A journey of a thousand miles.

Romina Uceda describes supply chain as “the heart” of the company. “It pumps continuously,” she added. “It’s how things move.” It’s a fitting perspective for an individual whose story is all about moves and full of heart.

After growing up in South America and attending university in Valparaíso, Chile’s second-largest city, Romina’s first major move landed her in the United States at Brigham Young University in Utah. It wouldn’t be the last time she traveled such distances for the opportunity to learn and grow.

A couple thousand miles from Utah, the Supply Chain team inside Kohler Co.’s Kitchen & Bath business needed someone with Romina’s experience in digital systems and project management. When she arrived at headquarters in Kohler, Wisconsin, she wondered what “digital” meant to the company. In Romina’s experience, every organization’s definition of digital is slightly different. She came to find out that at Kohler, it means movement and opportunity. Perfect for Romina!

Her first years at the company included collaborating with business units worldwide, and successfully managing domestic and international supply chain process-improvement initiatives to optimize the way things move.

The next big move for Romina was a series of trips from Kohler, Wisconsin to Brazil, traveling frequently for two- to three-week stints as she helped launch the Kohler brand in the country. The relationships Romina built with the brand teams within our Communications group resulted in a new job opportunity, working as a Kitchen & Bath Digital Program Manager.

One year in, the urge to keep moving took her 7,000 miles from Kohler, Wisconsin to Kohler China in Shanghai City. After Romina’s husband Carlos, an Industrial Designer at Kohler, completed a six-month internship in Hangzhou, China, the opportunity arose to move there for a full-time position. This “KoMar” couple (Kohler’s cute-yet-official term for married associates) jumped at the chance.

Today, Romina and Carlos fulfill their mission to move by exploring China, India, Thailand and wherever else they dream to journey. Thankful for the opportunities to travel and grow through her years at Kohler, Romina recalled recently running into her original hiring manager while he visited Shanghai. She offered her appreciation, saying, “Because of you, I’m here!” He responded, “No, because of you, you are here.”