Engineering Change with Riana Dozier

In this episode of See Yourself IN, host Casey Harrison talks with Riana Dozier, a passionate engineer who has transformed her community through her work with Goodwill and Cook Medical. Riana shares her inspiring journey from a driven high school student in Indianapolis to a dedicated professional leading engineering projects that uplift her hometown. With a background in mechanical engineering and a deep commitment to community service, Riana discusses how her roles have merged advanced manufacturing with meaningful community impact. 

5 Key Takeaways:

Community Roots and Career Choices: Riana’s journey underscores the significance of community and family in shaping career decisions. Her commitment to returning to Indiana after college highlights how local ties can influence professional paths and inspire career fulfillment.

Networking and Opportunity: The importance of networking and building relationships is emphasized through Riana’s story of securing a role at Goodwill. Even during challenging times, maintaining connections can lead to unexpected opportunities.

The Intersection of Engineering and Social Impact: Riana’s work at Goodwill, particularly in collaboration with Cook Medical, demonstrates how engineering skills can be leveraged to address both industrial and social challenges, such as providing job opportunities and revitalizing underserved communities.

Embracing Flexibility and Self-Worth: Riana’s experiences highlight the value of embracing one's career journey without a rigid plan. Her advice on recognizing personal worth and turning weaknesses into strengths offers practical wisdom for navigating career uncertainties.

Exploring Advanced Industries: For those interested in Indiana’s advanced industries, Riana’s insights suggest starting with research and engagement. Exploring opportunities through local events, tours, and organizational websites can provide valuable entry points into impactful careers.

For more resources on the jobs, companies, and opportunities in Indiana, visit
https://www.cicpindiana.com/syi/  

Transcript

Casey Harrison: Welcome to today's episode of See Yourself IN, where you'll learn about cool jobs, people, and companies in Indiana. You'll also hear about skills that will help you find success. And most importantly, we hope they inspire you to dream big. I'm Casey Harrison, your host. On today's show, we're going to dive into Indiana's advanced industries and why they're important.

We'll talk about the skills that are transferable across jobs and industries and determine some of the best ways to begin exploring these great opportunities. Today's episode features a true Hoosier. Who's going to share how her passion for community hasn't just inspired her education, but it's enabled her to build a career that she loves.

Riana Dozier has had a full circle journey that we believe will help you find inspiration, motivation, and permission to take the space when you need it most. Riana, welcome to See Yourself IN. 

Riana Dozier: Thank you. Glad to be here. Glad to be here. 

Casey Harrison: We're excited to have you here today. I teased it in the opener, but before the episode, we were talking and you shared that you were born and raised in Indiana.

Riana Dozier: Yes, ma'am. 

Casey Harrison:Tell us a little bit about what's kept you here. 

Riana Dozier: Family, honestly. Famously in the family, in the job. So I left for college for five years and then I came back and then I've been stuck at Goodwill ever since. 

Casey Harrison: That's amazing. Your childhood in Indy, you were exposed to community very early on.

Talk to us a little bit about that and just set the tone for what you were thinking when you graduated high school. 

Riana Dozier: So I am from the east side. I'm an east side baby. We went to Charles A. Tinley Accelerated School. It's right there off 38th and Meadows. So part of that was a lot of volunteer work. I was super active in school, student council president, well I was secretary at the time, and then all of my outside club activities.

And then with the early college development program at Tinley, I was able to graduate with a year's worth of college. 

Casey Harrison: Wow. So was that program available to anyone? 

Riana Dozier: Yes, absolutely. 

Casey Harrison:What made you as a high school student recognize the importance of that? 

Riana Dozier: I think part of it was our school motto. So the motto at the time was college or die.

So they were pretty much grooming us for college or grooming us to realize the importance of education. 

Casey Harrison: So when you started taking those classes, were they general studies? Were you focused on a specific pathway? 

Riana Dozier: In high school, no, it was general studies, and the funny part is, up until my senior year, I was, I'm going to be a teacher, I'm going to be a teacher, I love algebra, I love algebra two, and then we had to do a senior capstone.

So in that capstone, I did a program of women in engineering, and then I learned that there was this other facet of the STEM life, and it was that last moment right before graduation that I decided, I'm going to be an engineer. 

Casey Harrison: Oh, I love that. So you knew graduating high school that you were going to go into college.

You'd already gotten a head start on college. So where did you ultimately go to college and did you stay down the engineering path? 

Riana Dozier: I did. So I went to the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. They have an awesome engineering program. When I did get there, I was undecided engineer. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew I had a brain of I like to take things apart, see how they work and then maybe fix it per se. So mechanical engineering is where I went. 

Casey Harrison: For your program and then you graduated from college. And you decided to come back to Indiana. Tell us a little bit. Obviously, family brought you back, but I imagine when you were at Dayton, you were building community, you were creating a network, and then you came back to Indy, maybe without that network.

