Jessyca Utley: driving change takes a village

Lab Quality Supervisor Jessyca Utley was born and raised in Georgia and has lived in the state her entire life. Surrounded by a big family with powerful female presences, she learned the value of family and the power of a village to drive change and sustainable solutions. Get to know our Change Maker, Jessyca, below.

What sparked your interest in chemistry?

I had a teacher in my senior year in chemistry, Ms. Gordy, and she was amazing. I always loved science, and I used to love doing science fairs. I remember doing a science project on which toothpaste whitened teeth best and another on which liquid keeps apples from turning brown. I’ve always loved science and was just really good at chemistry; it came naturally to me.

How did you end up studying chemical technology?

I stopped going to school for years and just worked at call centers. At one point, my anxiety started to get really bad, and I realized that was not where I was supposed to be. So I decided to go back to school.

When applying, I wondered what to do and what I was good at. And naturally, I thought of chemistry.I went to Augusta Technical College and studied chemical technology. There I met this awesome scientist, Dr. Maryniak, the program director, who taught most of the classes of Chemical Technology and made it so interesting. We spent classes putting our heads together to figure out how to operate a machine without a manual as part of the exercises. And it really helped me. Now, I'm not afraid to jump in and go at something. Thanks to that experience, I can pretty much figure out any analytical equipment.

What does a Quality Supervisor do?

My team is involved in the process from beginning to end, from the raw materials to the final product.

As a Quality Supervisor, I oversee the work of five lab technicians. My role also involves communicating information if specifics change, as well as supporting plant labs. If there is an issue with the instruments in our process labs, I provide support and do their troubleshooting. I also handle all lab equipment contracts and maintenance contracts on that equipment. I coordinate with vendors if we need someone to come in and do a repair. I also coordinate calibrations of our scales, vent hoods and furnace. I’m in charge of ordering the lab supplies and make sure they stay stocked.

The document control system, the system in which we enter our specifics, is under my control as well, as is payroll and scheduling.

In my role, I also have a really close relationship with logistics. I take care of sea bulk orders, which are basically quality releases, making sure that the data is included correctly.

Before he left, my last boss said, “If the lab is running, you are doing your job.”

What do you enjoy most about working in this particular area?

What I enjoy the most about this area is getting near my first love, chemistry, and the lab. I also love working with people. My goal every day is to just be a really great manager and provide an environment where our people love being at work and love the work that they do. And I love that about my job too. I love the people aspect of it.

As a lab tech, when you're on shift, you really don't get that much interaction with people except for those you're on the shift with. Now, I get to see all of the shifts as they rotate. I can go to the plant and spend the day there learning what they're doing, interacting with people and getting to know them. That's what I love most about quality. The quality department is the heartbeat of the plant; we need it to keep the plant going.

How is sustainability playing a role in your everyday work and life?

When I think of sustainability, I think about people. I really didn't think I was doing much in sustainability. And I was actually at a FLAME (Female Leaders Advancing Manufacturing Excellence) event, where we were talking about sustainability, and I thought I wasn’t doing my part. And people started explaining why that wasn’t the case – that when I did “X,” I was doing my part. And that challenged me to come back and do more. I didn't realize that people were truly one of the biggest drivers of sustainability, in big and small ways.

For example, I took the idea of getting away from single-use items in the lab. So now we all have reusable cups. Also, for example, sample retain jars are kept for a year and thrown out after that time. The team and I decided to wash them out and reuse them. We set up a special bin to store the clean jars, so now the operators use these to put new samples in.

Noticing little areas where I can do my part at home is also a big part of this sustainability mindset. I never really use single-use items at home; I pick up trash if I see trash on the ground…I read an article about how using the dishwasher was more sustainable than hand-washing dishes, so now I use the dishwasher faithfully. And I teach my kid to keep the Earth clean. Paying attention to bottles we purchase, boxes, etc., can they be recycled? If so, we recycle them.

The little things that I do help with the bigger picture. If I do something to help keep the Earth clean and get other people to do it as well, we can all build positive change together.