0:04

A key component of the modern world economy,

0:07

the chemical industry delivers products and innovations

0:09

to enhance everyday life. It

0:11

is also an industry in transformation

0:14

where chemical executives and workers are delivering

0:16

growth and industry changing advancements

0:19

while responding to pressures from investors, regulators,

0:22

and public opinion. Discover how

0:24

leading companies are approaching these challenges

0:26

here on The Chemical Show. Join

0:28

Victoria Meyer, president of Progressio

0:31

Global and host of The Chemical Show,

0:33

As she speaks with executives across the

0:35

industry and learns how they are leading

0:37

their companies to grow, transform,

0:40

and push industry boundaries on all

0:42

frontiers. Here's your host,

0:44

Victoria Meyer.

0:48

Hi, this is Victoria Meyer. Welcome

0:50

back to The Chemical Show where Chemicals

0:52

Means Business Today.

0:54

I'm bringing you a unique episode

0:57

that we're recording during Women's History

0:59

Month, and we're showcasing CEF,

1:02

the Chemical Educational Foundation,

1:04

and three of their female board members,

1:07

Jennifer Jewson from Lyondell

1:09

Basell. Joyce Marshall Johnson from Univar

1:11

Solutions and Rene Whigham from

1:13

Olin. So we're going to be talking

1:15

about careers in chemicals, the

1:18

importance of engaging students

1:20

and especially girls early in their

1:22

academic careers. And then also

1:24

wrapping in a discussion about CEF's

1:27

You Be the Chemist Challenge, which is reaching

1:30

its 20th anniversary this year

1:32

with a big celebration in

1:34

Houston in June. So we'll be talking

1:36

about that and more. Ladies, welcome

1:38

to The Chemical Show.

1:41

Thank you.

1:41

you.

1:43

So, I'm going to start with, what sparked

1:46

your interest in chemistry

1:48

and led to a career in chemicals because you've

1:50

all reached and developed some great

1:53

careers in this industry. And

1:55

it's always interesting how we got here. Jen, let's start

1:57

with you.

1:58

I am actually a chemist. I'm a chemist

2:01

and I worked in catalyst

2:03

design. So I worked in organic chemistry.

2:06

And so I as a young girl,

2:08

I always love math and science. No

2:10

1 in my family is a math and science person.

2:12

So I'm very unique. But

2:15

I think the great thing about that is, I just

2:17

had great support from my family.

2:19

And then the reason I really love

2:21

CEF is, it's always the

2:23

engagement of a teacher that really helps to spark

2:26

what you want to do. And when I got

2:28

to college, I had a fantastic advisor

2:31

that really encouraged me, not just to get

2:33

a 4 year degree, but go even

2:35

beyond that to get a PhD and

2:37

I love working in the research area. And for me,

2:40

that was my beginning part of my journey.

2:43

Yeah. That's great. Rene, how

2:45

about you? Cause you're also, chemicals

2:47

all the way through your career.

2:49

Yeah, that's right. So mine actually,

2:52

my interest in chemistry and math. Started

2:55

with a interaction with a fifth grade teacher

2:58

that introduced me

3:00

to chemistry and

3:03

from that point forward, I

3:05

realized how much I love chemistry

3:07

and putting the math together with that

3:10

and. Having the opportunities

3:13

to, progress in that career path

3:16

meant choosing a school

3:18

that had a really good chemical engineering program.

3:21

And I, too Jen went on to

3:23

get advanced degrees in chemical engineering.

3:25

But it all started with that initial

3:28

interaction with the teacher, and

3:31

I also had the support of

3:33

parents who. During

3:37

the time period I grew up, it wasn't conventional

3:39

for women to be in chemical engineering.

3:42

And so while I,

3:44

you run into the naysayers

3:46

that don't believe that's a

3:49

woman's role. My parents

3:51

were always so supportive and telling

3:53

me you can do and be anything you want to be,

3:55

just do what you love to do. And

3:58

that's really how I ended up. I'm

4:00

going to get my degrees in chemical

4:02

engineering, and I've been in the chemical space ever

4:04

since. And so a lot

4:06

of great support and interaction, but it started

4:09

with a teacher.

4:10

Yeah. That's really cool. And

4:12

Joyce. You are not a chemist

4:15

or a chemical engineer, right?

