Living the Chapters: Insights from Susan Nash
00:41
Mara Kamat
Welcome back to In Her Land, a space where we explore the journeys, stories and impact of women through honest, human, and often very real conversations.
01:12
Carrie Aguilar
We talk about the chapters that shape us, career, family, identity, and how those evolve over time.
01:20
Mara Kamat
And today's episode is particularly special for me because my mom is here and has joined us. She clearly had a huge impact in shaping my story, of which we often talk about. And we're looking forward to hearing her story today.
01:38
Carrie Aguilar
And Susan Nash is not just a mom. She's also an incredible leader and the CFO of Helix Linear Technologies. She's built a meaningful, impactful career while raising a family. And she's also deeply committed to giving back, staying actively involved in our community, and making a difference beyond her day to day work. Welcome.
01:58
Mara Kamat
Thank you, mom. We're excited to hear about your story and how you've navigated a career, motherhood, leadership and service, with intention and incredible strength. I feel lucky that we get to have this conversation with you. So thank you for being here.
02:14
Sue Nash
My pleasure.
02:15
Carrie Aguilar
Okay, let's start at the beginning. Can you take us back to your early career? What were those first chapters looking like?
02:23
Sue Nash
I started out at price Waterhouse.
02:25
Carrie Aguilar
Okay. PwC.
02:26
Sue Nash
PwC now.
02:27
Carrie Aguilar
Or was it.
02:28
Sue Nash
Oh, yeah, Price Waterhouse back then.
02:29
Carrie Aguilar
Got it.
02:30
Sue Nash
It was one of the big eight. Yeah, yeah. And I was very excited. I started out, I had an internship while I was going to Cleveland State to school. And then when I was graduating, they offered me a position on the professional staff.
02:45
Carrie Aguilar
Great.
02:46
Sue Nash
So I stayed with Pricewaterhouse for about five years, made a lot of friends. I felt that the partnership track really wasn't for me. And I was lucky because one of the clients that I worked for went to one of the partners and said, can I have a conversation with sue? Because I'd like to offer her a job in manufacturing at our plant. Yeah, this was ltech Systems in Chardon, where we built chlorine plants worldwide. Very cool. Yeah. So I went, I, I interviewed with them. It was a great lunch and I.
03:23
Carrie Aguilar
The interview was a lunch back then.
03:25
Sue Nash
Yes, it was a lunch back when. It was like a two hour lunch back then.
03:30
Carrie Aguilar
Now it's 15 minutes on Zoom and see if you make it through, like the initial screening.
03:34
Sue Nash
Okay.
03:34
Carrie Aguilar
Keep going.
03:35
Mara Kamat
That AI does.
03:36
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah, for sure.
03:36
Sue Nash
But I was with them for three years. It was a joint venture, so it was brand new. And I had already found them over half a million dollars that they didn't know they had.
03:49
Carrie Aguilar
Hence the reason why they wanted to hire you.
03:50
Sue Nash
Right. And I worked long hours and wasn't afraid to put in the time. Plus I have a great rapport with people. I enjoy people. And so they saw that and that's what they wanted and they offered me an amazing job. But I could not have done any of it if I hadn't worked for Price Waterhouse. That really set the tone.
04:14
Carrie Aguilar
It's like very foundational.
04:15
Mara Kamat
Yes. And so how long were you at LTCH for Mom?
04:19
Sue Nash
Seven. Well, so I was with LTCH for about three years and then LTCH formed another joint venture between themselves and Occidental Petroleum.
04:31
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
04:31
Sue Nash
And so for the total, I was with LTCH and it was called Oxitec for 17 years.
04:38
Carrie Aguilar
Wow, that's a really long time.
04:40
Sue Nash
Yes. And I had to, I didn't have a career ladder. They made me a career ladder. I always loved manufacturing. And so they put a growth plan, as you call it today, which wasn't called then. It was a career ladder for myself and how I wanted to grow. But because I was Price Waterhouse, I was the liaison between the company I worked for as well as Pricewaterhouse. So I was book, I did tax. Back then you had to choose if you wanted, not just a major in accounting, but if you wanted a focus. And my focus was manufacturing. So all the classes, all the things that I did in college was for manufacturing.
05:29
Carrie Aguilar
I love that.
05:29
Sue Nash
Yes. So it helped me build the know how so that I could start my career and continue my career. Other company.
05:41
Mara Kamat
So fast forward for us. So you had 17 years at LTCH, and then what did you do after that?
05:47
Sue Nash
So after that I, when I left, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to stay in manufacturing, but I got an offer to go into banking.
06:03
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
06:04
Sue Nash
I went to work for KeyBank just for a stint to see how I liked it. I liked it. And actually I found over a million dollars sitting on their balance sheet for different things. And I enjoyed it. But I'll tell you, it didn't work for me because it was too far away from the kids. Got it. I worked downtown and the kids were at Phillips Osborne out in Lake county, and one of them got sick and I had to go get them. And it took me too long to get there. And I just didn't like that feeling of being so far away. So I actually thanked them and I decided to go back into manufacturing. I worked for. It was called Danaher Power Solutions.
06:51
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
06:51
Sue Nash
It was actually Cybrex in Cleveland, and I was asked to expand the company.
06:59
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
06:59
Sue Nash
So it was a consolidation between five companies outside companies, in la, in Houston.
07:07
Carrie Aguilar
Did they purchase those companies? And they were making a large. Okay, great.
07:10
Sue Nash
It was an acquisition. Several acquisitions they had already made. But I was hired to put them all together here in Cleveland. I did do that. I started to do that, and they came to me about four months later and said, sue, we're now going to move it out of Cleveland and we're going to move it to Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.
