How Manufacturing Can Rebuild the Economy | Ep. 80 [Connie Gunther]

The future of work is being rebuilt right now and manufacturing is at the center of it. In this episode, Connie Gunther shares how emerging technologies like AI are transforming workforce training, accelerating certification, and helping companies scale faster than ever before. But technology alone isn’t the answer. True transformation comes from aligning industry, education, and community in a way that creates real career pathways.

Drawing on years of experience across global industries, Connie explains why traditional systems are falling short and how new models, like learn-while-producing training, are closing the gap. This conversation offers a forward-looking view of how innovation, leadership, and strategy can come together to create a stronger, more resilient economy.

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐈𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 https://industryignited.com/
𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 https://www.instagram.com/industryignited/
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 https://www.facebook.com/industryignited/
𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧 https://www.linkedin.com/company/industry-ignited
𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 https://open.spotify.com/show/3TX1L5LPr4lt1UtcSpSvlN?si=7037433a58c54162
𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/industry-ignited-podcast/id1824619671

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫
https://www.linkedin.com/in/connierascongunther/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/gunther-services-inc/

#podcasts #podcasts #podcastshorts #podcastinterview #podcastlife #businessgrowth #industryignited #drleeanneaguilar #conniegunther #manufacturing

Transcript

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 0:07

What if the fastest path to rebuilding the middle class isn't another policy paper, but a practical blueprint that reconnects cities, industry, and workforce training so people can build real careers again? Welcome to Industry Ignited, the podcast where we explore the leaders driving transformation across industry, manufacturing, and the systems that power economic growth. I'm your host, Dr. Leanne Aguilar. And today I'm joined by Connie Gunther, CEO and Senior Consultant at Gunther Services Inc. Connie leads multinational business and supply chain transformation projects across manufacturing, construction, software, retail, and medical, focused on quality, revenue, economic growth, and environmental and cultural stewardship. Connie, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Really excited about our discussion today. Yeah, so let's get started. Tell me a little bit about yourself. You grew up between Mexicali, Imperial Valley, and San Diego, and you built your career in highly regulated high-stakes industries. How did that early cross-border bicultural foundation shape how you lead and how you see systems?

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Definitely. Yeah, growing up Imperial Valley, San Diego, Mexicali, Mexico. So I was exposed early on to how different countries, people, their culture, their food, and really understanding that, you know, there's regulations also driving different countries. And so that exposure really helped me understand to be more resilient, you know, to be able to have the agility to pivot to any kind of country culture and also to have, you know, empathy, because in in Mexico I saw a lot of poverty. Uh, and I could see that there's um definitely a need for preservation of cultures and our stories. So that was definitely an influence into my um leading international teams.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 1:55

Yeah. So you just saw the contrast and then the different cultural aspects, he said, as well. And yeah, I like that that you had empathy. I mean, the empathy I think is super important when you're working with different people. And it's not just seeing the differences, but understanding what they're going through and understanding their experiences. And, you know. So you started in aerospace while working during the day and going to college at night, eventually earning an MBA in technology. What did that season teach you about grit opportunity and what it takes to earn credibility in manufacturing?

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Definitely. Oh my gosh. That was what I used to call the starving student phase in my life, where uh I was really focused on the goal and being able to finish college and pay for that on my own. And so I had the fortune opportunity to work at uh Goodrich Aerospace before it was Roar Industries and then Goodrich, and eventually it was bought out by Collins and Raytheon. So that company really taught me how you need to have credibility in a career and get exposure. And so, even though I was looking at going to school for advanced degrees and eventually getting my MBA, it was the hands-on operations, the rotation through actually building product, working with people that the touch labor aspect that really taught me that it's more than just a degree that builds the credibility and trust and those opportunities people need to feel comfortable that you're learning how to produce a technical product and be trusted advisor to those teams. So that really helped me out.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 3:20

Right. Yeah, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that starving student stage you talk about. It's like I think it really instills, you know, um, like an appreciation, I would think, for what it takes to make it in the real world, you know. I mean, uh it gives you that grit and um insight. And right, I think there are a lot of lessons to be to be had from doing things the the hard way, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Definitely, definitely. And even from the company, too, the standpoint of when they realized that some of us are really committed to the company, they started to pay for part of our education. And that just made me more committed to to the company itself. You know, I felt that in that trade-off that they're interested in and my ability to contribute to the company, to the financial commitments that they had. And they were also helping me out financially to pay down my debt on, you know, school books and education. And so it was definitely a really long-term career with them because of that.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 4:13

Yeah, so that that like two-way investment. Like you're investing in the company, they're investing in you, and then that creates like that loyalty and trust and right, a bond and a commitment that wouldn't otherwise be there. Exactly. Yes. So your career arc is fascinating. Programmer to manufacturing, engineering to operations rotations, and then into corporate roles, traveling the world, you know, assessing suppliers and manufacturing sites. What was the moment you realized you were becoming a systems builder, not just a functional expert?