4:17

So you've got a degree in industrial engineering

4:19

and yet somehow we still got you roped

4:22

into the chemical industry.

4:24

I stumbled into the

4:27

world of chemicals. For me, the

4:29

journey began early on. Very

4:31

similar to Rene is a

4:34

introduction from a great teacher.

4:37

However, I really gravitated

4:39

to biology and organisms

4:41

and how they were formed and early

4:43

on 4th 5th grade. And

4:45

then as I entered the middle

4:48

school years. I really began to advance

4:50

in mathematics. I just loved

4:52

gravitating to think solving

4:55

problems and and just

4:57

being adventurous with a lot of different

4:59

things. Actually through my earlier

5:02

years, it wasn't really until

5:05

the end of high school where I realized, I,

5:07

Yeah. I have a little bit of a limitation of exposure

5:10

to chemistry. I dove in

5:12

my senior year. I

5:14

landed with an engineering

5:17

scholarship in college, which

5:19

was a bit unexpected. I was thinking,

5:21

okay, I love biology. I'm going to pursue

5:23

something there. But, once

5:25

I got exposed to the world of Engineering.

5:29

And then I began to intern in

5:31

the natural gas processing space. I

5:33

became a processing engineer where

5:35

chemistry became key. And

5:38

it grew from there. So

5:40

I do very much appreciate a lot of

5:42

teachers along the way that were very influential.

5:45

My parents were very supportive. But

5:47

really, it just, it was always

5:50

there. Chemistry was always there that

5:52

the love of learning.

5:54

Engineering. And gravitating to math and sciences

5:56

were there, but yeah, a little bit different journey

5:59

in that in the world of chemistry

6:01

and chemicals, it really, for me,

6:03

took off once I committed to

6:05

an engineering degree in college. So

6:08

a little bit different journey.

6:09

Yeah, that's really cool. And I think what's interesting about

6:11

all of it is how exposure

6:13

was so critical, right? So whether it be exposure

6:16

to chemistry in the first place, exposure

6:19

to the opportunities in engineering and what you

6:21

can do, because again, as you pointed out, Joyce,

6:23

you don't know. None of us know. I think we all

6:25

went a little bit blindly in

6:28

some cases into college and into

6:30

our careers just because we're hampered

6:32

by not having examples around us. And

6:34

so that's where it's just so great

6:36

to be able to expose students at a young

6:38

age and other folks at a young age,

6:41

my chemistry story. And I'm a chemical engineer.

6:43

I have 3 older brothers and 3

6:45

younger sisters. So 1

6:47

of 7 and 1 of my brothers

6:50

got a chemistry kit for

6:52

Christmas one year, you guys might remember

6:54

like the probably came out of the Sears catalog

6:57

or, Kmart, wherever you bought this. stuff from

7:00

we loved making doing the rockets

7:02

there was a mix, the baking soda and

7:04

vinegar and. Blowing up rockets in the backyard

7:07

that was exciting. And I loved

7:09

once I found the microscope, which is

7:11

not really chemistry, but just the whole scientific

7:14

there's more to it than what's

7:16

on the surface. And then examples and great

7:18

teachers as well. So I think that's all.

7:21

It's so important that the exposure at

7:23

a young age while you're still in the

7:25

decision process is so critical. It's

7:27

women history, women's history month.

7:30

And there's a lot of discussions in the workplace

7:32

and items in the media about empowering

7:34

women helping women achieve more workplace

7:37

success and recognition and obviously

7:39

the chemical industry. Like other

7:42

really technical and process heavy industries

7:45

has long been male dominated. In fact, if

7:47

we look at engineering school, engineering schools are male

7:49

dominated. And yet we see

7:51

a lot of successful women, including yourselves

7:54

across the industry. What has

7:56

been really significant and

7:59

helping you navigate a career?

8:01

In chemicals and really

8:03

career progression and feeling like you could

8:05

stick with it throughout your career. Jen,

8:08

can we start with you maybe?