07:39
Carrie Aguilar
I see.
07:40
Sue Nash
So I said, what does that mean for me? And they said, well, we want you to consolidate it. We want you to go to Richmond, Virginia. And I thought, well, let's see. So the kids back then were about 14. They're probably 13 and 15. Mara wasn't driving yet, so about 13 to 15. And I went home and talked to my husband. It was a huge raise, but it was an exciting opportunity because I had never done plant consolidation. So my husband said, okay. And I went to Richmond, Virginia for the next six, eight months. Oh, wow. So every day. Well, what happened? I had to be very organized. My whole life had to be organized with the kids because even Jeff and I never traveled to.
08:36
Carrie Aguilar
Jeff is your husband?
08:37
Sue Nash
Yes, Jeff's my husband. Jeff and I never traveled at the same time.
08:41
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
08:42
Sue Nash
When I had to travel, he was home. When he had to travel, I was home. We always wanted presents here for the kids. I would be traveling Monday through Friday. That's when he was. He formed his own business at the same time.
08:58
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
08:58
Sue Nash
Yeah. This was at the same time.
09:00
Carrie Aguilar
So super chill in the Nash household.
09:02
Sue Nash
Oh, yeah. So he was. He had just started his own business, and I was traveling five days a week. And in the wintertime, if the weather was bad, I couldn't get.
09:15
Carrie Aguilar
Just to clarify, you were traveling. You were going on Monday, coming back Friday, or you were going back? Okay. I was like. You weren't like, super commuting every day?
09:23
Sue Nash
I was like, okay, I left on Monday.
09:25
Mara Kamat
Got it. Fly out Monday, fly back Friday.
09:28
Sue Nash
Right. Each week. Right.
09:31
Mara Kamat
With a 15 year old and a 13 year old.
09:35
Sue Nash
Correct.
09:35
Carrie Aguilar
Everyone loved it, I'm sure.
09:38
Sue Nash
Well, it was, the girls had a great foundation.
09:40
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
09:41
Sue Nash
Luckily, when I spent my 17 years at Occidental and ltech and Oxytech, they were family owned companies. It was a spin off of Diamond Shamrock. So they really believed in family.
09:53
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, that's wonderful.
09:54
Sue Nash
Yes. I worked hard. I had to work hard in order to climb the ladder. I was the only woman in a leadership role trying to be a leader. So I worked with all men, all engineers. They were all engineers, very smart engineers. And I have the privilege of working with smart engineers even now. And what they can do and what they could put together is truly amazing.
10:18
Mara Kamat
But I think the one thing to talk about there is growing up, she would go to Venezuela when were little and she was working for those companies. So it wasn't like a lot. Maybe it was a week, Mom. When you would go on your trips to Venezuela. Two weeks.
10:33
Sue Nash
Two weeks every time.
10:34
Mara Kamat
And this was prior to, like, cell phones, right? Like, we didn't even have cell phones back then.
10:41
Sue Nash
I can only make one call a week.
10:43
Carrie Aguilar
Geez.
10:43
Sue Nash
That's it. Really? It was one call a week because it was long distance, right? For sure. Yeah. And so it was not knowing what was happening.
10:53
Mara Kamat
We didn't have the Internet or even chat or anything back then.
10:56
Sue Nash
Even.
10:56
Mara Kamat
We didn't have any of that.
10:57
Carrie Aguilar
So crazy to think about.
10:59
Mara Kamat
Yeah.
10:59
Sue Nash
And the nice thing is, back then you had a computer, but at the plant, if you didn't have power, we all knew how to navigate.
11:08
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
11:09
Sue Nash
We all knew what we had to do, why were there. Actually, the reason I, I, I kept going there, that they needed me there was if I didn't go there, I couldn't collect the cash. They're more.
11:24
Carrie Aguilar
You were a mule.
11:27
Sue Nash
Well, what would happen is I would go, I would actually go to Venezuela, gym bags, and meet with everyone. And the joke was I'd call two days later at work and they told me that the money was wired. So it was just that they liked people. They wanted you to be present. They wanted to see you. They wanted to see what work was being done. So I would make trips with the engineers. I never went by myself to Venezuela. I went with the engineers.
12:00
Carrie Aguilar
That's great.
12:01
Sue Nash
Yeah.
12:02
Mara Kamat
Okay. So then going back to Danaher, you're traveling Monday through Friday. Dad starting his own business. Talk to us a little bit about, like, how you managed having Two teenage girls and working.
12:17
Sue Nash
So both you and Jenna had great foundation. You went to Phillips Osborne school from kindergarten, you to eighth grade, Jenna to sixth grade. And that's where you formed a good foundation. And you had rules at home, but you were good girls, and you listened, and you loved school. The skills that you have today to do this podcast, you learned from being at Phillips Osborne. You could get up in front of 200 people and speak and not be nervous and, like, it was second nature. So I really attribute both you and Jenna's leadership and all your traits to Phillips Osborne, who gave you really good guidance and was reason, respect, and responsibility, which I think, you know, you follow to this day.
13:21
Sue Nash
So because you had a good foundation, and then we put you in public school, we moved to Pepper pike on Gates Mills Boulevard, and you went to Orange, which I did a huge search on private schools versus public schools. And back then, Orange was just as good as Hawken.
13:40
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
13:41
Sue Nash
So you went to Orange, and you both excelled in the things that you wanted to. We never made you do anything you didn't want to. You wanted to take French. Jenna wanted to be in a sport. So you followed your paths.
