Episode 34: Women in Water

In this episode of Talking Under Water, One Water, One Podcast, hosts Lauren Del Ciello, Katie Johns and Bob Crossen highlight conversations with two women in water on their career journeys, women in leadership, diversity in the workplace, the role of mentorship and more. Plus, the podcast guests share advice for young professionals entering the water industry.  For this episode, Johns interviewed Cindy Kransler, vice president of sales for Krausz USA and vice president of sales for Mueller Water Products. Del Ciello interviewed Maria Lehman, director of Infrastructure for the U.S. at GHD, a global engineering consultancy. Show Notes: Women Make the Difference: A History of Women in Water WWD Inaugural Industry Icon Betty-Ann Curtis: Dynamic & Warm Women in Water: The Importance of Mentorships Women in the Water Sector: Working Together for the Future Timestamps: We are introducing timestamps to our show notes with this episode. Do you have limited time to listen but still want to get the most out of each episode? Use the timestamps below to skip to the portions of greatest interest to you! Cold open: (0:00) Episode introduction: (0:26) Why is the discussion of women in water important? Bob’s thoughts: (1:42) Katie’s thoughts: (4:06) Lauren’s thoughts: (5:09) Interview with Cindy Kransler begins (6:58) How did you get your start in the industry?: (7:21) How Cindy transitioned to working at Krausz USA: (8:13) Entering the water industry blindly: (9:05) How different is the industry today compared to the 1980s?: (10:09) The strength and power of industry and association involvement: (22:25) Ride With Purpose and developing community: (13:43) Biggest career accomplishments: (16:08) Largest challenges in your career as a woman: (17:18) Don’t back down from challenges and success will follow: (18:15) The strength of female colleagues and mentorship in the industry: (18:46) Advice for young women starting their water careers: (20:16) Hosts unpack Cindy Kransler’s interview: (22:32) Interview with Maria Lehman begins (25:33) Professional trajectory and engineering: (26:16) What had you expected your career trajectory to have been?: (28:16) From inspiration to action: (28:52) Mentorship, passion and finding like-minded peers: (32:02) Biggest challenges as a woman in the industry: (35:21) Why diversity and representation is a driver for innovation and new solutions: (39:25) How diversity and inclusion have evolved in the water industry: (41:25) Ways to accelerate diversity and inclusion initiatives: (44:13) Hosts unpack Maria Lehman’s interview: (47:50) Housekeeping: (54:10) End: (57:38) Videos: Watch WQP’s Checking In series on women in water Watch the 2018 WWD Industry Icon Betty-Ann Curtis on being a woman in the industry. Nominations: WQP Young Pros/Industry Icon SWS Young Pros SWS Industry Icon About the Podcast Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Water & Wastes Digest (WWD), Water Quality Products (WQP) and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, point of use, point of entry, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and on-site interviews with experts for WWD, WQP and SWS. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com. Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] or engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.