SPEAKER_01 4:47

I think looking at that corporate role where I was traveling all over the world to different suppliers, looking at how our manufacturing systems and our suppliers were all integrated into this web. Uh, because I went to different countries. I went to Mexico, Asia, Europe, and it's the variety of different kinds of manufacturing talent in those in those countries. And so I was able to really see how we're interconnected and how there was a lot of dependency once you did move your product to be manufactured in another country, that you had to have good relationships with that country in order to be successful and have your product built on time and to the specifications and regulations that uh that are driving all those manufacturing processes. So it was quite a aha moment that it wasn't just go build a product and ship it out the door. It was like everything was so interconnected. Some companies were building part of the components of the aircraft that fit a certain engine type, and others were working on landing gear or some other type of product line. So there was a variety there. And so that's that was the aha moment there to see how we're all interconnected.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 5:51

Yeah, the interconnectedness and and I I would think communication is super important too. I'm just the systems for communicating, especially when there are different languages involved and different. Um, I mean, what insights did you gain, you know, from that, just seeing how how communication was run?

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Yeah, and I think it was important because I had that international, I'm bilingual, and then I also studied French and German. So I knew a little bit more languages, and so I could relate to when there was communication constraints on technical issues and where we need to bring an expert to make sure that the communication was interpreted correctly. So most countries speak English, but then there's times where they're not brought up with our engineering design education like we have. And so there might be some differences on how they're educated on building product versus us. And so that language needs to be really clear and we have to have good communication with them.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 6:43

Then you left the corporate track to care for an aging parent and launched your consulting firm, then later pivoted into energy, entrepreneurship, and now AI workforce solutions. How did that pivot change your definition of success and the kind of impact you wanted to make?

SPEAKER_01 6:59

I think there it was that I had an aging parent, and my mom had committed to taking care of my son when I was traveling all over the world, and I had promised her that I would be there if she ever needed me. And I saw that at that moment she needed me, and so I had to make that tough decision of being there for her. Tough because um, you know, financially it's hard to walk away from a from a good income. And but it was the right thing to do, and I felt that I needed to do that because it was just that time in life where you have to make those choices, and it's part of your principles and how, you know, the the ethics of what you have and how you're brought up sometimes. And so um, to me, it gave me an opportunity to pivot to start my own company and really contribute my skills at a small manufacturing level versus a big corporation. And so I had the opportunity to work with CMTC, who is here in California, working with small manufacturing companies. And so from working with those various companies, I could see the impact to communities that they had. And sometimes there wasn't that true visibility. So there were more lessons to be learned in just repositioning, um, moving away from a corporate job, and then being able to be there for my mom during her last years of life, and then again opening up another opportunity for myself and and my business.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 8:14

Yeah, yeah. So, like you said, values and family values. And is it something you planned for then, you know, as far as leaving the corporate world at some point and starting your business? Is that something that you had in the works that you were planning for?

SPEAKER_01 8:28

I think because I was always interested in in the supplier companies and how do you become an entrepreneur? So there was that level of like, you know, gosh, this is a mom and pop shop. And I was really impressed with the risk taking, the grit, and then just the drive and the long hours that these small companies would would commit to. And so I just thought maybe I'd give that a try. I mean, I had entrepreneurs in my family uh heritage. So I said, why not, you know, give this a try and see? And if not, I'd go back to the corporate world. So um, so I really did enjoy launching and knowing that I could go build something on my own.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 9:02

Yeah, right. No, it's it's a a risk, but it's exciting and and uh it sounds like you had all of the skill set, you know, to do that and the experience. So it was just a matter of launching and going forward. And I guess the relationships too, from traveling the world and working with the different companies, I think that probably made a big d difference too, to have relationships already established.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

It did. I I could see that there was specific needs when I when I actually pivoted into the role of a consultant, um, I would teach them how to communicate with large corporations because there was that gap that I saw. So I was able to fill those voids for those small manufacturing companies.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 9:39

Yeah. You often begin with a gap analysis, like you're mentioning a gap against ISO 9001 and build the roadmap to certification. When you walk into a smaller manufacturer for the first time, what are the most common invisible gaps that quietly limit growth and contract readiness?