Riana Dozier: The program was four years, but in full transparency, college is hard. College is extremely hard. So it did take me five years. I took a little bit of a time off due to just family personal reasons. And so, and then once I came back. I came back home. My parents allowed me to take a year off. So they were like, regroup. We know now it's time for adulting. Adulting is like really hard. So it was like, let's time we get your life together. And then boom, COVID hit. So then I was in that year of COVID trying to find work. And it took a while. So it took me two years to find a job. And then I came across Goodwill and I got acquainted with Goodwill through networking, so I used to volunteer for them all the time in high school and in college and then I knew someone with the Work One program, she passed it off to another neighbor who was like working closely for a partnership with Goodwill at the time and I received an email and I always tell the story, I thought it was spam because I do a lot of volunteer work, so you get notifications of like, you know, Oh, this is what's happening in your area.

And Jim Humphrey, who was a president at the time, he said, Hey, I'm following back up on this. Just want to make sure this is the right person. And I was like, Oh, wait a minute. This is talking about a job. Let me go figure out what's going on. 

Casey Harrison: So check your spam folder. That's the first thing. But I want to go back a little bit.

So you were networking during those two years that you were. Exploring what next would look like, and I think that's a really important takeaway for people listening because we talk so much on See Yourself IN about the importance of networking, but it's not just meeting the person. It's building the relationship, right? I love that. Okay, so you started at Goodwill. And what did you start at that role? 

Riana Dozier: So I started as an intern, so I was a, I think it was like a six to eight month contract. But within my first 30 days, they said, Oh, no, we want you full time. I said, Oh, are we sure? He said, Absolutely. And then that's when I was introduced to the Cook Projects.

They said, we actually need an engineer to lead this project. We think this would be perfect for you. 

Casey Harrison: So for those listening who may not be familiar with Goodwill or Cook Medical, maybe start by telling us what is Goodwill? What do you do? 

Riana Dozier: There is a different side to Goodwill. Naturally, when we think Goodwill, we think retail and we think of their donation stores, but we are commercial services, so commercial services contract manufacturing.

So what that means is a customer can tell us, Hey, we want to do this, or maybe it's a kidding, build, assembly, whatever it may be. And so we take that, see how they're doing it, and then bring it back and make it fit for our people. 

Casey Harrison: Let's keep going with that. What does an engineer do at Goodwill? 

Riana Dozier: My day to day role is a little different now in this manager role, so I'm now responsible for three different locations.

We have an Eastside location, that's our 38th and Sheridan location, which is our partnership with Cook. We have a Westside location over in Tremont, so they have multiple customers. We have like, 40 to 50 customers about on that area, our west location, Tremont. So we have multiple customers at that location.

And then we have our Bloomington location in Bloomington, Indiana. So there's just, that's a smaller manufacturing plant we have there. So for an engineer, for me at the 38th street location, with it being our 1345 med device building. So I am responsible for everything within that building, meeting the building management system.

So we do a lot of facilities maintenance to maintain the clean room and then all the equipment inside the clean room. But engineering in general, we're responsible for setting up the equipment, showing the operators how to work the equipment, doing the work instructions, and then we work hand in hand with quality to determine what our pass fails are, and then setting that standard.

Casey Harrison: So you're not just doing engineering work. You're also, again, at the intersection of life sciences and advanced manufacturing and logistics. I mean, it sounds like you're almost triaging everything at the facility. 

Riana Dozier: Absolutely, yes. But we're a small team, so everyone wears multiple hats. 

Casey Harrison: What are some of the main products that are produced in your facilities?

Riana Dozier: So at the 38th Street, we're strictly Cook Medical, so it's all Cook devices. So between our PTI dilator, that's for tracheostomies, our RCF sheath, those are introducers, and then we've got a couple of other product transfers and it works at the moment. 

Casey Harrison: Now let's talk about, we understand what Goodwill is, what is Cook Medical and how did they come into the picture?

Riana Dozier: So this came about right after the George Floyd incident. Cook Medical and Goodwill both said, hey, there's something needs to be done. Let's come together. So they decided to choose the east side of Indianapolis due to there being a food desert, job desert, and a health desert. So we said, what can we do and how can we help with Goodwill being contract manufacturing and Cook Medical already manufacturing med devices.

They decided, Hey, we have these devices. We just need somebody to work it. We will provide a facility for you. We will provide a grocery for us, grocery store for you. And then the health pavilion is another company in itself. So we sat down and that's where our 30th and Sheridan plant came in. 

Casey Harrison:What does a project like that do for people living in the community in the surrounding area?

Riana Dozier: For that community, we were able to provide jobs for everyone in that area. The best part about it when we started the project were the amount of people coming and that lived in the area like, hey, what's being built here? What's happening here? And we're like, hey, we're bringing jobs. Do you know somebody? Tell them to come on over. 

Casey Harrison: And do you upskill them for jobs too? Like I'm, I'm assuming if you walk in, you may not have knowledge. So maybe you're coming in for a job and you're staying for a career. 

Riana Dozier: That's kind of what our turnaround rates are for. So we are here to meet you where you are, whether you have a learning disability, health, mental health disability, been touched by the criminal justice system, we are here to help you and meet you where you are.

So you need no form of manufacturing training, no form of experience. We will meet you where you are. 

