The People Behind the Brand: Featuring Marina Waters.

There are over 100,000 people working hard to make Caterpillar the company it is today.  Power Bytes thought you might like to meet some of the "People Behind the Brand"
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Transcript

Lou:  Good Day and welcome everyone to Power Bytes!  I am your host Lou Signorelli  and Power Bytes is your destination Podcast for power generation conversation.  As always please know how much we appreciate you, our listeners.  We hope you find our topics helpful and interesting.  There are several ways for you to get in touch with the show. You can send us an email at powerbytes@cat.com, visit us at Cat Electric Power on Facebook or LinkedIn.  If you enjoy your time with us today Please remember to subscribe to our podcast.

 Lou: We here at Power Bytes have been focused on Caterpillar's product and technical leadership in a number of areas to this point.  Well, today is going to be a bit of a departure.  Today we are launching a first look at the people behind the Brand.  The thought here is that folks might like to know something about the people that work at Caterpillar and something about their career journey.

 Lou:  Joining me today is Marina Waters. Marina graduated from Samara State Aerospace University in Russia with Masters in Engineering degree.  Marina also holds an MBA from Bradley University and has been at Cat for over 22 years.  Today Marina serves as an Engineering Manager in our Large Electric Power Group.

Welcome Marina.

 Marina: Thank you Lou! I am honored to share my journey with you and your listeners.

 Lou:  Marina, if you don't mind can you tell us about where you grew up?

 Marina: I grew up in a city of Samara, on the Volga River, in the central part of Russia, over 600 miles south east of Moscow. With a population of ~1.2M people and a beautiful location, Samara is also known as a sister-city to St. Louis. My city was founded as a fortress over 430 years ago and during the WW2, grew into the top industrial center, which housed the military aircraft, automobile, refining, heavy, light, and space industries. By the way, the rocket which Yuri Gagarin made the first space flight in the history of mankind was assembled in my city.

 Lou: What was it like growing up in Russia?

 Marina : Truly awesome. I was blessed with strong foundation of family and friends, which have shaped my personality in many ways. As you can guess, my childhood years were in the Soviet era, and as I was graduating high school and starting my engineering degree, we've watched the positive transition from a closed country to an open one which was building positive relationships with others. You probably heard about that time period as "perestroika", which translates as "reconstruction". While changes have not always been easy, sometimes bringing a skyrocketing inflation, war conflicts between different regions, and an increased criminal atmosphere for the new entrepreneurs, I would not have chosen another upbringing if there was ever a time machine invented. 

 Lou:  Can you share with us a story from those early days? (something perhaps that taught you about work ethic or gave you inspiration?)

 Marina: The work ethic was instilled in me by my two sets of grandparents. They were very hard working. Both grandfathers are WW2 veterans. My living grandfather is 102 years old. Surviving the Spanish flu, the great depression, fighting 4 years for peace in the WW2 for which he received a total of 32 medals, and going on later to serve as the military lawyer, my grandpa is a retired Colonel who continued to teach law in the university till his late 70's. My grandpa exercised every single day into his late 90's and tried to instill in me that "movement is life", although I didn't listen well at first… My grandfather is one of my role models, who has taught me to put things in perspective, not to sweat about small stuff,  and taught me about emotional intelligence and perseverance. 

 Lou: So, when did you first come to the USA?

 Marina: I came to Bradley University in Peoria, IL as an exchange student in my 6th year of engineering studies. This was once in a lifetime opportunity for me to be selected as the country was opening up to study abroad. Upon graduation for the Aerospace university which gave me a solid educational base to compete for the spot in the international student admissions, I was blessed to be selected for the MBA. 

 Lou: What were some of your earliest impressions of the USA?

