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Before a single Papermate InkJoy gel pen meets a page, it goes through about 28 molding presses at a manufacturing plant in Mexico. Each piece inside the pen, invisible to the average consumer, is meticulously crafted and tested in a plant that employs up to 3,000 people.
To Beth LeBrun ‘10, M.S. ‘13, the plant is one step in a delicate supply chain that everyday products move through. As an engineer working for Newell Brands, a consumer goods company known for making Rubbermaid, Sharpie, and other products found in stores around the world, LeBrun has overseen the manufacture of writing products both at home and abroad.
In 2013, she was part of Newell Brands’ rotational supply chain program, which assigns engineers and other employees to various company plants. One of her first rotations was in Mexico, where she was assigned to Newell Brands’ Mexicali warehouse and learned about the company’s writing products. There was just one problem when she started: she didn’t speak Spanish fluently.
“Nobody in the warehouse spoke English either,” she said. “I had basic Spanish from school but that doesn't really help you at work, so I had a rough first six months.”
But the warehouse was also a useful classroom. By the time LeBrun finished her year-long Mexico rotation and was on to a new assignment in the United States, she was bilingual, living as an expatriate, even accustomed to crossing the US-Mexico border. After being transferred back to the U.S. for a few years, she returned Mexicali in 2019—this time as Manager of the Continuous Improvement Department. She was responsible for implementing what she calls “Newell’s homegrown system,” first by translating it into Spanish and then bringing the plant operators, engineers, and other team members up to speed.
But in the wake of Covid-19 and a national spotlight on the US-Mexico border, it was a fraught time to work in global manufacturing. There were supply chain disruptions and concerns about access to raw materials and production equipment. At one point, the Mexico facility even shut down for a month.When the president declared a state of emergency at the southern border, effectively closing it, LeBrun, who wasn’t a permanent resident of Mexico had to pack up and leave for eight months.
“I actually had to leave my home [in Mexico] and I did not have a residence in the United States. So, I put whatever fit in my little two-door car and I crossed the border and stayed with different friends.”
When she returned to Mexico, she stayed for another three years.
“I always say [Mexico] is my home in Newell. That’s where I learned to grow up and about the products. It has allowed me to be very successful, having that knowledge of different cultures.”
Since working in Mexico, LeBrun has advanced to manager of Newell Brands’ Liquid Manufacturing and Technology Center in Tennessee, overseeing the production of ink for Papermate pens. She’s one of four female plant managers in the country and attributes her success, in part, to constantly learning and moving.
“Once I am too comfortable I get bored,” she said, adding that she’s never been in a role for more than four years. As a plant manager, LeBrun says each day comes with different challenges and she never knows what she’s going to walk into—and she embraces the unexpected.
“I come in with a lot of energy every day, whether people like it or not,” she laughed.
March 27, 2025
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