8:10

Sure, so we

8:12

actually had a discussion yesterday within

8:14

our company about, career

8:16

paths and how do you follow that? How do you stick with

8:18

it? For me? I'm going to tell you, it's all about

8:20

mentors. And I had a mentor

8:23

early in my career, and I have one today

8:26

and they change over time. I think, depending

8:28

on maybe where you are in your career,

8:30

but without having a mentor, I

8:32

think I wouldn't there's no way I would

8:34

be as successful as I am today. And I think

8:36

part of it is because. If

8:38

you look at women in the workforce, we

8:40

are more apt to be a little more reserved

8:43

or more risk averse. We don't put

8:46

ourselves out there as much. And,

8:48

I've had mentors in my career that will say

8:50

things to me. Why not you? Why

8:53

can't you do it? And I love that

8:55

because I think it helps you.

8:57

It makes you a little more vulnerable, but

8:59

it's forced me to candidly get out of

9:01

my comfort zone. And, You get into

9:03

a role, and you may be very nervous, but

9:06

I will tell you within 30 days,

9:08

you're like, yeah, I think I can do this. And

9:11

you're not really sure about what

9:13

you're capable of unless somebody pushes

9:15

you. And so I will tell you that

9:18

my mentors in my career have, I

9:20

give them all the credit for helping me get to

9:22

where I am today.

9:24

Yeah, that's really awesome. Rene or

9:26

Joyce, you have anything to add on that?

9:29

Yeah I think for me too, which was

9:31

wonderful. Was that

9:33

I didn't know what I didn't know and

9:36

that I didn't realize I was in a space

9:38

that was unique to be honest. Yes,

9:40

I was many times the only

9:42

female in the room, many times,

9:44

sometimes the only minority in the room.

9:47

And, but, I think just that

9:49

the grit and I used that brute force

9:52

method initially because I just didn't know I wasn't

9:54

supposed to necessarily not be there. So

9:57

I, Like what was also discussed, mentors

10:00

don't always look like a mentor, like they

10:02

don't call themselves a mentor, but I

10:04

think that was really critical for me. There were people

10:06

that believed in me and supported

10:09

my progression and sometimes

10:11

making moves in different levels of

10:14

the organization and or

10:16

different segments from sales

10:18

to maybe procurement and

10:20

supply chain. I made some jumps

10:22

and moves, and I had the support

10:24

of others, and I thought that was really critical, but

10:27

they weren't necessarily per se my

10:29

mentors. But in

10:31

retrospect, when I look back, I was like, in

10:33

a way, they really were mentors, but they were supporters

10:36

of growth and development and

10:39

showing what I could do for the organization,

10:41

which I, was really critical.

10:43

Yeah. And in some ways it sounds like maybe they were sponsors

10:46

even more so than mentors, like creating

10:49

that opportunity that you may or may

10:51

not have known about.

10:53

Exactly.

10:54

Yeah.

10:55

I would add both. Both of those comments

10:57

are great. And for me,

10:59

when I talk about mentors to

11:01

my mentees. I let them

11:03

know that a mentor is not someone

11:06

that tells you what you want to hear. They

11:09

tell you the things that you need to

11:11

hear. And sometimes those. Strike

11:13

us as different, or maybe

11:15

we don't agree with them Those are the people that are

11:18

seen. Attributes in ourselves that

11:20

maybe we don't see ourselves and

11:23

that's that is so important to

11:25

have that person that you could

11:27

that sounding board really that

11:30

can help you understand that self promotion

11:32

is very important. I read a study

11:35

once and I don't have the details

11:37

behind it, but if you look at

11:40

a, male and female engineer that starts at

11:42

the same time, over the course of 10 years,

11:44

the male is much further in his progression

11:46

than the female and the

11:49

data shows that's because females are more

11:51

hesitant to talk about

11:53

how good we are, because we're

11:55

always a little bit second, guessing

11:57

ourselves to joyce's point,

12:00

I never noticed that I was the

12:02

only woman in a room full of men.

12:05

It never registered with me because

12:08

I was just doing the job that I was meant

12:11

to do. So I didn't look around the room

12:13

and take an account of, the

12:16

gender than the room, it was

12:18

just, it was my job and that's who we,

12:20

what I needed to do. And so that

12:23

having that perspective and

12:25

also being open to challenges, like

12:28

Joyce said, moving outside of your

12:30

functional area to completely

12:33

different roles that you may not think

12:35

you're ready for. But there's others that believe in

12:37

you that think you're ready and it scares you

12:39

to death. But that challenge

12:41

is the energy that makes us go

12:44

to the next step. And so many different

12:46

things in my career that I'm thankful for

12:48

and the people that helped me

12:50

see what I could do that I wasn't aware

12:53

that I could do.

