Lindsey Boyle 2
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[00:00:00] Hey guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Industrials podcast. Thank you for joining us from wherever you get your podcasts, or if you folks are watching on the Assess a YouTube channel. Thanks for viewing. Um, we have a returning guest for you guys today, Ms. Lindsay Boyle, who you may have seen in the past episode, uh, that joined us a while back, uh, has joined us again today.

And we're gonna talk about, uh, a few specific organizations and an industry, uh, [00:01:00] environment, I guess you could say. . Um, so Lindsay, welcome back to the Industrials podcast. 

Thanks for having me. It's so good to be back. Um, 

I appreciate you, uh, pulling out the per Purdue gear for this. No, when in, I 

won't take it personally.

when in Indiana, but I don't know if Indy down here, I mean, I probably have the wrong school on, but it's fair, it's 

based on what we're talking about, subject matter. It's, it's probably appropriate, it's a house divided. 

Yeah. From an engineering technical expertise, 

that's what I thought. You got the right gear on.

Yeah, and I invite, for the record, I mean my, cuz my husband is a big Michigan fan. Okay. And obviously I'm more of a state fan in Michigan. We get that divide. Um, and so when I came home with the Purdue, I thought he was gonna be really upset. And the reason I have this is cuz I golfed over there in Lafayette a while back.

But, uh, he was okay with it for summer. I was shocked. Okay. So I feel comfortable 

wearing it. So for all you boilermakers out. Boiler up. You're 

welcome. And Boyle. Lindsay Boyle Boiler. Oh, you guys It works. 

Yeah. Okay. Lot of big 10 collegiality on it was meant feel of love, . All right, cool. Well, um, I, I thought one of the items we wanted [00:02:00] talk to you about is, and this is kind of how we, I think maybe where we first met is at A C C A I, the Chemical Coders Association International, um, the Western Michigan chapter had an event, I think it was last summer.

and I think that's maybe where we met for the first time. So I know you've gotten very involved, not just with that chapter, but now across the international or the, I guess the US or North American. Um, governing body. What can you tell us about C C A I? What, what does that organization do and, and, and how did you decide to get involved with it?

Uh, well, the Chemical Coders Association International, which is a mouthful in itself, or C C A I, a lot easier to say, um, is a professional organization that is focusing on education. Mostly, but also networking opportunities, um, within the chemical industry. Um, chemicals doesn't have to just be chemical related.

That could include, uh, equipment that could include paint. I mean, just anything related to the coding industry in general. Chemical coders provides education mostly for that. So you [00:03:00] can go to cc ai dot web and you can go to their web. That's their website. And uh, they have all sorts of things. Um, yeah, it's a national organization or international actually.

Uh, Around regionally in the United States, there are many chapters, um, and events that happen monthly. Um, and those events often have really high expert speakers, um, and they draw, you know, or they may go to a, like, for example, ours in West Michigan, we're doing a brewery tour next month, um, which we're, we're gonna look at.

That doesn't suck. Yeah, it doesn't. And there's like, put that on your, the dates on that. So we do things like, you know, tours and breweries and things like that. So there's, you know, a mix of events and things. And again, it's a great way to network. Like Vince, I think we met more of at a networking mm-hmm.

event. Mm-hmm. . Um, and so meeting people in industry, I think it's an important thing to be a part of. Now, how I got in part involved in it. Um, when I joined Belco Industries, um, in the equipment side, I was looking at ways cuz I was new to the industry in general. How do I meet people? How do I learn about the industry?

Um, so I, I. Out professional organizations and C C A I was one of the first ones that came up. Uh, and my boss at the time [00:04:00] recommended it. Um, but nobody at our company at that time had, I mean, it was years since they had any membership or, you know, Really going and attending anything, right? So I went, um, it was a totally different new crowd for me because I was formerly a teacher.

So all of this was like, I didn't know what the speakers were talking about, right? But the more I attended, obviously the more you soak in and the more you learn. Um, it's just a great compliment to whatever you're doing, whether you've been in the industry. 30 years or whether you are brand new to the industry, but especially if you're new, I highly, highly recommend getting involved in a, in a local chapter near you.

