Even before becoming Indiana’s 62nd Secretary of State this March, Holli Sullivan was a leader. After receiving her B.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia, she became superintendent of the paint department at General Motors where she managed over 100 staff members.
Before diving into politics, Sullivan moved on to other positions, including working as a consultant at USI’s Center for Applied Research and becoming the small business owner of Onward Consulting, that allowed her to further hone her leadership skills.
With over a decade of experience in leadership, Sullivan moved into the political realm. Within the Indiana House of Representatives, she served as the chair for both the budget subcommittee of the House Ways & Means Committee and for the House Roads & Transportation Committee. From former titles such as state representative and vice chair of the Indiana Republican Party to her current title as Secretary of State, she has striven to put her stamp on Indiana communities.
Sullivan lives in Evansville with her husband, Chad, and their three children.
Leadership Life | Secretary of State Holli Sullivan | Keeping a positive outlook
Sullivan and GreatNews.Life Executive Director Jenny Craig-Brown discuss Sullivan’s upbringing, early work experiences, and how to keep a positive outlook.
After following in her father’s footsteps and receiving her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, she worked at General Motors and Toyota North America where she was pleased to discover a diverse workforce. She feels that more women should be open to careers and positions traditionally held by men as having a diverse table of voices is key to implementing new policies and preparing the next generation of leaders.
“If there is no seat, just bring your own chair.”
Having worked in public service for the past eight years, Sullivan said it has been crucial to have an anchor and maintain a balance in order to keep a positive outlook. She shared that her faith is her anchor and that the commitment and sacrifice of her family gives her the balance she needs to be a successful public servant.
Leadership Life | Secretary of State Holli Sullivan | Importance of voter safety and confidence
Within the first week of taking office, Sullivan conducted a research project to find out how Indiana voters in each county felt about the election process. She shared that there was great election interaction in 2020 with the highest voter turnout in Indiana since 1992.
“It’s great to see the momentum around those numbers during a pandemic when people were deciding to come to the polls.”
She wants to grow that momentum from 2020 and believes educating voters on how the voting equipment secures their vote.
Leadership Life | Secretary of State Holli Sullivan | Working in female leadership and encouraging other women
With her past experience in the engineering field and seeing the disparity in numbers between men and women, Sullivan is passionate about increasing and encouraging female leadership.
“Our state deserves it. Our state is 52% population female, and we truly need somebody that can think through the future of that next generation of leaders.”
When she was a state legislator for eight years during her time as a state representative, she had a legislative assistant every year. Seven of the eight legislative assistants were young women, and Sullivan still keeps in touch with them. She even brought her latest legislative assistant with her to her Secretary of State office where she runs her campaign statewide.
“If I can climb a mountain just so they can see the next view that I was never able to see, that’s what it’s all about.”
Leadership Life | Secretary of State Holli Sullivan | Encouraging women to embrace financial literacy
After seeing that women in Indiana ranked very low in financial literacy, Sullivan did research to discover why. She learned that women tackle financial decisions differently and men tend to take more risks in investing their money than women do.
She is working to assemble a statewide strategic plan with financial partners across the state to give women a better educational foundation in finance to help them make them make strong financial decisions as they come along.
Leadership Life | Secretary of State Holli Sullivan | Speed round of questions
Ending their conversation on a fun note, Craig-Brown asked Sullivan a speed round of questions from superpower preferences to who she would most like to talk to living or dead.
To view more installments in the Leadership Life Series, click here.