I Am Ruth, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and This Is My Journey in the Fastener Industry
I have more in common with Grandpa than my bright, blue eyes and the gap between my two front teeth, which has long since been narrowed by braces. As a product of German immigrants, the German work ethic is firmly embedded in my genes. My grandfather arrived at Ellis Island in 1925 at age 19 with an entrepreneurial, can-do spirit, and the carpentry skills he had learned when he entered the work force in Germany at age 11. Considering he had a fifth grade education and didn’t speak the local language when he arrived in the US, the fact that he owned his own construction company, employing 15 tradesmen by the time he reached retirement, is quite impressive.
Grandpa passed away while I was in college, so he never knew that I followed his son’s path and became a teacher. Growing up a TK (that’s “teacher’s kid” for those of you who don’t know), the teaching life was all I knew. I guess my Dad made it look like fun. I dabbled with the idea of being a lawyer, but my high school guidance counselor laughed and told me I was “too honest” for that career path.
Evidently, teaching American literature to high school students wasn’t the right career path for me either. By the end of my second year I couldn’t imagine teaching the same lessons multiple times per day, year after year, for the rest of my life. Boredom, or possibly my love of its opposite – change – has been a recurring theme in my life, and is the reason I left teaching to pursue a business career.
The love bug bit me after a short time in the business world, and I moved to Winona, MN to be with my future first husband. In spite of our marriage not lasting “til death do us part”, I have no regrets, because he was my introduction to the fastener industry.
Fastenal was my first home in the fastener industry. The entrepreneurial spirit was strong there, and with the traits I had inherited from Grandpa, I fit right in. Every couple years I would find myself yearning to learn new things. I kept asking for more responsibility, switching departments when necessary, looking for ways to grow my skill set. I know I drove several bosses nuts (pun intended) with my constant need to learn more, do more, be more.
Somewhere during this time, I set a goal to become a Vice President by the time I had worked in the industry 10-15 years. When I could no longer see a clear path to making that happen, I left Fastenal for Heads & Threads.
Heads (as it was known) had room for me in the product development department. As people came and went and the company pushed through the 2008 recession, I was their utility player, willing to fill in wherever I was needed. In 2010, a few months shy of my 10-year anniversary in the industry, I accepted the position of VP Materials Management. I had exceeded my goal. I was 38 years old.
When Heads was sold in 2011, I had no idea that my career was about to take me another rung up the ladder. Before the last pallet was out of the building, I had a job lined up with one of the companies I had purchased from while at Heads. After a few bumps and bruises adjusting to working for a foreign company, I settled into my current role – President, North America for Ningbo Jinding Fastening Piece.
In an effort to stay relevant, and to feed my constant need for learning, I took night classes at the local community college for two years from 2014-2015 to earn my Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma. Since then I have taken metallurgy courses through ASTM and fastener courses through Fastener Training Institute.
Grandpa went to heaven 25 years ago this year, but his spirit lives on in me. I hope I make him proud.
Ruth Dowling Coffman
WIFI - Women in the Fastener Industry http://www.fastenerwomen.com networking. educating. connecting.
Twitter: @ningbo_jinding
Ruth has been fully immersed in the industrial distribution industry for more than 15 years. An executive with experience in materials management, global sourcing, sales and marketing; she values the broad range of experiences her career path has afforded her.
In 2011, Ruth was hired by Ningbo Jinding Fastening Piece Co., Ltd. to open a US sales office, which quickly expanded to include Canada and Mexico. Her current role as President of Ningbo Jinding Fastening Piece USA, Inc., keeps her on the move between time zones, with the added challenge of her co-workers being half way around the world.
Ruth’s enthusiasm for continuous process improvement, and lifelong love of learning, led to the study of Lean Six Sigma at Gateway Technical College in Wisconsin, where she earned her Lean Six Sigma Black Belt in 2015. Out of tremendous gratefulness and admiration for the leaders who worked closely with her and mentored her, as Ruth shifts into the second half of her working years her focus is changing from developing her own career to that of helping others develop theirs.
Ruth lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin with her husband, Byron, and their two dogs Hamlet and Murphee.
You can follow Ruth on Twitter @ningbo_jinding.
