C4W Member Profile: Debra Shelton

What is your profession?  Global Receptionist of MeadWestVaco Specialty Chemical Division.

What do you enjoy doing outside of your career? Supporting, planning and living my life with my family.  I’ve been in yoga classes for 11 years, have found a new interest in birds of prey and just recently completed a photography class. My desire is to inspire and encourage those around me.

How long have you been a member of the Center for Women?  I’ve been a member of the SCD Women’s Network for 2 years and MWV has been a member of the C4W for the past 2 years.

What inspired you to become a member? I am inspired by those who touch our human side.  Being myself is the only option for me.  As individuals, the privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

What kind of impact has the Center for Woman had on you?  The women of the Center for Woman have supported my walk forward in certainty and with integrity.  I feel strongly that the people who make a difference are not the ones with the credentials, but the ones with concern.

How has living day-to-day as a woman affected you?  Living day-to-day as a woman inspires me to encourage and hold up all women.  That’s who I know myself to be.  Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, or the smallest act of caring- all of which have the potential to turn a life around.  As women, we have unique gifts of purpose, caring appreciation and gratitude. I try to pass it forward every day.

What kind of message would you like to send out to women who are trying to succeed in today’s economy?  Treat others with dignity, honor and respect. Nurture your relationships and strive to represent the best of who you are and what you do.  My message to send out is to “Dance While You Can,” no one cares if you cannot dance well, just get up and dance to your own life song.

How can people connect with you? debra.shelton@mwv.com

C4W Member Profile: Kimberley MacEwan

What is your profession? I am a Ph.D. chemist at MWV. My formal title is Technical and Applications Specialist for the Oilfield division.

What do you enjoy doing outside of your career? My personal life revolves around my husband and my six year old son (both Edward’s). My son is in grade one and active in sports, so we spend much of our spare time attending games and cheering from the side lines. However, the best part of my day is with my son at his bedtime. I lie beside him every night and we “chat” about anything and everything that interests him. These are the moments that matter and you remember forever.

How long have you been a member of the Center for Women? Just over one year.

What inspired you to become a member? The C4W is a wonderful support network for encouragement and connections.

What kind of impact has the Center for Women had on you? The C4W is a very positive environment for me. I love reading other blogs from a variety of different women – I find them inspiring. At MWV we have a women’s network and the C4W is brought up regularly as an organization for our female colleagues to connect with.  It is wonderful all the avenues available to women today – times are changing ladies!

How has living day-to-day as a woman affected you? I am very proud of my accomplishments as a woman.  I am so blessed to have been born a woman and in the century I was, LOL. I can’t imagine being a woman, with my personality, 100 years ago. Fortunately, I am lucky to work for an organization who does not look at your sex, but rather what you have to offer – what you bring to the table.

What kind of message would you like to send out to women who are trying to succeed in today’s economy? No matter what challenges you think are in front of you, you can do whatever you set your mind to.  Life is too short not to “be all that you can”.  It’s never too late to start fresh.  In 1990, at the age of 28, I applied to a local University, in my home town, and was rejected. The reason stated was I was out of school too long. They recommended I take a year of high school upgrading and reapply, so I did. To make a long story short – In 2003 I completed my Ph.D. in Diffusion Chemistry. It was not easy, but it can be done. We can make a new start. All it takes is the right frame of mind and your potential is limitless.

How can people connect with you? Kimberley.macewan@mwv.com

C4W Member Profile: Cindy Cartmell

What is your profession? While my title is Vice President of Human Resources & Communications at MWV, my profession is truly people.  I have a wonderful job that allows me to focus on who people really are, what motivates them, and where they can be best positioned to do amazing things.

What do you enjoy doing outside of your career? My personal life is focused on my family and friends.  I have two children, ages 9 and 12, who keep me running around town with all of their activities.  The best part of the day is the conversations we have around the dinner table.  I try to hold that time sacred during the week as it is where I learn the most about what is going on in their worlds.

How long have you been a member of the Center for Women? I’ve been a member of C4W for 5 years.

What inspired you to become a member?   I had lived in Charleston for about 4 years and realized I hadn’t done a great job of networking professionally.  One of my co-workers set up a meet and greet with C4W and after seeing the results of their actions, I was hooked.

What kind of impact has the Center for Women had on you? At MWV we continue to drive strong engagement with the women in our organization.  We created a Women’s Network several years ago, and C4W is one of the local organizations we encourage our employees to get connected with.  Regardless of experience (or title for that matter) we all have something substantial to share with others.  I like that C4W is the type of organization that provides a ‘hand up’ versus a ‘hand out,’ meaning they build skills that can be applied in so many areas of our lives.

How has living day-to-day as a woman affected you?  For the past 10 years I’ve been the only female member of our senior leadership team.  It’s been rewarding, challenging and very educational working with the dynamic group of men on my team.  We’ve learned a lot from each other.  It took me a while to take the position seriously, meaning to understand the breadth of my responsibility to ensure women in our organization get the right level of recognition, development opportunities, and quite frankly time in front of senior leaders.  I’ve learned that women network differently than men.  We have a smaller number of relationships that are deep.  Men have more relationships but often times lack the depth.  They are therefore better networked given they know more people.  I encourage women in our organization to build more networks; to sit at the table in meetings and by all means have a voice.  I’ve challenged women to stretch and take risks.  As a result I’ve had the honor of seeing them do amazing things, both personally and professionally.

What kind of message would you like to send out to women who are trying to succeed in today’s economy?  The important thing to remember is this:  The only thing that gets in your way is yourself.  So many of us can make an exhaustive list of why we can’t do something.  I myself can come up with the best excuses of anyone.  As women we have a bad habit of getting in our own way, over and over again.  As yourself the question “why not?”  Then challenge every single answer you come up with.  Force yourself to, as Nike would say, just do it.  Take the risk.  Make the effort.  Don’t worry about failing.  If we can figure out how to get out of our own way, it’s amazing to see what we can achieve.

How can people connect with you? 

Cynthia.cartmell@mwv.com or 843-740-2017.