Maria Kraemer Gutierrez
Plant Manager, Houston
What is your current role? How long have you worked for Monument?
I’ve been the Plant Manager for the Houston site since 2016. I joined Monument as a Production Engineer six years ago and have held roles of increasing responsibility, including Senior Production Engineer, and Operations Manager.
My career here has definitely been whirlwind of opportunity – made possible by great timing, fantastic mentors, resources, and training – and of course, a lot of hard work. I have truly appreciated Monument entrusting me with these considerable opportunities to grow both myself and my teams.
What is your favorite part of what you do?
For me, it’s all about the people – and the opportunity to bring teams together to solve new challenges. As the plant manager, I get to interact with just about everyone on-site, and I enjoy helping the different departments work together to achieve a goal or discover a great solution. Our plant is comprised of many different moving parts and puzzle pieces, and it’s always rewarding to keep communication flowing so that we can put those pieces together in a way that leads to better service for our customers.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
My husband and I just welcomed our second child – a baby girl – to our family. Our three-year-old son is definitely enjoying his new role as big brother. Right now, I’m very focused on spending as much time with them as possible, because they grow up too quickly. As a family, we love the Houston area, because there’s always so much to do, from swimming to visiting museums and the zoo. (I can tell you where just about every animal in the Houston zoo is located…)
I’m lucky that my other family – my Monument team – really enables me to have the best of both worlds. We all step up and strive for excellence, while also supporting each other in maintaining a healthy work-life balance, which ultimately enables a higher functioning team and better results.
What is the most surprising thing about you?
Before joining Monument, I lived in Asia for three years with my husband as part of an interesting career opportunity for both of us in the oil industry. We spent the longest amount of time in Thailand, and the language barrier was a big challenge. So…I decided to learn to speak Thai! I went to school for three hours a day, five days a week, and I began to pick up the intricacies of the language. The Thai language only has five different sounds, so a subtle change in tone can completely change meaning.
For a short while, I taught Spanish and English at a Thai school to further immerse myself in the culture. During my stay in Thailand, I was even treated to a massage by an elephant – something that definitely counts as “surprising.”
We eventually decided to come back to the U.S., because I was eager to jump back into Engineering. The Monument opportunity came along at exactly the right point in my life, and as they say, timing is everything!