Meet Cassandra Cummings

We recently connected with Cassandra Cummings and have shared our conversation below.

Cassandra, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

Confidence and self-esteem can be difficult to build and maintain for anyone. I think as human beings, we all have doubts and insecurities on many topics. Throughout my life, I’ve learned that confidence and self-esteem can only be built by having the courage to put yourself and your ideas out there to be seen by others. I had a math teacher once in high school that terrified all the kids because he was so strict. He always stressed that he wanted us to ask questions and that there are no stupid questions. So one day, despite being scared, I asked my stupid question. Turns out more than half the class had the same question and in a short period of time, I earned the respect of that teacher and the other students. I still talk with that teacher to this day, 20 years later.

I really believe that just having the courage to ask questions, listen, learn, and converse with others is how anyone can build confidence and self-esteem. I’ve been applying that principle ever since in my life. In college, I was 1 of two women my class of 500 people in the electrical engineering department. It was daunting at first to often be the only girl in a class of 50 guys. The first few days, you always heard the “oh, the literature class is down the hall” line as if I was lost and couldn’t possibly be in the right classroom. A few days of listening to me ask questions and hearing my answers and no one doubted my place there. I had earned their respect by knowing enough about the topics at hand to offer intelligent conversation. I didn’t have to be perfect in my knowledge either. In speaking up and putting myself out there, I proved to myself and to others that I belonged in those rooms and conversations which in turn increased my confidence and self-esteem.

The same happened at my job at Lockheed Martin SkunkWorks as the only woman on my team there. As they say, practice makes perfect. I did my homework on the subjects required for my job and continued to let my voice be heard when I had something of value to add to a conversation or project. Even if my suggestions weren’t always taken, I know I increasingly earned my team’s respect as they’d value my input more and more on topics. Once again, building confidence in myself and my team.

Now that I run my father’s electronics design and manufacturing company, Thomas Instrumentation, I still follow the same principles. I still share my ideas and strategies with other trusted advisors to help raise all of our confidences in the work. From what I can tell, confidence and self-esteem comes from being both courageous and vulnerable enough to let others judge you. For some reason, we all seem stuck on how awful that could be rather than imagining how good it might be. I encourage others to take the leap of asking the stupid questions and putting their genuine self out there more. Not every interaction will be ideal, but you will grow as a person and develop into a much more confident and likely happier person.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m the CEO and lead Electrical Engineer at Thomas Instrumentation Inc. which specializes in electronics design, embedded software development, and electronics manufacturing services. My father founded this business over 50 years ago to make the development of specialized electronic systems easy for anyone. His work and ability to help so many people develop interesting new devices always felt like magic to me as a kid. I grew up in this business, learning how to solder, count parts, and even read schematics from a young age. When I graduated from Virginia Tech in 2008 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a 2nd Major in Computer Engineering, I became the 3rd generation of electrical engineers in our family. My grandfather had worked for RCA, helping to develop the first color televisions and more sophisticated radio broadcasting technologies. We’re a family that loves to create products and jobs that improve the lives of everyday people.

It’s why I’m passionate about our family business, Thomas Instrumentation. The employees here are family to me and I really believe in my family’s passion to create quality products for everyone. I even walked away from a prestigious career at Lockheed Martin SkunkWorks to come run the family business. It’s fun and rewarding to be a part of making Fisher-Price toys that kids open Christmas morning or wildlife trackers for biologists to study endangered species or laboratory equipment for biologic medicines that improve lives. We just never know what might walk through our doors or who it might help next.

I take pride in building long-lasting relationships with companies of all industries through our commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction. My goal is to continue offering turnkey solutions that support the entire product lifecycle—from concept and design to manufacturing and repairs for another 50 years.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Courage, honesty, and research. I’m not sure there’s a way to develop courage other than just taking the leap into something you’re struggling with. Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s just doing the thing you’re afraid of despite the fear. In my case I needed courage to speak up in groups of intelligent people or courage to make a hard decision. For honesty, it’s really pretty easy. I find it best to always tell the truth and even admit when you don’t have an answer for something. People respect honesty and genuineness much more than people often think. By research, I just mean to do your homework on whatever task you have in front of you. Take the time to make sure you know your subject matter before making decisions or plowing forward in life. It’s best to take some time to make thoughtful movements forward.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

We’re always in search of the next new project or customer to assist. Our customers can be anything from a startup to large corporations, but we find the best fit are folks interested in high reliability, high quality products. Our customers tend to be original equipment manufacturers who want precision devices for laboratory or industrial markets where these device can’t fail. You can start with us wherever you are in your project. If you have just a concept, then we can design it for you. If you already have a PCB and need it manufactured, then we can just manufacture. We’re here to make life easier for you. To get in touch, you can fill out a form on the website www.tiweb.net or email us at [email protected].

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tiweb.net
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandra-gluyas/