Cindy McShane
Interview Posted By: Ashley Smith
1. Can you tell us a little about your background? i.e. Where you grew up, what education do you have, a summary of your resume, did you always want to do what you are doing now, when did you start to become interested in STEM, what internships/ volunteering.
I grew up in Quincy, Illinois, graduated from Bradley University with a double Bachelor of Science in Broadcast and Editorial Journalism. I came out to Los Angeles and joined a retained executive search consulting company for seven years. We hired VP and above talent for top Fortune 500 clients. From there, I was hired by The Walt Disney Company to become a part of Corporate Administration in Burbank, California. I stayed with Corporate Disney for almost 20 years. I was responsible for hiring senior level talent for all areas of Corporate Administration including Finance, Strategy, Controllership, Real Estate, Legal, Marketing, Corporate Alliances, Procurement and Sourcing, Tax, etc. I also built and ran the Corporate MBA/Undergrad fulltime and internship hiring program targeting top schools. In doing this, I created a companywide resource called the College Relations Council (CRC) which all business units participated in and we did many things together including recruitment, road trips, business unit educational career forms, panel discussions, intern events and much more. I left Disney to join the “family business” – National Everclean Services in 2009 which does 3rd party food safety audits for restaurants, grocery stores, theme parks, large venues, airports and hospitality venues. My position is to create a department known as Client Relationship Management and handle client customer service. In 2013, UL (formerly Underwriters Laboratories) purchased Everclean and we became UL Everclean which is where I am today. Regarding being invited to participate in STEM, UL sent out an email and I volunteered and signed up online.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
I manage the client activity: fielding questions and requests, running performance reports, setting up trainings and meetings, and a wide range of other activities that change and evolve as we grow.
3. How does STEM relate to your job?How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
My job isn’t in the science world directly. This would be more relevant for other areas of UL. However, our company is in food safety and our auditors mainly have technical degrees in Environmental Health and Safety.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
I have never faced discrimination and I have worked with every functional area imaginable with my employers: Disney, consulting and UL. If you approach your job in a way where you are a solid business professional, you’ll be treated this way in return (99% of the time J).
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
The best part of my job is working in fabulous corporate environment with top professionals with wonderful diverse clients and I have the ability to be creative in how I work. The negative is that there are not enough hours in the day.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
I have a very supportive husband of 29 years and 2 boys in college. I have 2 dogs, 2 cats and 3 bunnies. We work hard and we have a lot of fun together. If you have established trust with your family and your work, then you will get whatever time you’ll need to either spend with family or on the job.
7. What do you define success as?
If you are happy in life.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
Being honest will help you work with integrity and built trust with your colleagues and clients..
9. Who was a mentor to you throughout your career? (can be more than one!) What did they teach you? How did they impact your life?
I’ve had many mentors. It’s very important to have mentors that provide guidance and coaching. They have helped me make important decisions. There are not specifics to give on this, but any time I struggle with how to solve something, I reach out to my mentors and they give me perspective.
10. What do you think is the best advice you've ever received ? What advice would you give your younger self if you had the chance? What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to us?
I used to work with all levels of management at Disney and I’ve seen so many people take their own unique career paths. The best advise I’ve ever received is to follow your own path by believing and trusting in yourself. This doesn’t come naturally and it is a skill everyone needs to build. Take into consideration your feelings, acknowledge your intuition and listen to your gut instincts. You will not let yourself down. That is not to say “don’t listen to others” because your family, friends, colleagues and mentors will all give you great advice. Take it all in and make your own choices for what you will be comfortable and confident with. Here is where people sink into quicksand: learn how not to compare, covet or strive to be at the same level as someone else. This never works out for anyone! This is also a skill to develop and it comes with acquiring professional maturity which takes some time in the “seat”. The other valuable skill to develop is to value other people’s success and achievements. This is the reverse of what I listed earlier, but it’s important to feel good about what your team members, colleagues and managers are doing around you. Not only will this make you a grateful and generous person, but you will be happier with embracing accomplishments and successes that occur around you. Wouldn’t it be a great world if everyone would practice and do this daily?
