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Editor's Note: This story originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of Reflections.  Click here to read the entire magazine.

Learning. Doing. Giving.

Those three words have stuck with Beth Savage throughout her career, and they serve as her roadmap of leadership for life. Savage’s journey in leadership has landed her in boardrooms of corporations and communities, but her philosophy has helped both thrive.

DOING THE WORK

Earning an official leadership title in any setting is the beginning of the journey, not the peak, according to Savage. She became the president and CEO of PQ Systems, a company that designs manufacturing software solutions, after serving as its Marketing Director for ten years. After transforming the company’s marketing strategy, Savage sought to transform the organization’s culture for continued growth.

Replacing large, yearly employee surveys with more personable weekly check-ins and keeping up with the mindset of her team enabled Savage to receive constant feedback about their insights and concerns. “Once you get to a position of leadership, it doesn’t mean that you know everything. It just means you have a lot more to learn from your team. Being curious and always asking questions and continuing to learn is super important.”

Savage credits this approach to employment engagement as a key factor in PQ’s growth. The challenge of balancing the customers’ need for low prices with her teams’ need for high salaries while competing with other groups in the market was always at or near the top of Savage’s lists of critical tasks as the head of the company. “My focus as the leader of the organization was keeping the employees happy and helping them be the best version of themselves,” Savage said. “I didn’t have to worry about the customers, because the employees would take care of the customers.”

GIVING BACK

When the time came to retire and transfer leadership of PQ Systems in 2023, Savage made the difficult decision to sell the company after evaluating a wide array of options. More than a year later, Savage is pleased to see many of her former employees thriving and advancing their careers with PQ’s new leadership team or other organizations. Even in retirement, Savage continues to lead.

Savage shares her time and knowledge with today’s business owners through the Small Business Administration’s SCORE Program. SCORE’s mission is to foster vibrant small business communities through mentoring and educational workshops. Its mentors offer area specific advice at no cost to small businesses on topics like finance, human resources, and business planning.

“I had a ton of mentors. When you’re the top dog of an organization, it can be a little bit lonely. You don’t have peers in your department to bounce ideas off of. I reached out to any resources that I could. There were many, many other mentors that I had through the years who were very giving of their time. Now I’m at the point where I want to give.”

The business leaders Savage mentors through SCORE are some of the brightest minds in a diverse field of industries like artificial intelligence, hair care, and behavioral science. She says helping her mentees realize they already know what’s best for their business is how she makes the biggest impact. “What I try to do is ask questions because they know the answer already, but they want the confidence that it’s the right answer. Sometimes the next steps [to grow a business] are hard. It might be hard to go get that business loan or say no to a customer who isn’t a good match for you.”

Providing guidance to private sector businesses is not the only way Savage gives back. She currently serves as a board member of the W. Edward Deming Institute, a North Carolina based organization that trains business leaders, and Wright State University’s Raj Soin College of Business. Additionally, she served on the board of Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley for six years and is a regular volunteer at Carroll’s St. Pat’s Fest and the St. Helen Parish Summer Festival.

LEARNING TO LEAD

Marching as part of the Color Guard during her time as a Carroll student is one of Savage’s earliest memories of seeing how leadership and teamwork are crucial to achieving the highest levels of success. “We won competitions and got to perform in the Orange Bowl, and that was an amazing experience,” Savage said. “[The directors] emphasized that you’re only as strong as your weakest member, and we have to work as a team. We had a lot of members, and getting that many people to be in unison was not easy. It was a foundation for me in learning about teams and working together.”

Away from the competition field, Savage also recognizes the difference Catholic education at Carroll made in her life.“Carroll is super important to me because that was the foundation of my education. When I went on to college and on to work, I felt very well-prepared, much more so than some of my fellow students or colleagues who didn’t have the privilege of a Carroll education.”