13:58
Carrie Aguilar
Mm.
13:59
Sue Nash
And I think the other thing is daddy was a good dad. He's a good partner, and he knew what my rules were until he let you eat donuts for breakfast and flip flops in the winter. But we both had. We were on the same page with rules and expectations. So I think that worked until it didn't work. When I went to Richmond, Virginia, all was well. I came back, and then they said, okay, sue, we have another consolidation for you, which was twice the size. And that was Danaher Power Solutions, which actually is a competitor. Was a competitor of the company I work for today.
14:43
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, that's so interesting.
14:44
Sue Nash
Yes. I consolidated about 1012 plants. Mexico, Illinois, Rhode Island. So I traveled to Rhode island every week. And then one day, my husband. I get a call from someone in Cleveland, and they said, I hear you're looking for a job. And I said, I am. And they said, your husband wants you to come home.
15:08
Carrie Aguilar
Wow. What a way to find out.
15:10
Sue Nash
Yeah.
15:10
Mara Kamat
Was not like that either. Let me be balanced and say there was a lot of pressure at home on from us, from Jenna and I, to be like, mom, it was getting like, listen, I was driving. I remember conversations of you saying, hey, like, opening your eyes and realizing, oh, my gosh, I don't have that much time left before you're in college. So it was this, like, tension of, like, I'm living my dream. Career. I have this great career that I worked really hard to achieve. And like, I have these two girls at home, and one of them's about to go to college, and there's clearly, like, demands on me to be around more, for lack of a better way to say it.
15:49
Sue Nash
And it was a dad that was starting a new business that had two teenage daughters, and it was too much for him.
15:55
Mara Kamat
It was a lot.
15:56
Sue Nash
And so I did what was right for the family. I loved that job. And I learned something new. At every job that I was at, I did what was right for the family. I actually came home and worked for a non profit. Oh, wow.
16:11
Carrie Aguilar
She said, jeff, you didn't like all the money I was making, so I'm gonna make way less now. This is what you get. Live in Cleveland and we're gonna be broke.
16:20
Sue Nash
So actually, I did make less. Danaher Power Solutions. I had stock options and I made quite a bit of money. Right. But that wasn't. That was never the focus.
16:32
Carrie Aguilar
Well, wait, so what was the nonprofit that you worked with?
16:35
Sue Nash
It was being the director of finance for the Temple Tareth Israel.
16:39
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, that's really cool. Yeah, that's amazing.
16:42
Sue Nash
I went to work for the Temple Tipareth Israel, and I was there for two years before I got another call from another manufacturing company. Company that said, sue, I hear you're a non profit. Are you ready to come back to manufacturing?
16:56
Carrie Aguilar
I hear you want to make more money. So did your husband make another call and say, hey, she needs to make more money?
17:01
Sue Nash
No, I made the next call and I said to my husband, I said, jeff, I said, I got another opportunity to go back to manufacturing. They had two plants here in Cleveland, one plant in North Carolina. So the travel wasn't going to be much at all. Yeah. So I asked him, I said, okay, the girls have just gone to college. Mara was in. Yeah. Both of them, I think, were in college at the time. I asked him, I said, okay, what do you think? He said, if you'd like to go back to manufacturing, do it. You should do what makes you happy now, because now the kids are out of school, out of the house and on their own.
17:39
Carrie Aguilar
So we talk a lot about chapters here, and it feels like we've covered a lot of different chapters. Can you unpack? If you. Maybe if you can or if you're able to, your thought process. I'm sure that it was hard to make the decision to come back from Virginia. Right. Like you had done this thing. Like Mara was saying, you have these two balanced children and you Balance this career. And then you were head of finance at a temple, which I'm sure you had some sort of work life balance that enabled you more time with your kids and then making the decision to then potentially go back to manufacturing. Can you talk through, like, how you were? Because a lot of people who listen to this podcast, they're going through chapters.
18:23
Carrie Aguilar
Like, even right now, I'm going through a chapter where I used to like flexibility, and now I crave so much structure that I want someone to tell me that I need to be at a desk for eight hours a day. So can you walk me through or walk us through, like, how you were maybe feeling, but also what you're. What you learned from each transition.
18:46
Sue Nash
The funny thing is, I learned a lot of things, but life, you don't think. I didn't think about it.
18:53
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
18:53
Sue Nash
Okay. I didn't sit there and say, oh, well, it's my time to do this, or I need to focus on this, or, no, it was living life.
19:03
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
19:03
Sue Nash
Okay. It's living life and seeing where life brings you. It's not planning for all these things. When my husband and I were talking about having children and that, he said, well, this is what you can do. You can have two children and a career, or you can have as many kids as you want. You have to stay home. And so I decided two children and a career, because the one thing my mom taught me was independence, to stand on your own two feet.
19:38
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
19:40
Sue Nash
And she said, you should not have to worry about anyone but yourself, and you need to do what's right for yourself. And I always remembered that because my mom was a traditionalist, my mom stayed home, my dad worked. So for my mom to say, you need to do this and you need to be your own person. And I was the first woman on my dad's side. I was the youngest girl amongst all boys to even go to college and finish college. And it was just something I wanted to do. And I always wanted to be an accountant. Since I was 16 years old, 15 years old, I wanted to be an accountant. So I did follow my dream.
20:29
Carrie Aguilar
That's amazing.
20:29
Sue Nash
But I lived life. And where life brought me and I didn't, I had to prove myself. And every step of the way, being in manufacturing, in a man's world, I had to prove myself. But I did. I worked hard. I worked with everyone as a team. And we had our own. We had goals and objectives, and we achieved them.
