May-June 2021
Letter from the Editor-in-Chief (May-June 2021)
As the EIC of OILWOMAN Magazine, it is my honor and privilege to get to talk to some of the most incredible women in industry, and I always consider it the mark of a good interview if I have more material than I can possibly use. That certainly was the...
7:00 am: By the time I get online, our European engineering team is already up and working, and our early bird Houston teammates have begun sending emails. I love our diverse and global team but learning not to check email immediately after waking up has been a difficult lesson to...
Geeta Thakorlal, President, Digital and Energy Transition, Worley
There are many facets that go into making the oil and gas industry thrive. Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms are vital as they essentially put together the pieces that complete the puzzle. Starting with the straight edges and corner pieces, they methodically work until the last piece goes into...
As a toddler, my parents knew I was good at math and science. I had a passion for counting and reading simple books about science. To foster this talent, my parents bought more toys relating to [those disciplines] and that’s how I devloped my passion. I was consistent in improving...
“Perception is reality.” This was the very first career pep talk I heard, as a freshly minted petroleum engineer graduate in 2015. At the time, I had no idea how much power this sentence would have over me. Power can mean a lot of things in our oil and gas...
Is Unity Possible in Today’s Competitive World?
What if there was a holistic model, one that had unity at its core, its premise being that at the heart of each and every human being we are all one/the same? What if we knew that our inherent essence is about unity and innovation and collaboration and goodness? What...
Wanted: Thrill Seekers, Humanitarians, Inquisitive Types
People are often surprised to learn, number one, that I work in the oil and gas industry and, number two, that I’m the chief financial officer of a global company – and, I must admit, I understand. Not many women who look like me are in my position but, I...
Charting a Path to Clean Energy
“Change is coming so very fast in the energy sector,” Lorraine Akiba says. “For those at the edge, innovation technology is changing the model that has been used in the past.” Hawaii is leading the way in meeting challenges and gaining benefits for utilities, policy makers, regulators, clean energy producers,...
You Are Enough: A Manifesto for the Overworked and Overwhelmed
Treat Yourself with Self-Compassion “You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” –...
Women Add to a Board’s “Cognitive Diversity”
After her decades-long career in finance, Vanessa C.L. Chang now sits on the boards of two electric utilities, Edison International and Southern California Edison Company, and on the board of the offshore drilling company, Transocean. Chang explains why we should have women on boards of directors (BOD), what barriers there...
Ace Your Next Virtual Interview
As we collectively adapt to our brave new world in 2021, recent hiring trends have surfaced that pose new, unexpected challenges. One such challenge concerns job interview best practices, which have primarily shifted to a virtual format rather than the pre-2020, in-person structure that we knew well, for better or...
Forty years in a male-dominated, cyclical and volatile industry is quite an accomplishment for a female entrepreneur and, last year, Donna Fujimoto Cole, founder and CEO of Cole Chemical, reached that milestone. It was an occasion that should have been marked by celebration but, instead, she found herself in the...
Lady with the Iron Ring: An Engineer’s Memoir of Hope, Luck and Success
It was a shock to the University of British Columbia (UBC) Engineering Undergraduate Society that the first-year class of 1974 had 14 women. Up to then, first year was 100 percent male or tainted by one or two females, with their graduation highly speculative. In the quagmire of the upcoming...
Emerging from the Year That Was
While most of us are eager to put the pandemic behind us and return to “normal,” we know that the world we are reentering in 2021 looks very different than the one that turned upside down – taking our lives with it – in 2020. It’s important to remain optimistic...
Power Surge: Women in Geothermal Energy
Headlines over the past few years have shown that we are far behind when it comes to taking definitive action to save our environment. Activists around the world have pleaded with governments to use more sustainable resources in order to reverse climate change. All the while, geothermal scientists and industry...
The Crude Life engages with industry experts and energy enthusiasts every day with interviews, radio programs, social media posts, print features, video content and podcasts. These conversations range from CEOs to truck drivers to authors to engineers to cafe owners. Just like our diverse experts and interviews, the conversations have...
Sisterhood of the Working Pants
Rebecca Ponton: What was the defining moment when you were so fed up with the lack of proper-fitting workwear that you decided to create your own? What was the main feature you were looking for personally in workwear? Kate Day, Brand Director: Kyle and I had a landscaping company, and...
Small Businesses Driving Big Change
Even a pandemic is not enough to stop the American entrepreneurial dream. According to U.S. Business Formation Statistics, 4.35 million applications for new businesses were submitted in 2020 alone, as people move away from the traditional 9-5 to create their own empires. With many individuals starting new businesses, managing their...
Diversity and Inclusion of Asian American and Pacific Islander Women Past, Present and Future
We enjoy such great social diversity, strength and potential in the oil and gas industry and wherever we embrace our differences and understand they make us stronger and more vibrant. In May, during Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Month, we recognize the contributions of Asian Americans who work in the...
