Carly Tebbetts joined Milliken right after she graduated from PC in 1996. Now a senior operations leader, she returned to campus as a Society for the Advancement of Management Lecturer to share what she’s learned in her career and the key principles of Lean and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) methodologies.

“Communication is important,” Tebbetts said.

Tebbetts told the business administration majors and minors in attendance that having good communication skills is often more important than the degree they choose.

“Can you communicate when the CEO comes and asks you a question and then talk to someone in the production area an hour later?” she asked. “It’s rare for us to find people who can do both.”

Tebbetts, who majored in business administration and physics at PC, said her liberal arts background prepared her for her career at Milliken. Business courses helped her sharpen her business acumen, and physics courses readied her for the technical aspect of working at the organization that manufactures floor coverings as well as performance and protective textile materials.    

Opportunities outside the classroom prepared her too. Tebbetts played soccer while at PC, and she interned at NASA the summer before her senior year. She encouraged the students to take advantage of opportunities to learn outside the classroom.

“Intern where you can,” she said. “Travel. Take advantage of the global opportunities you have. Study abroad.

“Language is super-important. The more you know language and can communicate clearly, the better off you’re going to be.”  

Check out the business administration page and the physics page to learn more about Carly’s majors.