Ayana Hollowell

My name is Ayana. I am currently working at Evonik’s Mobile site under Site Management and was assigned to Third Party Operations – BASF. My responsibilities include managing warehouse and logistics operations, raw materials and finished product movements, as well as product testing and certifications for BASF at the Mobile site.

I am the person in charge for maintaining the ISO certifications where I worked closely with the Mobile Site Quality Manager. Our Team provides services to BASF in terms of plant operations. We are part of the resources that Evonik provides to BASF, in addition to, EHSSQ, Energy & Utilities, Logistics and Technical Services that are required for day-to-day plant operations. Our team values speed, trust, openness and performance in all areas of service we give to customers.

After completing my Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of South Alabama in 2006, I started out with Evonik as a contractor. I was hired on as a Laboratory Technician for the Business Line Coating Additives (CA) which is commonly known as Crosslinkers. After one year in CA, I was offered a permanent position. During my time with CA, I was able to obtain my Master of Public Health degree, receive advanced laboratory instrument training, cultivate my leadership skills, and advocate employee safety. After spending nine years with CA, an opportunity opened in 2016 to be part of site management and I was assigned to BASF, to manage the Quality Control Laboratory. In the last four years, my work focused on quality and continuous improvements in the laboratory operations. In the beginning of 2020, my role expanded to managing the BASF logistics and warehouse operations. The joy of my various roles at Evonik provides the perfect platform to showcase disciplines from my graduate studies. Public Health centers around protecting and improving the health of people and their community. I am an advocate for safety and the well-being of our Evonik community.

I am very fortunate to lead several continuous improvement projects in my current role. One of the greatest opportunities I had with Evonik is to head a project involving the relocation of one of our employee pickup/drop off points. Fostering the support of my colleagues from the Central Safety Team (CST), I was charged with getting buy-in from superintendents, site leadership, and impacted employees to physically relocate the pickup/drop off point and curtail employee behavior. This project has impact nearly half of the Mobile site population. The project addressed the uneven surfaces and the risk of flooding during rainy days as the employees enter and egress from the site. My challenge was to offer a proposal that would address the hazard concerns as well as being economically favorable. This project offered me the opportunity to network with multiple superintendents, managers, and site leadership members across the site, andI learned a problem is not a problem, if you have a solution—be prepared to champion the solution!