IWIM 2020 Honoree: Taylor Claiborne, Emerson
Taylor Claiborne, Emerson
Taylor Claiborne first got her taste of engineering her Junior year in high school. Not sure if she wanted to be a veterinarian or a teacher upon entering college, it was a physics teacher and a high test score that helped set her on her path. That moment served as the catalyst for Taylor, who is now a North America Parts Warehouse Manager with Emerson.
Engineers are the designers and inventors of the world
It was in high school where Taylor had the realization that engineers were the ones who designed and invented nearly everything she saw. She wanted to be a part of that, and after high school, Taylor entered into Texas A&M’s Engineering program, where she majored in Engineering Technology with a focus in Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering. According to Taylor, she loved learning about manufacturing and being able to use a lathe, a CNC machine, and learning to weld.
“You know you’re going to get dirty right?”
After graduation and countless interviews, some of which she says people would seemed surprised at the fact that she was a woman, she secured a job as an Inside Sales Engineer at Emerson in Houston. Through her experiences on the production floor along with networking with her Emerson peers, Taylor realized her passion for Kaizen events and continuous improvement.
Taylor’s passion for continuous improvement never ceased. After a relocation to the Dallas area and a move within Emerson to a manufacturing engineering role, her hunger for troubleshooting never abated. Her yearning to learn whatever she could about continuous improvement led her to find her dream job within Emerson: Operations Specialist-Perfect Execution. In July 2020, Taylor took on a new role, where she was promoted to North America Parts Warehouse Manager. In this role, she applies her previous experience to drive improvements in the parts business operations.
Elle Woods and Leslie Knope for Manufacturing
Her passion for her job is infectious. Her nominator described her as “probably the most positive person I know,” and lists her readiness to (pre-COVID) go to local high school career fairs to promote engineering as inspirational. Describing her as manufacturing’s own Elle Woods and Leslie Knope (of Legally Blonde and Parks and Rec fame, respectively), “Taylor radiates positive energy wherever she goes!”
Her passion doesn’t end there. She established her facility’s Women in STEM group and encourages other women in the group through her democratic style of leadership. The group, though still small and young, has garnered tremendous attention from the local community already for the events that they have put together.
Read her advice to future female manufacturers as well as the 19 other 2020 Honorees by downloading the 2020 Influential Women in Manufacturing E-Book.