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Yeah, and I've I've done that for several years now, even in the corporate world, uh going and assessing suppliers and um looking at how our factories operate. And there's always that tribal knowledge of people just doing things because they've done it for so long. Sometimes it doesn't make it into the quality management system documentation. And so that's an important uh gap to really determine like what is the the qualifications of that person that's going to be building the product for your company and making sure that your requirements get filtered down into what they're actually building, and so that there's traceability of the paperwork and the documentation, and that the person has the right skill sets to do you know the right thing when they are building the product, not taking shortcuts and then impacting the quality of your product when it is in service. So there's there's definitely a lot of that. And then also the fact that it's more than just documenting a bunch of paperwork through a process. You know, people need to really demonstrate that they can do the job, that it's documented properly and standard operating procedures, and that there's training to show evidence that they are properly trained to do the job that they're in.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 11:09

Right, yeah. You've led transformations from boardroom strategy to factory floor execution, lean enterprise, value stream mapping, and operational models. How do you balance lean speed with the discipline of compliance, especially when teams feel stretched or change fatigued?

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Yes, there it's you've got to have a common purpose. And I've been through a lot of that because at one time Roar was almost chapter 11 going bankrupt. And luckily the leadership in the company said, we're gonna go redesign our processes and implement the Toyota production system or lean manufacturing. And we had to touch every single manufacturing process and every office process in that endeavor. And what we learned there is that you had to keep implementing change to improve how your processes work. It wasn't a just a one time and then you're done. It's like it was a constant, let's go fix this and at least a phase one, you know, get a phase one out there and moving equipment around to make sure that we can reduce our amount of manufacturing process time and the value-added touch labor that we had for making product. So it's just a constant reminder there. And even though, like, the teams were, you know, you get exhausted thinking, wow, how when's this gonna end? You know, this is like year five and we're still at it. It's like it's continuous. That's why they call it continuous improvement. Uh, you're never really done with it. I mean, you could see the transition of how you become more financially stable once you're reducing your operating costs. So you could see it financially impacting you. But it does take a little bit of investment up front. You know, you're gonna have to commit time, you might have to commit some funds, and then it's just a uh driving down that path to make sure that you're implementing the lean solutions that uh the teams are creatively uh bringing together. And then we always used to have this saying um creativity before capital. So we weren't uh, you know, being almost bankrupt for a while there. Uh we didn't have a whole lot of money to spend, so we used our talents to come up with ideas of how to make solutions and put them into place in the factory and then also in the offices. And so we would, you know, pair up as a team to figure that out. And so eventually we proof something out, and then we say, okay, uh, now we can invest some money in it. I think we proved it out. We can invest money. We feel pretty confident that that's the way to go. And so we'd either buy equipment or um, let's say even signage. You know, something is signage, putting signage up costs money. So we're just going to put paper signs up for a while. And so just, you know, those kind of solutions are what we drove to.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 13:40

Right. For the like you mentioned something I think that's super important, that change never stops, right? Change the only constant is change, like they say. And I mean, so do you set that expectation when you're working with people up front that you know this is a process of continual change and improvement? Like we never arrive. It's always, it's a game where we are always, you know, our goal is to continue improvement. Is that something that you you set up front? So they're not disappointment or disappointed or thinking, you know, we're not there yet.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

Yes, yes. And and the other part of it was the the culture change that we had to go through because you know, you have this line of command and you only can speak to your supervisor and go up that that chain. And so we had to pivot and learn that we can share some of the misfortunes of how our decision making sometimes doesn't work. And so we this team building, we had to make sure that there was that open communication, that people wouldn't feel there'd be retaliation if they said something and it wasn't, well, it's not really working, you know, whatever a solution they had put in. So that open dialogue was really important. And we were actually as as uh leaders trained to do crucial comp conversations, confrontations as well, so that we wouldn't shut down the opportunity for somebody to share something that was really important to reducing cost or reducing risk for the company. And so uh we were awarded for that instead of just shutting it down altogether and not having any communication.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 15:05

Right. Yeah, so really encouraging contribution and communication, because you're right, it's often the people who are on the floor working the machines and you know on a day-to-day basis that have that insight and can contribute in that way that the managers or uh higher-ups may not be aware of. So you added that powerful layer, which is the people skills and performance behaviors inside technical training, communication, escalation, learning under pressure. What do you see that as essential to quality and what changes when operators feel safe admitting what they don't know?

