Living in a materiaL worLd - Minnesota Precision Manufacturing ...

who’s | WHO
Lori and Traci Tapani, Wyoming Machine, Inc.
MORE THAN ONE BOTTOM LINE
by B Kyle
The theme of “possibility” is an
interesting one. Ford, Edison, Disney,
Robbins, Nietzsche and so many others
all speak of the power to be found in
exploring the “what could be’s.”
Lori and Traci Tapani, sisters and copresidents
of Wyoming Machine, Inc., a
precision metal fabricator, demonstrate
their ease with this concept.
LT: It’s how we were raised. It was the
foundation of our upbringing. We had a
stay-at-home mom, and a former Marine
dad. Both are hardworking and really
creative. On Saturday we might be mixing
cement and learning how to make cement
stairs with our dad because he thought it
was critical that we know how to do these
things. And then on Sunday we would
cook and bake with mom.
Once you get used to a life filled
with “outside the box” choices, you get
comfortable in that space. And you can
expand that attitude to other aspects of
your life.
These sisters joined their dad at
Wyoming Machine in 1994, leaving
financial careers to enter a world in which
they were very much the odd ones out.
Q: How long did it take for you to
find your own rhythm as leaders and
women in the manufacturing arena?
TT: [Smiling at Lori, as together
they share a moment to silently reflect
on the challenges they’ve shared.]
Once we came to the realization that
we never would really fit in, as women
and mothers, when we came to grips
that it wasn’t happening, we finally
laughed and relaxed into figuring out
how to do business our way. And, you
know, business got better, relationships
expanded, because we weren’t trying to
be something we weren’t.
LT: The process of fully becoming
ourselves as leaders started hitting
home for us when our software
company selected Wyoming Machine as
Lori and Traci Tapani, co-presidents of
Wyoming Machine, Inc.
a beta site for their new lean scheduling
program. We were one of 15 companies
in the nation selected, because we had
a reputation for being progressive and a
willingness to try new things.
TT: Then other things began to
happen. We got an opportunity to do
an online Webinar for IndustryWeek
magazine. To be quite honest, we
continue to be surprised that folks are
interested in what we have to say. It’s
extraordinary.
Q: You both are unique in that
you seem to be keenly aware of
the connectedness between your
thinking and the results you are
experiencing in both your personal
and professional lives.
LT: What you might discover in
meeting with us is that our formula
for success is constantly changing.
Our core is about being true to self,
about integrating personal values with
professional disciplines. Add to that
our “special sauce” of possibility and
connectedness, and we think we’ve got a
winning combination.
Earlier this year we were invited to
speak at St. Catherine University, to an
organizational leadership class entitled
Servant Leadership. At this event we
met other women struggling with
servant leadership, with the challenges
of reconciling personal values with
professional choices.
It was there that we shared the
concept that, to our way of thinking,
there is more than one bottom line
in business. Obviously, we need
profitability. But if that’s at the expense
of human relations and your family, then
maybe the business is not so successful
after all.
Q: How did the women respond?
TT: The audience was full of midlife,
professional women, who from my
perspective had remarkable careers of
their own. And yet many of them spoke
about being inspired by the simple fact
that we stepped out into the unknown
when we took on this business.
Q: What do you think is the biggest
hurdle for these women—that they
feel you somehow overcame?
TT: There’s a difference between
having professional competence and
having an inner belief that you actually
can do whatever you want to. Lori and
I were raised in such a way that, in all
honesty, it would never occur to us that
we could not do something. This doesn’t
mean you’re not afraid sometimes, but
that we are open to the possibility of
doing something different. It seems to
me, with some people, there is a level of
doubt about this.
LT: As soon as we stopped trying to
fit in regarding business, and we became
open to the possibility that being different
might not be so bad, our world expanded.
We’re discovering that your life is
smaller if you’re not willing to consider
the possibility in every opportunity. PM
B KyLE is the vice
president of business
development at the Saint
Paul Port Authority in St.
Paul, Minn. She can be
reached at blk@sppa.com.
May | June 2010 PRECISION MANUFACTURING | 11