Portrait of Michelle Frumkin

My passion for robotics has grown from a thirst for knowledge, fast-moving industries, and new business models. However, I didn’t grow up aspiring to be the “Senior Global Marketing Manager of the Robotics Segment” at a large corporation like 3M. My initial dream was to be an entrepreneur.

My parents are a blend of business and science—my Dad owns a small jewelry business, and my Mom is a pharmacist. While I love the learning that comes with science, I was never fond of the math or the pace. My brain was always more attuned to the business side: What could we create that is new to the world? Could we solve unique problems? How could we market & sell this to customers in a meaningful way? Could we do things differently than we have in the past?

Growing up in Tucson, Arizona, a mid-sized college town in the United States, I attended the local university to study marketing, assuming I would stay in town and start my own business. I worked for a marketing agency then launched a photography company with a unique business model (for the time) focused on family packages and targeting the lower to mid-tier event market where there was significant opportunity. The business aspect was fun, and doing things in new ways was exciting, but I missed the science and learning part.

In what might seem like an unconventional path to merge science with my entrepreneurial spirit, I pursued an MBA at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business with a goal to take on strategy and marketing roles at more corporate, science-based companies. This would allow me to work alongside scientific minds, soaking up knowledge while using my entrepreneurial mindset to bring their ideas to market in innovative ways. It worked. I joined 3M in 2012 as a strategist, working on projects across the entire company—health care, safety, consumer products, and industrial spaces. I used my passion for business innovation to carve out new ways to approach sometimes stagnant spaces.

Following that role, I spent four years with 3M Post-it® Notes, launching new products and entering new markets. I then spent a year on an experimental team at 3M, working on new revenue streams. For the past four years, I have focused on business development, marketing, new products, and new business models for the Robotics & Automation industry around 3M™ Abrasives.

It's important for people to realize that you can work in robotics and automation without being an engineer. Robotics requires all disciplines for success. You can also still feel like an entrepreneur; bringing an innovation mindset to explore unique market opportunities, applying creativity, constantly learning; even within a large corporation.

Robotics offers so much creativity, so much new, and so many fun challenges to tackle: unique business models and revenue streams, different types of partnerships, AI and ML solutions, solving customer problems in new ways, and the need for more simplification and consumer-mindset marketing. Not to mention the actual “coolness” of this job. Have you ever stood on the line and watched cars being made? Seen how light poles are created? Witnessed how implantable knees are formed? Newsflash: It’s awesome and fun! I get to learn something new from the smartest people every day.

I am honored to be nominated as one of the 10 Women Shaping the Future of Robotics. It was not a direct path into this field or this role. Many others have helped and continue to help me get to get this point my career.

Throughout this journey, I moved away from my family and across the country for school, then again for my job, got married, and had two kids (now 6 and 4 years old). If you’re someone who wants to raise a family, it’s important to know that you don’t have to sacrifice a career you enjoy to do so. For any default parent (the one who takes on most of the kid responsibilities), and for women especially, I want to share the message that you don’t have to shrink your goals to make room for others to grow. You can have a career you enjoy, advance in unique industries, and still be a great parent and partner. It’s not easy, and it doesn’t happen right away, but you shouldn’t settle. You need to work for a company and for people who respect that. I’ve had experiences in my career where this wasn’t the case, and I’m proud to now work at 3M for managers who respect what I bring to the company. Robotics is a typically male-dominated field – it needs your diversity of thought to grow.

Don’t waste your time working somewhere that depletes your energy (you need any extra energy for your home life and yourself!). Find something that fuels your energy (at least most days) and keeps you excited. It’s how you will bring your best to the work and to yourself. Working in Robotics, where I can integrate business while learning from science, does that for me. It helps me bring my best self and brightest ideas to the table for 3M every day. I am grateful to have found this company and this type of role in this industry, which allows me to fuel my energy and maintain balance in my life to live brightly both inside and outside of work. And I am especially grateful to work for someone like Carl Doeksen, who goes above and beyond to lift up the others around him and make space for all people to grow and succeed in the Robotics field. I hope that other leaders take a page from his book and recognize the part they can play in this industry to encourage women & their diversity of thought into the field and continue to lift up their women colleagues around the world.