SPEAKER_01 15:41

I believe there is just being able to add their contributions so that they feel that they're being acknowledged and um and having ideas that their ideas are able to go forward. It was kind of that whole trying to make the company more profitable and more efficient. There's a term called um with with engineering um design that concurrent product development and and also the um manufacturability and those kind of principles and philosophies that really contributed to how we were to develop product and make sure that it wasn't just top-down thinking and top-down troubleshooting on it, that we actually put the machinist and the design engineers and manufacturing engineers together in a room to really brainstorm and come up with what's the best way to solve some of these design problems, or even if there's uh aircraft that's out there in the field and there was issues going on, that we'd be able to address it if the product was still in production, we can make those kind of changes. So that was part of that open communication at those different levels.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 16:43

Right. Yeah, and just I mean, so people feel like they're not going to be shut down if they contribute or, you know, I mean, sometimes it's hard to admit also if something is going wrong or it's not working. They feel partially responsible. I mean, what do you do to create safety in communication?

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Yeah, and and that safety was that that was part of our philosophy that we call it um the pep pep philosophy was at the time. And so we were all we all went through the training where um we went from being what we call a wrestling team to a golf team. So we do courtesy, you know, don't step over the line here, just uh have respect from somebody speaking. And so it took us a while because I mean we were kind of from the the wild west almost when we were starting out as a company, and it took us a long time to really get our organization in shape and being efficient and building trust uh in each other as a team. But once we did, I mean, it was a very profitable company, and uh before it got bought out, it was definitely really turned it around, you know, a real profitable company.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 17:42

Yeah, so just being really intentional, I guess, about creating that that communication, that safety, and uh encouraging it and then training. I heard that you're you included a lot of training. So you're also using generative AI to accelerate training design and pinpoint compliance requirements with a short runway. Where does AI add real leverage in workforce development? And where do you still insist on human judgment and coaching?

SPEAKER_01 18:10

Definitely, yeah. AI is a good game changer for uh when you have high risk and you have a lot of regulated industries and you have a short runway, you're trying to get things done in weeks or days, not years. And so um you're able to take and run assessments, run reports, do gap analysis using AI as a tool to help you enhance that analysis portion of it. And the piece where I think people sometimes get hung up is that they don't understand the technology. And so there's some fear factors about it taking somebody's job. But I think really there, once they understand what it can do, and it could be more of a tool to improve efficiency and visibility where we can't really consume all of that data, that it becomes more of your friend versus, you know, another technology that's gonna replace a human. So definitely uh pivoting toward that. It's made my company more efficient. I can definitely really scale down the amount of time it takes to get certified in ISO because of AI.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 19:10

Right. Yeah, and I think it can add quality as well. And often um it's adding layers of knowledge. I mean, because it's learning from what you feed it as well. And so it becomes better at understanding um, you know, your your own company, communication processes, all of that. And so, like you said, not only helping make people more efficient, but improving the quality of their work and improving the speed at which they learn, I think, as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

And it is embedded in a lot of tools now. There's tools for measurement, uh coordination, all tools for inspection that are integrating AI as part of their complementary solutions for the analysis. So that's going to really help with any kind of corrective actions that may have to take place, and you're trying to figure it out with the human eyes sometimes don't catch everything, where with AI complementing that, it can analyze a lot of data and give you some solutions there that could be, you know, countermeasures to how how you're operating.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 20:14

Yeah. You're leading ISO certification efforts with Rise Up Industries, a nonprofit advanced manufacturing program supporting individuals who were previously incarcerated. What drew you to this work and what surprised you most once you got inside the program?

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Definitely saw that the leadership and the people in the program were so engaged going forward that they really wanted to help turn around our industry with careers in machining, CNC machining. And it was a really clean shop. And I walked around, it just kind of reminded me of the days when I was in the aerospace, the corporate world, and how we were efficient and how we were producing product, and we had more control as a country, really, of our future and our middle class. And so I saw that as an opportunity that I wanted to jump in and be part of that solution. And I think having the administration that we have now with uh reshoring and the initiative to go, let's go build the middle class again. I'm first in line. I mean, it's like I was the one that was out there outsourcing, and now I wanted to be first in line to really uh help a company like Rise Up Industries prove that we can have that middle class uh group again of communities, but then also have the jobs that we need to have to be viable in those communities.

unknown 21:34

Yeah.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 21:35

Now Rise Ups model blends real production work with an 18-month apprenticeship style training pipeline. Why is that learn while producing model so effective? And what does it teach trainees that classroom only programs can't?

