L. Fernandez-Willey

S. Yurasko

"Our new board officers and members are ready to use their respective vision and talents to further our mission of expanding opportunities for women in the rail industry," Peterson continued. "These experienced industry leaders, who represent a cross-section of railroading disciplines, are committed to directing the League's efforts - and we appreciate their contributions."

CB: Newton is a great community that offers a lot to its residents. My family has been here for six generations and I can't imagine living away from all this family that is around here. Our schools are outstanding, especially our small Walton Rural Life Center that teaches almost all hands-on activities based around agriculture technology. The ties to agriculture and railroad in this area are hard to miss and we are lucky to provide so many employment opportunities.

LRIW: When your father founded Budde Enterprises in 1965, what was his vision for the company?

CB:  My dad actually started out as a farmer -  his main passion from the time he was a small boy. When he was a junior in high school he bought the farm we currently live on and raised cattle and pigs. The cattle market was not good to him and his focus changed to raising pigs and farming ground. My parents always had some kind of side thing going on, they made feed for other people, they had a chemical and fertilizer business, catering, there was always something to keep them diverse and busy, but it was mostly tied to agriculture. As times changed they had to evolve and when the farm economy died in the 80s they took an especially hard hit. 

LRIW: Are many of your employees from Newton?

CB:  Our team members come from a variety of locations, but most of them are from the area.  We like to work with good-hearted, small town, home-town kind of people.

LRIW: When did you take over the company from your father? Would you mind elaborating on how the decision was made to turn the company over to you?

CB: In 2005, my dad had back surgery and then the doctors found cancer. With my parents, uncle and I being the primary business contacts, I took care of the company and my mom took care of my dad. Then my mom got sick. There wasn't a lot of official conversation or planning it just happened. My uncle has actually been part of Budde since my mom was pregnant with me. We made a pretty good team and that is when I moved into more of an administration position and less of a hands-on repair role. My dad did recover, but he and my mom were getting older and it was just a natural progression of things. Handling the growth and the way things have changed has actually been more challenging than the transition of management. 

LRIW: What is your vision for Budde Enterprises?

CB:  Having started this company out of survival rather than a real plan and then taking over because of illness - it has taken me a long time to find my vision for Budde Enterprises. Then my niece, Erin came into the picture as a temporary team member. It was when she interviewed for an opportunity outside of the company with benefits and pay I couldn't compete with, that I realized I would be heartbroken without her here. 

The White Family

In that moment, I recognized we were doing so much more than just fixing stuff for railroads, we had become a legacy. I never thought a lot about being a second generation company and what it really meant until that point. I never thought about it being mine or being the one to make decisions. I just got up every day and tried to do what was best for our customer and that was all I really thought about. Erin made me think about what would happen after me.  

My kids are a bit younger and they just weren't at that point in life to know if they would want to become a part of this or not. Erin made me realize we were building a legacy, that if handled right, could span multiple generations. That is when the focus changed from being just a company to building a legacy to stand the test of time. Not just for my family, but for the families of our team. We have been so lucky to have worked with customers that have become like family that I realized it wasn't only about spanning our generation, but theirs as well. Our team members who have been here for a while have been part of the evolution of building the kind of company they believe in, delivering products and customer service they are proud to put their name on and building the working environment they would want their kids to work in. Our customers are the kind of people we want our kids working with.

LRIW: Tell us about what you do at Budde Enterprises. What is a typical day like for you?

	Carrie and great niece Brooklyn busy at work

CB:  Most of my day is spent planning, organizing and answering questions. 

 We have  grown so quickly that training really takes a lot of time. I have had to learn to delegate and that has been a big struggle for me. It is truly fun when I get to see a team member being successful and my direct involvement is no longer needed. 

The best part of my day is still the customer. Many of these guys have known me since before I had a driver's license, so as I watch them get to retirement and look back at the things they have taught me and the experiences I have had with them I am truly lucky and thankful because without them, we wouldn't be what we have become and without them passing their information on we would not continue to grow.

I am proud that we are a company people can bring things they have problems with and we can help them find a solution for their problem. We are a small enough company that we can work on individual items and it doesn't always have to be about mass production or quantity.  

LRIW: What is the biggest challenge in running your own company?

CB:  Time. Time is the one thing you can't get back no matter what you do. It is tough to find a good balance between home and work and often I feel stretched in both places. I am lucky to have a husband that is very tolerant of my work life and kids that have come to understand the passion that drives me. 

People would be my other one. I like people, but managing people is a completely different ball game that I was not prepared or trained for and quite frankly suck at. I have worked very hard to become a better leader, but it is something I will forever be working on.

LRIW: How do you uphold Budde Enterprises' unmatched customer service to continue providing quality products?

CB:  Passion, integrity, self-pride and heart. Growing up, my parents set a high standard of quality to live up to. Most of our equipment and tools were not new, but always clean and well-maintained. No welding job was ever left unpainted. What things looked like mattered, even if they were old or just patched together. 

Our team doesn't have a lot of fancy degrees or higher education. Some of them do and they are great about sharing and using it, but what every one of them has is heart and pride in what they put their name on. We live by the rule of treating everyone and everything like you want to be treated. When something is in for repair, what would you expect if you were paying for that? When someone calls and is having trouble, what service would you expect if you were on the other side of the conversation? 

LRIW: How did you hear about LRIW and why did you get involved?

CB: A magazine article, I believe. I personally never thought about being 

a woman in the rail industry or being uncomfortable when I was the only girl in the 

ro om. That is how it has always been for me, even from the time I ran a chemical and fertilizer applicator truck. Having grown up doing this kind of work, most of our custome r base knew I physically knew what I was doing or talking about. It  wasn't until my niece got involved and then looking at my own daughter I realized being the only girl in the room could be very lonely sometimes. There have been times we only employed men and that can be a tough situation. I wanted to set them up with a resource on how to handle those situations that you only understand when you are a woman in a non-traditional role. 

Carrie speaking at the LRIW Annual Conference  Railway Interchange 2017

LRIW: If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

CB: Learn to delegate before you are overwhelmed and take better care of your people. We have lost some good people over the years because I lacked humility and leadership ability. I am still growing everyday, but I wish I would have learned that much earlier in life.

LRIW: What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

CB: I don't have a lot of hobbies, I can always find more work to do. When I was very young we farmed ground for a guy who had his own pond. There were lots of early mornings we went fishing and that is still my most peaceful time of day where life just stops for a bit and I can be at peace. I also like to garden and can. My uncle and I get together almost every weekend and can whatever we have that week. Cooking with my mom and providing for other people are some of my best memories with her growing up and I am thankful to get to have that with my uncle now. 

LRIW: Growing up working the family business, founded by your father, do you

have any advice for an entrepreneur who is considering starting their own rail or non-rail related business?

LRIW/AREMA #WomenInRail Reception Railway Interchange 2017

CB :

Have thick skin and take a lot of classes. There are so many resou rces out there about leadership, management and personal growth. 

Read and learn from others' mistakes and realize you have to prove nothing to anyone. If you show up every day a nd do good work you don't have to be the  loudest person in the room, just the best.