As a female working in the manufacturing industry, Janette Hostettler admits early in her career at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana in Princeton, Indiana, she struggled with anxiety over what her team members would think about what she had to say.
“I was my worst enemy and I would worry about what to say at the meeting and what people would think of me,” says Hostettler, who serves as the general manager of Paint, Plastics, and Plant Engineering at Toyota. “Then someone would say what I was thinking and I missed my opportunity.”
Hostettler says she learned to acknowledge and use her strengths and quickly she climbed the ladder from a team member in the quality engineering group in 2000 to her current position where she is responsible for 1,000 team members, managers, engineers, leaders, and more. The 46-year-old recently was honored as one of 130 women around the nation who work in manufacturing at the 2016 STEP Ahead Awards in Washington, D.C.
Women make up about 47 percent of the labor force, but only 27 percent of the manufacturing workforce.
“This award means I have an obligation to give back to the other women and encourage them to face their fears so we can turn things around,” says Hostettler, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Purdue University.
Hostettler credits shadowing her father, who worked as an anesthesiologist in Cleveland after emigrating from the Philippines to the U.S. with her mother and five daughters at the time, with what ignited her passion to be a leader in manufacturing. She began her career as a chemist at Red Spot Paint and Varnish Co. in Evansville.
Hostettler has raised three children with her husband Robert while working at Toyota. She says the Japan-based company allows her to balance work and home life and has daycare facilities and lactation stations as well.
Toyota is celebrating its 20th anniversary since breaking ground on its production facility in May 1996 in Princeton. The company has invested $4.3 billion into its Princeton operations and created more than 5,300 Indiana jobs.
“Going through the economic downturn you could hear a pin drop in the factory,” says Hostettler. “We went through the tsunami and some winter storms and had come up with creative ways to keep things running. Toyota has the capacity and capabilities to get through anything.”
For more information about Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, call 812-387-2266 or visit tourtoyotaindiana.com.
