Women of Harsco: Inspiring Each Other to Achieve More
Our Women of Harsco program fosters a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with our organizational mission, values, goals, business practices and objectives.
We are proud to feature Susan Cashion, Regional Director of Sales at Clean Earth. Susan has been a tremendous asset to Clean Earth and embodies what our program is all about – mentorship and inspiring future leaders.
Susan Cashion | Regional Director of Sales | Community Volunteer |Health & Wellness Enthusiast
“Working with Clean Earth really gives me the opportunity to align my personal goals with my professional interests in making a difference every day.”
How Did You Get Your Start in the Industry?
Susan’s entire career has been in sales leadership positions. At the beginning of her career, she worked for Pillsbury-General Mills, a Consumer Packaging Goods company where spent 10 years building a strong foundation at a Fortune 100 Company and what she considered to be world class sales training. After 10 years, she was placed in a position that allowed her the opportunity to lead a start-up initiative at Transitions Optical, an eyewear company. This position offered Susan a new challenge in an entrepreneurial culture where she was able to take her sales training and experience with Pillsbury-General Mills and apply it to a new business venture. After spending 8 years with the company, around the time of the financial crisis of 2008, she began a turn-around initiative and developed her own sales enablement model. Her model focused primarily on the key pillars for developing and leading a world-class sales organization – everything from processes, to new technology and customer experience. Susan brought this model to the last company she worked for and was able to drive top-line growth for the company.
Susan began working for Clean Earth when a recruiter reached out to her looking for someone with experience and expertise integrating new sales systems and processes. She considered this to be the perfect opportunity. Susan has been with Clean Earth for 3 years and is currently the Regional Director of Sales in the Southwest Region (CA, AZ, NV, UT) for the Clean Earth Manufacturing & Industrial Hazardous Waste division. She manages a team of salespeople throughout the region to sell hazardous waste transportation and disposal services, lab packs, and additional field services across many different industries. She offers our customers end-to-end solutions and assists them in implementing sustainability programs to ensure they are safely and compliantly disposing of their hazardous waste.
What Do You Find Most Rewarding About Your Position?
“Helping people to obtain their career goals and aspirations and having a hand in doing so.”
Share an Interesting Fact About Yourself
“I have always had a personal value of wanting to serve others both in my personal and professional life, which has helped me to decide which direction I wanted to take my career.”
Susan enjoys helping customers and managing sales teams with the goal of supporting team members to grow in their career. She holds the same value in her personal life. She helped mentor through the ACP Partnership, The American Corporate Partners. The goal of the mentorship program is to support veterans who have recently left the military and looking to get their foot in the door of the corporate world. This mission is extremely rewarding and an opportunity to give back where it’s needed most. Susan also mentors young women through her church to become financially independent, helping them with career advice and growth and development. Through her community she was asked to join in a program called “Skip the Straw” which is led by an organization in Orange County, California where local kids travel around Laguna Beach restaurants requesting the managers or owners to consider skipping plastic straws. This helped heighten Susan’s awareness that our everyday decisions can have an impact on the environment and the bigger picture for our future generations. Susan holds one value near and dear to her heart, something her mother once told her, “Leave everything a little nicer than you found it” whether that be a personal interaction, to cleaning up after yourself, to returning a cart in a parking lot. She considers her mother’s advice the driving force behind why she wants to serve others and make a difference in someone’s life, both personally and professionally.
How Do You Inspire Women to Explore a Job in the Waste Industry?
Susan has taken the lead for the Women of Harsco community committee helping young women through The Girls Scouts of America to bring awareness to potential career options for them, one being the environmental industry. She is currently aligning with STEM along with additional support from the community to help execute a plan to obtain badges for the Girl Scouts of America that are environmentally focused.
Susan considers herself a mentor and the voice of reason for her church group where she is given the opportunity to mentor young women on career decisions. She stresses the importance of gaining confidence, having a “bigger voice in the boardroom” and taking more leadership roles, regardless of industry.
What Advice Would You Give Your Younger Self at the Start of Your Career?
“The importance of having confidence in yourself. Early in my career, right out of the gate I was in a male-dominated field and was quieter than I probably should have been. Having 4 brothers, I learned at a young age to have a voice and that I had to have a voice to be heard.”
“Another important thing for women is to become financially savvy. I wish I would have educated myself on this and taken more of an active role when I was younger. Learning to live on less to save for a rainy day. Women need to position themselves to be financially independent.”
“Develop healthy eating and exercise habits early on, wear sunscreen and take Vitamin D.”
What Can be Done to Further Improve the Participation and Progression of Women in the Waste Industry?
“I think it’s systemic within our industry. A cultural thing. Women of Harsco is a perfect example of our efforts to do more. Women have a voice and are being recognized in the organization, and we are seeing more women in leadership roles. I think that is absolutely critical industry-wide as well as Clean Earth.”