Lauryn Graves ’23
Download MP3From Muhlenberg College, this is 2400 CHEW. Your host is Megan Kita. In each episode of this podcast, we talk to one Muhlenberg graduate about their current work and the industry in which that work is done. For this episode, Megan spoke with Lauren Graves, class of 2023, U. S.
Announcer:And international government relations at Air Products. As we do with most of these interviews, the conversation began by asking how and when Lauren became interested in her occupation.
Lauryn Graves:My career definitely does not have a straight line. I started at the company when I was 19 years old, and I started in human resources. I found an interest in recruiting. In fact, when I interviewed for the position, he asked me why I wanted to work in human resources. And I said, I love working with people.
Lauryn Graves:And he said, when you work in human resources, that's the last thing you're gonna say is you like working with people. So you need to find another reason. I it was an incredible experience. I worked in recruiting. So I had a wonderful opportunity to connect with students who were coming in for an internship or just graduating college.
Lauryn Graves:Air Products has a wonderful program. It's a rotational program called the career development program, and it gives the opportunity for recent graduates to come in and work in a particular department for a year and then rotate to the next position. And the next position, they do three rotations before they get a full time position. So I was able to see the back end of recruiting for those positions and for a variety of different jobs within the company. And I was in human resources for about thirteen years, and there was an opening in community relations that was that focused on community relations here in the Lehigh Valley where our products headquarters is located.
Lauryn Graves:So I made the transition to community relations. And at the time, community and government relations was a very small department, but they were all in one. We had three government relations officials and one community relations person that was dedicated to to just community relations. So while I was doing community relations, I realized I had a really strong interest in government relations. And so we were able to create a hybrid position where I did half.
Lauryn Graves:I I split my time between both roles. And I did that for quite some time and really enjoyed the different aspects of government relations and took a full time role on that side. And with that role, I was able to incorporate some international experience. So I got more exposure and my breadth of knowledge expanded taking that on. So it's been wonderful.
Lauryn Graves:It's been a long time. I've been at the company for twenty seven years and still going. And it's great because there is never a day that is the same when you work in these types of roles. So it it changes the things that you work on. You can start at a project and it could be going for three, four years that you're still involved in these projects, but every day is different.
Lauryn Graves:So it provides a lot of excitement, challenges. You really work cross functionally and and with different organizations in the company. That's fun.
Meghan Kita:Can you tell me at what point in your career journey that you decided to pursue the accelerated bachelor of business administration through Muhlenberg's School of Continuing Studies?
Lauryn Graves:I started at the company at a very young age. So I actually was here in Pennsylvania, moved to Florida, and decided to move back to Pennsylvania. So when I started at the company, I had not gotten my degree yet. I was with the company for a short time, and they very generously have a tuition reimbursement program. So I decided I really needed to get my bachelor's degree and start doing that program part time.
Lauryn Graves:I started that program with Cedar Crest College and was taking one class at a time on a very part time basis, so it was taking quite a bit of time. I completed my certificate in HR management, was still doing classes, but I also had two children. And every time I had a child, I put classes on hold. I'd pick it up, put it on hold. And it got to the point where I was so busy with work and being a mom, I just put school on hold completely.
Lauryn Graves:And then finally, I was checking along in my career and noticed the positions that were getting posted no longer had degree optional. It was mandatory. And it wasn't just here at work. It was everywhere. So I really felt I was getting behind and limiting what I could that my own capabilities, but what I could offer the organization by having that additional experience.
Lauryn Graves:So a few years ago, I heard such wonderful things about Muhlenberg, and that was the first school that I checked into and got all the information. And I started going back to school. It was such an unbelievable experience. I don't think I really anticipated how much I would enjoy it and how much I would get out of that program. When we first had our introductory night, I was so nervous going in there and easily was really humbled to see so many adult learners coming back, doing the same thing that I was doing.
