Manufacturing Today Issue 205 Issue 205 - October 2022 | Page 12

Remaining hungry for challenges and new experiences , she moved over to lead Neenah ’ s Technical Products division , before becoming COO and ultimately CEO , at around the same time as the pandemic struck . “ It was a trial by fire so to speak ; but it really helped us gel as a team and work together on how we were going to offset some of the headwinds we were facing ,” she says of this time . Finally , following the merger , Julie became Mativ ’ s President and CEO .

“ Taking on all these different roles and challenges has given me every opportunity to grow and learn ,” she emphasizes . Believing that ‘ the rewards are in the risks ,’ this approach does require energy and determination ( a quality that Julie celebrates is ‘ grit ’) and she admits that she is known for her ‘ bias for action ’ or simply , getting things done . “ Internally , we call this ‘ speed with purpose ,’ and I am a firm believer that speed matters , particularly in the current business environment , which is very fluid , with strong competition . What ’ s important
is understanding that , when you are moving quickly , you are going to make mistakes . That is OK if you learn from them , move on and continue your forward momentum .”
Julie went on to highlight some further values that are prized at Mativ . “ We value safety above all , and that isn ’ t just in our sites , but covers everything , from sales staff driving to an appointment to our operators on the floor . It ’ s important to us that everyone understands that safety is THE priority at Mativ ,” she stated . “ We also talk about ‘ confident humility ’, which requires the confidence to move forward and take a little bit of risk , while remaining humble enough to know we all still have a lot to learn .
“ This ties into ‘ actively experimenting ’ – encouraging everyone to try something different across the organization , so that we are always creatively deconstructing what we do to make it better , faster , safer and more effective . “ We also believe in ‘ assuming positive intent ’. If you think a fellow employee is not moving in the same direction as you , the chances are they are just coming at it from a
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