’s just because there’s not enough adults believing in these kids. And that’s really what they need. They just need people to say you can do this, we believe in you, you can change your story. So with Jesse, Tim, Aaron, Tony, Amber, Mary, just I think I said Jesse already with all of them. If I forgot anyone, I’m really sorry. Um, but with all of them combined, it was really cool to see the kids just be as engaged as they were with a live event because basically, they were just looking at a TV why these people are talking to them. Three of the presentations were pre recorded. But with the ones that weren’t recorded, they started getting comfortable asking questions by themselves. They didn’t feel like they needed to write it on a card anymore. When the event was over, they came to me they came to Andrea, and they’re like, how can we stay in touch with you? What connections can you provide us when we graduate? I’m a senior this year I’m scared to death. I don’t know what to do. Can you have a conversation with my parents about this because they’re pressuring me into going to a four year college. And I don’t really want to do that. I’m not sure if I want to do that. So it was a really good conversation starter with these kids. And, um, we were able to figure out some of the pain points that the school was going through too, in terms of like getting materials, getting equipment funding, getting exposure to some of the tech schools, we started to understand the disconnect between counselors and teachers and counselors and students. So now they’re at planning. They actually are planning this has to be a year event in the bullet communities. And they’re not just gonna involve Beloit Memorial, but they’re gonna involve middle schools and high schools from the surrounding area within 100 mile radius. Yeah, really super cool. And then after the event, the kids went and talked about their friends and their fellow classmates and, you know, express how they heard from all these different manufacturers and engineers, 130 students went to Deb asking her about the VO tech program at globe Memorial and how they could get involved with it. So I was just like, This is awesome. I did my job. And it’s so easy to do. I think that, you know, I didn’t have a budget for this, because I couldn’t get any sponsors, or anything. So I basically took care of most of it on my own. And the most I spent was $150, on the pizza that I bought for the kids. Yeah, so I was just like, this is super easy if you guys want to, you know, adjusted to however, so when the economic development team called me with Deb, and asked, you know, how did you get this started? Why did you do this? And I just kind of explained to him why they’re like, We could totally do this every single year. And I’m like, you could and it’s really easy to do. So. Let me know. So

Unknown Speaker  26:19

yeah, by then you’re good to go, right?

Damon Pistulka  26:21

Well, this is such a great example. omegan, you just did it, you didn’t think about how hard you’re gonna be, you just said, Hey, I’m taking step one. And I’ll see step two. And that’s so cool. Because you did something that’s it’s truly impactful in these kids lives. And I mean, this is something that I just the more I was talking to my son yesterday about this, about, you know, he’s got friends that have gone to four year college, first of all, maybe shouldn’t even gone to four year college, and they’re going to go work in a construction company, which I hate, there’s good construction careers, don’t get me wrong, and other things like that. But it’s not what this kid’s degree was in any way, shape, or form. Right. And I’m like, you know, one talk to you guys about manufacturing, other than my son grew up in a manufacturing plant, you know, he was riding the bike in the parking lot on Saturdays when I was at work and kind of stuff. And in figuring out, ask him what’s going on. But a lot of these kids have no idea that there are career paths for them straight out of high school, go in and start working in a manufacturing plant. And it’s not dirty and dingy. It’s it involves automation and robotics and, and all this electronics and computers and stuff that they’ll learn about or go to a vocational school, and it may even open different opportunities for you, but they just need to understand about it. They don’t even see it. They did see that big building that they drive by every whatever, and they don’t know what’s going on in.