12:54

Yeah. I think that's really great. And I think

12:56

your point about career progression

12:58

and men and women and not necessarily

13:01

progressing at the same rate. I I

13:03

actually do, I speak to corporate women's groups

13:05

and to other groups about this topic called negotiate

13:08

your success. If you don't, who will? And

13:11

women have often have

13:13

what I call the tiara syndrome. If I

13:15

just put my head down and do a great job,

13:18

they're going to see that tiara, my crown

13:20

on top of my head and know

13:22

that I'm awesome. And the reality is

13:24

people don't know because we're all egocentric

13:26

and we don't necessarily pay attention to everything

13:29

else. And then studies also

13:31

show that women negotiate much

13:33

better on behalf of other

13:35

people and not so well

13:37

for themselves. And so figuring

13:40

out number one, how to go back, go

13:42

to bat for yourself is critical. And

13:44

number two, who can you rely on?

13:46

Whether it be a mentor, a peer,

13:49

a sponsor to help you

13:51

when you're not helping yourself is

13:53

so important. So

13:57

turning a little bit, obviously, everybody

13:59

here on this call has developed a great career in chemicals.

14:01

So what do you wish more people knew about

14:04

and more women maybe knew about

14:06

careers in the chemical industry?

14:09

Cause there's so many opportunities, but how

14:11

do we create those opportunities and what do you wish

14:14

they knew about this?

14:16

So I think from my perspective,

14:18

I, in looking at our operations

14:21

across the globe, I

14:24

want women to know all of the different

14:26

career opportunities that are available.

14:29

It's not just engineering and it's

14:31

not just chemistry. It is

14:33

welding. It is instrumentation.

14:36

It's electrical work. It's there's

14:38

so many different career paths. Associated

14:42

with the chemical industry that

14:44

we need to communicate

14:46

broadly to the students that

14:49

we come in touch with. To young

14:51

females that all of

14:53

the different opportunities that exist

14:56

that are related to the chemical industry are

14:58

so important.

15:01

And I think it's also very important to keep

15:03

in mind. I think the average person doesn't

15:05

think a lot about how chemicals are

15:07

in everything. They're in

15:09

everything we touch, everything

15:11

we do, what we construct.

15:14

And the chemical industry is in the

15:16

interface with so many other segments

15:18

of business, with STEM

15:21

and chemistry being the core foundation

15:23

of a lot of other industries. Healthcare,

15:26

construction, it goes on and on.

15:28

And just our global interface

15:31

with other industry segments and just

15:33

how stem and

15:35

chemistry as a core

15:38

can support so many different

15:40

career paths that are possible

15:42

to you. I think that's something that's very important

15:45

for people to know and understand

15:47

or for our young people to know and understand

15:49

as well.

15:51

But I think Victoria made a really good point earlier,

15:53

and that is, I think women

15:55

have a tendency to put their head down. They

15:58

sit at their desk. They want to do a good job.

16:00

For me, I think I talk about this often

16:03

in our office and it's the power of the dialogue.

16:06

Reach out to other people and ask

16:08

what they do. I will tell you, people

16:10

will always say yes, because they want to

16:12

talk about their careers and you

16:14

will see that people have very different

16:17

multifaceted careers and they could

16:19

have a job that you don't think you're

16:21

interested in today. But the more

16:23

you hear about it. The more you

16:25

might, it might spark an interest, and it might be

16:27

end up being your passion at the end of the day.

16:29

But I think, for me, talking

16:31

to a lot of people and understanding what else is

16:33

out there. I think people

16:36

will link you to other people and so having

16:38

that broader network where you can talk to people

16:40

to me, I wish I would have done that earlier. I

16:43

love my career. I will tell you, I've done things I never

16:45

thought I would have done, but I also hear about jobs

16:47

every so often. Wow, I wish I would have done that earlier

16:49

in my career because that sounds really cool. And

16:51

so so, to me, I just feel like I

16:54

talk about that all the time to people. Who do you talk to?