And if you don't have a chapter, you can start one. Um, there's information on the website that you can get. Um, but beyond the chapters face-to-face stuff, I just wanna mention, they do have a ton of training, um, for powder coating, liquid coating application, um, any even equipment side stuff, they do a ton of.

again, just videos, webinars, uh, there's books, uh, published and they also just started an education foundation. And there's a lot of really cool things that are gonna be happening in the next few years with, [00:05:00] uh, promoting, uh, younger people getting into the industry. Mm-hmm. that they're, they're working with, um, colleges as well and technical schools that they're, uh, making partnerships with, uh, right now.

Um, and then on the women's side, which was important to me, being a woman in industry, they have. Sort of a subset of the organization of C C A I, something called Women in Finishing, and I'm also a part of that. I mean, it's a separate membership, but it's kind of under that same umbrella. . And they also do events.

They do a forum every year, for example, that is just for women. I mean, men can come, but uh, it's, the focus of course, is women in industry and you know, again, as a woman, when you are not the majority, it's a great place to just meet people and to, you know, as a woman, ha find commonality, uh, being in this industry.

So 

two things that, that jumped out there to me. Number one, how many chapters roughly does c c a I 

have, I'm taking a rough guess in probably 20. Okay. 

Um, one, I know one question that we have, and I'm sure we're not the only ones. If you have a, a, a business that operates in [00:06:00] multiple geographies, but maybe not coast to coast on a, on a regular basis, and you're a member of two or three, but arguably you could be members of five to seven, right.

At that point, do you just join the, the national organization or how does that typically, or do you still do all the individual chapters? What makes, what's, what would be the best or biggest bang for your. , 

I can't answer that for you. Yeah. Um, I think, uh, you can be a corporate sponsor. I mean, that's really the national where you're gonna join as a, as a corporate sponsor and be involved at the annual meeting and do other things like that.

And, and have probably more opportunities to be on boards. Right. Um, and, and have access to that. But overall membership in general is just a regional membership? I don't, I mean, I don't, I mean, I never really thought of it that way, I guess cuz I just joined the regional chapter and that was part of the broader thing, so, as a national board member, I should probably know that.

I mean, I know you can get a CCCA membership and that I think just gets you access to the [00:07:00] website and the information and that content. Right. Um, and you can do that. Sure. I think the biggest bang for your buck though, is to be. Be in the location where you're serving people and getting to know those people, whether it's suppliers, vendors, I mean customers.

Right, right. Uh, is the biggest one. And just to be active in those as much as possible. Yeah. Okay. 

Um, you touched on the women in industry. So I, first of all, I didn't realize that the women in finishing was a subset or an offshoot up c c I itself. Mm-hmm. . Um, um, but you hit the nail on the head, which was one of the topics we wanted.

Talk to you. . You know, I've been in this industry now for over 20 years and only 27. It's kind of amazing how that works. . Um, there's not a lot of women in this, in the industry, and at least in the industries that we're in. Um, you go to multiple trade shows, whether they're local or regional shows to the big international wands.

Um, maybe the international ones you find there's, it's a little bit higher percentage, but still, if it's 10%, I'd be shocked. Mm-hmm. . Um, so I know the, I know the obvious answer to this, but I'm gonna ask it anyway. , what interested you in [00:08:00] that? What, why did you decide to get involved and what is your hope and aspiration for that group or that organization, um, and what they're trying to do?

Um, yeah. Well, I got involved because I'm a woman and, uh Right. You wanna be with people that are kind of like you because it is so rare. And that's the nice thing about going to those events. I remember, I mean, any woman who has been to the Women in Finishing Forum will say it is one of the best professional development things you can do because it is, you know, you're seeing people that are dealing with the same things.

I mean, everybody knows, I mean women in what we deal with in industry, in, in any industry, I mean, there's. Certain things that it's tough being in a man's world sometimes. Um, so I just feel like it's just someone to talk to and get support from. Mm-hmm. . Um, but also making connections, right. As women, I mean, there are a lot of women owned businesses in finishing those.

I mean, I mean, not a lot, but there are some and there's gonna be more. And so having those connections and, and that's very important to do. Yeah. 

