Chief Operating Officer
Van Meter Inc.
Lura McBride is living proof that high-achieving women can make family a priority, even in a male-dominated industry.
Ms. McBride, 43, chief operating officer for Cedar Rapids-based Van Meter Inc., successfully navigates her responsibilities at work, along with raising four children and volunteering.
“You will not find a better role model in the workplace or on the home front,” Ms. McBride’s nomination letter from Van Meter states. “Lura manages to successfully balance the demands of being COO of a growing company, the time commitment of community volunteerism and the precious responsibility of raising children.”
Ms. McBride cites her mother’s influence in shaping her positive outlook.
“You want to have a strong support system, but you want to be self-reliant and independent,” she said of her mother’s advice. “Be proactive, so you’re not waiting for someone to carve your path for you.”
Ms. McBride followed that advice, earning a bachelor’s in finance and marketing from the University of Iowa before going on to the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in advanced business management.
She worked in systems integration at Accenture, a global professional services company in Chicago, where she led a team that managed the strategic initiatives for the company, as well as implementing change management strategies for clients.
Ms. McBride and her husband, Ryan, were faced with the decision of moving to the suburbs or elsewhere when they started their family. They chose to move back to Iowa.
She continued to work remotely for Accenture even after they moved from Chicago.
“I thought I was making my family my priority, and in my head I was, but in reality, I wasn’t,” said Ms. McBride, whose children are ages 11 to 16.
She decided to seek out a company where she could contribute her expertise, but achieve a better work-life balance, and in 2008, began working at Van Meter, a wholesale electrical supply distributor.
“It’s taken me 43 years to figure it out,” Ms. McBride jokes about achieving that balance, adding that Barry Boyer, Van Meter’s CEO at the time, was a great advocate for prioritizing family when she joined the company.
That company culture is a driving force behind Van Meter’s success, notes Kevin Powell, president and CEO of Van Meter, which is 100 percent employee-owned.
“Lura quickly developed a reputation for being ‘a fixer,’ who could be relied upon to dig into areas, quickly identify opportunity and execute effective change in order to improve performance of the organization,” Mr. Powell wrote in his nomination for Ms. McBride. “As a result, she is one of the fastest promoted leaders at Van Meter.”
Among her accomplishments, Ms. McBride launched a program called the “Women of Van Meter,” which addresses the unique challenges that women face in the workplace.
“Our industry is dominated by men,” Mr. Powell wrote. “Lura has taken on a role of leadership working inclusively to change that.”
Among those workplace challenges is a “confidence gap,” in which women, in general, show less self-confidence than men, Ms. McBride said.
“That breeds a lot of different things,” she said, pointing to gender stereotypes and other issues.
Under her leadership, Van Meter also implemented a “5-7 Challenge,” for no after-hours emails or work-related phone calls, as well as a progressive parental leave program for both mothers and fathers, employee sabbaticals and a personal accountability vacation plan.
Among her many volunteer interests, Ms. McBride is a board member of Tanager Place, vice president of Corridor Women Connect and past chairwoman of the National Council on Youth Leadership.
She is also among the investors in the Invest in She program, noted Diane Ramsey, CEO of Iowa Women Lead Change.
“Lura is respected and revered by her peers in the industry, her friends in the community and the people she leads,” Ms. Ramsey wrote in her nomination letter. “Lura has excelled as Van Meter’s COO in a male-dominated company and industry and has been instrumental in the company’s rapid growth.”
Ms. McBride said her main passion is working with youth, in addition to her job at Van Meter.
“It’s a pleasure every day to come to work with our employee owners,” she said, citing her role in helping people achieve their personal best in health, safety and financial wellness. “It’s been really rewarding.”
– Cindy Hadish