16:56

And it doesn't have to be somebody high up in an organization

16:59

to that's the other thing. It could just be reaching

17:01

out to people across peers, or even

17:03

people that are newer in their career.

17:05

They can share with you a lot of really great opportunities.

17:09

I love that. I really do. Let's

17:11

talk a little bit more about just education

17:14

and chemistry, right? So chemistry is

17:16

at the foundation of what we do. We've each talked

17:18

about how we've gotten touched by chemistry

17:21

and influenced by chemistry and education

17:23

early our careers. Why is this

17:25

so important from, from your perspective?

17:28

And if we think about what CEF is

17:30

doing, what's, why is it important to engage

17:32

students early?

17:36

I think you have to engage them early or

17:38

you'll lose them because I think

17:40

as you go up through school and

17:43

I think kids don't worry

17:46

about, perception

17:48

of other things. They just enjoy learning at a

17:50

young age. So I don't think they think about. Oh,

17:52

I'm the smart kid or the sporty kid or that,

17:54

they just want to be very open and

17:56

explore. And observe,

17:59

I think the thing I worry about, or

18:01

if you don't catch them early enough as

18:04

they go into high school girls

18:06

aren't supposed to be good at math. Oh, it's not

18:08

cool to be a math person. I loved math.

18:10

And so I bucked it because I'm very

18:12

stubborn, but I think you get

18:14

into at the higher grades, you get into

18:16

the perception of where you shouldn't be.

18:19

And I do think people, they

18:21

want to fit in. And so I think

18:23

folks will have a tendency to say, yeah I'm

18:25

not good at math. So I'm just not going to do it versus.

18:28

I actually really enjoy it. And why wouldn't I want

18:30

to do it? So I think there's, to me,

18:32

it feels like catching them early.

18:35

You catch a passion there. That is not

18:37

doesn't have a bias to it.

18:40

And you spark if the curiosity

18:42

early that, kids today

18:44

are under so much social pressure

18:47

that if you can catch them early

18:49

enough and spark that curiosity

18:52

and let them know. That there are no

18:54

preconceived notions about what

18:56

you can do and how far you can go and

18:58

what career path you take where

19:01

I live is more of a rural area.

19:03

And when I do career days at

19:05

the local schools. There

19:08

is a significant difference between

19:11

the elementary schools and the attention that

19:13

I get there. And in the high

19:15

school, those decisions are already made by

19:17

the women and girls in high school.

19:20

Wow.

19:21

There's not an audience there, but when

19:23

you go into an elementary school, there's an

19:25

audience and they pay attention. And

19:27

so it's just getting to them

19:30

at that early age to let them understand

19:32

the vast. Array

19:34

of things that they can go do, and they're

19:36

in their life.

19:37

Yeah. So this is a good segue to talk

19:39

about CEF and the,

19:41

you be the chemist challenge. So Kim, one of you guys

19:43

just give us an overview of

19:46

CEF and you be the chemist.

19:49

Joyce, do you wanna jump in on this?

19:52

Sure. you know, CEF

19:55

Is very much committed to

19:58

engaging with students early and

20:01

chemistry and STEM activities

20:03

and the UB the chemist challenge focuses

20:06

on students that are between the

20:08

ages of the fifth grade and eighth grade

20:10

and in providing a challenge

20:13

activity for them to become

20:15

a part of and to engauge

20:18

and to build their relationship

20:21

when it comes to chemistry and stem activity.

20:24

So it is a very good program

20:27

that happens annually and

20:30

we just really enjoy

20:33

or I personally enjoy that opportunity

20:35

of even being hands on with the

20:38

earlier challenges that are set throughout

20:40

the year for for CF,

20:42

you be the chemist

20:43

So Kim, one of you guys talk about how it's structured

20:45

'cause it is a national contest.

20:49

And there's local challenges along

20:51

the way. Is that right?

20:53

so I can touch on it just a bit.

20:56

So we start early, usually

21:00

4th, quarter of the year, setting up the

21:02

regional challenges. Getting

21:04

the teams in place, and then

21:07

once they register, they get the materials,

21:09

they start their plans to

21:12

and how they participate. And there are

21:14

teams of 4, 5th through

21:16

8th grade students, and they have

21:18

real world. Problems to

21:20

solve and they're not easy problems.

