If the Michelle Stallard of today had the opportunity to give advice to her younger self, she would likely offer one note of encouragement and one tangible directive.
“I think the biggest piece of advice I would have given myself years ago is to have more confidence,” she said.
And the tangible directive? You can deduce that from the guidance Michelle gives to students she meets. “Don’t underestimate the power of internships. I think as long as you get one internship to get started, that is the most important thing,” she said.
Of course, if students follow Michelle’s example, they’ll have plenty of achievements to affirm that confidence, and they won’t stop at one internship.
The Global Head of Value Stream Integration at Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis, Michelle has worked her way into a series of management and leadership roles. Signing on initially as part of a graduate development program, Michelle has found Rolls-Royce to be a place where she can apply not only what she learned pursuing her bachelor’s and master’s engineering degrees at Iowa State University, but also her passion for problem solving, process improvement and learning new things.
While an internship at Rolls-Royce led to Michelle’s current job, her time there as a continuous improvement intern only scratched the surface of her internship experiences. She also interned with Whirlpool Corp., Space X and Proctor & Gamble, and she credits each of those internships with contributing something to her skills and her understanding of what career path she wanted to take.
Having grown up on an Iowa dairy farm, Michelle learned early that she likes working with her hands and solving problems. Her math and science proficiencies led her to engineering, and her internships taught her that she loves leading in an operations environment.
A pivotal point in Michelle’s career came when she spent time in a production leader rotation on a Rolls-Royce line that had previously not been working to its potential. “I had an entire production line that worked for me,” she said. “It was really great to build a culture with my team.”
Achieving a milestone with the team helped Michelle learn something about herself. “We turned around a product that had been in arrears for years,” she said. “It showed me what I was capable of as a leader.”
Her leadership success has continued in her current role, where Michelle has pulled together a team of nine people and helped them work together more efficiently. “Seeing the team getting engaged in new areas is so rewarding,” she said.
Michelle doesn’t limit her energy and leadership to her work. She applies it in her community, too. A volunteer with the Hendricks County Animal Shelter, she created Scribbles for Kibbles, an art event that raises money for the organization, and serves as a board member for the Friends of the Shelter. She also volunteers with FIRST, an organization that works to increase children’s interest in the STEM fields – a role she no doubt uses to boost kids’ confidence and encourage participation in internships.
