Women in Small Business: Kathy Leonard of Auburn Manufacturing

Kathy Leonard, president and CEO of Auburn Manufacturing, stands in front of the spacious cow recently. Andree Kehn / Sun Journal

MECHANICAL FALL – Fresh out of college and new to Maine in the early 1970s, young Kathy Leonard was embarking on a career that, if you believed in the odds, she had no chance of succeeding. She was a young woman working in a men-run mill in Lewiston, where, among other things, they made industrial fabric to replace asbestos.

At the same time, Kathryn Graham became the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company after taking over as publisher of The Washington Post.

Women owned nearly 400,000 businesses, or 4.6% of all businesses in the country, a milestone, according to the federal Small Business Administration. As archaic as it sounds, women in this country who wanted to take out a business loan had to have a male relative co-sign on the loan until 1988. Today, according to the SBA, there are more than 13 million women-owned businesses in the United States. Or 42% of all businesses, bringing in nearly $2 trillion in revenue.

“I was on the floor marketing an industrial textile designed to replace asbestos. And you have no idea how many applications there are in places where asbestos is used,” Leonard said.

Not only in automotive brakes and roof tiles and floor coverings, but also as mechanical insulation on ships and around pipes in the petroleum industry – anywhere high temperatures are involved, Leonard explained.

“I loved it, it was so much fun!” she said Over the next three years, Leonard honed her marketing skills through what she calls her writing and brevity. She said she took calls from engineers and answered their technical questions, even playing at trade shows, where she was the only woman behind the booth.

After three years, Leonard says she’s ready to take the next step and earn more money. She and a male partner founded Auburn Manufacturing and haven’t looked back. “Basically it was about getting a better job. I wanted to grow, and there weren’t many ladders for women back then. So when you start your own business, you create your own ladder. That’s what I did.”

Her short-term goals were simple, Leonard said: pay the rent and buy clothes for her daughter — to start a family and not worry so much about her next paycheck. That was important to her, because she grew up without much as a child and said she didn’t want to do that for the rest of her life. At 27, Leonard said she didn’t have any long-term goals. “I had no idea it would last this long.”

Overcoming obstacles in a male-dominated industry

According to the president and CEO, she struggled to gain respect as a business professional in the early days of manufacturing. “Everybody who came to our business thought I was a secretary,” she said. “They would come in and think that someone else – a man – is the boss and I am. . He said.

She shook it off now as a sign of the times, but admitted it was sad. “I had a really nice colleague who said, ‘Oh, you want to talk to her.’ And I’m lucky like that. A lot of people do that and it’s much appreciated. “

Leonard said she lacked confidence and was nervous in her early years.

“When I talk to other women, they want to hear that story — ‘How did you do it?’ and ‘How did it feel?’ – Because this is true,” she said.

Much of Leonard’s experience was on-the-job training. She did not receive a master’s degree in either industrial technology or engineering. “I’ve been in this business where I thought I shouldn’t be involved,” she said. “I’m a regular rider.”

It took her many years to gain confidence. She said Leonard did it by persevering, going back to school and studying economics, human resources and accounting, all skills needed to run the business. She calls herself a “cooking student” because she loves the instructions—show her how to do something and she’s good.

“I also kept pushing myself to do things,” Leonard said. “The first time I was asked to speak in public I was scared to death. And I took Dale Carnegie’s course and learned how to do that and I forced myself to do it, and I got through it. It’s been 43 years and it’s been hard, but now I’m comfortable in my own skin, but it took a long time.”

Women in business today

Women in business have come a long way in this country over the past 50 years, but many issues remain at the forefront, including the gender pay gap and the percentage of women in senior management positions.

As an indication of how women have thrived in Maine, the Maine Women’s Business Directory is the official directory of women-owned businesses in the state, with nearly 200 businesses listed. The Maine Women’s Network says it represents and supports hundreds of women in business across the state. The University of Maine School of Business has a women’s business organization, Coastal Enterprises Inc., or CEI, a women’s business center focused on women who want to start or grow their business in Maine.

Leonard agrees that things are much easier for women today than when she first started in business. “I think the younger women made it easier for us for everybody,” she said. “At my age he led the way, but it was a rocky road. These riders are always comfortable in their own skin and I admire them and it makes us all feel more comfortable. Now there are more women in every group.”

But here in the field of production, women are still a minority. That’s why she believes exposure to STEM-based education — an acronym that stands for science, technology, engineering and math — is especially important for girls throughout their lives, Leonard said.

According to the US Department of Commerce, women make up less than one-third of the 15.8 million people employed in manufacturing industries, and 1 in 4 manufacturing leaders are women. Census data shows that workers in manufacturing earn more than the average worker. And while women in manufacturing earn more than the female average, they still earn only 72 percent of the average male salary in the industry. As manufacturing technology continues to advance, some manufacturers ignore highly skilled workers by not hiring women.

Auburn Manufacturing actively recruits women, Leonard said. “Even in weaving, we have few women in manufacturing where there was no women’s work. But with the equipment we have that helps you move things around – you don’t have to be able to lift heavy things and they’re great.

Reflecting on her 43 years at the helm of the company, Leonard says she is in awe of and absolutely proud of the company and its employees — many of whom have been with her their entire careers.

“I’ve grown up and done my homework all these years and I think I’m good now and I’m proud of that,” she said. “I am proud to have 50 people working here,” she emphasized. “It’s hard work, but if you have other things, you don’t have to worry. We have benefits, we have a place in Rangeley where the workers can go and take their families. You know it has a bit of a life balance to it. We’re not that strict, but we’re all about getting the product out the door.

What about the progress women have made in business since the 1970s?

“I think you’re going to move on now,” Leonard said. “Going from 4% to 43% is a big change. So you’re going to be half, we have to be more than half, right?”

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