Women Who Wow: Low-Key, High-Profile Lawyer Carrie Plater Proves that Women Really Can Do It All, Including Parent, Mediate and Assemble Fabulous Flower Arrangements
What does a love for the law, cake decorating, flower arrangements and interior design all have in common? We’ll give you a hint…Carrie Plater. As a former attorney in “big law” with a passion for the creative, there’s not much that Carrie can’t do. Possibly what she is the best at, especially here at Zebra, is being a problem solver at the highest level.
Since a young age, Carrie gravitated toward the fast-paced, win-lose debate dynamic of the legal field. But through her career as a litigator, and eventually an in-house attorney for Zebra, she realized one of the most important aspects of her job was staying in the “yes” business. This undying determination to find solutions and support those around her has landed her where she is today, as Zebra’s Vice President of Corporate Counsel and is part of what makes her a woman who wows. What’s more, Carrie even wows us outside of the office by being a role model for her sons and by channeling her creativity into several hobbies.
I sat down with Carrie on the latest episode of “Women Who Wow” to learn more about her, her career and how she makes wearing so many hats possible. My takeaways – a new perspective on how to be a solution-driven professional, a consultant who provides prompt, actionable advice to customers and team members, and a downright good human being.
Tune into our conversation to learn more about Carrie, the legal field and how you can be in the “yes” business:
LISTEN NOW
You’ll also hear:
Why Carrie chose to go from the hustle and bustle of working in a “big law” firm to being in-house legal counsel at a Fortune 1000 tech firm (which wasn’t at all in her career plan).
What Carrie does that makes her excel in the customer service department – and why lawyers might be the best people to emulate if you want to keep your own customers happy.
Why growing your career in corporate law looks different now than it did in the past.
Why the legal field still excites Carrie each day.
The typical day in the life of a corporate lawyer – and how it is not so “typical” in terms of the types of projects she actually works on.
Carrie’s secret to success – and why everyone should follow her lead, lawyer or not.
Carrie’s hidden talent and how she uses it as a stress outlet.
TUNE IN NOW
In case you missed it…
Catch up on past episodes of Women Who Wow now:
Julie Johnson
Julie Johnson has been a global technology business leader for almost 30 years, creating growth and value in product lines and new market segments for the consumer electronics, enterprise, and Fintech/payment markets. She has combined an awareness of customer needs and technology proficiency with passion and recognized leadership, delivering growth in highly competitive markets.
Currently, as Vice President & General Manager of Zebra Technologies’ $2.1B Mobile Computing business, Julie creates and delivers Android and Windows hardware, software, and cloud-based SaaS solutions to retail, field mobility, warehouse, healthcare, and government channels globally, providing visibility and intelligent collaboration across enterprise employees. She is developing robotics automation, computer vision and augmented reality solutions for warehouse, retail, and field mobility customers.
Julie has a successful track record of creating innovative product solutions that meet customer needs, prevailing over tough competitors. As Corporate Vice President of Product Management at Google, she led the Droid Android mobile phone product line, winning exclusive, volume-based contracts with Verizon Wireless to provide their entire Droid product line, competing against leading Asian competitors. As Corporate Vice President of Product Management at Lenovo, Julie owned a global P&L of up to $5B, surpassing Samsung’s market share in South America, launching a new line of devices to meet market needs and launching the first device with an unbreakable display, winning top smartphone in 2012 Consumer’s Report. Julie spent 9 years of her career at Motorola in manufacturing operations, running factories in a fast-growth, rapidly changing technology environment, understanding the need to vastly lower operating costs while maintaining flexibility and investing for future enablers.
As Director, Julie currently serves on the board of Lumentum (NASDAQ: LITE), a global leader in optical communications and 3D sensing for facial recognition, and Superconductor Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCON), a technology leader in the provision of high temperature superconducting materials and related technologies. Julie’s strategic insight, experience in global product, technology, and commercialization, and pragmatic execution skills have had positive impact in Lumentum’s development of their 3D sensing market and the development of STI’s superconducting wire business to date.
Her distinctive expertise is in market segment expansion and product line growth, helping companies develop market strategies, create product solution roadmaps, and prioritize M&A vs. organic investments. Having worked in every global market, she understands the financial conflict between differing market needs and diverse product lines. She is a passionate, collaborative team player who strives to create value.
Julie earned a Master of Science in Business Administration degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Science Degree in Materials Science & Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has a Bachelor degree in Math and Physics from Albion College.
