No Regrets
“To be honest,” Karen says, “When I started with American Licorice, it was my goal to be at a company I could retire from.” Karen had arrived at American Licorice after three consecutive gigs at automotive and mechanical businesses, many of which she saw come and go from her home county of Stark, Indiana.
The last of the three companies she worked for planned to relocate to Alsip, Illinois, giving their employees six months to find jobs elsewhere. A new food company was moving into the area at that time, ironically, from Alsip, Illinois. “There was a candy company coming to La Porte, and I said, that’s for me,” tells Karen. She had attended a job fair with another now-American Licorice Associate, Theresa Kain, and they were both hired on the spot.
This was 17 years ago. “I’ve been here ever since, and I don’t regret it,” she says. And we’re lucky she feels that way, as Karen has made her mark at American Licorice across many different parts of the operation. “I literally worked my way from being a packager, to working in the kitchens, to running the kitchens, to working in Maintenance, tearing down dies and rebuilding them,” she shares.
A New Mindset
Her pursuit of each new opportunity came from a determination to overcome a mindset she has observed as common among working women. “I think that a lot of times as women,” she explains, “We tend to put ourselves on the back-burner. The mindset I’ve discovered over 40 years of working is, ‘Don’t bother trying, you won’t get it.’” Karen shares her own experience of feeling actively discouraged from pursuing promotions or new positions. “When I would start in a company, I would listen to people talk. And when I would hear somebody say, ‘Don’t bother trying,’ I would take that to heart.”
Eventually, however, Karen’s impatience for growth overtook her fear of putting herself out there. She recalls speaking with Theresa shortly after they began working at American Licorice, saying, “I told her from the get-go, if there’s an opportunity for me to improve in any other skills, I’m going to jump on it. If I don’t try, I won’t get it. So it was up to me to change that mindset.”
And change it, she did. “Every time there was an opportunity, I was one of the first ones volunteering,” she explains. “And I had actually been given a full-time Maintenance position a week before I was offered this position [in Innovation].” When asked how she chose between the two roles, she says the decision was tough. “They said the position is yours in Maintenance if you want it, but you’d be passing up a huge opportunity in Innovation,” says Karen.
A Difficult Choice
“It’s those little things that as women we tend to think, it’s insignificant. Why bother, because it’s so insignificant, it’s not going to matter… But it does.”
A New Ambition
Which brings the conversation full circle to how, exactly, Karen got here. When asked if she was born with the determination to continually advance in her work, she says, absolutely not. “I had to evolve to it,” she explains. “I had to get tired of watching other people move up into positions I knew I could have achieved. And when you see that over and over again, it’s frustrating.”
And from that frustration, a new ambition was born. “I said, you know what, I’m not standing back anymore. I’m going to jump in full-force and at least give something a try before I say I can’t do it.” She was, of course, nervous to take on these new challenges, but shares, “Failure is a good thing. Failure is what we need to progress and grow from our own mistakes. If you work in a job where you’re constantly successful, it’s so uninteresting. There’s no challenge.”
Being challenged and learning from your failures is an important piece of the puzzle. Equally important, Karen says, is feeling recognized for your efforts. “A lot of women, especially,” she says, “think that upper management doesn’t notice your efforts. But that’s not true. They do notice.”
Feeling Appreciated
Karen shared a few occasions throughout her years at American Licorice where a small moment of recognition made a big impact. “When I was working with the [head of Maintenance], he was always saying that he was really happy with the work I did. And when he retired, he came up to me with tears in his eyes and said, ‘It has been an honor to work with you, and I’m going to miss you like you wouldn’t believe.’ Made me cry, I had to give him a hug. But it’s things like that, because I put myself out there, there are people who recognize my efforts.”
A little recognition goes a long way, says Karen, especially for women in professions which have historically been dominated by men. “It’s those little things that as women we tend to think, it’s insignificant. Why bother, because it’s so insignificant, it’s not going to matter. But it does.” It matters, says Karen, because even small acts can make a large contribution to the success of a team. “You look at the big picture and the big scheme of things, and what somebody’s trying to get accomplished, and you’re the one little cog that fits right into that area and can make all the bigger cogs turn, that makes a difference.”
Don’t Be Afraid
For Karen, the biggest difference she has seen in her own life is the confidence she has gained by taking on new roles and challenges. “It affects not just who you are at work,” she explains, “[but] who you are at home with your family, with your husband, with your children… that confidence carries over into every aspect of your life. And when you start seeing that, it’s amazing. It’s an amazing feeling.”
But it’s a feeling, Karen shares, that you really have to want first. “You have to want it first, you really do, you have to want that for yourself… You have to be optimistic.” Her optimism has helped Karen set her sights higher, not only for herself, but for the other women alongside her. “[I’m] still trying to encourage people to make the most of any type of skills they may have and to give it a try. It’s really all about putting yourself out there. And if an opportunity opens up, be willing to say, hey, I want to learn that, I want to try that. And don’t be afraid.”
Old adages ring true in Karen’s case, in that trying and failing is better than never trying at all, and that with a little belief in yourself, a lot can change. “I’m most proud of the individual I have become while working here,” she concludes. “I changed myself and my thinking about how I should work, when I should step up. And in doing that, I have become a much more confident individual who knows what I am capable of achieving. And I hope that I can pass that information on to other women.”
Pass it along, we shall.
For Karen, the biggest difference she has seen in her own life is the confidence she has gained by taking on new roles and challenges. “It affects not just who you are at work,” she explains, “[but] who you are at home with your family, with your husband, with your children… that confidence carries over into every aspect of your life. And when you start seeing that, it’s amazing. It’s an amazing feeling.”
But it’s a feeling, Karen shares, that you really have to want first. “You have to want it first, you really do, you have to want that for yourself… You have to be optimistic.” Her optimism has helped Karen set her sights higher, not only for herself, but for the other women alongside her. “[I’m] still trying to encourage people to make the most of any type of skills they may have and to give it a try. It’s really all about putting yourself out there. And if an opportunity opens up, be willing to say, hey, I want to learn that, I want to try that. And don’t be afraid.”
Old adages ring true in Karen’s case, in that trying and failing is better than never trying at all, and that with a little belief in yourself, a lot can change. “I’m most proud of the individual I have become while working here,” she concludes. “I changed myself and my thinking about how I should work, when I should step up. And in doing that, I have become a much more confident individual who knows what I am capable of achieving. And I hope that I can pass that information on to other women.”
Pass it along, we shall.