20:52
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
20:52
Mara Kamat
Something we haven't talked about yet, but I think is, like, an interesting thing as part of this. You lost your mom. Passed away when you were 36.
21:03
Carrie Aguilar
Wow.
21:04
Sue Nash
42. I was 36 years old when my mom got sick. That was another reason we left. Also. We were living in Concord Township and Mara graduated eighth grade. And we moved back also to Orange in that neighborhood so that I can help my dad take care of my mom. And it. And the thing is, after I started with Dan and her Power Solutions, the week after I had lost my mom.
21:30
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, I'm sorry.
21:32
Sue Nash
And they understood, and they were by my side and they said, sue, take whatever time you need and you'll come back and we'll continue on. Which we did.
21:43
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
21:43
Sue Nash
But. Yeah, it was not easy, but I was home and I was in the. I was able to help my dad take care of my mom. Those were priorities. Family was a priority. It's still a priority. It was always a priority. I have a great family.
22:00
Carrie Aguilar
I get to hang out with one all the time. She's pretty amazing.
22:03
Sue Nash
Yeah, she is. One of the things, too, that we taught the girls, or that I taught the girls that I'm proud of, is that no matter what was happening, that they should be able to talk to me. I loved my mother. I respected my mother.
22:19
Mara Kamat
But.
22:19
Sue Nash
But I couldn't talk to my mother because my mother was from a different generation. So I was from a different generation, and I wanted to give my children things that I didn't have. Opportunities, experiences. We sailed as a family, and those were amazing days. And I worked full time, so I wanted the kids to be able to go to great places. So Menorah Harbor Yachting Club, they learned how to sail, they learned how to swim. They went to camps, they went to sailing camps. They raced competitively because were competitive sailors. Yeah. So I wanted to give them all these great opportunities. So I had a great relationship with them and always told them that you could tell us anything. We're not going to get angry at you telling us things, but because we want to know, we want to help you.
23:13
Sue Nash
And my house was the party house. Our house was the party house. And why? Because I wanted to make sure I knew who their friends were for sure.
23:22
Carrie Aguilar
Thank God, right?
23:24
Sue Nash
I didn't have to worry about social media. There was nothing. I didn't have to worry about the Internet. The only thing they had was Game Boy, and that was only in the car when were taking long trips. Long trips, that was it. Otherwise, were outside, were enjoying each other, and we played games, which Mara and all the kids loved to play games. Those were things that were important. Family was important. Friends were important. In fact, some of these young people, I didn't realize I knew their parents. I didn't really know their children. And I was feeding their children because I love to cook and bake and. And now, years later, now that I'm friends with the mom and the dad, and I've been invited to the wedding of the kids.
24:11
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, my gosh.
24:12
Sue Nash
Yeah. And now they're parents, and they're saying to me, remember me, Mrs. Nash, I.
24:17
Mara Kamat
Was at your table.
24:18
Sue Nash
This is what you made. This was so good. Those are the memories and the things that really I take to heart. And it's so great when I bump into someone and they say, hey, Mrs. Nash, you are Myra's mom. I was never Mrs. Nash. I was Mara's mom, Jenna's mom. I was always someone's mom. Yeah, it was really fun.
24:38
Mara Kamat
I think that's, like, a special thing to call out around. Like, our childhood was. Even though my mom was, like, busy working and volunteering in the community and at the synagogue and, like, doing all the things, cooking was really important and spending family time was really important. And so my sister and I grew up in the kitchen doing a lot of, like, baking and cooking as a family. So one of my fondest memories are, like, the three of us together in the kitchen. So I'm always begging my sister to come home for the holidays. Right.
25:11
Carrie Aguilar
That time in the kitchen.
25:12
Mara Kamat
Yeah. And there's certain things that my mom makes that taste better than when I make it.
25:17
Carrie Aguilar
Every sandwich ever is made better by my mother.
25:20
Mara Kamat
Right. Even if it's the same recipe. And, like, my sister makes her. Her cookies. My sister's cookies, they're like these chocolate cookies. And even her chocolate chip cookies are so much better than any of the cookies my mom and I can make. I don't know why.
25:33
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah, for sure.
25:33
Mara Kamat
So there are so many special memories in our life that were centered around the kitchen, whether it be cooking it or sitting around the table eating it. And I think I've brought that into my life in such a big way in the Shabbat dinners that I host and, like, cooking for people and always wanting to be the house where we're inviting kids in and congregating now right this moment, since our house is under construction. That is a bit of an exhausting challenge.
26:00
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
26:01
Mara Kamat
But it's something that's really special in my life and in how we've grown up.
26:06
Carrie Aguilar
You know what I think is really interesting is you made a comment, sue, about. Well, this is just. We were Just busy living life. And my mom. I was talking. Telling you guys before my mom and I had a. I was just talking to my mom on the phone coming into the studio today, and she made a comment that really stuck with me, too. And I think it's. I feel like our generation has conversations like this where it's Think about, like, how were those chapters? And before today, I'm not sure that you would have a friend that was like, sue, take me back to that chapter of. And you're like, I have no idea. I don't know. I was, like, keeping my shit together. Like, I was just living life. And I think it's like this wonderful kind of bridge now where my.
26:49
Carrie Aguilar
Because my mom, she had four kids, she was keeping her shit together. And now, like, sometimes I just want to, like, talk about it, and she's. Carrie. It's just. What happened. It's just. And meanwhile, I'm now, like, trying to plan everything. I want to make sure that we have the perfect everything, so that. Because I just want the control. And I think that there's so much beauty and, like, the marriage between the living in the moment and I feel like the generation now, which is, like, over. Planning over. At least for me, it's like, over protecting the time. Over. And, like, thinking about it. Whereas before, it's just like, we just. We did what we had to do.
