Brittany Billows is more than willing to admit that it took her a while to find her career path. But she’s also quick to add that the one she landed on fits her perfectly.
As a student at Fishers High School, Brittany was a big fan of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and initially thought she’d go into forensics; however, further investigation convinced her that she liked the show, but not the job. So, she started college on a journalism and public relations track … but soon learned that, while she was pretty good at that, she didn’t really enjoy it.
A switch to a business major ultimately proved to be the right move. She started out as an IU Kelley School of Business marketing major, but investigating various disciplines as part of her I-CORE semester exposed her to what she discovered was indeed the right path for her.
“I found supply chain, which I was really interested in and enjoyed and was good at,” Brittany says.
Her first internship in advanced manufacturing and logistics was at Allison Transmission, a world-leading manufacturer of automatic transmission for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, as a marketing intern. Despite her focus on marketing, she said the company was happy to let her learn about supply chain – shadowing supply chain professionals and getting a solid sense of the work. With this experience, she was hired after graduation as a full-time international materials analyst. Now she serves as materials manager for Allison, working in part with the company’s plant in India and also troubleshooting supplier issues that might slow down production in other plants.
Especially enjoying her job’s problem solving and tangible results, Brittany has become a champion for supply chain careers, urging college students to recognize the industry’s many career paths and long-term stability. She especially encourages students attending IUPUI to take advantage of its location, literally surrounded by Indiana manufacturing, tech, medical and logistics companies that need talented young workers. The opportunities are virtually unlimited, she says, and companies like Allison encourage people to grow in their careers, which means never having to settle into one role for the rest of your life.
A racing fan who recently got married—the couple exchanged vows at the Dallara IndyCar Factory in Speedway—Brittany says that, in supply chain, she found the industry that gives her exactly what she was looking for as she worked her way through her career false starts: The chance to do something that she both does well and enjoys.
