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Forging a path to leadership in manufacturing
Georgian-born and raised, Jessyca Utley is part of a long line of strong, educated, independent and successful women, who have shaped the way she views herself and her career. Today, she works at BASF’s McIntyre site as a Lab Quality Supervisor, is a member of the Employee Resource Group (ERG) Women in BASF and actively engages with women across the manufacturing industry. Learn all about Jessyca below.
A solid female foundation
For as long as she can remember, Jessyca was surrounded by strong black women. As the daughter of a single father, she spent her childhood surrounded by her extended family and saw her grandmother and best friend take care of the household and finances.
In her kitchen, she learned to cook and still keeps her secret recipes to heart to this day. “My grandmother was a housewife, yet she was a very powerful woman. She raised amazing, powerful women, and you don't notice it when it's happening, but I got to witness a lot of their accomplishments. It just showed me that family has to stick together and support each other. And I always felt like it was so beautiful to be a part of that and to carry that on and just be very supportive.”
As the daughter of a military man, her father was stationed in different locations across the world, and her aunts and grandmother would look after her whenever he had to leave the U.S. She saw first-hand the connection between them and the drive her female relatives had, achieving milestone after milestone, both personally and professionally and the strength that came from their constant support.
Hard work was a big part of her family and something her father instilled in her. “My dad used to always say that anybody can say they'll do something, but the proof is actually when you put the work in and do it. So I’ve always been a hard worker. I always feel like I'm not doing enough. I'm hard on myself. I could be doing more. It's hard to give myself recognition and it's hard to enjoy when I hit a goal. Yet, people are always impressed, so I must be doing something right.”
Finding her way back to chemistry
Jessyca was always drawn to science and naturally good at chemistry. She enjoyed working on science projects and participating in fairs. So, chemistry seemed like a good choice. “Initially, my dad suggested nursing, since a lot of people in my family work in the healthcare industry. But I don't like hospitals, and I didn't find out until I worked at BASF that you can be an occupational nurse at a plant. I stopped going to school for years, and I just worked at call centers. My anxiety started to get really bad, and I realized I wasn’t where I was supposed to be and decided to go back to school. I went to Augusta Technical College and studied chemical technology.”
She had her first experience in manufacturing right out of high school, producing baby wipes, and almost a decade later, she returned to the industry. During the pandemic, when the job market was strained, Jessyca found herself unemployed. After a few months, she decided to expand her search and relocate to other cities in Georgia, and that’s when she came across BASF’s site in Attapulgus, Georgia. “I had two online interviews and then we met face-to-face. I came in and checked out their lab and a lot of the equipment I was already familiar with, so I thought it was just perfect; all I needed was to relocate. So I did,” she recalls.
Sorority: strength in numbers
Working in manufacturing comes with its own share of challenges, and adding motherhood to this mix can turn this already complex situation into an uphill battle. As a single mother, Jessyca experienced this first-hand. “At first, it was hard, but I knew I couldn't give up. I couldn't stop going. I brag about my son all the time. He's the best kid in the world, and I want my son to have a mom he can be proud of and somebody he can brag about too,” she explains.
For Jessyca, having a solid support system is key to being a single mom in manufacturing. Her job not only involves going to the site occasionally but also traveling, so making sure her son is taken care of is essential. “If I didn't have my village, I wouldn't be able to work in this environment,” she explains.
Having experienced these difficulties has led Jessyca to support initiatives for other mothers in manufacturing, “because it's hard, whether you're in an administrative role or whether you're an operator. Sometimes as women, we don't realize our strength. A lot of times, we're just on autopilot. And it's also important that we kind of take a moment to breathe and put some stuff down.”
I was always the one female in a room full of men. That inspired me to want to get more women in manufacturing because it is a good career, and it offers wonderful growth opportunities.
To turn her passion into action, Jessyca became involved with Employee Resource Groups at BASF, including the African American Employee Group (AAEG) and Women in BASF (WIB). “At the time, my quality and continuous improvement manager, Regina was the one who got me involved in WIB. I started going to the meetings and getting acquainted with all of these amazing women that I probably wouldn't have met otherwise because we didn't work together on the day-to-day. At that time, my family was my village, but what if I could build a work village? Back then, I had been in Tallahassee for a year, and I didn’t have any friends. And I started making friends and hanging out, going to dinners. I fell in love with WIB, it became my little tribe,” she recalls.
Room to grow
Her career has advanced over time, and she is in a better, more flexible position. “I’m on call around the clock. If something goes wrong, I get a call, but I don’t work 12-hour shifts anymore and there's a great majority of my job that I can do from home, which is a blessing.”
But her journey is far from over. She has dreams and aspirations, is currently finalizing a bachelor’s in business administration (2025) and plans to pursue her master’s (MBA) directly after, taking steps to become a leader and continue growing personally and professionally.
After participating in the Women in Manufacturing Empowering Women in Production program in 2022, Jessyca was nominated by her manager at the time, Solayne Tire, to join BASF's Female Leaders Advancing Manufacturing Excellence (FLAME) Program, dedicated to strengthening capabilities and improving advancement opportunities for women in manufacturing.
These programs and groups have proven to be a strong lifeline for Jessyca at work, and essential to push her forward. “There are days that can be very challenging; being a part of Women in BASF and FLAME is a great help. It's called FLAME for a reason. It keeps a light burning in me. I think about all these amazing and supportive women that I met. FLAME is a leadership program, but it's also a sisterhood. You have those people forever.”
I like to get involved. I like to do the BASF Kids’ Lab and speak at schools. While I'm on vacation, I'll be speaking at one of the high schools in Augusta. I just want to show these kids that if I did it, so can they. I'm a black woman, and I'm doing it. And you can do it, too. It's hard, but you can do it.
Today, Jessyca is part of WIB’s North America Leadership Team and continues to grow within BASF and the manufacturing industry. She has conquered spaces she once thought were out of reach, and there is much more in store for her. Stay tuned.
Published on September 19, 2024 by Mariana Licio.
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