Kelly on the Port Alice, a breakbulk vessel loaded with our logs, as it arrived in India.
By the time Kelly Dougherty joined 91Èȱ¬ 14 years ago, she had already worked in Florida, Georgia and New Zealand — so working with five teams in four locations on two coasts in the years since has hardly fazed her.
“There’s a saying that I keep in the back of my mind: ‘Be comfortable with the uncomfortable,’” says Kelly, a forester by training.
After starting with our Southern Timberlands team in South Carolina, Kelly moved to Washington for a role with Western Timberlands. After that, she moved to southern Oregon before returning to South Carolina. Her journey has taken her far from the small Pennsylvania town where she grew up — and from the childhood home where her parents still live.
“I like new things, and I like to learn,” Kelly says. “All my experiences have taught me ways to help make new situations easier.”
But Kelly’s newest position, Eastern export manager, offered a brand-new experience: switching roles within the company without having to move.
The colorful trucks common in India hauling lumber. Kelly, who loves to travel, visited India for the first time as part of her new export manager role.
AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN NEW THINGS
Kelly describes her current role as diverse. Our export business falls under Timberlands Marketing, and Kelly is responsible for ensuring that our company-owned and contract export yards in the South run safely and efficiently to meet customer expectations. She also works with others to find opportunities to grow the export business.
“It’s exciting because things are constantly changing,” she says. “I work with the Southern Timberlands director of marketing and our third-party sales agent to determine monthly sales volumes and prices based on market data. Using this information, we build our production schedules for each yard.”
Southern Timberlands has two export yards, both in South Carolina: a company yard in Cottageville, and a contract yard in Walterboro. There’s also a new contract breakbulk operation in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where logs are loaded directly onto ships. Two ships have sailed with our logs aboard from that facility so far, both to India.
“The marketing side of our business has always been in the back of my mind as something that would interest me,” Kelly says. “This role gives me that exposure and the opportunity to learn.”
Kelly was also personally ready for a change. She’d been in her previous position for about three years and was looking for something new.
“I want to always keep growing and challenging myself,” she says. “This was a perfect fit, because it gives me the chance to do both.”
Kelly and her husband, Nathan, in Cartagena, Colombia.
PUTTING HER PASSPORT TO WORK
In just six months, Kelly’s new job has already taken her to India and Vietnam — two places she had never been. Her schedules for both trips were packed, and juggling the fast pace while fighting jet lag was sometimes a struggle. But the experiences made lasting impressions.
“I’ve found that people are very happy to have us visit and are eager to show off their country,” Kelly says. “In India, every customer we met brought out a big spread of delicious food and drinks; they were so welcoming! I love to travel and explore new places, and I don’t just want a surface experience. Being able to build customer relationships in these two countries offers a unique perspective into their cultures.”
Kelly added that her desire to experience new things and her love of adventure has driven her to pursue these types of opportunities.
“I have a curious personality, and I like the challenge of learning new skills,” she says. “Whether I’m learning a new job, a new location or a new culture, it’s all exciting for me.”
Kelly and Nathan in Alaska.
OVERCOMING THE UNKNOWN
But that doesn’t mean it’s all easy. Kelly admits that there are drawbacks to switching jobs and/or locations, especially when it comes to leaving teams and people she’s come to know and respect.
“The hardest part of this role has been learning about a completely different business,” she says. “My predecessor in this role was extremely helpful getting me up to speed, and I spent a lot of time talking to him about what I needed to learn. But this is an evolving business, and sometimes I just need to muddle through. Getting to know this business, plus the travel to India and Vietnam, and being part of something that’s evolving and growing… it's exciting, and I find it really fun.”
ADVICE FROM KELLY
- Decide what’s important to you. I love the adventure of doing new things and going to new places, and it’s worked well for me in my career. But it’s not for everyone — and that’s okay.
- Be curious and open-minded. Reach out to people who’ve made a big move. It can help take away some of the unknowns.
- Know that it can be a lot of work. New jobs come with lots of uncertainty and challenges, but that can also be what makes them so exciting. It’s not easy to change your job and your location. My new job is challenging me in ways that I haven’t been, and the personal and professional growth I’ve experienced has been significant so far. There's more to learn than I would have ever expected.
- Take advantage of the support that’s provided. 91Èȱ¬ is very generous with the support they provide, both in terms of relocating and getting you up to speed in a new role.
- Volunteer in your new community. Volunteering helps you meet new people and learn about your new surroundings.
