Empowering Industry Podcast - A Production of Empowering Pumps & Equipment

Charli had to opportunity to talk with two amazing leaders in this week's episode. Dr. Eileen O’Neill is a speaker, writer and the retired Executive Director of the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, (US).  Eileen also worked in academia and environmental consulting in the U.S. and in Europe;...

Charli K. Matthews interviews Scott MacKenzie about IMTS and his role as an influencer in the industry.   Scott and Charli be recording LIVE from The Creators Lounge, located in the South Hall of McCormick Place - Booth 338600, it will feature stories from a dynamic range of industry creators, folks who live and breathe manufacturing and the industrial movement. A few select creators will share th...

Charli gets to sit down and talk with Becky Henderson this week. With 29 years of industry experience in the plumbing and mechanical trade, Becky began her career in 1994 as a manufacturer’s representative and is currently the lead account manager for Grundfos Pumps. She manages 13 Midwestern states through 7 independent representative agencies. During her career, she’s experienced product sales a...

Charli K. Matthews shares her excitement that AMT and its partner Industrial Studios have asked her to be an Influencer within their Creators Lounge experience at IMTS 2022. The Creators Lounge, located in the South Hall of McCormick Place - Booth 338600, will be a live show that features stories from a dynamic range of industry creators, folks who live and breathe manufacturing and the industrial...

This week Charli met with John Donatiello , the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Hydro, Inc. where he is also a Director and Advisor. John is a senior level executive with documented success in achieving revenue, profit and business growth objectives. Specializing in turnarounds and rapid change environments. Extensive experience with highly engineered systems that necessitate a de...

 Charli was fortunate enough to sit down with two awesome leaders at Reliable Plant and bring you this awesome bonus episode   Michael Bernhard , Senior Solutions Architect at Nikola Labs where he helps manufacturing companies reduce maintenance costs and improve asset reliability.  Tom Moriarty , President of Alidade MER, Inc. Tom has over 40 years of experience creating organizational reliabilit...

This week Charli sat down to talk with Tracey Allen about Procurement and Supply Chain, something we've all become very aware of during the last few years. Tracey Allen is Vice President of Digital Office Procurement at Nokia. Her main focus has been to reshape the way Digital Office manages Supplier engagements, in order to support business owners and IT solution teams to deliver better valu...

Charli sat down with Chad Wilbanks this week, he is the Director of Training and Technology at The Water Tower. Chad has 20 years of experience in the water industry. He joins us from Gwinnett County DWR where he previously served as Wastewater Manager of the F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center, Superintendent of the Crooked Creek WRF, and Pump St ations Section Manager. Prior to joining TWT, he...

Charli sat down this week to talk with Brenda Cervantes. Brenda graduated from the Water Conservation program in 2013. She also received her GIS pathway certificate from Lane Community College. She worked at a local watershed council for a couple of years while in school. Then for City of Florence Public Works as a GIS technician. But she still wanted to make a bigger difference in the Water World...

I just wanted to tell you a little bit about what I am excited about.  Well first, I’m alive!  July 8th was my anniversary of my Open Heart Surgery and I am super pumped… see what I did there :)  If you haven’t read my blog yet, I highly recommend it so you can get to know me and my scar better :) It seems it is part of my healing to show it off    -Charli This week Charli is talking with Anthony...

This week Charli is talking to Eric Lunsford, the President of Pye-Barker Engineered Solutions where he has worked for over 29 years.  Pye-Barker is primarily an industrial supply company which specializes in compressed air, pumping and blower/vacuum systems. They are involved in the design aspect of each project in conjunction with being on the back end; so the layout and all of the mechanical sy...

Charli talks to Aisha Lawrey this week in the Industry Interview.  A STEM advocate, Aisha Lawrey, has 25 years of experience on this journey. Working in industry, government, nonprofits, and education she knows how to engage many different stakeholders, at all levels. Her focus is on increasing the number of women and minorities in engineering.  Aisha currently works for AWS (Amazon Web Services),...

This week Charli sits down with a truly inspirational person, Barbie the Welder.  After training for five years to learn the art of welding and fabrication and earning her Journeyman in sheet metal and iron plate, Barbie quit her job September 1, 2014 to pursue her greatest passion, metal sculpture. Although Barbie had extensive training from fellow welders and fabricators at the company she worke...

