Small town, family support keys to Honda executive’s success
A goal-oriented drive toward pursuing her dreams, the strong support of her family and friends and the backing of her small town community in Bellefontaine are some of the important factors on a city resident’s non-traditional journey to executive management at Honda North America, she related this week.
Yvette Hunsicker currently serves in a dual role as the company’s vice president of the Office of Inclusion and Diversity and Human Resources, and is one of five women in an executive role in the region. She began her tenure at Honda on the production floor after she was hired in 1989 to work in the weld department of the Marysville Auto Plant.
When Hunsicker shares her story with youths at various manufacturing and leadership events, she receives the undivided attention of the students, who are eager to learn the details of how she worked her way up to her current role, said Mary Miller, Corporate Social Responsibility and Inclusion and Diversity communications assistant manager.
“She is so inspiring to others. Being a minority and a woman in a manufacturing environment in the 1980s presented some challenges; however, she worked hard and company leaders saw her potential.”
A 1987 Bellefontaine High School graduate, the daughter of Van and Marcia Johnson first attended Bowling Green State University for her freshman year of college, but said she quickly realized the financial burden that the college education was placing on her family.
After some careful decision-making, Hunsicker related that growing up in Logan County, she was well-versed in the opportunities afforded at the local Honda of America facilities.
“To get a job while also finishing my degree was my end goal,” she said. “Living in Bellefontaine, I knew that Honda promoted from within, and that’s why I wanted to apply there, looking at eventually working in human resources.
“My friends talked me through the decision to make sure leaving college life was really a good idea for me. Those friends from Bellefontaine are still my good friends to this day — I’m so grateful they’re in my life. ”
While working as a production associate at the Marysville Auto Plant, Hunsicker said she also enrolled at Clark State Community College to pursue their business track. She would later graduate with her bachelor’s degree in business management from Urbana University.
After working in Marysville’s weld department for approximately two years, she transferred to the Anna Engine Plant to work in assembly for about two years. Next, she would move to working in assembly at the East Liberty Plant for about 1 1/2 years, she said.
It was at that time during 1994 while working at the East Liberty facility that the city resident saw an internal job posting for the administrative team and she was eager to apply. She said she was pregnant with her son, Ryan Rogan, who was born in December that year, and working on the production floor was becoming tiresome as the pregnancy progressed.
While she was not selected for the first job she applied for, Hunsicker said she inquired with the hiring staff about “what can I do better?” Then she was informed that she was the second pick for that job and another similar opportunity was opening up.
Soon, the now-vice president was hired in August 1994 in the associate relations division of human resources.
“I liked helping others and assisting others,” she said, relating how well the position suited her passions. “For part of my job, I was tasked with policy administration. I approached it in a proactive way, so that associates understood policy before a violation occurred. I also was tasked with making sure their work needs were being met so that they could be successful.
“The lens that I bring to human resources is that manufacturing was my full-time job, it was never just a temporary assignment. I worked at three different plants at three different departments and can relate to our associates in that way. I’ve been in their shoes and we have a mutual respect.”
From her first administrative position, Hunsicker transferred into a role in the administrative department at the Marysville Auto Plant, working with each manufacturing department and externally with suppliers.
Then in 1999, Hunsicker and her son, Ryan, made a big move to Japan, where the Bellefontaine resident worked in expatriate administration at the Honda Motor Co. New Model Center. In this role, she founded The Buckeye Tutorial, an international program to support the educational needs of Honda expatriate children, grades K-12.
After a two-year stint overseas, Hunsicker and her family returned home, and she assumed a new role with the administration team at the Marysville Motorcycle Plant until that facility was closed.
Then she began roles in 2012 with the human resources division at the Anna Engine Plant, and in 2013, with Honda of America human resources division.
In April 2017, the now-mother-of-two was promoted to the position of assistant vice president of the Office of Inclusion and Diversity. Two years later, she assumed the additional responsibility of leading the Human Resources Division at Honda North America.
Through her career changes and advancements, Hunsicker credits her community and family with helping to provide a secure support system while she raised her son Ryan, now serving in the U.S. Army, stationed at Ft. Riley, Kansas, and as she continues to raise her daughter, Amari Hunsicker, 10, a Bellefontaine Intermediate School fourth-grader.
“It does take a village to raise a child, and I very intentionally wanted to live in Bellefontaine where I grew up,” she said. “I’m comfortable doing my job knowing that my family is well taken care of as well.”
She also makes it a priority to give back to her community, serving on the Hilliker Y’s human resources sub committee and also teaching fitness classes at the 300 Sloan Boulevard facility. It’s important for her impact individuals in the small town that raised her, she said.
“I grew up on the western side of Bellefontaine and attended Western School, which was definitely the most economically challenged of the schools here in town. During the summertime, we would always eat the meals and snacks that were made available with the free summer food program at the parks.
“I don’t know where I’d be without the people who helped to nourish and support me. I want to look out for all of the kids of our area, so that no matter where they live, they can succeed.”