Meet Elizabeth White: Men and Women Building North America Series

While some careers start with a clear plan, others take shape through a series of pivots and unexpected opportunities. For Elizabeth White, the start of her career was a bit of both.

Growing up in Atlanta, where her entire family still lives within a few miles of each other, Elizabeth didn’t originally picture herself working in this industry. She studied at the University of Georgia’s School of Agriculture, leaning toward sustainability and environmental work. At the time, like many students, she was trying to figure out where that interest would actually lead.

Her first connection to Kloeckner came during that search.

“I applied for an internship with Kloeckner’s sustainability team and made it pretty far in the process,” she recalls. “It didn’t end up working out at the time, but I had enjoyed the people I met along the way.”

She instead spent that summer with a different company in an environmental role, focused more on compliance. Although it wasn’t exactly what she had planned, it turned out to be the experience that set her path back to Kloeckner in motion.

By the following year, when another opportunity opened up with Kloeckner, this time under the environmental, health, and safety team, Elizabeth was ready.

That second chance looked different.

Because of her earlier connection, she was able to step into the process quickly. More importantly, she found that the internship itself wasn’t focused on short-term support or busy work. It was structured to give her a foundation for the role she now holds full-time.

“A lot of the internship was really just learning,” she says. “Understanding regulations, tracking data, working with different teams. It was a way to build toward something bigger.”

That “something bigger” became clear by the end of the summer as Elizabeth decided to come on board full time.

Learning a New Industry

When Elizabeth first thought about what working in metals would look like, she wasn’t sure what her role would entail.

“I didn’t really know what to expect,” she says. “You hear ‘steel’ or ‘manufacturing,’ and you don’t really think about what that actually means day to day.”

Her role as an Environmental Coordinator is based out of Kloeckner’s Corporate office, but it rarely keeps her in one place. She travels to sites across the network, working with operations teams, maintenance staff, engineers, and regional safety leaders. That mix of environments quickly became one of her favorite parts of the job.

“Going to the sites is honestly my favorite,” she says. “Everyone is so genuine and hardworking.”

It also gave her a new perspective on the industry itself.

“You don’t really think about how much manufacturing and materials are behind everything,” she explains. “But once you see it, you realize it’s a part of almost everything we use.”

The Reality of the Role

Today, Elizabeth’s work sits at the intersection of growth and responsibility. As Kloeckner continues expanding further into higher value-added services, the environmental side of the business becomes more complex. Her day-to-day work reflects that.

“A lot of what I do is around permitting, especially air permits,” she explains. “There’s a lot that goes into understanding what type of permit a site needs and making sure everything is documented correctly.”

That includes coordinating across multiple teams, managing timelines, and keeping track of requirements that vary by state and facility.

“It’s a lot of coordination,” she says. “You’re working with operations, engineering, consultants… and every site can be completely different. But working with so many people has been one of the most valuable parts, learning how to work with different groups and navigate that.”

Outside of Work

When Elizabeth isn’t traveling or coordinating projects, she spends a lot of time outdoors. She also plays tennis and pickleball, something she’s done for years with her family.

And then there’s Emmy, her chocolate lab, who takes up a good portion of her free time.

“She keeps me busy,” Elizabeth laughs. “A lot of my time outside of work revolves around her.”

She still makes time for quieter hobbies, too. She’s a big reader, especially fantasy novels, and likes hands-on, creative things like knitting or working on puzzles. In college, she even worked at a bonsai nursery, learning how to shape and care for the complex trees.

Looking Ahead

As most can relate, Elizabeth’s path into Kloeckner wasn’t perfectly paved. It involved a change in direction and the ability to say yes to a new and unknown opportunity.

She represents a new generation of employees stepping into an industry that many people don’t fully understand, bringing a fresh perspective while learning the complexity that keeps this industry running.

In less than a year, she’s already moved from learning the basics to helping manage them across North America. Not bad for someone who, not long ago, wasn’t even sure what working in metals would look like.