Wendy Buxton's journey to an executive position may not have taken very long, but it's certainly impressive.
 
Wendy spent most of childhood and teenage years in the Tulsa area before enrolling at Oklahoma State University, where she earned a degree in Management Information Systems in 1995. Although her passion had always been in technology, an internship led to a position as a marketing analyst with Bullseye Database Marketing in downtown Tulsa.  

Having gained some real-world experience, Wendy followed her degree path and took a programming position at Commercial Financial Services. She was later promoted to Manager of Information Technology. After working with Commercial for nearly six years, Wendy accepted the Director of Information Technology position with TV Guide, a position she held for several years before moving into the Chief Information Officer role at LynnCo Supply Chain Solutions, a global company that helps clients move product more efficiently from order to delivery.
 
"I've always been interested in technology," Wendy said. "Moving to LynnCo allowed me to bridge the gap between IT and systems with the business application."
 
Wendy has been with LynnCo since 2002. In 2004, she became the company's President. 
 
She admits that her career choice and industry are traditionally male-dominated, something she's continuously reminded of in every day business.
 
"You don't see a lot of female executives in the logistics and supply chain industry," Wendy said. "I walk into a meeting and everyone kind of sits back like 'ok, what is she possibly going to tell me?' Usually within five minutes everyone sits back up to the table and has a very engaging conversation."
 
Wendy says she's found that being a woman hasn't hurt her as much as it's helped her. She attributes this to learning how to read people, and not having a know-it-all attitude.
 
"If you walk in with a 'help me understand how you're struggling' attitude, you tend to engage people more and earn their confidence," Wendy said.
 
When she was approached three years ago about joining an EWF International Executive Forum, she was intrigued with the possibility of connecting on a more personal level with other executives.
 
"I went to the first meeting and thought 'wow, this is great!'" she said. "It's been a really good experience."
 
Wendy is the youngest member of her Forum and she felt some trepidation about participating in the group. With a 4- and a 10-year-old, she says she's in a different place in her life than some of the other members, whose children are preparing to go to college. Her company, she says, is also much smaller than her fellow Forum members'; but no matter what stage of life or business, everyone benefits from the monthly Forum meetings.
 
"I really like that first of all, there's the reassurance that no matter what size company you're in, you still handle the same problems the same way," Wendy said. "But it's good to hear how they handle it in a big company environment. I can scale that to use in my company."
 
"I told my group that every time I take notes from the case studies that I present, I take those notes and they stay on the corner of my desk," she said. "I am constantly going back and looking at the words of encouragement that remind me to trust myself and to not be fearful."
 
"Operate in the absence of fear," she said. "That's the backbone of success."