 Marina: My first day in USA was a dinner stop at Stake and Shake, where I wasn't sure what to order and copied my order from another student, ordering a hamburger with no condiments at all. To this day I shiver when I hear about Stake and Shake and would not order their hamburgers… After the exciting dinner, I  was dropped off at my American Host Family's house. My host family and their neighbors all lined up to meet me as I walked into the door. I was the first Russian girl they've ever met. They kept repeatedly asking me if I was Russian for sure, as they thought all Russian women were of a husky built and look like "babushkas". I told them "yes, I am from Russia, and the women come in different heights and looks, and majority actually do look like me, and not like "babushkas". 

 Lou: Let's stop for a minute and talk about leaving Russia for the USA.  What was the driver for that decision and would you go back to live in Russia?  Sounds like you loved it there.

 Marina: The biggest driver was the business education opportunity, which was a great addition to the engineering degree. Other drivers were that I would have broader professional opportunities to succeed in a secure, safe environment and secure a brighter, safer future for my children. I've lived here longer than in Russia, so this is my home now. Not planning on moving back, only for a visit! 

 Lou:  So then it was off to college?  Did you always want to be an engineer?

 Marina:  Well, not exactly… When I was younger, I thought about becoming a math teacher, as my grandmother was an economics and history professor and I used to sub for my high school teachers in math and physics during career days. As I was approaching high school years, I was offered to consider an admission to a music conservatory or to the drama theater. My grandmother had shaped up all of my successes in life and at the point of making a career decision, she had adamantly expressed to me that "no, the art career is not for you and that should be more of a hobby, not a profession". She told me that she "approves" of being an engineer or a doctor, which is a much better choice. Both of my parents are electrical engineers, my dad ran an 8GW electric power grid company in Samara and and its suburbs and my mom was doing military industry designs. So engineering was always of interest to me. It came down to my dad buying me a radio kit and telling me - try building a radio yourself, if you do it and like it, go to the Aerospace University to become an engineer. My radio worked and I had fun building it, so I choose engineering profession.

 Lou: Did you then go to work for Caterpillar right out of college?

 Marina:  Yes, after I finished my second, business degree, from Bradley, I came to Cat first as an Agency employee, converting to full time later. 

 Lou:  So that is where your journey with Caterpillar began those 22 years ago.  Tell us about your first full time position.

 Marina: I was the service information engineer in Product Support Division. I enjoyed taking some hands on master mechanic certification classes on electric power equipment including disassembling and assembling 3500 engines!

 Lou: What was your least favorite position?  And what did you learn from it?

 Marina: I never had the least favorite position. May be because each of my job roles helped me learn and grow. From the first days in Product support to taking on a 6Sigma challenge, to building legacy in electric power and growing relationships with global business units during engineering transformation - every position was a blast. Like every human, I have both good and bad days. While the good days lift me up, it is actually the bad days (or the toughest experiences) is what shapes up my style and helps me grow.   

 Lou: It's only fair now to ask what the same question in reverse.  What has been your most treasured experience so far in your career and why?

 Marina: The most treasured experience for me was to meet new people in each job and build relationships with global teams - both inside and outside of Cat, through supporting our dealers and customers as well as through volunteering. You've heard that people is the most precious company's asset, people are the "glue" that helps us deliver on customer promises and help ourselves improve. So for me, my most treasured experience is with the teams I've worked with, worked for, and the teams I've led. Their deep expertise, high energy, the drive in getting things done, and a good engineering sense of humor is what makes each day for me fun. A big Thank You goes out to my current team who puts up with me!

 Lou: Marina, thanks for joining us today, it's been a real pleasure having your share part of your life journey with us.  

 Marina: Thank you so much for inspiring me to share my story!

 Lou: There you have it folks.  A big thank you, our listeners for listening to Power Bytes. 

 If you’d like to nominate someone for our "People Behind the Brand" series or suggest other topics for the program or have some feedback to share,  please write us here at powerbytes@cat.com or visit Cat Electric Power on Facebook or LinkedIn.   Please remember to subscribe to our Podcast wherever  you listen to your favorite podcasts.  Till next time, thanks for listening to Power Bytes and have a great day!