Job description: Carla was hired at Watco in 2008 as a customer service clerk supporting primarily the Stillwater Central Railroad and South Kansas & Oklahoma as needed. She moved up with greater responsibility and areas of coverage over a 12-year period in sales roles as manager, senior manager, director and, in 2016, vice president. In January 2022, Carla took on the newly created role of senior VP of service assurance, which encompasses customer service for rail support, revenue accounting and fleet management. Just a few months after her appointment to SVP, she was asked to lead account services for a large multimodal terminal and port facility, Greens Port, in Houston (added in March 2022); railroad dispatching (added in May 2022); and rail applications support (May 2024). Today, about 120 team members are in her realm of responsibility.

Why she's influential as a mentor: At Watco, 28 direct reports have the benefit of Carla's guidance. Carla's mentoring is often by example. She demonstrates to her team members that she welcomes professional growth. Not long ago, she brought in an outside expert to train the customer service group in business etiquette. But she didn't just send her people; she took part, too. She also demonstrates constant learning: She operates a lending library out of her office, where anyone can borrow any of about 20 books to expand their industry knowledge.

Moreover, Carla models humility. When she was asked to take over dispatching, she knew almost nothing about it. So, she "moved in" to Watco central dispatching in Wichita, Kansas, for about four months, embedded with her team there, to learn from a safety manager the required dispatcher training. She even ended up filling in while the chief dispatcher was out on medical leave.