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A young employee demonstrates how Actions Speak Louder.
At Dominion Energy, our motto is Actions Speak Louder. Those aren’t just words: We’re serious about it.
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Kylie Hrubes hasn't let anything stand in her way through her journey as a farmer, intern and now full-time welder.Operations employee Kylie Hrubes is a good example. She was a bartender and manager in a downtown tavern when a conversation with a customer, Dominion Energy Manager Human Resources Nancy Philipp, changed the trajectory of her career and her life.
Kylie told Nancy that she’d recently decided to return to school to get her degree in welding, fabrication and inspection. Nancy encouraged her to apply to attend a company-sponsored student diversity conference in October 2019 – even though the conference was designed to identify potential interns among four-year-college students who were, at minimum, sophomores. Kylie applied, was accepted and eventually selected as one of 50 interns among the 125 students from across the nation.
“The cool part about it was I was the only welder, and I loved that,” Kylie said. “It was mostly just engineering students and Ivy League students from Princeton and Harvard and all these big shots. And then here I come with my half-shaved head – a welder with tattoos.”
Kylie grew up on a Montana farm.
She took a welding class as a high school freshman and was encouraged by her teacher to compete nationally.
“I had this choice between softball and welding,” she said, “and I chose softball.” Why? Because, she explained, people told her, “You’re a girl, so you’re never going to succeed in a man’s world.”
Then about six years ago, Kylie was in a 70-mph head-on automobile accident, suffered broken bones and needed multiple heart surgeries. Doctors told her she’d probably never be able to hold a full-time job.
Kylie’s response: “Just watch me.”
“After the car accident,” she said, “there was this moment where I was at the lowest of my low and I, legit, just had this awakening in my hospital bed. I was, like, ‘No, I’m gonna make the best comeback that most people ever heard of.’”
True enough, Kylie earned her welding degree in December 2020, and is working full-time on one of Dominion Energy Utah’s Operations crews.
Actions Speak Louder, indeed.
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