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Amazon leader understands importance of mentorship

The University of Louisville graduate and mother of two said she gets her resiliency from her mother, who also inspired her.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Her positive attitude is contagious throughout the Amazon facility.

Meet Senior Operations Manager Jennifer Smith. She works in Amazon’s Jeffersonville location in the inbound. She and her team ensure all packages are safely in the building before outbound takes them and gets them ready for shipment.

She said being happy is a “personal choice.”

“If something isn’t going my way, I have to figure out a way to make it the way I want it to be, or learn how to deal with it,” she said.

The University of Louisville graduate and mother of two said she gets her resiliency from her mother, who also inspired her. Smith’s mother was a trailblazer in her own right when it comes to the medical field.

“My mom, and a lot of her friends. I’m from Wichita, Kansas, and they were one of very few first Black nurses, female nurses in the area,” she said.

Amazon has a unique program called “Affinity” and it’s at each facility. Smith also oversees this program.

“So, what’s really cool about that, is it allows us to connect women with other women either in the same field or a different business line where they can find a mentor, they can find somebody that’s going through similar challenges as them and just having that communication and that open dialogue,” she said.

Smith added that mentors are important. She used to work in the tuxedo, health and beauty industries and it set her up to be the perfect fit to lead the next generation.

Her words of wisdom? “Nobody is going to fight for you how you fight for you.”

►Contact WHAS11’s Sherlene Shanklin at sshanklin@whas11.com or follow her on FacebookTwitter, or Instagram.

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