Sharon Cole says you never realize where the casual decisions made at a young age are going to lead.
For example, chance events led Cole to study chemical engineering at LSU, which led to a job as an entry-level engineer with Dow Chemical Company in 1981. Several promotions and accolades later, she now leads the company’s mammoth Plaquemine site, a 3,000-employee outfit with 23 plants, one of the state’s largest petrochemical facilities.
But when Cole started college in the late 1970s, it was not in engineering, but in nursing—a go-to field for women who excelled in math and science. An exemplary student, Cole had been valedictorian of the 1976 graduating class at Woodlawn High School, and her academic chops had given her access to a world her parents never had experienced: college. She headed to Southeastern Louisiana University.
After becoming ill and spending time in a hospital, Cole rethought her decision to go into nursing. “I respected them tremendously,” she says, “but I didn’t think I had the overall makeup to be a nurse.”
Cole transferred to LSU, where professors spotted her analytical skills and attention to detail and encouraged her to try chemical engineering. “I really did not have a clue about engineering,” she says, “but it turned out to be a wonderful decision.”
Upon graduation, Dow offered her a position in the Chlor Alkali II plant, where she focused on day-to-day maintenance and process issues associated with her portion of the massive operation. Later, she expanded this local perspective to a global one, beginning in 1991 with service on Dow’s Global Manufacturing Information System Architecture Team as one of two manufacturing representatives.
Promotions quickly followed. She became production leader of the Vinyl 2, VCM plant in 1993, and was named technology director in 1997 for Dow’s Ethylene Dichloride/Vinyl Chloride Monomer business.
Cole was promoted again in 2003 as technology and business research director for Light Hydrocarbons, Aromatics, Butadiene and Alpha Olefinsin at Dow’s facility in Freeport, Texas. There, she added more business research responsibilities to her plate, focusing on emerging technology and participating in the company’s megaproject initiatives. It gave her the chance to travel internationally, and to better understand the global issues that affect manufacturing in the U.S. and the Gulf Coast.
In 2007, she was recruited back to Louisiana as site director, a position she jumped at for its career validation and for the opportunity to return home. Her father, who had been ill, died the following year, but Cole says she feels fortunate he witnessed her career trajectory.
When she arrived at Dow 27 years ago, there were few female engineers, much less ones in leadership positions. “But women have come of age in engineering,” she says, adding that the company has been a bellwether with pro-family policies that benefit women and men juggling to meet work-life demands. Cole has served as a mentor, formally and also informally, to the growing number of women at Dow, and has led its women’s network, one of several affinity groups the company sponsors.
Ultimately, Cole believes her success has stemmed from the ability excel, to work hard and to communicate directly. “I am very transparent,” she says. “I believe in making expectations clear, and in making sure your views and positions are understood.”