What, having talked to several women at those org, at those uh, meetings, what would you say is the biggest driver not. [00:09:00] or against having more women in, in, in this industry.

And then what is the biggest driver for those women who are already in what, what got them in? What, what interests them? I mean, I can, I can guess that one of the, I mean, it is not a very sexy industry. This is not, this is not necessarily fun or exciting or glamorous or, you know, whatever. So I mean, male or female , there, there's, there's a stigma there that we have to overcome.

Yes. Um, but in particular, I could see women look and say saying, why the hell would I. You know, sell paint or why I wanna deal with paint. Mm-hmm. , especially if it's not, you know, dealing with interior designers or, or a house. And I'm probably, you know, stereotyping that one and I shouldn't be, 

but you're, I mean, but it's, it's true.

Yeah. I mean, I mean that's part of why I didn't get into the business. I mean, it's, I work for, or worked for a family owned company, but it looked dirty, greasy, grimy, and not sexy. Right? I mean, I wanna wear heels and a skirt. That is not an environment for that necessarily. Right. Molly Kellogg at Hubbard Hollywood say [00:10:00] differently cuz she wears heels and a skirt and I love that about her.

Um, so it's, yeah, you have to, you're never gonna know something until you get into it. Mm-hmm. . Um, but as someone who has worked in it now for, you know, three years, . It's, it's not, you know, what you think it is necessarily. Right. And, uh, you know, you're gonna, I mean, I say I love overalls, , and I like putting my boots on.

And you learn to like those. It's time and a place for that kind of outfit as well. Yeah. But I, I mean, okay, so it's not glamorous per se from like a day-to-day perspective, but there's so many things you can do in the industry, right? Yeah. So, working in codings doesn't mean you're gonna work on the factory floor.

It doesn't mean you're gonna be crawling through a washer or pre-treatment system. There are so many things you can do. I was marketing, I worked in an office. I, you know, could look cute when I went to work. I mean, I know it sounds sexist, but like, I mean yeah. Those types of things. But then I had days when, yeah, I'm out in the field, so there's like a good blend of that.

Mm-hmm. . Um, but yeah, there are a lot of things you can do in industry and ways you can get involved, whether it is out, you know, working on a, a shop floor and in applying powder coat or selling or doing marketing for a [00:11:00] business. Um, there's just a lot more career paths than you think there are within this industry.

Yeah. 

Um, . When you talk to other women who are currently in the industry, what, what are you hearing them say? 

that they love it. Okay. That's what I'm hearing them say. And, and why, 

what, what, what causes them to say that? Um, which is great 

to hear, obviously. Yeah. I think they love it because, um, I mean, it's kind of fun being the only woman in the room sometimes.

Yeah. That's a scary thing. But it's also has its advantages. Right. I, when I do cold calls, I am, I think, more likely to get inside an office building or talk to someone that my male counterpart parts, right. There's advantages to that, depending on what you do. , but we like the industry and I know there's always this thing, especially in finishing, where they say, once you get into finishing, you never leave finishing.

And, and there's some truth to that. Mm-hmm. , because you get into it and you go, this is, it's awesome. And there's so many opportunities, um, of where you can go and where your career path can go and, and where you end up. But, um, yeah, I think, uh, most women like it. . Um, but it's like anything else. You are gonna be in a male dominated industry and knowing how to [00:12:00] navigate that right, can cause heartache, problems, stress, depending on who you are.

Yeah. Um, I probably had an advantage because I mean, okay, let me actually sidestep this. So you talk about sexism and we're in the workplace right. And being treated as the only woman at the table. And, and that could be scary, right? And you gotta deal with probably a little bit more bullshit, for lack of a better word, sometimes.

Yeah. Um, but when I was a teacher, I probably had more issues. men being jerks to me. Mm-hmm. than I ever have in manufacturing. Really? Yeah. And that surprises a lot of people. Yeah. But I also was a history teacher and worked in a social studies department, which is a lot of men. Okay. Coaches and things like that.

And almost every administrator that I, you know, worked under was a met was a male. Right. It's an old boys club in any industry, whether you're in education or manufacturing or business or whatever, just is that way. Um, but I would say since I've been in manufacturing, I mean, any guy I meet or male I work with, they are usually supporters of what I'm doing and are gonna do anything to help me be successful and support me.

