Cornell Business

Issue date: 11/5/00 Section: People

If there is anyone who is not afraid to jump feet first into a challenge, especially in a male-dominated arena, it is Kendra Armer. I mean, we're talking about a woman who had rats as pets when she was little because it was such a boy thing to do. She was also one of two girls to join a scouting trip sponsored by the Boy Scouts, which only opened up the trip to girls because they needed the money. Going where the boys are and showing no fear is a recurring theme throughout Kendra's life.

Kendra grew up in Menlo Park, CA, in the heart of Silicon Valley, and she attended Scripps College in Claremont, CA. Interestingly, this is an all women's school, but it was Kendra's dad who swayed her with the advice that graduates from women's colleges were more likely to get advanced degrees such as MBAs.

After graduation, Kendra attended a summer publishing institute at the University of Denver. She then started working in November, 1993 for International Association of Business Communicators. She knew she wanted to get into publishing, so she left IABC after eight months and started working as a marketing assistant for Berrett-Koehler Publishers, a publisher of business and management books. This entailed working with trade distributors, coordinating foreign rights, and a lot of photocopying. What better a background for a future interest in supply chain? She even put together an inventory management system for this company, solidifying her burgeoning interest in operations.
The content of the books she was exposed to at Berrett-Koehler sparked Kendra's interest in business. They then published a book called "Supply Chain Optimization," and the rest is history. Kendra decided she wanted to do supply chain for a high-tech company, and so "took a sabbatical," researched her options, conducted some informational interviews and started the business school application process. While her applications were percolating in the offices of the likes of Natalie Grinblatt, Kendra also got a contract job with Ascend Communications (now part of Lucent Technologies) in the international channel marketing department. Her work there included some process mapping and reengineering, so her interest in operations now had some real backbone. It turns out that Kendra and Ascend were both happy to keep their relationship short, because Kendra was soon on her way to Cornell, and Ascend was on its way to being enfolded into Lucent.

Anyone who knows Kendra knows of her interest in supply chain management. She has been one of the few who knew what she wanted when she got here and is still doing that thing. When asked how she manages to have such confidence in her path, she responds that through many self-assessment opportunities with Berrett-Koehler, she was able to learn her work pattern preferences and how she prefers to interact with people. Specifically, a Patterns of High Performance workshop indicated to Kendra that marketing wasn't what she wanted to be doing, but operations was. "Then the supply chain book came out and I realized the fit was there."

Kendra is also an avid bird watcher. Particularly birds of prey. Yet another indication that Kendra does not lean towards things girlish. "I know that operations is a very male dominated field," says Kendra. But it looks like with her experiences thus far she'll be ready for whatever challenges come her way.

Kendra stepped in at the last minute to be interviewed when my original prospect fell through, and I really appreciate that. Thank you Kendra.

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