My career in the ethanol industry includes a who’s who of this industry that has crossed my path and influenced my passion for renewable fuels. I graduated from Illinois State University with a degree Chemistry in December 1993.
My first plant manager was Nick Lauer who was a pioneer in beverage alcohol and best friends with Dr. Pearce Lyons of Alltech. On many occasions, I watched these two men chat about their time at Canadian Mist and other distilleries; it was amazing to watch these two toss around ideas on increasing yield and efficiency. These two distillers personally transformed the beverage alcohol industry.
Other true pioneers that I learned corn processing were Marty and Duane Andreas of ADM. Marty Andreas of ADM would tell the story about then President Jimmy Carter called his brother Duane Andreas in 1978 asking if the two new beverage columns being constructed could be converted to fuel alcohol. I traveled extensively with Marty for several years, inheriting his passion for ethanol. He was confident in his goal of having ethanol in every gallon of gasoline in America.
While I was working exclusively with men in my days at ADM, there were great women outside of ADM that influenced my studies and my career. My mother, Jean Bates, was the most influential. She was a Human Resources professional at Dupont and a force if you were not living up to your potential. She helped me sort through decision making, self improvement, how women need to carry themselves in the workplace. She even took me to see Gloria Steinem- I loved it. She taught me compassion and that if you treat your fellow co-workers the way you wanted to be treated, everyone works better together.
I also hope that I contributed to my Mother’s passion for development of women coming through the workplace behind me.
Unfortunately, I don’t suffer with self-doubt. I’m pretty philosophical about my skill set and I have a huge thirst for learning. I really feel that I can teach myself how to do anything. Spend the time understanding why your job is important and never take the answer “because that’s the way we have always done it” as the answer. I have made a great career challenging the status quo, understanding “the process” and making improvements.
To unwind, I love to work in my flowers beds, walk a couple of miles and day dream and think.
As to the best career advice? I don’t know that I can single out one since there have been so many. I think the most important lesson I learned- not that many years ago- is to be a better listener than a talker.
Kristy Moore will be speaking at the Association for Women in Communications National Conference in Normal, Illinois, November 11-13. The national conference is a reflection of the mission of the AWC: championing leaders, building relations and connecting professionals, and recognizing excellence for communicators. Registration closes October 8.
About the Author
Kristy Moore, Principal Scientist at KMoore Consulting, is a well-known [technical and regulatory] expert [on fuels] who will advise our regulatory affairs and global exports initiatives.
