What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?

One day a couple of years ago, I woke up and realized I was 60 years old. On that particular day, I looked at myself in the mirror and said, “Sara, you are 60 years old.” So, what do I have to say to that? Some questions came to mind. Questions like: Have I done all that I wanted to do in my career? In my work, did I leave the earth a better place than I found it? Did I make anyone laugh? Did I make a difference? Do we really know what rust is? Will anybody remember me?

Now that I am entering the next phase of my life, and yes, it is a fact, I am retiring from “active duty” in early 2009, I want to share some parting comments with you. We all want to believe that we make a difference, whether big or little, in our work tenure. I’ll work on what I can do next after I stop working for capitalism. I’ve got lots of ideas and I’ll sure have the time.

Vision or Visionary/Observer or Activist?

Do you want to be remembered as a vision or as a visionary? Lots of people have visions, but the visionary is rare. Is there some little or maybe even big thing that you can do at work to create the impression that you are a visionary? Just do it!

Are you an observer or an activist? As I entered the workforce back in the late 1960s, I made up my mind that I wanted to participate. In a few years it became very evident to my bosses and colleagues that I talked too much to work quietly in the lab. Everyone told me that I should be in sales and marketing. That sounded great to me. I figured my bosses would think I was very active if I could talk and sell something at the same time!

You don’t have to be in sales and marketing, though, to be an activist. You can be a leader in the lab and be kind of quiet, too. My long-time friend, Ann Plyler, was a great activist. If you didn’t know who she was you missed one of the great technical TiO2 minds in the business. She wanted to network with other women in her field and in coatings, so she founded Women in Coatings back in the 1980s, as a way to make contact with others like herself. For several years this little organization flourished and was considered a great networking body for women.

Be a Flame!

Do you want to be a wick or the flame? Now, I am going to draw from a great article written several years back by Mariane Matera. Don’t we all get caught up in what people think of us? At my age, I now conclude that I want to be appreciated. In my age group, there are a lot of us who paved the way for the current generations. I come from the generation that was ashamed to wear glasses! We were more concerned about our looks. What generation do you think came up with contact lenses? Now glasses are fashionable again, and this is due to a new flame in politics! What happened to the “fashionable” scientists out there still wearing their trusty tri-focals (that’s my age group!). All of us wicks are now flames and we didn’t have to do anything.

More of us need to be flames. Oh, heck, why not be the lighter! When I was applying for jobs back 40-some years ago, the job ads usually included in the requirements phrases like, “have a cheerful disposition,” and a “smiling face.” What’s that all about? I didn’t want to be an ornament. I hope you don’t either. Get out there and ignite something.

My new favorite phrases are: “You just can’t make this stuff up,” and “I’m too old to put up with crap like that anymore.” You’ll see someday what I mean and maybe you’ll remember that Sara Robinson wrote about this.

What will you do to be remembered? If you don’t have any ideas, then look around you. Get with your colleagues, and get to know everyone that you can in your company. Be kind and gentle. Laugh a lot, and at yourself, too. Find something and be passionate about it. Learn at least one new thing that has nothing to do with your job every day. Be a good listener. Read a lot, and I don’t mean work-related texts and articles. Make room in your life for a pet. They make a great audience when you are practicing a talk or letting off steam or need a shoulder. Love and let yourself by loved. Find some characteristic about yourself that can make you memorable in a good way. Me? Most of my industry and personal friends know I just love single malt scotch, and I know the brands, too. I am passionate about scotch. But many also remember that I helped convince the industrial coatings industry that one could make a great anti-corrosive paint with a little ol’ needle-shape mineral. I am passionate about wollastonite, too. Shucks, I was a one-person parade for Clive Hare!

Try to meet the following people: Darlene Brezinski, Melinda Forbes, Eve Irvine, Maria Nargiello, Gail Pallano, Latoska Price, Rose Ryntz, Vicky Scarborough and Violet Stevens (if you can find her). I am sure I have left some good names out, but with this foundation, you will have started your contacts with the flames and igniters of this business.

Don’t just watch the parade, be the parade. And for you gentlemen out there….Just remember that one day your daughter(s) could be giving a presentation or a speech or defending a patent or empowering an employee… You will want to say, “that’s my little girl, grown up, smart and making a difference.”

Now, I am going to curl up with that stack of books I have waiting to read, with a nice dram of Dalwhinnie and a treasured loved one by my side.

I wish all of you the very best that life can give you. I have had a great career life… and I can’t wait to set the next one on fire! I think I’ll start with writing the great American novel or maybe making a stone wall in my yard… or throwing the Frisbee to Lester (my dog!). Ah, all the choices…

Editors Note: Sarah has indeed made a significant contribution to this industry with her knowledge and ever-present cheerfulness – I know she will continue to do so in some capacity.