I grew up in Quincy, Illinois, graduated from Bradley University with a double Bachelor of Science in Broadcast and Editorial Journalism. I came out to Los Angeles and joined a retained executive search consulting company for seven years. We hired VP and above talent for top Fortune 500 clients. From there, I was hired by The Walt Disney Company to become a part of Corporate Administration in Burbank, California. I stayed with Corporate Disney for almost 20 years. I was responsible for hiring senior level talent for all areas of Corporate Administration including Finance, Strategy, Controllership, Real Estate, Legal, Marketing, Corporate Alliances, Procurement and Sourcing, Tax, etc. I also built and ran the Corporate MBA/Undergrad fulltime and internship hiring program targeting top schools. In doing this, I created a companywide resource called the College Relations Council (CRC) which all business units participated in and we did many things together including recruitment, road trips, business unit educational career forms, panel discussions, intern events and much more. I left Disney to join the “family business” – National Everclean Services in 2009 which does 3rd party food safety audits for restaurants, grocery stores, theme parks, large venues, airports and hospitality venues. My position is to create a department known as Client Relationship Management and handle client customer service. In 2013, UL (formerly Underwriters Laboratories) purchased Everclean and we became UL Everclean which is where I am today. Regarding being invited to participate in STEM, UL sent out an email and I volunteered and signed up online.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
I manage the client activity: fielding questions and requests, running performance reports, setting up trainings and meetings, and a wide range of other activities that change and evolve as we grow.
3. How does STEM relate to your job?How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
My job isn’t in the science world directly. This would be more relevant for other areas of UL. However, our company is in food safety and our auditors mainly have technical degrees in Environmental Health and Safety.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
I have never faced discrimination and I have worked with every functional area imaginable with my employers: Disney, consulting and UL. If you approach your job in a way where you are a solid business professional, you’ll be treated this way in return (99% of the time J).
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
The best part of my job is working in fabulous corporate environment with top professionals with wonderful diverse clients and I have the ability to be creative in how I work. The negative is that there are not enough hours in the day.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
I have a very supportive husband of 29 years and 2 boys in college. I have 2 dogs, 2 cats and 3 bunnies. We work hard and we have a lot of fun together. If you have established trust with your family and your work, then you will get whatever time you’ll need to either spend with family or on the job.
7. What do you define success as?
If you are happy in life.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
Being honest will help you work with integrity and built trust with your colleagues and clients..
9. Who was a mentor to you throughout your career? (can be more than one!) What did they teach you? How did they impact your life?
I’ve had many mentors. It’s very important to have mentors that provide guidance and coaching. They have helped me make important decisions. There are not specifics to give on this, but any time I struggle with how to solve something, I reach out to my mentors and they give me perspective.
10. What do you think is the best advice you've ever received ? What advice would you give your younger self if you had the chance? What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to us?
I used to work with all levels of management at Disney and I’ve seen so many people take their own unique career paths. The best advise I’ve ever received is to follow your own path by believing and trusting in yourself. This doesn’t come naturally and it is a skill everyone needs to build. Take into consideration your feelings, acknowledge your intuition and listen to your gut instincts. You will not let yourself down. That is not to say “don’t listen to others” because your family, friends, colleagues and mentors will all give you great advice. Take it all in and make your own choices for what you will be comfortable and confident with. Here is where people sink into quicksand: learn how not to compare, covet or strive to be at the same level as someone else. This never works out for anyone! This is also a skill to develop and it comes with acquiring professional maturity which takes some time in the “seat”. The other valuable skill to develop is to value other people’s success and achievements. This is the reverse of what I listed earlier, but it’s important to feel good about what your team members, colleagues and managers are doing around you. Not only will this make you a grateful and generous person, but you will be happier with embracing accomplishments and successes that occur around you. Wouldn’t it be a great world if everyone would practice and do this daily?