Meaghan Ziemba  27:44

Yeah, yeah. One of my favorite stories that I heard was that how company provided a facility tour, and one of the cares was like, Well, I’m interested in medical. And they’re like, Okay, well, let’s show you what we’re doing with our additive manufacturing, here. And they basically showed the kid how to, like print out prosthetics for amputees. And the kid was completely blown away, because he’s like, I had no idea this even existed. So you don’t necessarily have to be good at math or science, or, you know, if you want to be part of the medical industry, but can’t handle all like the gory Enos of it, because my daughter’s interested in that. And I don’t know how she handles that, because I can’t handle that kind of stuff. But if, you know, if you still want to be part of that industry, minus all that gory engineering and manufacturing may be the perfect place for you to kind of have the best of both worlds and not get sick over it. Like yeah, yeah,

Curt Anderson  28:41

well, I I just I love everything about this, what you’re doing Megan and Gail says pizza for the win, you know, and in your job to know impact is so important. Again, look at you just you never know what a massive impact that you can have on young especially young folks. Yeah, fresh, humble. And you know, so multiple things. Again, we’re gonna unpack this. Kudos to you for having the courage, the desire the gumption to like put on this event, you know, in your community, at your alma mater, if you will. And let’s talk about you know, we’re going to get in Shannon bright light. I knew Megan, let’s talk about what you did, you know, came in some challenges, you know, your amazing mom of three, you know, you know, college had, you know, face some different challenges and you’re like, hey, you know what, I’m pulling up the bootstraps, and this is the direction I’m going to go. And out of survival, you really kind of fell whether you fell in or your heart was going that direction fell into your passion. I know on your LinkedIn profile, you have all sorts of marketing certifications and HubSpot, and what have you and you would I love you talk about in your profile, and how like you apply Lean and Agile practices to your marketing initiatives. You know, so I mean, like, it’s not like, you know, you’re not just coming into like, unintentional or just kind of haphazard, hey, let’s do this. Let’s do this. You’ve had wonderful mentors you’ve mentioned but just Like, look at everything that you’ve done. And now that he’s spearheading this direction for young folks with your podcast. Let’s I want to be mindful of your time because I know we’re coming into the bottom of the hour. Meaghan. So a question I have for you, as you’re, you know, these event this event conferences, leaders that you’re talking to, what trends are what do you seen in for women in manufacturing? You know, we’re talking about incredible opportunities ahead, what are you seeing immediately, or what really fires you up every day that you see for women in manufacturing coming on the horizon?

Meaghan Ziemba  30:32

So I think a lot of manufacturers are understanding that they’re missing a lot of the talent by not including everyone within, you know, their hiring process, or recruiting processes and a lot of the research that I’m currently doing now, it’s really interesting, because I wasn’t even aware of this happening. And then it took me back to kind of think about it like, oh, yeah, I do that, too. But with job descriptions, you know, the, the traditional ways to put every single, you know, and responsibility on their skill set on there. And with women, you know, if they look at a job description, and feel like they’re only 60, or 70% qualified for it, they’re not going to apply for that position. Like we’re, we’re perfectionist in that way where we need to feel 100% qualified to do a good job. So just kind of rethinking how you present that information in a way where it doesn’t feel like someone can’t do the job, because they might be missing some of those skill sets. A lot of manufacturers are including within their job descriptions that they will pay for continuous education and continuous improvement, which I think is fantastic. Because manufacturing and engineering is ever changing, it’s never the same from one year to the next, especially with all the digital opportunities that are coming up within automation, in robotics, you’re you’re going to need to get recertified, you’re going to need to know what the newest trend is, with the new standards, especially with a CMC standard, that is going to be a long tedious process, especially for small to medium sized manufacturers. So there’s just so many opportunities in that area as well, too. And, you know, believing in your employees and saying, Yes, we’re going to help upskill you and retrain you when necessary, and we’re going to take on those costs, I think is a huge attraction for some, some potential employees. Because if you can’t afford that stuff, you might think, well, you know, there’s no way that I can do this on my own. So I’m just gonna ignore that opportunity and pursue something else. Um, one manufacturer that I spoke to, she is actually opening up a daycare on site, or facility. And that’s for all of the the moms that are on the shop floor, they can bring their kids to the manufacturing facility, they can put their hours in, and then they don’t have to travel somewhere extra. And it’s all part of working for that company, which I think is fantastic. There’s another organization that’s affiliated with the TMA in Illinois, it’s called the WT MA for women in technology Manufacturing Association, they’re actually they actually created a grant, which I think is amazing. And it’s not for people thinking about entering engineering, or manufacturing, it’s actually for women who are already in the sector, and it’s for whatever they need money for. So if they want to get recertified in something, and their company doesn’t offer that they can actually apply to this grip with the approval of their manager, and get money to either go to that. recertification process, any classes that they think might help their position, if they need material. So like any new tools, or clothing, they can do that they can even use it for child daycare if they don’t have a daycare facility with within an appropriate distance with their facility, because daycare is not cheap. And I think that’s amazing. So it’s it’s basically whatever they need funding for. And the WT Ma is providing that. I think just having conversations too. And seeing all of the men get behind this, too, is a new trend that I’m seeing. And I’m so excited for that. Because I feel like when you start, you know, separating people into groups and saying we need more of this group, or we need more of that group, some people get a little uncomfortable, but just to say no, if we diversify our workforce and include everyone, you know, we’re actually triggering more innovation. Yeah, triggering more critical thinking. And we’re all just going to be better off in the long run if we can get more different types of people on board. So seeing all the guys who have been in the industry for long periods of time standing behind some of these initiatives. It’s really great to see because it makes us feel more comfortable to to pursue something in engineering and manufacturing. By getting support from everyone. Yeah,

