Tiffany Snodgrass, Zeon Chemicals L.P. | Women Breaking the Mold 2024

Problem solver, fair, efficient, role model, trustworthy and relationship builder. Those are just a few of the words co-workers use to describe Tiffany Snodgrass.

Her family also describes her as a person with the qualities of a leader. Her older brother told her he thought she would make a good leader because she always treats others with fairness.

"My team would say that I am fair," Tiffany said. "They have jobs to do but they also have a healthy work-life balance. It's important to me that I extend the same opportunities to deal with family and personal situations to everybody.

"I want people to look forward to coming in to work, knowing that they have a manager and work for a company that provides the flexibility that they need. My team would also say that I am a good listener. My door is always open, and I will often stop what I am doing to help an employee in need. Often, I will dive in and get my hands dirty. If I can't fix the issue, I will find someone who can."

Snodgrass' career path includes working at Momentive Performance Materials (formerly known as GE Silicones) for eight years in customer service and price administration, and four years as customer service manager. She worked for two years with Wanhua Chemical, serving as customer service manager. She's also worked for SAP consulting and Owens Corning.

Snodgrass now works at the Louisville, Ky., location of Zeon Chemicals. Before coming to Zeon and throughout her career, she developed a strong background in SAP and the chemical industry. Snodgrass felt she was a "good fit" for the customer service management position at Zeon and decided to make a change.

She joined Zeon in 2022, during a time of tremendous supply chain disruptions to "business as usual" for Zeon and its customers. Without missing a beat, Tiffany quickly assessed core challenges, identified opportunities for process improvements, and led the optimization of Zeon's customer service, import/export and transportation team.

Described as a problem solver by co-workers, Snodgrass proved it when she identified opportunities to improve efficiencies by leveraging additional, untapped functionality in Zeon's ERP system (SAP). She jumped in to drive and implement the needed changes.

"SAP is our ERP software that we use at Zeon. I've been using this software since 2003 and have used various versions of the product throughout the years," she said. "Because of my experience, I have a fantastic understanding of SAP configuration.

"At Zeon, I worked with our IT department to tweak various modules making it more user-friendly and efficient for our customer service and transportation departments. For example, changing order entry and stock overview screens, has allowed customer service to process orders and acknowledge orders back to customers faster. For our export logistics team, I made enough changes in SAP to provide visibility to plan and book freight based on live data. Previously the team was relying on a report outside of SAP that only refreshed once a day."

Outside of the workplace, Tiffany stays busy in several ways. She mentioned that Zeon provides many opportunities for employees to support charities. She has volunteered her time to company-sponsored charities as well as supporting local charities.

"Since I started working at Zeon, I have participated in company-sponsored charities. In the past, I have volunteered at a homeless shelter to help victims of domestic violence. I financially support our local animal shelter. I am a big softy when it comes to animals, and I currently have two rescued fur babies," Snodgrass said.

Years with company: 2

Years in rubber industry: 14

I had a strong background in SAP and the chemical industry and Zeon felt like a good fit for me. I hit the ground running and I haven't regretted my decision. For the first time in my career, I feel like I am hitting all cylinders and feel more confident than ever. It really helps to work for a company like Zeon that appreciates your knowledge and recognizes you for that knowledge.

I probably challenge myself more than I challenge others, but I hope that I at least ask enough questions to get people to think outside the norm. Just because something has always been done the same way doesn't mean it's the best way. I try to look for simpler or more automated ways to complete tasks. I don't like to throw people at inefficiencies. I believe that the more something can be streamlined, the more time your people have for value-added work. Why not free up enough time to be proactive with your customers? It's always nice to predict what's going to happen so that you don't have to react to a fire.

There are so many qualities that make up a good leader. I can only hope that my direct reports see one good quality in me that they tell someone else about. My older brother once told me that I would make a good leader because I was fair. I think I've always tried to live up to that and demonstrate that.

I don't have one book or podcast that's my go-to. I do however like to read or listen to anything that has to do with history. I think it's true that history can repeat itself if you don't know what happened in the past.

Perhaps it's not making myself heard earlier on in my career. I regret not speaking out enough when I knew the subject. I have often wondered where I'd be in my career if I made a little more noise and owned the moment. I do wish that another strong woman would have advocated for me a little more. If I could give one piece of advice to women, it would be to advocate for other women you work with and to help promote them up the ladder. After all, there's always room for more than one strong woman.

I am blessed to have a very competent and knowledgeable team at Zeon, and I can finally take a vacation and unwind. I am currently exploring regions that I didn't think I'd ever get to see. It feels good.

Success is being away and knowing your team will handle whatever comes up.