Working in manufacturing was not Janel Rowbotham’s original plan when she entered college. While working on her business major, a professor shared an offering of paid internships at a local manufacturing facility in Ohio. Despite not being an engineering student as the offer preferred, understanding her work ethic, her professor vetted her and she was brought on in a quality department role.

Rowbotham’s original work involved a lot of analysis projects, product testing, and computer system expertise. Upon graduation, she was hired as a full-time quality engineer.

“I was simply motivated by getting a paid internship,” Rowbotham said. “I have a personality suited for looking at how I can be a fit, even if the fit is outside the box. I can still get things done just as well as anyone else.”

After working as a quality engineer for about six years, Rowbotham and her family were eager to relocate to an area farther south. She applied at several companies, and was hired by Borg Warner in Arden as their quality engineer. With a mindset of wanting to make improvements in any way she can, her role transitioned multiple times, allowing her to gain experience in customer quality, systems engineering, certification maintenance, production supervision, and logistics. 

“I would get a role assignment and work to think ‘how can we make this better?’,” Rowbotham said. “Streamlining things, becoming more cost-conscious, and other ways of fixing systems and processes were the types of perspectives I would bring, and I was able to work in multiple different roles in the seven or so years I was there.”

When Linamar Light Metals first came to WNC, the engineering manager knew Rowbotham and reached out in hopes of her sharing knowledge about a materials requirements planning system. Since she was familiar with the system and it would be launched at Linamar, she did some community outreach explaining her experiences with the system and how it could optimize process efficiency. 

Sharing her expertise caught the attention of the facility’s general manager at the time, and he offered several positions to her before she made the tough decision to leave Borg Warner and join Linamar as their supply chain head. After Linamar bought out the other party in the parent company’s joint venture, Rowbotham was asked to lead the organization as its general manager.

“It was the culmination of a lot of hard work, thinking outside the box, and never saying something wasn’t my job,” Rowbotham said. “I think at the end of the day, it’s my spirit, passion, curiosity, and drive that led me down this path.” 

Working in a male-dominated industry has not been particularly challenging for Rowbotham, something she attributes to her personal attributes of effective communication and doing what needs to be done to fully understand issues. She works closely with her teammates to understand problems at hand while keeping everyone on the same page. She looks at failures as learning opportunities for the whole team, and she believes because of these things, she has earned respect as a female leader in manufacturing.

“I also choose to work for organizations that don’t see me any differently because I’m a woman,” Rowbotham said. “I’m just a general manager; it doesn’t matter whether I’m a woman or a man. I have heard some negative stories, but I don’t have any to tell personally. I understand I am fortunate in that perspective. I’m also very grateful.”

Teaching students about opportunities in manufacturing is important for Rowbotham and Linamar. She has had conversations with the Superintendent at Henderson County Schools, and has hosted tours for students to show what is done at the facility and the career possibilities that exist. When students see a woman leading the facility and loving her job, she hopes more female candidates will consider manufacturing as their path.

“We make car parts,” Rowbotham said. “You drive a car, whether you’re a male or a female, and you can be a part of making these things too, whether you are male or female.”