27:28
Sue Nash
I always had to be organized.
27:29
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
27:30
Sue Nash
Especially when I was traveling, because Mara. When I first started traveling to Venezuela, Mara was 2 and Jenna was 6 months old. Wow. And I had an amazing woman that took care of the kids during the day, and then Jeff would pick them up in the evening and read them a book and put them to bed. Right. But everything had to be organized, including what they were going to wear each day, because dad would let them wear whatever they wanted, but they weren't coordinated. But I had to coordinate everything. Also, when they were old enough and they were at the nanny's house, but also at, you know, daycare, they knew I was out of town, and if Jeff needed extra help or whatever, they weren't. It wasn't just a daycare. These were people with kids the same age as Mara and Jenna.
28:21
Sue Nash
And we all had birthday parties together. We all looked after the kids for one another. The relationships that we had were amazing. It wasn't just.
28:31
Carrie Aguilar
It was like a village.
28:32
Sue Nash
Yeah. It was a village. And we all cared about each other and looked out for each other.
28:38
Mara Kamat
I will say, though, like, mine and my sister's childhood trauma is being, like, latchkey kids. And so my sister's going through, like, a nanny au pair transition right now, and she wasn't sure what her gap was gonna be, so she's Mara. I enrolled the kids in aftercare, but I really don't wanna leave them there. Mom and dad left us. So it is really funny, though, because today, the way that aftercare is, there's some really fun activities that our kids can do. And so my kids will often ask, hey, can we do this after school program on xyz? And in my mind, I'm like, oh, my gosh. We balance if we say yes or no. But it's funny because that was, like, our time.
29:19
Carrie Aguilar
I have the same. So I have the same type of trauma. So I have. So everyone knows that our kids go to Laurel. My daughter goes to aftercare at Laurel, and she loves it, like, literally every day. She's so excited for it. I have this visceral reaction to it because when I was a kid, I went to Laurel and I had to go to aftercare three days. And it was like my mom had four kids. I have no idea how she was in four places at once. But, like, all of her kids went to different schools and she was always the late mom. But we didn't actually sign up for aftercare. So I was, like, sent to aftercare and given, like, the stink eye from whoever was in charge of it because, like, I was, like, the kid that mom was late.
29:59
Carrie Aguilar
And so now I have the same, like, visceral reaction where I'm like, this kid isn't going to have. I'm picking her up. She's going to be, like, taken care of. But Penelope's mom, why did you pick me up so early? You could pick me up at 6. I'd be happy. So anyways, it's funny. It is how. And it just sticks with you and.
30:17
Mara Kamat
Jenna and I, our other joke and like, I talk about this still to this day is, remember the time when mom and dad would forget us? Like, they thought the other person was picking up.
30:25
Sue Nash
That was only one.
30:26
Carrie Aguilar
No, she said, in her mind, it's.
30:28
Mara Kamat
10 Times she does that. And I'm like, no, it had to be at least three times. Like, at least three times we got left at aftercare thinking the other person was going to pick us up. Oh, my gosh.
30:37
Carrie Aguilar
And then you're, like, the last one picked up.
30:38
Mara Kamat
It's okay. But we had a great childhood. We learned principles of the importance of hard work. Jenna and I work super hard. We care deeply. It's also shaped how we Mother, our own kids and the decisions that we make with our own kids. My mom and I were talking about it yesterday, though. She called me and she's, I'm just so tired. I'm so tired. And she's, maybe it's because I'm getting older. And I was like, I don't know how much of it is you being older or like, the environment that we're all living in right now. Like, growing up, we didn't have technology. We didn't have cell phones, we didn't have social media, just heavy boots. We didn't have iPads, we didn't have Covid situations. We didn't have this political environment that we're living in.
31:27
Mara Kamat
The problems that we face at work are so much more complex and unpredictable now. And so were just talking about how all of that added up together in this. In the world that we live in the last six or seven years. It's just exhausting.
31:44
Carrie Aguilar
It really is. Just like talking about holding on, it's.
31:48
Mara Kamat
Just so, like, how are you navigating that, Mom? Right, like, now we're living in this very different business environment than what you've grown up in, with many different generations. And the introduction of incredible amounts of technology combined with this whole AI emerging. How are you navigating that as a CFO of Helix Linear Technologies?
32:11
Sue Nash
Well, first of all, you have to keep your mind open to change. Everything is changing. It's been changing for quite a while. And you have to go with the changes. You have to adapt, you have to think out of the box, and you have to embrace AI. You have to embrace these changes, because if you don't, you're going to be left behind, especially in business. It just doesn't work that way. And there's always new challenges, which is actually exciting for me. I love a new challenge.
32:41
Carrie Aguilar
Pouring of everything was the same all the time, right?
32:44
Mara Kamat
Yeah.
32:44
Sue Nash
The one thing, though, that I will pass on to everybody that I have to think about myself is at the end of the day, we shouldn't be thinking about what we didn't do. We need to think about, oh, my God, this is all the things we did do today. And that's probably part of the exhaustion because to be honest, I think we're doing more and more every day. But the other thing I think everyone has to watch out for is we have a lot to do and we need to do it correctly. And you can't be in a rush to get it done. Even with AI. You need to look at the answer and see is this answer correct? Is this right? Because I sit back and looking at a spreadsheet that someone prepared, and I don't look at it formulas.
