As we wrap up this year, we invited colleagues around the world to reflect on and share their achievements, challenges, and goals.

Jerrick Williams, Director of Sales

Personal and Professional Growth

This year has been a time of significant personal and professional growth, as I got married and became a dad. These new roles have given me a fresh perspective on what truly matters—valuing time, living in the moment, and focusing on what’s important.

Every morning, I remind my daughter to be kind, confident, and be you. In today’s world, kindness can often be lost in the chaos, and it’s easy to compare ourselves to others or change who we are to fit in. This simple mantra has become a guiding principle in both my personal and professional life.

Professionally, these changes have shaped how I approach my career. As I’ve stepped into my new role as Director of Sales, managing my time effectively and balancing the demands of my team, our customers, and my family have been key priorities.

Ultimately, this year has taught me the importance of balance and flexibility. I’ve learned that growth comes from embracing new responsibilities with an open mind and that being truly present—whether at home or at work—requires continuous adjustment and mindfulness. I feel better prepared to tackle new challenges, both personally and professionally, as I continue to evolve in these new roles.

Lessons Learned

One lesson I learned this year is the importance of embracing uncertainty and flexibility.

At the start of this year, I had a very clear picture of what I wanted to accomplish and how things should unfold. But as the months went by, I realized that life doesn’t always follow a predictable path. Whether it was changes at work, unexpected personal events, or simply plans falling through, I had to learn to adapt and stay open to new possibilities.

I learned that resilience isn’t just about pushing through difficulties—it’s about being willing to pivot, adjust expectations, and find opportunities. I’ve become more comfortable with the unknown and less afraid of things not going as planned.

So, my takeaway this year is this: life is unpredictable and embracing unpredictability can open new paths you never imagined.

Preparing for Next Year

On a personal level, I’m looking forward to spending quality time with my family and friends, cherishing the simple moments that make life so special.

Professionally, I’m optimistic about what 2025 will bring—new opportunities for growth and success, both for our customers and L&P. I plan to take some time over the holidays to step back, relax, and reflect on the past year—what worked well, what didn’t, and what lessons I carry into 2025. I plan to review my personal and professional goals, reassess my priorities, and set clear attainable goals for 2025.

As we wrap up this year, we invited colleagues around the world to reflect on and share their achievements, challenges, and goals.

Jennifer Birch, Service Desk Analyst II

An important lesson I learned this year is that working remotely requires resilience and intentional communication!

I appreciate my network because it provides support to grow and adapt while working remotely. My role in the Service Desk gives me a unique opportunity to connect with most branches and departments, and our Women’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) utilizes a virtual platform to reinforce the value of community and open dialogue. These relationships have helped me connect to the L&P community and do my job even better.

T Raja Chidambaram, Assistant Manager

This year, I began working with a global team on machine building and improvement projects. We plan to manufacture machines for our global plant, and my goal is to install five machines worldwide next year.

This coming year, I aim to advance to the next level in my career and visit the United States for the first time!

A lesson I want to share is that success takes time, but with hard work and patience, we’ll always succeed!

Jodie Rudd, Project Group Manager

In 2024, I learned to lean into hard challenges and am encouraging others to do the same.

It’s hard to “grow” if we’re not challenging ourselves.

As we wrap up this year, we invited colleagues around the world to reflect on and share their achievements, challenges, and goals.

Sarah Hodges, Customer Service Representative

One of the biggest lessons I learned this year is the importance of connecting with people.

This year, I ran my first full marathon, which is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done! With the help of friends training with me, encouraging me, and supporting me, I crossed the finish line of the Charlotte Marathon on November 16. It was challenging, but by connecting with friends and family, I did it!

The importance of connection applies in the office as well. There isn’t a day that I can be successful at my job without the help of my co-workers. I may be the person working with the sales reps and the customers, but everyone in the plant is just as important. Building these relationships between the various departments makes us that much more successful for our customers.

This coming year, my goal is to continue to learn and work with other departments. I believe learning other areas of the job creates a better understanding of how other departments operate and helps build professional relationships. At the end of the day, it takes a team to get the job done, and I’m very grateful for the connections I have made. I look forward to growing those connections throughout 2025!

Throughout May, we’re sharing tips for promoting wellbeing. This week, we’re spotlighting financial wellbeing with Lance Gooder, Senior Financial Analyst at L&P!

Lance joined L&P 11 years ago as an intern in the Internal Audit Department, working various roles there for four years before transitioning to the Treasury Department. We asked him to share about his role and some tips for staying financially healthy.

What do you do as a Senior Financial Analyst?