Lauryn Graves:We were all nervous. We weren't really sure what to expect. But having a cohort was such an incredible reassuring experience because I knew in the past that I had not completed my degree. And I felt I wasn't doing a great job of holding myself accountable. But now with the cohort, you have no other choice.
Lauryn Graves:You are not just accountable for yourself. You're accountable for your team, and they're accountable for you. And it really is someone holding your hands getting through the whole process. I really enjoyed that experience tremendously. I also feel very fortunate that our cohort really bonded together.
Lauryn Graves:So over the time that we were together, our cohort had weddings and babies and all the life happenings, promotions, losing their jobs. I mean, and anything and everything, we went through it together, and we became a support system not just for school, but in life. It really was wonderful. You're the second person who has talked to me about the whole cohort thing and and how that really has enriched the the GCE type of adult learning experience. It was actually an alum who did one
Meghan Kita:of the grad programs talking about how great her cohort was. So I don't think you're alone in that that feeling.
Lauryn Graves:No. It's amazing. We also still get together. We would meet at this little restaurant right by the school. We celebrated.
Lauryn Graves:We had a tradition. Every class we passed, we went to this restaurant and celebrated and just had our own wins that we felt so happy. We made it through. Because when you are going back as an adult, your life is completely different. Your time constraints are completely different.
Lauryn Graves:You are managing your full time job. You're managing your family. You're managing in some cases your parents now, you have children and parents that have needs. You have so many competing priorities and you are some weeks thinking, how am I gonna fit this in? How how am I gonna read?
Lauryn Graves:How am I gonna write the papers? How am I gonna do all these things? But when you're in your cohorts, you realize everybody is going through that same experience at the same time. So everybody was very flexible and really tried to support each other as much as they could.
Meghan Kita:Can you talk about how, if at all, your career changed or what you were able to offer air products changed based on having that degree?
Lauryn Graves:I would say one of the biggest things that I really appreciated and valued and had a return on investment was the classes that we were taking were truly adding value. For example, we do a lot of budgeting here. And when you're taking those economics classes, your finance classes, you really start to learn ways that you can be much more efficient. I can use an Excel document in such a greater way than I could before because I learned how to do different things. And the classes and the information that you're learning at that moment, it's really great to be able to turn it into your everyday work life.
Lauryn Graves:I think if I had taken these classes and not been working, I might have, at some point, thought, is this gonna be relevant? Is this gonna help me? I can't connect the dots here. But when you're working full time and able to transfer that information, it's absolutely wonderful. So my capabilities have continued to expand because now I had new tools to bring to the table and I could offer myself, hey.
Lauryn Graves:I can I can take this on? I can manage it. I now have this new information, and I feel more confident taking it on. So that part has been absolutely wonderful.
Meghan Kita:Sounds like a workday is never the same for you. But can you give some examples of the kinds of things you might do in a given day? Like, this past week, what have you been working on? What has your job looked like?
Lauryn Graves:This past week was the end of our fiscal year. So we are setting a lot of budgets. And we also as part of our job, we work with the Air Products Foundation. And the foundation is just a wonderful tool that Air Products can use to give back to communities, not just here in the Lehigh Valley, but as I mentioned, in other areas where we have plans and locations, projects going on. And we have such a great opportunity to build goodwill and partner with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of nonprofits in different areas.
Lauryn Graves:So a big portion of our job this last week was closing out our budget, preparing a new budget, seeing how we're going to be able to partner with nonprofits that we have been for years, emergency responders in the areas, or making new connections and expanding upon that. So it's as I said, it's it's very different. There's also projects where we've been that we're putting in other locations, and we are on those project teams for three years now. So there's lots of meetings and different things that come up. But at the end of the day, we feel fortunate that we have a small piece in making the company and helping them along to be successful, I should say.
Lauryn Graves:There's many different things that could come up where we can be helpful either making connections, solving a problem, or just sharing information to to get things across the finish line.
Meghan Kita:Can you talk about what's what's the most challenging thing about your job and also what you find to be the most rewarding?
