Given the extraordinary demand in the tools and manufacturing industry, there’s clearly opportunity for career growth. Even so, at the end of the day, is it really a place where women will feel valued and supported?
If you ask leaders like Patrice McLaughlin – who found her “happy place” at Stanley Black & Decker in part through our Vocational Leadership Program (VLP) – the answer is a resounding “Yes!”
How has Patrice been making her mark at Stanley Black & Decker?
“I’ve been responsible for coordinating/maintaining our Cycle Counting Program, monitoring our backflushing* process, training Assembly Leads, maintaining inventory in the warehouse, and supporting the planning and execution of CMO’s Annual Physical Inventory.”
(*Backflushing is essentially an accounting system that waits until all of the production processes are completed before recording any direct material usages.)
What’s new with Patrice?
Promoted in early 2022 to the role of Logistics Supervisor, Patrice is now responsible for 65 associates working at our cutting-edge CMO facility. As a 6 ½-year Stanley Black & Decker veteran and graduate of our Vocational Leadership Program, it’s a well-deserved promotion.
How does Patrice feel about being tasked with that much responsibility? “I look forward to leading the Materials Department at a new level!” she assures.
On how VLP helped Patrice become a VIP…
“I joined VLP to build my leadership skills, to be able to implement effective leadership strategies. I wanted to inspire others to impact their teams. We have an opportunity as VLP members to mentor and train other team members, to share our knowledge and that in itself is very rewarding to me. The skills I learned in the VLP program can be effectively applied to everyday job operations…I am forever grateful in my takeaways!”
Among Patrice’s proudest moments…
“While shopping at Lowe’s, I found myself picking up DEWALT Tool Kits and reading the date code labels to find tools that were assembled at my facility (CMO). I was asked by a Lowe’s associate if I needed help. I explained that I help maintain and get material to the assembly lines that build the very tools in this store and others all over!”
In her own way, Patrice is breaking biases and setting new standards for women in the tools and manufactory industry.
What female figure does she admire most?
“Madam C.J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove) She was recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the Guinness Book of World Records along with Mary Ellen Pleasant (whose income was not well documented). Madam Walker was a philanthropist and political and social activist. She developed a line of cosmetics and hair care products for Black women and used the money to help numerous organizations in the arts.”
With Patrice’s drive to learn and grow and passion for motivating others, she’s indeed among the mentors that make Stanley Black & Decker a place of equal opportunity and boundless potential.
