Member Profile: Chris Yelton

If You Want It, You've Got To Go For It! There is no doubt that Chris Yelton embraces the philosophy "we're each responsible for creating our own destiny. Throughout her life she has had a "go for it" attitude, even when the odds seemed unfavorable. "It has always been my belief to dream big, turn dreams into goals and then go out there and reach them," said Chris.

As long as she can remember, she has pursued her dreams, making each one of them a reality. In fact, her strong determination to go after what she wants has brought her to her current senior management position as Director of Business Operations at Lucent Technologies Octel Messaging Division (formerly Octel Communications). In her position, Chris has the responsibility of overseeing worldwide sales and customer administration planning and operations.

Upon graduating from college, Chris had two specific professional aspirations; to be an executive of a technology corporation, and to work internationally. Before joining Lucent Octel Messaging Division, she began her climb towards an executive position by being promoted, at age 25, to sales manager at WilTel Communications. "Initially, I struggled with self doubt about my age and credibility to lead a group of individuals senior to me," said Chris. "But I knew I had to go for it, so with the support of family, friends and colleagues, I summoned up the courage to take on the challenge. Those were some of most rewarding years of my career."

Chris pursued her goal of working internationally when she took a position in Mexico City to develop Octel communications" Latin American region in Central America, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico. Although she had aspired to work internationally ever since her semester of college in Mexico City, Chris faced a difficult challenge working in an area where women were generally not accepted in the business community. However, this tough working environment did not discourage Chris. "During this time, in fact, I was motivated that much more. I was unshakably committed to my goals for Latin America, and knew I had the cultural knowledge, language and people skills and good old common sense to overcome obstacles, including the stigma placed on women."

Although she overcame a substantial number of hurdles, she found that delivering Lucent's message to senior executives was the toughest. Through relationship building and tenacity, Chris was able to successfully conduct business with top executives at many major phone companies across the Latin American region.

Chris says that her work, although extremely challenging, is exciting and fun. She claims the most rewarding part of her job is bringing out the best in people. "I am fortunate to have achieved my goals, and it gives me a great deal of pride when I can encourage and influence others to obtain theirs," she said.

Chris believes it is important that in today's hectic work environment, women maintain a practical approach to work. "My advice to women starting out in business is to not let anything stand in the way of reaching your goals," said Chris. "If you are not enjoying what you do, either find a way to re-ignite your passion or look to do something else. Life is too short."

Chris has not stopped setting goals. Her current goal is to help other women realize their full potential. Chris' recent election to the board of directors for PBWC is her first step to making her dream a reality. "I hope that through my involvement with PBWC, I can contribute to women reaching higher, and provide the knowledge, contacts and tools to help make their dreams reality."

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