Thriving in Male-Dominated Fields

By Alex Keimig

Gretchen Sheirr, president of business operations for the Houston Rockets, and Isha Yadav, supply chain manager for planning at Amazon, shared their industry experiences in two keynote addresses at the Women in Breakbulk networking event at Breakbulk Americas.

Sheirr and Yadav spoke to an audience of female professionals about their career journeys in sports and logistics, respectively, as well as their strategies for success both early on in one’s career and continuing as an established leader in professional spaces.

Sheirr began her career as an account executive and has successfully leveraged her skills to become a formidable force in one of the NBA’s biggest and most innovative franchises.

Though basketball and breakbulk may appear too different at face value for her experiences to translate to successful strategies for women in the industry, her approaches to business – from leveraging digital innovation to building strategic partnerships – and her stalwart leadership values provide an invaluable example for female professionals. She was joined on stage by Vanessa Richardson, sidelines reporter for the Houston Rockets, who facilitated the live interview.

“My role is president of business operations for the Houston Rockets, and our operating company also has the operating lease. We book, manage and oversee Toyota Center. We’ll have a concert on a Monday night, and a Rockets game on Tuesday night, and an event on Wednesday, and another concert on Thursday, and a game on Friday… so that’s my logistics piece,” Sheirr said, illustrating the way that her duties and responsibilities cross industries to overlap with common breakbulk concerns.

Beginning in seasonal ticket sales, Sheirr worked her way up to her current leadership role over the course of many years, learning and gaining invaluable new experiences with each role along the way. Each step, however, has still shown her the effects of being a professional woman in a male-dominated field.

“My biggest piece of advice for anyone, but particularly for women, is to not ask permission to do their jobs. It’s the reason I feel like I’ve gotten a lot of those opportunities to grow during my career: if I saw something that wasn’t being done, I just did it,” she said. “I think sometimes, as women, we can feel like we don’t want to step on somebody else’s toes, or we need to ask permission. Until someone tells you to stop, just keep doing it. Unfortunately, you often don’t get the opportunity until people already think that you have it.”

Yadav, who possesses a master’s degree in business analytics from Drexel University, shared her perspective on being a new hire at Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, as well as her preceding time with Dell. She learnt quickly the importance of cultivating strategies to successfully stand out in a large organization, be a productive team member and keep projects moving, especially as a young woman in the early years of her career.

Though she felt overwhelmed upon first entering the workforce after college, Yadav noted that having dependable, supportive mentors in her organization made a considerable difference in her mindset regarding confidence and impostor syndrome.

“You need to identify and build your strengths,” she said. “Early in my career, my manager told me that skills can be taught, and you can learn on the go, but something that cannot be taught is the right attitude. That’s what people are really looking for when they’re hiring someone to work under them or on their team. The right attitude is the key thing to look for (in a young hire),” said Yadav.

She added that whether someone is eager and open to learning new things is easy to pick up on in interviews, which is something for young professionals and those in transition to consider in addition to practicing clear, direct communication.

“It’s very easy to get lost in a large organization. How do you stand out amongst 5,000 people? One thing I’ve kept with me is direct conversation and communication,” she said. “Back up your strategy suggestions with data and know what else to suggest if the perfect scenario doesn’t fall into place.”

Though they represented differing ends of the professional spectrum – seasoned careerwoman and early professional – both Sheirr and Yadav emphasized the importance of clear, direct communication, an ambitious mindset, and the confidence to ask for exactly what she needs in building and bolstering any woman’s professional success.


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TOP PHOTO: Gretchen Sheirr and Vanessa Richardson. CREDIT: Hyve / Marco Wang