My primary responsibilities revolve around:

• cash flow and consolidated financial statement forecasting
• analyzing balance sheet currency exposures and developing a mitigation plan for the exposure risk
• completing regular reviews of treasury-related company metrics and providing executive/board-level reporting on those metrics
• calculating intercompany lending terms/rates

I also provide a supporting role in many back-office treasury functions, such as vendor approvals, payment set-up/approvals, derivative and currency trade settlements, and various bank account admin functions. I help with any ad-hoc projects or initiatives in the department with a specific focus on working capital or financial data analysis.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

With the size of our department, I have the opportunity to work on a variety of treasury-related tasks. In most large corporations, treasury personnel get pigeonholed into one or two related functions. The benefit of working for a company of L&P’s size is that I get to dabble in a little bit of everything – from something as complex as currency derivatives to as simple as approving payments.

While my role provides a general cadence, there’s always unique and challenging experiences. I had a passion for math, finance, and accounting early on, and a little bit of a creative side as well. I’m lucky in that I’ve found a career that calls for the right balance of “science” and “art” for me.   

Do you have some favorite financial tips to share with our colleagues?

I can think of a couple:

First, don’t underestimate the power of compounding or time value of money. This can apply both on the savings and debt side. It doesn’t require an astronomical return to generate a large amount of wealth over time. A lot of people are looking for a quick way to double or triple an investment, and the reality is that there are very few of those opportunities out there. Don’t let that discourage you though, because a steady cadence of contributions with just a slightly positive return will morph into a meaningful amount that will surprise you over time. Similarly on the debt side, regular usage of interest earning debt with little payment toward a principal balance can quickly turn into a difficult obstacle to overcome.

The second is one that I think is important for living a full life: think of money as the tool, not the goal. Set objectives for yourself or your business, and then figure out how to come up with capital needed to accomplish it. Whether it’s buying a house, expanding a new product line, paying for an education, or buying a toaster, determine what you want to accomplish and then identify how much you need to get there. If you’re constantly looking to just grow your cash balance, you’ll never have enough, and you’ll miss a lot of enjoyment along the way.

Do you have any advice for staying financially healthy throughout different life stages?

This may sound cliché, but the first and biggest step is just setting up and maintaining a budget. Understand what your inflows and outflows are and operate within them.

For those who are a little more advanced, don’t be afraid of debt or leverage – understand it. Leverage can be a useful tool for accomplishing your objectives, but it is critical to understand the risk and potential return of what you’re spending that leverage on.

We appreciate Lance for sharing his personal tips for staying financially healthy. We encourage everyone to do their own research and consult a trusted financial advisor when making financial decisions.

Throughout May, we’re sharing tips for promoting wellbeing. This week, we’re spotlighting a mix of emotional and physical wellbeing with Mollie Deskin, Marketing Project Manager!

Mollie joined L&P two years ago as a social media marketing intern. After a four-month internship, she transitioned to her current role. We asked her to share about work, preventing burnout, and her wellness journey.

What do you do as a Marketing Project Manager, and what do you enjoy most about your role?

I work closely with Creative Services and our business units to strategize for and execute tradeshows, as well as various marketing projects.

What I enjoy most is the creative problem solving! There’s no shortage of hurdles to jump over when pulling off a marketing campaign, and I feel fortunate that every day presents opportunities to strengthen my ability to remain solutions-oriented and push my projects forward.

Also, traveling to events is enjoyable because it allows me to see my colleagues, clients, and the final product in person. This helps reinforce the “why” around the work that I produce and always leaves me feeling recharged!

How do you prevent burnout at work?

I prevent burnout at work by adhering to a wellness routine! Having something that I’m passionate about and dedicated to outside of work prevents me from obsessing about my 9-5 job in an unhealthy way. My wellness routine involves movement, mindfulness, spending time in nature, and continuing to learn about things that interest me.

If I’m overwhelmed with work and feel I need a reset that goes beyond what my wellness routine can offer, there are three questions I contemplate that leave me feeling reenergized and realigned:

1. What do I want?
2. Why do I want it?
3. How am I going to get there?  

What’s a piece of your wellness journey that has positively impacted your life?

The physical training that has impacted all aspects of my life, especially my work life, is posture training. To even call it posture training feels like a disservice because it encompasses so much more than training to “not slouch.”

Posture training involves releasing fascial tension, becoming aware of the relationship between the rib cage and pelvic bone, understanding how the diaphragm supports alignment, and, ultimately, creating a physical environment for your nervous system to be in a relaxed state. Without good posture, we don’t move well, breathe well, and therefore leave so much on the table in terms of supporting our overall health and wellbeing. Having this knowledge is liberating because it gives me tools to support the longevity of my mind and body and to continue showing up for family, friends, coworkers, and, of course, my dog, Kashi.