This week Charli is talking with Thom Jessup , President of The Fluid Sealing Association®. Thom began his career at EGC working in production. From there he moved on to a machinist, an engineering technician, a manufacturing design engineer and the Research and Development Engineering Manager. Ultimately, he was elevated to the role of salesman with responsibility for qualifying new sales leads,...

Charli is back from her time in Uganda with stories, updates, and an interview with Dave Wilbur of United Electric Controls. Mr. Wilbur has 21 years of experience with United Electric Controls working in the development of pressure, temperature and gas detection instruments for use in industrial environments.  Prior to United Electric, Mr. Wilbur spent ten years with Ritchie Navigation engaged in...

This week Charli talks with Tim Merkel about taking pump technology into the cloud  Timothy Merkel has been involved in the water and wastewater industry for over 20 years with a focus on building partnerships in the wastewater business with distributors, vendors, and other key relationships across the industry.  He has served as Secretary / Treasurer for the Submersible Wastewater Pumping Associa...

We wanted to release this bonus content as a way to say thank you Melissa Meeker and The Water Tower for the amazing event! In this special bonus episode, Charli interviews Debra Coy and Cindy Wallis-Lage about their view of The Water Tower and how we can continue to collaborate and add value to the Water sector. Virtual Meetups: Empowering Women - Wed, May 11th (every second Wed) at 11 CT Mentors...

This week Charli talks to Dr. Alexa Chilcutt about professional development and continuing education at the corporate level with a focus on leadership and communication.  Dr. Alexa Chilcutt is an alumna of The University of Alabama where she earned her M.A. in Public Relations and Ph. D. in Communication and Information Sciences. She currently serves as the faculty lead for Johns Hopkins Carey Bus...

This week Charli talks with Bryan Bieschke about sustainability through his role at Bowery Farming.   Bryan Bieschke is a CMRP and dedicated maintenance & reliability leader, creating vision through strong culture and business alignment. Bryan has over 15 years in maintenance functions from a heavy equipment mechanic to building and leading multiple state programs at the executive level. Bryan...

Charli Interviews Brent Flavin and Chris M. Meaux about BoomNation. [Interview Starts @ 5:04] About Brent Flavin,  Co-Founder/Co-CEO of BoomNation, Inc. B.S., Louisiana State University, Columbia University, Executive Education, Value Investing, Investments , and Securities  Founded and built multiple startup businesses and teams designed to disrupt market leaders and enhance customer experience i...

This week Charli is joined by Bekah to talk about digital media and the Empowering Pumps Digital Edition , which can be found here . [Interview Starts @19:13] Join us for our monthly meetups! https://empoweringpumps.com/virtual-meet-up/ Empowering Women - Wed, April 13th (every second Wed) at 11 CT Mentorship Circles - every 2nd Monday https://www.empoweringwomeninindustry.com/mentorshipcircles Bo...

This week Charli and Bethany talk about Social Media Branding and how to make your graphics and images stand out. Then Charli interviews Jeff Kane, the Director of Sales and Marketing at DFT, all about his 35 year career in the valve industry.   [Interview Starts @25:31] Watch on YouTube! Jeff Kane has been involved in the valve industry and sales for 35 years working for DFT, Deacon Industrial, a...

This episode Charli interviews Caeley Looney, Space Mission Analyst and Founder and CEO of Reinvented Inc. Watch on YouTube! Caeley Looney is a total space geek, avid Netflix binger, and french fry lover. After graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, she started working full-time as a Space Mission Analyst at L3Harris Technologies, where she curre...

This episode Charli interviews Susan Hobson, Leadership Mindset Coach. Watch on YouTube! Sign up for her Masterclass on ‘Braking Burnout’ Thursday March 24th at 1pm est: https://thehplaunchpad.mykajabi.com/registration-page-ee2a8c2a-d5b4-452e-a107-231a98e44793 Susan Hobson is a High-Performance Leadership Coach, published author, Founder/CEO of Elite High Performance Inc. and host of the podcast ‘...

This week Charli and Bethany talk about how to build brand awareness through consistency on social media. Then Charli interviews Bill Tipton, CEO and co-founder of Odaptix all about data driven decision making regarding company culture and strategy.   [Interview Starts @25:24] Watch on YouTube! Bill has worked and led in both small privately held businesses and large global multinationals includin...