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Careers - Meet our People

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"I have developed a new appreciation for energetic people. It is entirely because I work with such smart, talented and motivated people every day!"

Nozi
Strategy planning analyst
Ashland Inc.
Dublin, Ohio

Day in the Life

The best thing about my job is that it varies from week to week. It is very project-based, and each one is a little different from the other. That gives me the luxury of being involved in other Ashland businesses. I may not learn each business at a very deep level, but I get the benefit of learning about them all and getting to know employees in different areas.

My primary responsibility is to manage the day-to-day aspects of our new growth platforms. This involves educating external consultants about Ashland's process and technology capabilities; working with internal experts who scope out technology opportunities for end-use markets; and networking with trade, academia, and other groups to understand where growth opportunities exist.

The biggest challenge for me is my tendency to want to skip ahead and to see where an outcome is going. I am learning that it is sometimes necessary to use evolutionary learning to bring people along or to give them time to develop their own opinions and hypotheses.

Depending on family commitments, I work 50 hours a week - sometimes more, sometimes less. I travel at times, but it comes in spurts. I frequently visit Ashland campuses and sometimes go to conferences and other external locations. I interact with people throughout the company on a daily basis.

Before coming to Ashland, I worked in sales and marketing for another major energy company, and Ashland was my customer. My awareness of and interest in the company piqued when I saw the opportunities available for someone with my background - a Chemical Engineer/MBA, with some practical technical and business experience.

A potential candidate for this position should know nothing is ever black and white. Each project is complex, long-term and requires a great deal of communication. You must be comfortable working with people from different backgrounds and with varying agendas. Other necessary skills include broad, big-picture thinking; an understanding of marketing and economic concepts; and the ability to network with a range of people.

I like Ashland and its people. One of my fondest memories is returning to work after my first maternity leave. I was embraced by co-workers from many Ashland divisions, not just my own, with comments like, "welcome back," "great to see you" and "congratulations." Their well-wishes were genuine, and it reminded me that even though we are all very hard working, we all have families and lives outside of work, too.