Curt Anderson  35:09

gosh. Yeah. Come on Damon. Yeah, standing ovation for Megan, you know, so long overdue and just oh my gosh. So good. You are just a breath of fresh air. This is absolutely amazing. Let you know. And again, I’m going to unpack a couple more things. I know we could we could be here all day with you. So you know, I’m friends with Tim Wellborn his friend and his wife Amber, they do an amazing job. You know, you listed off a lot of folks from your conference. You know, Adam, CRO, Tony Gunn, you know, you’re actively communicating, engaging, doing posts with these guys, you know, in that network, anybody out there that’s kind of new to this, you know, connect with Megan on LinkedIn number one, number two, follow, go to her posts, just go right into her profile, click on posts, check out some of her previous podcasts. Check out the folks that she’s mentioning. Nicole, you know, the founder of Women in manufacturing has what was that woman’s name? Allison grant. Yeah, Allison, I think is in Columbus, Ohio, if I’m not mistaken, you know, amazing people for us to connect with and it’s just so long overdue for people to take charge in like this, you know, diversity, women in manufacturing, you know, women in leadership roles in the empowerment, you know, and I just I you know, just for giggles apparently have time on my hands Damon, I looked up what mavens. I’m like what is the true definition of mavens, dazzlingly skilled and trusted experts? So I think you really you named your podcasts? Absolutely perfect. So let’s close out on this you share with us what you’re thankful for. You shared with us out, you know, trends and things that you’re seeing. That’s what do you what are your expectations for 2022? We’re encouraging everybody, let’s close out 21 super strong. Megan, what are some of your personal goals? Or what do you drive striving for in 2022 in your world?

Meaghan Ziemba  37:02

Well, I definitely want to do more live broadcast, because I just love learning from different people and hearing their stories on how they got involved in engineering and manufacturing, because it’s different for everyone. And I think it’s really interesting that, you know, some women fell into it by accident, some actually grew up working on cars, which I’m hugely jealous of, I wish I had that opportunity, because I know nothing about cars. And it’s really expensive when you don’t know anything about cars. But just, you know, exposing those stories more. And really, my ultimate passion is to just get these kids excited about it so that we can start filling up these positions, because every single guest that I mentioned, they need people in their facilities, they need workers, and they’re having a really hard time finding them. There is a place down the street from where I live, they have wanted signs for CNC machinist, I’m actually thinking about stopping in there one day that I have off, and asking them, you know, why has this been open for more than a year, because those signs have been up for over a year now. And they still have not had anyone filling that position. So my main goal is to get kids excited about engineering and manufacturing. And if that’s through hosting more events, or connecting people with other people, that’s, that’s what I’m here to do. I might not get back to you right away, because I do work full time with photo fab, and even something that I do on the side. But yeah, I just tried to connect as many people as I possibly can through the network that I have. And I would love to talk to more kids about, you know, the different opportunities or connect the kids with somebody that they might be interested in. So a lot of the kids really liked Aaron Proctor’s presentation during the event that I had, because they pulled out a PlayStation controller and controlled the robot with that. And a lot of the kids that were sitting like this, saw the controller and they were like, Yeah, is that? Good. I know. I have that at home, can I control my controller at home? And I’m like, I’m pretty sure you could, you might want to talk to Tim or Aaron about it and see how they work that out. So they they want to connect to people, they want to see what’s out there and they’re willing to travel, they’re willing to talk to their parents. I did mention IMTS to them, because that’s coming up into 2022. And Deb is actually working out how she can get a busload of kids to that trade show and get them connected with some other manufacturers that are outside of the community. So it’s really exciting to see her take initiative and be comfortable to be proactive. And it really just, this helps spark you so if I can spark more action in proactiveness I’m all for it any way that I can help.