Lauryn Graves:I would say the most challenging thing right now is the company is shifting priorities. So that is a challenge at any organization. It's wonderful because you're developing a new strategy. You're forging ahead. The economy is affecting everything and everyone, so there's definitely shifting priorities.
Lauryn Graves:So that in itself is just a challenge finding new alignment, seeing what we're gonna change in the future and how we're gonna move forward. That itself is not only a challenge, but also provides a great reward. You know that there's fresh new things on the horizon. You're working on exciting things that are be going to be coming down the pike. And people say this all the time, but one of the best things about this company is the people.
Lauryn Graves:The people that are here are all passionately driven. Everyone is extremely helpful. And at the end of the day, when we leave here and when I leave, I know that in a small way, I'm always making a difference because we're always all working as a team to be successful. So it's the challenging things always end up being rewarding.
Meghan Kita:That's a great way to look at things. I'm wondering what guidance or advice would you give to someone who's interested in a, you know, government relations role like the one that you have? And what guidance or advice would you give to someone who is looking to go back to school as an adult? It's a two part question.
Lauryn Graves:Okay. So anyone that's interested in in going back and thinking about doing the accelerated degree program or the traditional program, I would say to you, don't hesitate. You look at it from almost inadequate or fearful perspective when you're just starting. And you wonder how you're gonna fit in the time. Is it the right thing to do?
Lauryn Graves:I can tell you from crossing that finish line, it is so incredibly rewarding and you are so proud of yourself because you really work hard, but you really work hard on that capstone at the end. And you're with your team constantly and you're doing this big project and you just are so proud that you finished this capstone, you finished your degree, and you will never look back in my opinion and say, I regret that I took that time to invest in myself. You will always feel that you have done something that can't be taken away. You put the work in the reward. If not for anything else, you have proven to yourself that you can do something, anything that you put your mind to.
Lauryn Graves:And I guarantee even on the hardest nights at the end, you're gonna say it was all worth it. It was totally worth it. And I encourage everyone to not hesitate for a minute. And I also can't speak highly enough about Muhlenberg's program. From every person I interact acted with just walking through the halls, the staff, every single person is so supportive and wants to give you the tools to make sure that you are successful.
Lauryn Graves:So I encourage everyone to look at Nielenberg's program. The second part of the question, to be in government relations, what is helpful is having some type of knowledge base. If you have some type of experience in politics, you follow politics or you are interested in lobbying or you are interested in connecting with other people, networking, I would suggest that anyone that's interested is number one to join our chamber, the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber. It's wonderful connection here in the valley and we're so fortunate that it's so big and so highly connected. I would also suggest there's lots of industry partners that offer free classes on what government relations is because it looks different at different companies.
Lauryn Graves:It could be someone who's working on policy. They could need someone in Washington that is on the hill every single day meeting with different governors and senators and driving things forward or following policy and bringing it back to the company and saying, this is what we have to keep an eye on. This is what we need to follow. This is how we need to keep track of tax credits that are gonna benefit our company, our industry. Things change day to day with the government.
Lauryn Graves:They change different terms. So there's a lot of things that affect what's coming down the pike. So someone who would be great in this arena is that you like interacting with people. You can be very analytical. You can be very flexible, dedicated to whatever you start working on.
Lauryn Graves:You you have to drive it over the finish line. And again, that could be a day and that could be years of what you're following and interacting with. There's also great partners that offer free classes that you can take to get more knowledge on lobbying and packs, which are political action committees where you're donating to different government officials. Any kind of experience that you can get where you're learning leadership skills, networking, and you have a strong interest in the political arena, this would be a great job for that type of person.
Announcer:This episode of 2400 CHEW was produced by the Office of Alumni Affairs at Muhlenberg College. It was recorded remotely and engineered in the studios of WMUH Allentown, Pennsylvania. Our opening and closing music from Cowboy Bebop is performed by the Muhlenberg College Jazz big band.