And that is awesome. And I would say hands down and not in a creepy way. [00:13:00] And not in a creepy way. Yeah. Not in a creepy way. Um, I would say hands down, that is also what I hear from women industry, that they Okay. The men in the companies that they work for, support them. Not always. You're always gonna have, and you're gonna have women who don't support you too.

Yeah. I mean, it's just, that's human. . I don't know if that answers 

your question. No, it does. That, that is good. Um, when you talk to, let's say the, the twentysomething, um, girl who is considering not a, a career in this, in this industry, whatever it may be, but in the industrial segment, what kind of advice would you give her today?

Hmm. 

Let me think about this one for a second. I mean, I think it'd be the same advice I'd give to anybody. Um, b. Be proactive, join professional organizations. Yep. I mean, case in point, female, right? I go to, um, you know, my first CC AI chapter event and yeah, it's mostly men in the room and there's like one or two women.

We find each other and we talk to each other, but. since I've, my involvement there, I became a board member [00:14:00] at my local chapter, and I was only involved for two years, and then I was asked to join the national board. So if you're a woman who wants leadership opportunities or career opportunities or, or path upward, you're gonna get those in this industry.

Um, but again, you gotta be proactive. So that's my point. You gotta show up and you gotta, you know, educate yourself, right? Mm-hmm. , if you're getting into something that maybe, like, I don't have a technical background, so that's challenging for me because, I don't have a chemistry degree. I don't have an engineering degree, so I take a lot of notes.

So be proactive, take notes, ask questions, do you know some networking opportunities? Um, and just connect with as many people as you can because you're gonna learn from those people. Um, and yeah, don't be afraid. You know, you gotta go out and have confidence a little bit , whether it's in person, face-to-face or on social media.

Right. Like reach, I mean, Vince, I think we connected on LinkedIn and you know, just with anybody, I'm not a, I mean just because he's got a philanthropy, , you know, tagline and he seems like a big deal and owns a company that doesn't intimidate me to connect with him. Right. Smoke mirrors, [00:15:00] smoke mirrors. You can cut that out.

But like, I, but that's my point. Like, just don't be intimidated and be confident in who you. Oh, 

go ahead. One of my questions and see how I throw this one out there. Um, just cuz I think about, you know, we're all in finished goods and you think about, you know, who's buying them, you know? Yeah. And when you look across the whole population, you have men and women buying it.

What advantages, you know, I can think of them clearly, but like, does a woman have looking at finished goods versus, you know, the rough and tumble guys and you know, the greasy shops. What kind of perspective do you think. that's bringing, and do you see those impacts on how goods are coming out and the look and feel 

as far as getting more people into industry?

No. As far 

as, you know, just a women's perspective on finishing, um, like when you guys are, are, are chatting, you know, obviously you have kind of a circle of, you know, that you talked about, you know, if you've got the whole group and then you have your women in finishing. Right. Do you see an influence starting to [00:16:00] happen in, in the finished good coming off the assembly that, yeah, that's getting a little bit more.

nicer finish to it because we're impacting the industry. We're not 

yet, I would say not yet. Okay. And I don't, and I wouldn't know that. Yeah. I have not heard that or seen that. I don't know. Okay. I don't have an answer for you for that one. That's fair. Um, doesn't mean that's not happening. I just don't, I don't know.

And I haven't heard anyone speak to that. Um, but I mean, as a, a business, um, you know, if you can, and it's hard, again, finding talent and finding people, but if you can find. A woman to hire that, um, you know, if you have women in your company, highlight them. Promote them, um, and not promote them like we said, because they're, I mean, promote them, and I don't mean in their position, I mean, promote them on like socially social media.

Everybody's on social media, especially if you're looking at a younger generation. I think it's so important, like I said, in an early podcast I did when I started in this industry. It's so important for people to see me working here because I'm a woman. And you need to advertise that and you need to look within your company.