21:23

This is like building a company,

21:25

in what type of workforce that you would

21:27

have in your company. So it's

21:29

not a typical 5th grade

21:31

questions, but it's designed

21:33

to challenge their thinking. And

21:35

so the regional competitions happen.

21:38

And then the top 5 teams from around

21:40

the U. S. and Canada actually

21:42

get to travel to Houston

21:44

expense paid to compete

21:47

live for scholarships.

21:49

And they start on a Monday,

21:51

June the 10th and with the.

21:54

Award ceremony on June 11th

21:56

and the thing that I like so much about

21:59

the scholarships that are available.

22:01

It's not just about scholarships for college.

22:05

It is for other

22:07

types of education, whether it's certifications

22:10

for any type of, career

22:12

paths, because when we

22:14

look at this, maintaining a sustainable workforce

22:16

in our chemical industry, it's not

22:19

just about engineers. We

22:21

need the technicians. We need the people that

22:23

can work with their hands and perform.

22:25

A chemical operator doesn't

22:27

have to have a college education,

22:30

but we can't run our plants without them.

22:32

And so these scholarships go

22:35

to promote not only the College

22:37

education, but other types of stem

22:40

related backgrounds as well.

22:42

And so this year is the 20th anniversary

22:45

of UB the chemist. And as you ladies

22:47

have articulated, the top five teams are

22:49

coming from across the country to Houston

22:52

in the beginning of June to compete for the title.

22:54

And I think there's something like 50, 000 in scholarships.

22:57

So each one of you have attended

22:59

these events. What makes it special? What

23:01

stands out for you when

23:04

you've attended one of this UB the

23:06

chemist finals?

23:09

I can start. You guys jump in,

23:11

but it's the collaboration between

23:14

these teams. Not only the members

23:16

on a single team, but between

23:18

the teams, these kids are just the

23:20

energy and excitement in the room

23:22

is contagious. And to see

23:25

that flow in

23:27

the parents and supporters that

23:29

are there with their kids, it's

23:31

just, it makes you want to, it

23:34

just gives you the thought that you want to go

23:37

and spread this throughout all the schools

23:40

so that everybody can participate.

23:43

I always enjoyed celebrating

23:46

their achievements, really, whether it was a regional

23:49

challenge and seeing them engaging

23:51

and seeing their curiosity

23:54

just soar on solving all these

23:56

different problems and answering these questions.

23:58

But especially even at the finals,

24:00

it's that. Celebrating their achievements

24:03

and celebrating what they were able to accomplish

24:06

and learn through the, through this process

24:08

and through the challenges. I've always really

24:10

enjoyed that, that part of it as

24:12

well.

24:13

And I will say, we just had a regional challenge

24:16

here in Houston, and there

24:19

is nothing better than watching these

24:21

kids edify each other and get

24:23

super excited. And so how you can

24:25

not get wound up in that.

24:27

It's just impossible to me. And and it's just

24:30

the, to me, it's just the purest joy

24:32

watching them excited about learning

24:34

and doing different things. And, I will say

24:36

the other comment that Rene made was a really good

24:38

one. At San Jacinto College,

24:41

we did the challenge and then we took all

24:43

the kids to do a tour of the labs that

24:45

are there. And it's so it's

24:47

great for the kids to see

24:50

what's possible. But the other

24:52

thing that I think that's also very important, there

24:54

are a lot of parents and teachers there, and

24:57

I think it also helps to educate them a

24:59

little bit about what's possible. When you talk

25:01

about career, we talk about chemistry

25:03

being foundational and it is, it's everything

25:06

we touch. But chemistry

25:08

touches and because of that, it touches so

25:10

many different avenues. You can be

25:12

an operator, you can be a truck driver, you

25:14

can be an analytical chemist. There's all these

25:16

different things and I think just

25:19

getting first the kids exposure, but

25:21

also the parents and the teachers. I think it

25:23

helps to raise the floor when it comes to

25:25

level of discussion with these kids.

25:27

I think it's great. And as you point out, and I was each

25:30

one of these teams is working

25:32

with a teacher. So we've got a teacher

25:34

in middle school that is helping to

25:36

sponsor the program for their schools.

