Gabby Gallardo was the first feature in Georgia-Pacific’s #SeeHer series three years ago. Check out the interview below to see what Gabby is up to now!

Q: How has your world changed in the past three years?

I have learned SO MUCH since the video – women have changed tremendously since then and now I can definitely say I have several women that I look up to, other than my amazing mother. We are being represented worldwide, we are taking charge in all matters – from having a woman for the first time as VP in the U.S. (I cried because I was so happy!) to raising and empowering little girls to be surrounded by other strong and empowered women.

Q: Has your career path made any changes as well?

I did change my job back in 2019 to an Implementation Specialist with the CDCP Project (corrugated), which is a “home-based” position and I got to travel plenty back in 2019 and early 2020, but since the pandemic, we have done our project 100% home-based. It has been challenging (for everybody, I know) because my position requires me to train plant personnel on a new system “upgrade” on the manufacturing side of things (from the corrugator, all the way through converting machines, to shipping our corrugated boxes to our customers). My first job with GP was with corrugated as a reliability engineer in Bradford, Pennsylvania, so I did not mind going back to the packaging world after being in consumer products for a few years.

Q: Tell us more about your new role and what you enjoy the most about it.

I have learned so much in this new position and from the pandemic, and I am very thankful for it. As for the position, I am back to “being a teacher” because I am training employees on how to use this new upgraded Kiwi system and in another sense, I also get to use my engineering skills while aiding my team/project/others in how to improve our processes, and so on.

I can absolutely say this has been the most rewarding position I have been in at GP because I get to share with other empowered women and in my previous positions I did not have the opportunity to interact with other women, due to the lack of women in these positions. In this position, I am a teacher AND an engineer, which is the definition of my true happiness.

And as a bonus, my Supervisor has been a tremendous one because he gives me the tools to continue growing. I think he saw the hunger in me and wanted me to continue thriving in the STEM/GP world as a leader. Like I told him, and his boss as well, education is something that genuinely gives me life and with this new position as an Implementation Specialist, I would be fulfilling this role as an educator, as an engineer, as a woman—and as a GP leader that wants to continue sharing all the knowledge she can while being humble and making others enjoy what they do, I love making others smile!

In this new position, even though it is “home-based”, I think I have felt more connected to others, and I think it’s because they don’t see me as a “supervisor” or “engineer” as I was before, they just see me for me…for that woman that strives to get better each day, for that woman who loves when others feel comfortable and happy with what they do, as I do too, and for that woman who continuously loves the life she lives.

Watch Gabby’s original #SeeHer video below