Um, you know, one of the. Profiles I did on [00:17:00] social media when I was hired was a woman in our, who worked in our shipping department. And she couldn't believe it because no one had ever talked to her or highlighted her or asked her anything about who she was. And, and maybe because she's a woman mm-hmm. . And so it was so important for me to be like, Hey, we have women who work here that are so critical and crucial to what we do.

Um, so again, that's an in internal thing, but externally that people see that and women see that. You know, getting young interns or people to come in and, and apprentice for you. I mean, look at people who you already employed. You have daughters, you know, have a bring your daughter to Workday, right? Um, and, and again, I think that's why women in finishing those organizations aren't so important.

And sometimes I think what I do is a little bit important because I need to speak to that and let people know, you know, that there is a career here for you and there are other women. You're not the only one. We're just spread out a little bit. , 

is there anything that we missed? Um, Anything that el, anything else that you would want to add either on, on C C A I or women in finishing at all?

Yeah, so I mean the, the women, you know, it seems like there are none, none of [00:18:00] us out there. It's growing. It's growing I think exponentially. I just got a email from Women in Manufacturing, which is another organization I'm involved with and a part of. Um, I do less, you know, with that, I'm just more a member of that organization.

But they have 15,000 members now. And when I first joined Belco three years ago, that was another organization that I joined immediately. It was important to me. And I think they had only been in existence maybe a year. Um, and, and maybe just a few hundred women were part of that. And so again, I think social media has played a huge role because younger women especially are on social media.

We're. We're social beings, right? We like to be there in that place and, and talk and chat and like, and put emojis on things. And so when we see other women who are attending these events, right, we wanna be a part of it. And so when women in finishing asked me to speak at their form last year, it was critical for me to advertise that even though, I mean it.

Sometimes I hate putting myself out there to be, to be honest, in public speaking. It's, I'm okay at it, but it's not my favorite thing. Mm-hmm. per se. But it's important to do that because other people are gonna see it and see that as an opportunity or someone to connect with and, uh, hear the [00:19:00] stories of the women in manufacturing.

You know, in our manufacturing sector we have a female welder. We, I don't know if we'd ever had anyone on the, on the shop floor. So it's like we need to promote that, uh, that they're welcome here. Right. And that we have them and they exist. Right. Yeah. Um, cuz some people think women don't. in, in that sector.

Right. So you gotta, you gotta showcase that. Well, the two 

organizations, organizations that you mentioned, women in finishing, and women in manufac. Are those, um, national orgs? Yes. Okay. And where are they built based 

out of, do you remember? Uh, women in finishing, like I said, is part of c c I. Okay. And they are out of Florida.

Okay. Uh, women in manufacturing, oh man, I wanna say it's outta Cleveland. Okay. Could be Ohio originally, where originated. I could be totally wrong on that. Sure. Um, but that is a national organization and they're a local chapters. So women in finishing. , I'm sorry. Women in manufacturing is like women in, or CCC I or women in finishing, is it local chapters?

Local chapters. Okay. So I'm part of our West Michigan chapter. Okay. And I'm obviously as a member, part of the national organization. Okay. Um, and they do, they just had their big summit down in Georgia. And that's why I said, I don't know how many attendees, but it looked [00:20:00] like a lot. And I know every year it's gonna grow.

Um, and so watch out guys. Yeah. So yeah. Ladies, the ladies are coming. . 

That's right. So to, uh, play on what Lindsay's been talking about. Um, ladies, if you're interested, check out women in manufacturing and women in finishing. Um, if you're already in the industry and not a part of either of those organizations, you guys should probably take a look at them.

Um, to your point, networking is critical and networking about something or with an organization that is, uh, representing you and something that you can certainly get passionate about is, is key. So you guys should check those out. Um, join, join your local chapter if you haven't already. Um, Contact us, comment in the field here.

Let us know, uh, what your interests are. And hey, maybe we'll have you on, on, uh, on the industrial podcast to talk about your experience with that, with that organization. Guys, thank you for joining us on this episode of the Indus Podcast. We appreciate you listening in wherever you get your podcast or on Thea YouTube channel.

Thanks for watching the day. We [00:21:00] appreciate you. Um, join us on the next episode. Hit that little notification bell so you can be alerted when it. And be industrious.