25:38

And again, back to the whole importance

25:40

of having a mentor, a

25:42

coach, a teacher engage

25:44

and spark some of that interest really early

25:47

is so critical. It's obviously

25:50

also really critical to your companies, right?

25:52

So your companies have each chosen to

25:54

be sponsors, not just in money,

25:56

but in time. Providing the

25:58

resources, the people to go judge

26:00

the competitions and support

26:03

that. Why? There's

26:05

always this wide array of things that you

26:07

could be dedicating your time and your money to.

26:09

Why is this important to your companies?

26:12

I think we have to invest in tomorrow's workforce.

26:15

We won't be successful without it. I think

26:17

Rene said it very well earlier. I

26:19

think, we're in this time

26:21

where everybody feels like you need to go to college

26:24

and get a college degree. You don't, you can

26:26

have a really great career with

26:28

certifications and accreditations from other

26:30

things and find something you truly

26:32

enjoy. For us, I think,

26:34

Tomorrow's workforce is incredibly important

26:37

now, more than ever. I think as we look at

26:39

the chemical industry, continuing to change

26:42

to be more sustainable over time, we

26:44

all have projects that we are

26:47

facilitating that will require people

26:49

to execute them. And and,

26:51

it's going to happen at a pretty fast pace in

26:53

my mind. It has to happen at a fast pace

26:55

because we have goals

26:57

for 2030, 2040,

27:00

2050. and so those will be here before

27:02

we know it. And so I think we need

27:04

to start now to make sure

27:06

that we have those folks in the future

27:09

so that we can accomplish all of these goals.

27:12

All right, and we also need

27:15

we need the people we need

27:17

the diversification of the people as

27:19

well, because diversification

27:21

drives innovation and different

27:24

trains of thought. So we need all

27:26

different types of people with different

27:28

backgrounds and different trains of thought. To

27:31

come in, come into our industry.

27:33

And I think again, with all

27:35

the different career paths

27:38

and things that you can do within the chemical industry,

27:40

we need to attract everyone to have

27:43

that interest, whether it's girls

27:45

having those interests early on diverse

27:48

slate of different types of people from different

27:50

backgrounds that's just going to

27:52

do nothing but bring more innovation

27:55

into our industry as well.

27:57

Yeah.

27:58

And as an industry, if we don't step

28:00

in and spark

28:02

this interest for

28:05

developing the workforces that we

28:07

need, we won't have them.

28:09

If we leave it to

28:11

no one else to do this, then

28:14

we will not have the workforce

28:16

that we need to be sustainable in the future.

28:18

So we have to step

28:21

up and take the responsibility

28:23

of making sure that we develop the workforce

28:25

for the future.

28:27

Yeah. Love it. My only

28:29

comment I would add on that is that we also

28:31

need to influence people to understand that

28:33

chemicals are actually foundational for what

28:35

we do. Even if they never work in the

28:37

chemical industry to recognize, gee, the

28:39

paint on the wall, the plastic

28:41

of my phone. My computer,

28:44

keyboard, everything around me

28:46

is enhanced um,

28:48

and supported by the chemical industry and

28:50

so we need to be good stewards

28:53

of that as well. This is a great

28:55

time to encourage everybody who's listening

28:58

to join us for the You

29:00

Be The Chemist 20th Anniversary

29:02

Challenge and Celebration, which

29:04

is going to be held on June 10th and 11th

29:07

here in Houston. So it's a great chance

29:09

for you. If you're local, make

29:12

the time to come visit the challenge and participate

29:14

and join the celebration. And,

29:16

um, If you're out of the Houston area,

29:18

it's a great opportunity for a business

29:21

trip, see some customers, come

29:23

see the future generations in the chemical industry

29:26

and experience the excitement of

29:28

the You Be The Chemist Challenge. So

29:30

thank you all for joining and sharing your

29:32

insights today.

29:35

Thank you. Thank you so much.

29:38

Yeah, absolutely. And thank you everyone for listening.

29:40

Keep listening, keep following, keep sharing,

29:42

and we will talk again soon.

29:47

We've come to the end of today's podcast. We

29:50

hope you enjoyed your time with us and want to learn

29:52

more. Simply visit thechemicalshow.

29:55

com for additional information and helpful

29:57

resources. Join us again next time

29:59

here on The Chemical Show with Victoria

30:02

Meyer.