SPEAKER_01 21:49

Definitely. I know from experience, I ran an apprenticeship program in aerospace for over 10 years, and it was welding, painting, machining, just the whole variety and opportunities. Operations and having that hands-on experience in the shop, troubleshooting, putting out fires, knowing that you've had all these issues with equipment or with products or even customers, that's a real good lesson in the real world. And when I saw that Rise Up was actually doing that, they're training. Um, they're not, it's just not a classroom kind of a style. So it's more than just theory and trying to memorize, you know, what's on a blueprint and that, that they're actually troubleshooting if a tool is not being installed properly. How do you go fix that? And so they're up and ready once they finish this 18th month program. Um, and they're really good instructors that are part of what they're learning in machining. So I saw that as a great opportunity. And really going forward, we should be doing more of that for manufacturing.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 22:47

Right. Yeah. And is that program only in um your area, only in Southern California, or is that in uh, you know, California or nationwide program?

SPEAKER_01 22:56

This particular company is in San Diego, but there's other companies similar. I think there's one in Los Angeles as well that deals with uh previously incarcerated individuals. And I think there might be other ones across the US, but I'm not very familiar with them.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 23:13

Okay. Now you've connected reshoring and outsourcing decisions to long-term community outcomes, jobs, purpose, homelessness, and the erosion of stability. When you look back on the outsourcing era you helped execute, what do you think leaders underestimated most about the long-term ripple effects?

SPEAKER_01 23:30

That was a really aha moment for me when I went to uh to Rise Up and I had the opportunity to talk to the individuals there and how they ended up becoming incarcerated. And it was an aha moment for me because they were telling me how a parent or grandparent, somebody that had responsibility over them, had lost a job, and there was, you know, poverty and depression and hanging out with gangs, making the wrong decisions, uh, ended up on drugs. And I thought, wow, this is because we outsourced all these jobs and there was no replacement for these communities. And so I thought, you know, in the corporate world, we were just driving to let's go, you know, reduce our costs and and get our work out there and our products all over the world and have all these agreements and work, you know, globally. But at the same time, we were cutting off the paychecks for these families, and we were really impacting our own communities into a point where we have homelessness, we have mental illness, we have drugs. So I'm I'm seeing that those actions of outsourcing have created the environment that we're in right now, and that we've got to reverse it by creating jobs where there's purpose, there's a future for the young generations that they know that these jobs are gonna be around for the long term for them, that they'll be able to buy a house, they'll be able to buy a car, all the things that I had the opportunity of doing that will bring those back for them.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 24:58

Yeah, right. So just really seeing the first hand, the impact and the consequences long-term, and like you said, a ripple effect, the outsourcing ultimately created within the community. Yeah. And now reversing it. So if a manufacturer wants to hire from second chance pipelines but has concerns about risk, reliability, or culture fed, what standards, support systems, and leadership behaviors make these programs successful for both the employer and the employee?

SPEAKER_01 25:29

Definitely uh Rise Up. I know they have criteria to make sure that that person's gonna be committed to going through an 18-month program. It is a paid program. And so they are uh selected to make sure that that person meets the requirements that they have for that. And then from an employer perspective, because of all the training, the employer is getting somebody that's gonna have hands-on experience. They'll know how to work with the types of materials and even the equipment that may be in their shop. In fact, they have state-of-the-art equipment, it might be even better than some of the companies that are out there if they haven't replaced it. But they are working with state-of-the-art equipment. Um, they are learning the latest machining technologies, and they're learning everything that I had seen in the past in aerospace that was a requirement to produce good quality parts and to the regulations and to the standards and specifications that customers want.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 26:22

Yeah. And yeah, you've said cities shouldn't operate as purely consumer economies, and you've seen regions specialize successfully, electronics here, assembly there, by aligning industry plus education and infrastructure. If you could advise mayors and economic development leaders, what would a manufacturing strategy plan include and what should they stop doing immediately?

