Appearing high in the sapphire blue ombre sky, Venus will live up to its ‘morning star’ reputation, accompanying a half-moon over a wakening city. Autumn trees will be silhouetted against a pale lavender of the horizon in Charleston, North Carolina. The city will be brimming with activity from revelers taking advantage of southern comforts of seasonal food, the quaint historic cobblestoned streets, and coastal charm of Waterfront Park. At the brick-facade Charleston Place in downtown, however, over 160 women (and some men) from the oil and petroleum industry will start their morning coffee by catching up with one another after a year of working remotely in their home states to reconvene for the CSW C-Store Women’s event.
The CSW event hosted by Informa Connect will see women leaders from across the US share about their power team’s project as part of the conclusion to a year-long journey. They will depict how they worked to uplift women in their respective companies, and engage in immersive learning focused on business development, strategy, and financial acumen, giving them more tools to further their move up the proverbial ladder.
Quantum Services’ own, Andrea McMaster, Senior Operations Manager, and Rachell Bernhardt, Director of Human Resources, will return to the CSW event to celebrate their successes and takeaways of their power team projects.
QUANTUM LEAP
For Rachell, her reflections during a recent podcast with CSP Magazine’s Senior Editor, Hannah Hammond, shed light on her journey. Her team focused on ways to lift other women up for the betterment of their organization. They developed best practices for how women can prepare for difficult conversations with a male boss, such as when highlighting the value of her work against the organizational goals and seeking a pay increase. Rachell also discussed succession planning, noting that the third generation of family is still young, so Quantum Services looks to its tenured employees to promote from within. It allows the organization to build out and add to the team with home-grown natural leaders.
Rachell’s power team also looked at the aspect of competitiveness between women, which as a concept, competitiveness is a difficult one to tackle because it is a societal issue. Overcoming competitiveness takes caring less about other’s perceptions of you. She says of her daughter in water polo, “It’s about the shots you take versus the shots you make. You can’t make the points if you’re not taking the shots. Don’t wait for the perfect moment; keep shooting and you’ll score.” This same nugget of advice can be applied by women in the workplace.
Along the same lines, Andrea looks at her own family, always striving to create a work-life balance so she does not miss out on the formative years of her three children. For next year’s power team, she selected to participate in the Work-Life Integration team. She says, “I am always trying to do better within my career, but I also have a family to think about.” Being involved with this team will allow her to not only be successful at work, but in her personal life as well.
CREATING RIPPLES, SHIFTING FUTURES
Women have an exceptional ability to be empathetic and know when to ask for help. Embracing and encouraging these qualities in the workplace improves not only its culture but the morale of its people. When everyone feels included for who they are and what they contribute to the company, everyone enjoys more satisfaction in their work. This in turn equates to better business results.
Now that the year has come to an end, the ripple effect is in full motion. For Quantum Services’ Rachell and Andrea, they have started the work to improve the way for future women within the organization, for the oil and convenience industry at large, and for women empowerment everywhere. Quantum Services knows that it’s about treating others fairly and lifting them up, enabling them to assert themselves for the betterment of the organization.
To follow Andrea and Rachell’s year-long journey in their CSW project, check out how their journey began here, their initial steps here, and the roadblocks faced along the journey here. Quantum Services is proud to support their efforts and how they are shaping the landscape for women in the c-store industry.