33:32
Sue Nash
I look at it for analysis to see, oh, is this the right answer? No, that's the wrong answer. I'm sorry, that's wrong. You should be getting this answer, not that answer. So you can't just depend on AI or depend on automation for everything. You do have to take a step back and look at everything. But I enjoy people, and it's not easy. You have to find the right people for the right seats, and that's what we're learning more. And what we're learning more and more is growth plans and how we retain people and how do we treat people? You need to treat people with integrity and respect. And our customers always come first. And teamwork. It's not about you. It's not, you did it. It's we did it as a team.
34:23
Sue Nash
And even though it's tiring times, it's also exciting times, especially if your company is growing and our company is growing.
34:30
Carrie Aguilar
Sue, what would you say is your professional superpower?
34:34
Sue Nash
Talking to people, motivating people, understanding people to get the job done.
34:40
Carrie Aguilar
I think the top thing that will not be replaced by AI. Keep going.
34:45
Sue Nash
I just wanted to say that interaction with people is so important. Saying please and saying thank you and saying, you did a great job today, and I appreciate this, and I appreciate that. And it's not always easy. Right? I'm in charge. I'm the cfo, so I'm in charge of hr. I'm in charge of it. And I wear many other hats. Okay? Whatever it takes to get the job done. And I've done that in many organizations that I've been at, and I have no problem doing that. Some people do. I don't. Because I'm customer service, as I look at it. And that's what I think I do best. I'm customer service. I can talk to someone and say, hey, this is not going well. What are you going to do to change it? What do you need help with? Do you need training?
35:36
Sue Nash
I give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but the second time you come in front of me for the same thing, then I have to put my foot down and say, okay, listen, we had these discussions. You didn't do this, you didn't do that. What is it that you're not understanding?
35:54
Carrie Aguilar
What's so interesting is I can definitely see how Mara gets her style from you. Just in the last five minutes of you talking, it's just so fascinating because Mara's in HR and she very much has, I'm sure, that tone and that conversation all the time.
36:08
Mara Kamat
You know what's interesting though, Mom? I would say that is your greatest superpower and your biggest weakness. And do you want to know why? The whole idea of, like, how hard you work and the fact that you're, like, willing to do whatever you need to do to get the job done right, that is a superpower and it's your greatest challenge. Because there are nights where I will call my mom and it's seven o' clock and my dad's hanging out in Florida and she's working in Cleveland, and I'm like, mom, why are you still at work? Go home. We need to have better boundaries and balance because, like, you are in a season of life where there's not that much at home pulling you, but, like, you got a big life to live too. And work's not the end all, be all.
36:51
Carrie Aguilar
I think also it's generational. Cause my mom was the same way before she retired. She would. She was the CFO of Global Cleveland when she retired, and she would pull. And the reason, she used to joke, but she's the reason why I have the job is because I literally get in at 7am and I leave between 7 and 8pm every night. And I think part of it is just like the being brought up in that time where, like, women really, like, you had to create a moat around everything that you did so that you could be the absolute best. And sometimes that's like hours put in. I don't know. It's just a thought. Whereas now I'm like, I like my flexibility and you should pay me.
37:34
Sue Nash
It depends on what you're working for, what you're working on. We have a lot of deadlines. I have deadlines at the end of every month. Books are closed at the end of the month, whether it's a holiday, whatever it is, the books have to be closed and they have to be closed accurately. But now we're approaching. We're in tax time. Tax time starts earlier for me because of the business. And so I do stay later because when I do stay later, no one's around, right? And so I can think and I can get more work done. Because during the day, you're talking with people, you're trying to problem solve. I problem solve all day. And then in the evening is my time to actually get the work done. Probably get that too. Like you're saying your mom. My dad worked till 76 years old.
38:25
Sue Nash
My dad worked hard, and I appreciated all that he did for us and showed me how to work hard.
38:33
Mara Kamat
Right.
38:34
Sue Nash
You know that nothing is going to be given to you, and you lead by example. That's the other thing. If you want other people to feel the way you do about work and about the business and the culture, you have to lead that way. You have to lead by example so that they understand and they'll feel the same way hopefully, that you do because they see you're working hard. Someone on the shop production floor appreciates when I come out there and say hello, and I say, do you need help with your parts?
39:07
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
39:07
Sue Nash
Okay. I do help sometimes with parts. I like doing that.
39:11
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah, of course.
39:12
Sue Nash
Right. I'll do whatever it takes to help the business succeed.
39:17
Mara Kamat
I think one of the unique things you have done as well is in your current role. You found opportunities to engage in the community, to advance both the community as well as your business. Talk a little bit about the partnership you developed with Magnet for a moment and how you think about that as a leader.
39:34
Sue Nash
Amazing. That's an amazing partnership. And it started actually at Mara's house on Friday night, and Mara introducing me to Ethan Karp, the CEO of Magnet, and he started telling me about Magnet and what Magnet did and how we could use them. And I actually was working for the stamping, fabricating plant at that time, because I worked for them for 17 years.
40:00
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, wow.
40:01
Sue Nash
And at that time, were getting both plants ISO certified.
40:06
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
40:07
Sue Nash
But we didn't have the people. A lot of these small businesses, you just don't have the people and you can't afford to hire some of those people. So Ethan Karp showed me a way of how to apply for grants through the state of Ohio.
40:21
Carrie Aguilar
That's wonderful.
40:22
Sue Nash
And so I applied for the grant, and I got the grant for both of our plants to become ISO certified. And they were ISO certified.
40:30
Carrie Aguilar
Wow, that's awesome.
