A Cross-Country Career: How This Manager Made Her Way From Florida to California

A little known fact about accepting a new opportunity is that they often come with moving to a new city, or even a new state. For some, the prospect of such a move might be daunting. For others, like Brianna LaBarge, an Operational Excellence Program Manager at ASML, moving is just another part of the experience. 

“After I graduated college, I moved from Florida to Arizona for a leadership program,” says LaBarge. “A few years later, I made another change and found myself in Portland, Oregon. Then, after five years in Oregon, I made my way to my current home and role in California.”

At each stop, Brianna was able to make meaningful connections, gain valuable experiences, and engage with the local community. Still, as valuable as each stop has been for Brianna, it’s never a simple choice. “It’s not easy to pick up and move,” she says. “And you would think it gets easier, but it’s always a hard decision to leave family, friends, and wonderful colleagues that you grew close to.”

Still, Brianna is proud of herself and her choices as each new opportunity has helped her grow both in her career and as a person. “I’ve changed industries, cities, and states, and dealt with different types of technical challenges, logistical hurdles, and unexpected inconveniences. But going from Florida to Arizona then Oregon and now in California, I’ve learned a lot about different cultures, lifestyles, and environments,” she says. “Most importantly, though, I’ve learned a lot about myself.”

Here, Brianna talks more about her current role at ASML, why she believes in mentorship, and how she’s always striving to help other women thrive in their careers.

Could you tell us about your current role and what your day-to-day looks like?

I am currently an Operational Excellence Program Manager supporting three factories, both Cymer DUV factories in Korea and San Diego, as well as the ASML EUV factory in San Diego. I currently manage the continuous improvement, 5S+1 program (a lean manufacturing and workplace organizational methodology that uses the traditional 5S framework (Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain) plus Safety to improve efficiency, productivity, and a culture of continuous improvement by maintaining a clean, organized, and safe environment), and support the expansion of our manufacturing capacity here in San Diego. My day typically begins by attending one of our daily morning production tier meetings and moving on to working on various initiatives related to our operational excellence maturity assessment to ensure we reach our next maturity goals.  

What role have mentorship or sponsorship played in your career so far?

A lot of my mentoring has been very ad-hoc and has come from being involved in Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and other employee resource groups throughout the years. I believe that having a mentor or sponsor is a fluid thing and changes with you as you change. I always look for mentors both internal to the company I am at, as well as an external mentor outside of my company, who can guide me with more general career aspirations. 

How have employee networks or workplace communities contributed to your professional growth or sense of belonging?

Both employee networks and workplace communities have contributed to my personal growth and sense of belonging, and I would not be where I am today without them. Locally, I serve on the board for our Women’s employee network in San Diego and participate in the Green network to support sustainability initiatives. These internal communities provided a sense of belonging that was further amplified by my involvement in external organizations like the SWE. SWE has been instrumental in my career—it has helped me secure every professional role I’ve held since college. In fact, I only discovered ASML after attending the 2021 SWE Conference in Indianapolis, which ultimately led to my position here.

What activities/events have you participated in through employee networks and how do these impact you?

Some of the activities through our Women’s employee network include lunch with leaders, book clubs, attending professional development conferences, and other professional development events. These events have helped me learn various skills related to communication, presenting, leadership, and even Co-Pilot, an AI powered digital assistant. I have also attended social events such as craft and networking, which allows me to meet other women in the organization that I rarely ever get to see or work with. 

As you grow in your career, how do you make a point of lifting other women up along the way?

I love seeing other women rise and helping them receive the recognition that they deserve. I have nominated women for our internal Safety Star program multiple times recognizing them for their dedication and pro-activeness to ensure a safe work environment in one of our manufacturing work centers. At a past company, I submitted over 100 applications to help numerous women be recognized for their patents at the SWE Conference where over 13,000 people attend from all over the world. 

Are there any books, podcasts, or resources that have influenced how you support or mentor others?

“Women at Work” is a podcast by Harvard Business Review that focuses on women’s leadership, career growth, and how to navigate workplace dynamics. I felt like there was a lot of good advice that is applicable to being a woman in a heavily male-dominated company. How Women Rise was one of the last books I read that highlights twelve habits that typically hold women back and strategies of how to overcome them. I felt like both of these were great to support my career through some difficult times.  

Is there anything we didn’t ask about that you’d like to share?

One of my happiest achievements so far was being awarded the 2022 UCF College of Engineering Distinguished Young Alumni Award. It is not an award you can self-nominate to receive and to this day I have no idea who nominated me, but I’m so grateful that someone took the time to support, recognize, and lift me up for such an incredible award. While at the ceremony, I ran into Nicole Stott who is a retired NASA astronaut and engineer who also was receiving an award and we got to chatting. I had gone to a presentation of hers while I was in college ten years prior and she actually remembered me. It was such an incredible feeling to be remembered by such a historic woman who had spent over 100 days in space.