Katie Vargo - Where Are They Now?
Katie Vargo, Production Planning Specialist, Olympic Steel, Minneapolis, MN
Catching up with one of our previously featured IAM stories, Katie Vargo shares some fun facts about herself and how her career continues to evolve at Olympic Steel.
As we head into our seventh year of sharing IAM Olympic Steel employee stories, we realized a good number of our previously featured employees have had big changes since their original story published. In between this year’s new employee stories, you’ll see some previously introduced employees in a feature called IAM Olympic Steel - Where Are They Now?
This month is Katie Vargo, originally featured in 2021. From Slitter Operator to Production Planning Specialist at our Minneapolis, MN Coil facility, we caught up with Katie to learn a little bit about her current role, the Core Value she best represents and a few fun tidbits to help you get to know her better.
Explain how you made the move into your current position. Was it part of an established career development plan or did you seek out the new role? Why?
Moving into Production Planning was not a career move I anticipated. We had a knowledgeable employee who gave us notice about retirement and the current manager approached me about joining the department. I was excited about the opportunity to gain experience in scheduling and felt like my production knowledge [from a warehouse employee’s perspective] would be beneficial in that role.
Which of Olympic Steel’s 10 Core Values do you feel you best represent and why?
Safety, Teamwork, and Respect are important Core Values to me. They are the strong groundwork that help us as a Company achieve our other Core Values like Customer Satisfaction and Corporate Citizenship. Every day, I make sure I respectfully interact with my coworkers so we’re able to safely achieve our goals. Sometimes this means asking questions about the details of a job I am building and other times, it is talking to an operator about what I see on the floor. All of our jobs are connected in some way, and when we understand how, we’re more capable of working together toward a common goal.
Where would you most like to travel and why?
There are places in Europe I would love to see, especially Ireland, Norway, and Germany. I think it would be fun to take a train trip through Europe to see countries along the route. I enjoy old architecture and artwork, and Europe is known for that.
What is the best advice someone’s given you?
My favorite piece of advice right now is: “An attitude of gratitude is a positivity multiplier.” Tough situations can be less uncomfortable with the right outlook, plus positivity can spread quickly.
What is your favorite work memory?
My most recent favorite work memory is the training and engagement that happened during my Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt training. Meeting and collaborating with people that work at different divisions was fun. I am thankful for that opportunity.
What inspires you professionally?
I feel most inspired professionally when I am engaged and developing. Challenges or new situations are the best way to learn a new skill or improve current methods.
What’s one unique thing or something your coworkers don’t know about you?
My hobbies outside of work are mostly artistic. I enjoy photography and painting nature subjects and urban structures or artwork.
What advice do you have for others who might be interested in an open position within Olympic Steel that’s different than their current path?
If you’re interested in an open position, inquire about the role. HR and supervisors are supportive and want to fill open positions – if you don’t ask, you’ll never know if you would have been a good fit for the job. Even if you do not get the position, it may help you start to build a plan with support to move to a new role in the future.