40:32
Sue Nash
And I also used them, Ethan's people, to come in when there was a process that wasn't working. They'd have another expert on their team that I could hire to help me figure out why the process wasn't working and how to resolve the bottleneck, which we did successfully and actually increased sales and efficiency and everything else. So that's where our relationship started. And then when I came to Helix just won the award for manufacturing automation, a leader in manufacturing automation. And it was because of working with Magnet, obtaining grants to help buy robots and deburring robots in die grinders, making things more automated for efficiency. Sometimes you can't hire some of these people to do these jobs. So cobots, robots, enable us. Plus were expanding our product making ball screws.
41:39
Sue Nash
And so they gave me great grants for a lot of the equipment so that we could expand our product and do product development. And the other thing that is really funny. So I kept telling Mara, I need an HR person. I need to expand and grow, help someone to come in, help me figure out a plan for retention. Growing recruiting, we just don't have the bandwidth. And that's one of the reasons too. I was working all that.
42:14
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, those hours. Yeah. Yeah.
42:16
Sue Nash
Because we needed.
42:17
Carrie Aguilar
You were covering a lot of bases. Yeah, right.
42:19
Sue Nash
One day Mara says, okay. And she goes, let me think. And then she talks with someone that she knew at the grocery store and they were conversing. And the next thing I know, Mara calls me, she goes, mom, I think I have the perfect person and she's willing to work with Magnet. Maybe you could get some grants. I think she'd really be a great fit. And so we.
42:43
Carrie Aguilar
She's also been on in her land.
42:45
Mara Kamat
Yes. And she's Carrie's cousin.
42:47
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah. Oh, that's true. My mom doesn't know that by like three degrees.
42:50
Mara Kamat
Okay. But I knew she didn't know that.
42:52
Carrie Aguilar
She is my cousin.
42:53
Sue Nash
Oh, wow.
42:54
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
42:55
Sue Nash
So Mara put me in touch with Carrie Murphy and Carrie Murphy then is working with Magnet. And Magnet allowed me to get grants through Magnet so that we could afford Carrie's expertise.
43:09
Mara Kamat
And what is even more beautiful about that, though, it was when Carrie was starting her business, when she had just gone out on her own. So it also is giving Carrie this like amazing Runway and anchor as a client where you've now lifted up this woman owned business who's trying to make her way. And it was a random. Like I randomly met Carrie through Carrie and it's just been a beautiful.
43:35
Sue Nash
I'm just kidding.
43:35
Mara Kamat
Thank you. No, but like a beautiful marriage of the power of community, of support, network of women, lifting up women in that too.
43:45
Sue Nash
And the best people we've gotten that we've hired is because we network with different people. But you're right. Every time something happens that's different in the business, I say to Carrie, look, this is brand new. You're just experiencing this. Look at all these things you can add to your resume and what you've done and what you're going to be doing. She's phenomenal, by the way. And there's no way that we could have done or could do what we're doing now without Her.
44:14
Carrie Aguilar
That's awesome. So, sue. So, Safda, you're in a different place in life. Four grandchildren, plus additional kids that are in your family sphere. I'm just saying this because Rachel's. Yeah, there you go. Your grandkids span from 2 to 13. How do you stay engaged and relevant in their lives?
44:33
Sue Nash
So I am relevant. Thank God with the little ones. I've been very blessed that Mara and Erin and Olivia, who's 13, and Ari, who's 10, going to be 11, live here because I've taken care of the kids since they've been little. Mara, thank God, has allowed me to.
44:52
Carrie Aguilar
That's very sweet.
44:53
Sue Nash
And I've. Jeff and I have really enjoyed the time that we spend. So when Mara texts me and says, mom, can they come over? I said, absolutely. So now that they're older, you have to figure out what's fun for them. Okay. So I always ask them, what do you want to do? And so we do different things. So we go out to dinner, different places if they want to. We go shopping different places. Now I take them on trips, just them. But actually with Olivia, I took her to Florida since she's been three years old. Wow. And then Ari, I started taking to Florida on Disney. We went to Disney and other trips when she was six years old. She was a little older, but so you have to adapt to what now the older kids want. And then the younger kids that we.
45:47
Sue Nash
Jenna's kids in Austin, Texas, I have to travel to, so I don't get to spend as much time with them, but when I do, we make it count. And you were just there two weeks ago? Yep. I took care of him for eight days. We had a blast. And Zoe says to me, safta, she says, why aren't you getting an apartment here? We need you to. I want to see more. And that really warmed my heart, and I felt also bad. But the goal was so wanted.
46:16
Carrie Aguilar
That's amazing. I know.
46:17
Sue Nash
I feel wanted. And we have a good time. What would you like to do? Let's go to this park. Okay. We go to this park. We go swimming. We went swimming. We went to a very special daughter dance with all her friends, and went to a before party and we had such a good time. She played kick and Leo took swimming lessons. I went to watch swimming lessons. And luckily I facetime with them. So I think they know who I am. My biggest fright was that they weren't going to know who I am, but so they know who I am. And we're going to. I'm taking Olivia here in April and we're going to go to Austin, Texas, because she had not been here. I took Ari last time.
47:01
Sue Nash
So now I'm taking her and I go shopping with the kids that they want to go to Target. They get to pick something out. All my kids and my grandkids, I made sure my kids grew up with good manners and rules, and my grandkids had the same rules and they listened to me and they still want me to be around. So my rules must have worked. And it worked for my children because my children are my biggest accomplishment. Aw, thank you.
47:34
Carrie Aguilar
That's amazing.
47:35
Sue Nash
It's true.
47:35
Mara Kamat
Thank you.