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Yeah, so definitely I'll I'll start with the stop doing is today's environment, uh, they have different groups going off, one group going off and kind of putting the plans together for the roads and the infrastructure, somebody else working on worse force development, and another group may be working on separate for housing and all that. And they don't work collectively. And so I see that as a gap because when I travel the world, I see how other countries were enamored with how do you court, you know, the United States to come build. They put it all together, and that's where I saw a gap was for us is that we should be putting this information all together so that we're we're doing an analysis, we're looking at do we have the roads, we have the energy requirements, the water requirements for operating the people for operating a manufacturing type of business here and how big can it get, right? Because companies want to be able to scale sometimes. Or is it more of a service-based uh community that can't really handle the logistics of trucks coming in and out? And all of that really needs to be pulled together so that we have in this manufacturing plan where we're looking at all those elements of what does it take for a city to do those assessments and make sure that they have the infrastructure and the capital investment and operating that, and really to hold that leadership of the city accountable for making sure that they're creating jobs. I think that's important. It's more than just passing laws and raising taxes, I think to show that there's evidence that they're gonna bring in companies and bring in the jobs that are gonna help to sustain not only their jobs in government, but also for the community and the infrastructure that's needed to be maintained. And so when that's lacking, uh which is what I see in in San Diego, it's like we don't have that big industry anymore, like we had, that really depletes the the budgeting and the money. And so I see the domino effect, it raise more taxes. And so we're not getting all that revenue, come up with a new tax. And so I think that needs to really be uh rethought again for for mayors and and people in those leadership positions, workforce development, uh, to really rethink that to streamline it better.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 28:56

Right. Yeah, that makes sense. Now you're also building bridges between sustainability, compliance, and economic growth. How do you help leaders see sustainability not as a cost center, but as a competitive operating model?

SPEAKER_01 29:09

Yeah, and I think that's where in the lean manufacturing world, I really looked at how do you take and um and look at the total cost of what you're doing to operate, because you may have an idea that these regulations are adding more cost to your operation, but they're actually helping you to really reduce your waste, to reduce how much time it takes to make something. And so from that standpoint, it's to really pivot and use the lean tools to kind of reevaluate how you're looking at sustainability and whether you can really streamline some of those processes so that you're they're not so financially uh depleting of how you operate.

unknown 29:48

Yeah.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 29:48

Now, Connie, finally, final question. I know you're preserving cultural history through technology and digital solutions while also rebuilding industrial capability. What ties those worlds together for you and what legacy are you trying to leave through this work?

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Yeah, definitely. I love history here in San Diego. My mom's family came in the 1700s inside of the family. And so I love all the culture and all of that and been able to digitize a lot of that history, technology, working, building teens to preserve history. And it really parallels what I do in industry with work. And I can see that the combination of the two is how you really revive a community. So I like that role that we're able to contribute not only to preserving our culture, history, and uh stories of the challenges and successes that we had, but then also how companies can revive and become more efficient, learning you know, from from those same kind of strategies, those same kinds of technologies that could be implemented as well for for companies. And so I really love both. It's like they really parallel in both. So yeah, I I just uh really enjoy it and really enjoy it and really enjoy working with people and technology.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 30:58

Yeah. And it's moving so fast. I mean, everything is growing and evolving and and uh so much change. It is, I guess, always learning. I think that's the the takeaway, is just to always be in that state of curiosity and uh learning from the past, remembering the the past and the lessons from the past, but but then embracing the future and what technology has to offer. Yeah. So any final takeaways or or words of of advice for those wanting to get into the world of manufacturing?

SPEAKER_01 31:28

Yeah, so definitely, you know, there's risk in it, but I think it's very rewarding. And I would love to see more companies. I'd love to work with more companies to take you through that path so you don't feel like it's overwhelming because I've I've been through those hard lessons. I can help you get through those shortcuts and and not put a lot of time and waste into something that maybe somebody else might may not have experience like I have. That's one of the the pluses, is I've been in corporate large corporations, small companies. And so there is a lot of lessons in that, but smaller companies can definitely um, we need them, and and they can definitely pivot a lot faster than than the larger corporations. So I look forward to seeing more more companies out there joining us and in manufacturing.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 32:12

Great. Well, Connie, thank you for joining me. Thank you for your time and for bringing both clarity and courage to conversations that sit at the intersection of industry, workforce, and community resilience. So thank you so much for for being here with me today. For those who want to connect with you and learn more about how you can help through Gunther Services, how can they find out more?

SPEAKER_01 32:36

So I'm on LinkedIn, Connie Connie Gunther or Connie Gusco and Gunther, and then also my website, gunther.services, is also where you can reach out to me. Great.

Dr. Leeanne Aguilar 32:45

Well, thank you again. Thank you. And for our listeners, if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Industry Ignited and tune in to the next one because these are the leaders and ideas shaping what's next in industry. Until next time, stay bold, stay curious, and keep igniting industry.