Kito Crosby joins LEEA in celebrating Int Women’s Day
As part of International Women’s Day on March 8, LEEA invited female colleagues from all around the world at Kito Crosby to give us their perspective on being a woman in the industry and how to encourage the next generation of diverse talent into the lifting engineering sector.
Colleagues who took part in the voxpop, honouring the theme #InspireInclusion were; Brenda King, VP, HR Global Programs; Cristina León, area sales manager, Spain & Portugal; Yuki Pitts Intellectual Property; Kimmy Goetschalckx, business/process analyst; Heike Witschold, accountant/business administrative coordinator; Saki Onodera, value creation manager; Verena Arnold, digitalisation specialist and Elsa Velasco Paul, senior marketing mgr, New Business Development, all from Kito Crosby.
King, who is based in Dallas, in the US, is celebrating 10 years working for the company. Prior to that, she worked in the oil and gas sector. She said as a woman navigating this industry, she “recognises the unique opportunity we have to enrich a company culture with our diverse perspectives,” and she has seen a shift from manual labour-intensive processes towards an era defined by automation and robotics, reshaping the manufacturing landscape and in turn re-evaluating their HR strategies.
Cristina León, area sales manager, Spain & Portugal, is based in Barcelona and started her career aged 18 with her father, who founded a wire rope and steel company, which eventually led to Kito Crosby distribution.
“During my career I have had to overcome certain obstacles due to stereotypes because historically lifting has long been associated with a male gender, but the truth is, competence knows no gender. This industry has taught me to be more resilient, translating that into professional growth,” she said.
Yuki Pitts works in intellectual property, patents, trademarks, and new product development.
“One of the most exciting things about my job is seeing new ideas and technology brought to the table every day. We have female employees, but compared to our male employees it’s not that many. With so many ideas and technology needed to grow the industry we welcome ideas from others, inviting more women to join us and inspiring them to be future leaders of the industry,” she said.
Kimmy Goetschalckx, business/process analyst Kito Crosby Europe, has worked for the company for five years based in Belgium. She believes in the importance of training and data governance, which is done in the correct way.
Heike Witschold, accountant and business administrative coordinator, based in Cologne, Germany, said it took a while to establish her standing at the beginning, but people trust her and value her opinion, recognising the importance of her position.
Saki Onodera, value creation manager, joined the company after finishing her studies in Japan in 2010. She wanted to join industrial manufacturing to change the world in which we live, and later moved to Germany, where she is now based. She enjoys working on a daily basis with engineers, production technicians and warehouse operators.
“It’s usual for me to be the only woman in business meetings, but I don’t feel uncomfortable because I’m treated very fairly. Also, every year I see my female colleagues taking on more responsibility and when I see the next generation taking on roles in the industry, I’m happy to support that,” she said.
Verena Arnold, digitalisation specialist, and responsible for EMEA marketing, says she appreciates open exchange and dialogue on products and technology with in the different departments of the group and says the industry is open-minded and very friendly and she’s excited to see where the journey will take us.
Elsa Velasco Paul, senior marketing manager, New Business Development, said she has seen many changes over the years.
“International Women’s Day is the recognition of a journey, understanding how inspiring and amazing, difficult and beautiful it is to be a woman who just get it done and celebrating the wins. There is more representation, more meaningful equity, more allies. Diversity is not an act, it is the ultimate competitive advantage. The most important thing I’ve learned is that people matter,” she said.
Click HERE to see the full video on LEEA YouTube channel.
Our next global event is Global Lifting Awareness Day #GLAD2024 on July 18. To find out more information about how you can get involved visit https://globalliftingawarenessday.com
