WGLC Day 2: Resilience in a Shifting Industry
Resilience as a valuable trait in today’s industry was a major topic of discussion for day two of the 2025 Women’s Global Leadership Conference in Houston. Across several morning panels, guest speakers from various industry-leading companies shared the strategies and necessity of resilience in a market and industry environment that is rapidly changing.
OLIVIA KABELL, Associate Editor
Resilience as a valuable trait in today’s industry was a major topic of discussion for day two of the 2025 Women’s Global Leadership Conference in Houston. Across several morning panels, guest speakers from various industry-leading companies shared the strategies and necessity of resilience in a market and industry environment that is rapidly changing.
Senior Director for Operations at Plains, John Soenning, opened with a common sentiment on just that topic: “change is the only constant in life.” Given the rapid pace of both emerging technologies like A.I. integration and shifting global economic landscapes, a resilient career is a tall but possible order, according to Soenning and speakers. Working and integrating well with a team is critical to a resilient career trajectory, per Soenning, and that means looking to greater efficiencies outside of any one individual role. “As I’m doing this work, is anyone impacted by it besides my stakeholder?” Soenning asked. “[When working within my individual department], are there other departments struggling with something [I’ve] already solved?”
In another panel, hosted by moderator Amy Miller, founder and CEO of Noble Corporation, that theme of resilience continued to dominate the conversation. As the industry faces layoffs across all sections of the oil and gas pipeline, developing efficiencies for leaner teams is more critical than ever. “Be good at everything—whatever you’re working on now, focus on excelling in that role,” said Donna Ward, managing counsel for Achea Energy, a bp company. That ability to perform is a key strategy for a resilient career when it comes to finding mentorship, according to Power the Core Senior Manager at Chevron Raquel Clement. “If you feel like the smartest one [in the room], you need to step out,” she noted, quick to emphasize the critical role of mentorship in a career trajectory.
That element of mentorship and the opportunities that go beyond individual roles dominated much of the panel’s discussion. Ward highlighted the importance of peer input—what she called “your own board of directors…who are going to be honest with you and help you grow.” That ability to constantly grow is a key focus for a successfully resilient career, according to HSE Trainer Supervisor for Plains Chrystah Carter. After a decade working in the industry, she noted, “I think the industry is changing faster the longer I’m in it.” That’s why, she says, mentorship and connections matter so deeply: “you can aggregate information on what’s going on…[and] what your blind spots are.” That discomfort is a key part of the process, as pointed out by the last panelist of the session: VP and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer Emily Buchanan. “The ‘stay uncomfortable’ part is important if you want to keep learning,” she emphasized. Moreover, the next evolution of personal growth is becoming a mentor yourself, as NAO Stimulation Doman Associate at SLB Maylu Ramones highlighted. For example, “when you retrieve data for people, you start to become a resource that people will go to.”
Yet not all skills have to be confined to meeting rooms or one-on-one mentorship, as Carter was careful to outline. “It doesn’t always give you the skills you need at work,” she pointed out, referring to common work training programs, “so I got involved in community projects…that helped me develop skills [which] created future opportunities.” The last thing you want to do, per Carter, is to keep learning restricted to the office, something Ward echoed. “Get the permits you need to go out to the field to see the work being done,” she emphasized. Above all, Ramones offered this approach: “Change and adversity is going to happen…so [you have to say] ‘I’m here, let’s make the best of it.’”