Where growth comes from

Growth rarely comes from perfect planning, which was a hard concept for 21-year-old me to grasp, considering I was a perfect planner.

My career, identity, and leadership paths have not been linear. Throughout my early career, I have learned that growth often comes from how you respond to the opportunities, pressures, and moments you did not see coming. It is shaped by the yeses that move us forward, the nos that redirect us, and the spaces between, where you begin to understand who you are becoming.

Embracing the unknown

I went into college loving software development and came out feeling burnt out. I knew I wanted more interpersonal connection and variety in my day-to-day work, even if I wasn’t sure what that looked like.

Two unexpected moments ended up reshaping my career path.

The summer before my senior year, I applied to an internship at a plant in my hometown that I had never heard of and rarely drove by: Schneider Electric in Seneca, SC. I expected to  never hear back. Instead, I received an offer for an engineering internship.

That fall, a sales manager at a career fair encouraged me to explore technical sales, something I had never considered before. That conversation led me to find Schneider Electric’s Sales Development Program, an early-career development program that helps emerging talent build technical knowledge, business experience, and confidence while exploring where they can grow.

For me, the program became a bridge into a career path I had not imagined for myself, with enough structure to support me and enough possibility to stretch me.

I went from exclusively applying to software-based roles to accepting a path toward sales. I truly never saw that coming. By embracing the unknown and saying yes to unexpected opportunities, I discovered strengths, interests, and lessons I never would have found had I stayed on the path I originally imagined.

Finding passion in unsuspecting places

To keep exploring this new career path, I took one of the first internal opportunities I found after completing the Sales Development Program: Project Manager for the Baltimore / DC field office. While I was interested in project management, I did not yet understand the full scope of the role, or all the ways it would challenge me. During my first years in the role, I worked through imposter syndrome and became more confident leading conversations, trusting my judgment, keeping others accountable, and owning my expertise.

What started as a pragmatic next step became a role I unexpectedly grew to love.
During this time, I also discovered Schneider Electric’s Employee Resource Groups, which became an important source of support and growth for me. I joined both the LGBTQ+ & Allies ERN and the Women in Schneider Electric group, known as WiSE, where I found welcoming communities of colleagues and new ways to connect beyond my day-to-day role.

When leadership finds you

There is something powerful about colleagues recognizing your potential before you fully see it yourself, especially in moments when self-doubt is louder than confidence.

When someone else sees your capabilities with clarity and conviction, it can open doors you may not have believed were meant for you. External validation does more than affirm your skills, it challenges you to reimagine what you are capable of.

Through that shared belief (borrowed before it becomes your own), growth and leadership begin to take shape. That is one of the reasons I choose to show up as my authentic self every day. It allows others to truly see me, recognize my strengths, and reflect back the best of who I am, often before I can fully see it myself.

In 2023, I participated in Raleigh’s Pride Festival. After the event, a colleague invited me to join a leadership call for the U.S. LGBTQ+ & Allies ERN. During that call, I agreed to step into the role of Awareness Chair for the following year. Little did I know, that colleague had been gently nudging me toward a role they believed I would be great in.

Serving as Awareness Chair proved to be an incredibly valuable experience. As a fully remote employee, the role gave me the opportunity to build relationships beyond my immediate team. It also provided a meaningful creative outlet and a deeper sense of purpose, reinforcing the impact of advocacy, visibility, and inclusive leadership.

Developing leaders and shaping culture

Stepping into ERN leadership, and now serving as national President for our LGBTQ+ & Allies ERN, has been one of the most formative chapters of my professional journey.
What often begins as a desire to give back or create community quickly becomes a crash course in leadership: setting strategy, collaborating across roles and perspectives, influencing without authority, navigating ambiguity, and delivering outcomes with a diverse group of stakeholders.

ERNs are not side-of-desk passion projects. They are leadership incubators. They give emerging leaders real-world experience in running something that matters, often with limited resources but high expectations, sharpening the very skills companies need most.

At the same time, ERNs play a critical role in representing and advocating for marginalized communities, not as a symbolic gesture, but as a meaningful part of how organizations listen, learn, and act. They create space for employees with shared experiences and allies to build community, raise awareness, and bring lived experience into conversations that shape how people work together.

That visibility matters. When employees see themselves reflected in leadership and advocacy, trust grows. And that trust matters. It helps people feel more connected, more supported, and more confident that they can contribute as themselves.

Visibility alone, however, is not enough. Action is what creates change. ERNs matter not simply because they exist, but because of what they do. They develop leaders, influence decisions, and help bring our IMPACT values to life through everyday action.

By supporting ERNs and empowering employees to lead, Schneider Electric creates shared value for our people, our culture, and the broader organization.

Having pride all year

As I reflect on my first eight years at Schneider Electric, I realize the same skills that make me an effective project manager – listening, organization, accountability, and collaboration – are the same skills that make me an effective inclusion leader. Leadership, after all, is not only about titles. It is about how you show up, how you listen, and how you take responsibility for the impact you have on others. Over time, I have grown as a colleague, an employee, and a person, learning when to say yes with courage, when to say no with clarity, and how to move forward with intention. I have learned that there is no “right” path to leadership or growth. Some choices are deliberate, others are unexpected, but each moment is an opportunity to be your authentic self and to grow with intention.

For anyone building a career here, that is one of the most powerful things about Schneider Electric: growth can come from many places. It can come from your role, your team, your mentors, your employee communities, and the opportunities that help you build new skills before you feel fully ready. It can also come from the moments when someone sees potential in you before you fully see it yourself.

Pride Month reminds us why visibility matters, but it also challenges us to think beyond June. The real work of inclusion is what happens the rest of the year: lifting others, continuing to learn, building trust, practicing allyship, and turning awareness into action.

Pride is not a moment in time. It is a commitment to visibility, courage, education, allyship, inclusion, and growth, every day of the year.

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About the author

Rachel Hawkesworth (she/her), Project Manager – Data Center Solutions

Rachel Hawkesworth has spent the past eight years at Schneider Electric building a career rooted in growth, adaptability, and impact. She began her journey as an engineering intern, moved through the Sales Development Program, and later found her professional home in project management. She thrives in fast‑paced, customer‑facing roles that allow her to collaborate across teams and influence multiple phases of a project, blending technical understanding with strategic execution.

Beyond her day-to-day role, Rachel serves as President of the U.S. LGBTQ+ & Allies ERN, where she helps foster inclusion, visibility, allyship, and care across the organization. She believes employee communities can create space for connection, leadership growth, and meaningful action – helping build stronger cultures and better outcomes for teams.