Casey Harrison: What does it mean to be in a position where you're working in the community that you grew up in, and you're helping provide access to employment, which means that people have the ability to take care of their families, and on the same token, you're also ensuring that those community spaces are livable and accessible.

Riana Dozier: I think for me it came full circle. I was lost, didn't know what I wanted to do and then I was presented this opportunity and I said absolutely I will go back home. This is now the backyard. I remember the current Eskenazi Health Pavilion is in the parking lot of Value City. Being a kid running around in that store and then now our facility, the Goodwill and Cook Medical Building, is where the church used to be.

So just seeing that, that community come back because I did see the leaving and then coming back and it was just pretty much abandoned in that area. So now seeing us being able to bring life back to that community and being a part of it definitely is like a big part of my heart for that. 

Casey Harrison: Could you have ever imagined as a young girl growing up that you'd be doing work that's truly like revitalizing the community?

Riana Dozier: No, and I never even knew what, what my path was. So being confused and not knowing what I wanted to do, and now I've been given this big ticket per se to like revitalize my community and be that spokesperson for my community. Now I'm like, oh, I have this passion for life. Now I want to help people. That's my thing.

Casey Harrison: And I love that you're here on See Yourself IN telling your story because there are so many people listening right now that know what they care about and they might have an idea of what they want life to look like, but they have no idea how to take this starting point and get to a finish line. And so hearing your story is just going to be so valuable for everybody listening.

Oh, I love that. Okay, let's transition a little bit because you're also sitting at the intersection of life sciences, healthcare, technology, advanced manufacturing and logistics, like, you are representing See Yourself INwith full force. And so talk to us just a little bit about being a black woman in these spaces, especially a black woman in STEM.

Riana Dozier: I just need to keep you in my pocket. The description you just did for me was just amazing. I think the biggest part of it is knowing that you belong here. Once you get used to knowing that you're the only person of the room, sometimes I'm the only female in the room, and then sometimes I am also the only person of color in the room.

But reminding yourself that you deserve to be here is the number one thing for anybody, person of color, or woman minority in the STEM field, is you belong to be here and you're here for a reason. And I deserve to be at this table just as much as the next person. 

Casey Harrison: What are you so passionate about when it comes to this work? And this work can be both, right? Serving the community and working in places and for companies that are very values driven, but also being in engineering, advanced manufacturing, and all the industries that we just named that you're at the intersection of. 

Riana Dozier: So I think with Goodwill, most people come to Goodwill for the mission, and I'm another person that comes for the mission.

So for my 38th Street location, we like to say we save two lives. So we save those who are using the med devices that we're creating, but also for the operators. For some of them, this is their only chance at life. They have been touched by the criminal justice system. They have some sort of mental barrier, physical barrier, learning barrier that no other company will take them, but we will.

We say, Hey, we see you. We can meet you where you're at. You are a value. Let's help you. So I think that in itself is what I preach for why I want to be here and where I'm at now. 

Casey Harrison: Yeah, that's incredible. For people listening who might be interested in learning more about Goodwill or going beyond what they know about Goodwill or even Cook Medical, I mean, how would you recommend people start plugging in?

Riana Dozier: Online, honestly, do your research. Goodwill, Cook does a lot of partnership, but Goodwill in itself, we touch so many facets in different industry, and I think just doing your research, or even, we do a lot of tours, or different locations, or a lot of events that we host as well, so I think that is just part of it, doing your research.

Casey Harrison: Good starting point. Okay, we wrap every episode of See Yourself IN by asking whoever's sitting at the table to share three things that you've learned along your career journey that our listeners can maybe consider on theirs. And so I'll pass you the mic. What are three recommendations you might have for people listening that are ready to see themselves in Indiana?

Riana Dozier: That is such a great question. I think the first one is pretty much what I said about being a Black woman in STEM. You deserve to be here. I think for me, I was defeated in the two year process it took for me to get a job. So I think for my mantra and myself, I always say you deserve to be here. I think the second thing would be your weaknesses can be your strengths.

So I think it behooves you to know both your strengths and your weaknesses. We naturally lean into our strengths, but let's not negate those weaknesses as, and help them turn into our strengths. I think it's kind of what I'm saying. 

Casey Harrison: They say that, you know, when you take any type of assessment, they'll say your greatest weaknesses are your greatest strengths and your greatest strengths are your greatest weaknesses.

So you're in good company. You're in good company with that thought. 

Riana Dozier: It's okay not to have a plan. It's okay not to have a plan. We've got a long life to live. And I think it's okay to kind of figure it out as you go. Eventually, at some point, you do need to establish one. But I think it's okay right now, especially being early in my career. I think it's okay. It's okay not to have a plan. 

Casey Harrison: I think it's absolutely okay. Sometimes that's the beauty. 

Riana Dozier: Yeah. 

Casey Harrison:Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing all of these insights. 

Riana Dozier: Thank you so much. I'm so glad to be here. 

Casey Harrison: We're so glad that you were able to join us today to learn about Indiana's advanced industries and how you can start or enhance your career journey.

Until next time, we hope that you'll be able to see yourself in the unlimited opportunities in Indiana.