47:36
Sue Nash
But you have to change things around to figure out how you're gonna be relevant in their life, why they want you to still stay there. Ari comes to my office and says, after, you're gonna die at your desk, aren't you?
47:51
Mara Kamat
Jesus.
47:52
Carrie Aguilar
Thanks, Ari.
47:53
Mara Kamat
It's the family, Joe, because like, we know we don't plan a trip at the end of the month because if you plan a trip at the end.
48:01
Carrie Aguilar
Of the month, the books have to be closed.
48:02
Mara Kamat
My mom's gonna sit on her laptop until those books get closed. Like, Chris, you interrupt all my vacations. Okay. If I want to take them at the end of the month. Chris is a CEO.
48:12
Sue Nash
He wants me to take vacation. And so he wants me to take vacation. He wants me to enjoy myself.
48:18
Mara Kamat
So we have encouraged my mom to put better boundaries and balance in place over the years. And I would say my dad's actually very good at it. He has a big successful business, but he can shut it off and, like, when we're family, be with the family and do that. And I think that, like, we are all encouraging my mom, including my kids, to enjoy life. And I feel super blessed that we have had. My parents are so active and able to help us and they are part of our community, our day to day community. The girl slept over my mom's and dad's house on Saturday. And I said, how was it? And they both came home and they were like, mom, we had so much fun. It was so nice to spend that time with Softa.
49:02
Mara Kamat
My dad's in Florida right now, so it was just SAFTA. And they're like, the lady at JoJo's knows us because we go there with SAFTA and that's become our thing and our date. And that's cute to have those experiences and those connections, even at 13 and 10.
49:17
Sue Nash
Actually, the server knows us too.
49:19
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, that's amazing.
49:20
Mara Kamat
Yeah.
49:21
Carrie Aguilar
The server also knows Taylor Swift. So you're in good company.
49:25
Sue Nash
But the only challenge there is now is trying to tell a 13 year old she can't be on her phone.
49:31
Carrie Aguilar
Well, for sure.
49:32
Mara Kamat
And I just say, mom, take away her phone. And my mom goes, well, I don't want to be the bad person and do that.
49:36
Carrie Aguilar
She's the grandmother.
49:36
Mara Kamat
Yeah. So then I need to take away that phone. Sometimes that phone is becoming an appendage and it is driving us crazy. And I'm not sure we figured out great ways to manage it yet, but we are trying to.
49:47
Sue Nash
But all my grandchildren take after my kids in that they're taught manners and they're taught what's right and what's wrong and they know the right thing to do and the wrong thing to do. And so I'm very blessed.
49:58
Carrie Aguilar
I think that's amazing.
50:00
Sue Nash
The other thing is to get you through business and that you also. It's not just business, it's life too. You have to think about what's really important in life. You might have a bad day and say, oh my God, I had such a bad day. But what about all the positive things that have happened to you in your life? And maybe that's not. That day wasn't as bad as it could have been. We need to keep things in perspective. Sometimes we blow things up. Sometimes I do the same thing.
50:31
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
50:31
Sue Nash
I get overwhelmed sometimes with different things and I have to dial myself back.
50:37
Carrie Aguilar
Sue we always end with a few questions we ask every guest. The first one is, what is bringing you joy right now?
50:45
Sue Nash
What is bringing joy? My family. The holidays are coming up, so I always love the holidays and cooking and being with family and friends and my family, my friends, my work. I love it all. I love being a volunteer and helping the community. I like doing that and raising money for the community and helping with projects for people. So I find joy in all of that.
51:14
Carrie Aguilar
That's wonderful.
51:14
Sue Nash
I really do. It makes my life complete.
51:17
Mara Kamat
What advice would you give to your younger self?
51:21
Sue Nash
I don't know my younger self. What advice would I give to my younger self? I'd do it all again. I really would. I've been married for 46 years. I'm still married. So all the things that we did together, we worked together, went to school together from the ground up. And I don't have any regret at all. I enjoyed what I did and I enjoyed. It was hard balancing work and kids and home. But my dad told me one thing. He said, your kids will always need you and they'll need you more. As they get older. So you need to always be. Be there for them, I think, making sure that you're there. And sometimes maybe I'm not always there because I'm thinking about work and maybe I should change that, But I am there and they do need me.
52:17
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
52:18
Sue Nash
The other daughter called me this morning for advice over the au pair.
52:22
Mara Kamat
Yeah. The other daughter is going through an existential crisis about aupair versus nanny, you.
52:27
Sue Nash
Know, and I forgot what Mara told me to say, but. And then remembered after. And guess what? We got to the same place.
52:35
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, good.
52:35
Mara Kamat
Yeah. Because sometimes it's good when you're giving advice to family members to align with other family members.
52:39
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, yeah, for sure. Absolutely. You're like, what are we gonna say in this case?
52:44
Sue Nash
Right.
52:45
Carrie Aguilar
Well, I absolutely love this conversation. I really. This has been such a gift to me. So thank you so much for joining.
52:51
Sue Nash
Thank you. It's been an honor and a pleasure. Really has to be both of you.
52:55
Mara Kamat
Thanks, mom. It was great to hear some insight. Cause there's even moments in this conversation of things that, like, I didn't know that I picked up and learned about you and your life and how you look at things. So I've really appreciated this time together. Thank you.
53:09
Carrie Aguilar
And to everyone listening, thank you for being here, for being a part of this community, and for continuing to grow with us.
53:17
Mara Kamat
Thank you for tuning in to in her land. If you love this conversation, please share it with a friend. Leave us a review and keep following along@inherland.com where we highlight more incredible women making an impact. Until next time.