Curt Anderson  39:57

This is phenomenal. Just now about this just got to close things out in gore. And you’re the best hashtags like drop for Megan, how about that? Thank you anger in our friends and your friends at photo fab. Yes to the incredible things that you have done Megan and Diane buyer. She’s been attacked on in Pennsylvania. Thank you. Great, great comments. Appreciate all of you. So Megan, man, you are just a blessing keep boy keep that foot on the pedal. You know, all of us proud girl dads out there. We need you. We need your leadership. We need your megaphone. Just talking telling anybody that’s want to listen. incredible opportunities with manufacturing. You know, you’ve been mentioned I’m sorry. Can you know, when the gentleman from Department of fence reached out to you, you know, like this manufacturing hiccup, the supply chain challenges this labor shortage? Like this is absolutely actually like you mentioned to us before we get into call, it’s a little bit of a defense issue. Right. Yeah. You know, yeah, so

Meaghan Ziemba  40:57

yeah, when in you can see his presentation on our YouTube channel as a manufacturer, but um, he, he was hilarious, because he didn’t grow up in manufacturing himself. It’s just something that he was assigned to do when the Biden Administration called into action. And he does woodworking on the side as sort of like a guilty pleasure, pleasure. And he held up a bird that he hand carved himself. And I mean, it was it was decent. I mean, a lot better than I could personally do. But you could hear the excitement in his voice to and not being in manufacturing most of his life and then having this huge responsibility over the country. It’s really cool to see someone from his level Yeah, want to take part in this because he was actually going to fly out to Wisconsin buddy at its diplomatic event the night before, and I was just really excited for him to be interested. I wasn’t expecting him to take part anyway. But he wanted to and it made an impact on these kids because now there’s a lot of kids shooting for the Pentagon. They want to work they’re really cool.

Curt Anderson  42:08

Yeah. And that’s all it takes and gal God bless you. She says some great ideas today. Megan, we need to get on this bandwagon and hashtag show up Damon, I know I think you’re on a program with with Gail this week, aren’t you? Yep.

Damon Pistulka  42:21

With Gail this week on when?

Curt Anderson  42:24

She’s awesome. Yeah, great. So guys, so what we’ll do, we’ll wrap up and so we’ll wrap up with this, you know, being a wonderful week of Thanksgiving. So give huge, huge thanks to you, Megan, thank you for taking the time. Thank you for sharing your passion, your energy and in manufacturing is cool. And you’re doing a great job. So thank you so much.

Meaghan Ziemba  42:46

I appreciate you for joining

Curt Anderson  42:47

us today. Anybody out there we wish you your family a safe and absolutely wonderful holiday this week. Enjoy Eat to your delight or whatever. Damon I hope you have a fantastic week, my friend.

Damon Pistulka  42:59

I will use well. And Megan thanks so much.

Meaghan Ziemba  43:03

Thanks for having me. I appreciate you guys.

Curt Anderson  43:06

Alright guys, so Megan, hang out with us for one second. We’re gonna end the broadcast guys. Happy Monday manufacturing Monday motivation here signing off with our dear friend Megan, connect with Meaghan. And guys have an awesome, awesome week. We’ll see you next week. So God bless you. Thanks.