Kayleen’s favorite childhood memories took place in the parking lot outside Building W7 at Textron Aviation, where her mom worked second shift. About 20 years later, Kayleen would find herself badging into that same building as an HR business partner.

Kayleen and her two siblings would pile into their dad’s truck, stop at McDonald’s for her mom’s favorite Filet-O-Fish and head to W7. There, they’d sit on the flatbed of the truck and share dinner with their mom during her lunch break.

GROWING UP AT TEXTRON INSPIRED HER CAREER

Her mom immigrated from Vietnam in 1991 and, in the early 2000s, found her way to Textron Aviation. Cessna gave her the opportunity to build a fulfilling career without a college degree. Over the years, she has helped manufacture everything from aircraft wings and fuselage structures to avionics doors and other components, while sharing her experience with new employees and helping them develop their skills.

“I saw firsthand what Textron meant to our family,” Kayleen said. “The company provided stability and opportunity, and it gave my mom the ability to build a life for our family.”

Kayleen grew up watching her mom work hard and take pride in what she did. As she grew older, she came to appreciate the sacrifices behind those long shifts and the opportunities they made possible for her and her siblings.

THE INTERNSHIP HER MOM TOLD HER ABOUT AT 16

Kayleen was 16 when her mom came home from work and told her about a high school summer internship program Textron Aviation was launching.

“She told me I should consider applying,” Kayleen said. “Likely so I wouldn’t spend my entire summer lounging around the house.”

She liked photography and video editing, so she applied for the marketing position. She got it. That summer, she got her first real look at what Textron could offer. She continued as an intern and co-op throughout college across product marketing, talent development, internal communications and community relations.

During her first internship, a marketing director told her something that would prove true in ways she didn’t expect.

“Your career is a spider web, not a ladder,” Kayleen said. “Where you start is not where you end up.”

AN UNEXPECTED TURN TOWARD HUMAN RESOURCES

When she was offered an HR internship the summer after her junior year, Kayleen accepted hesitantly. She wasn’t convinced it was the right fit, but decided to give it a try.

“I quickly discovered that I enjoyed the people-centered nature of HR and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on employees’ experiences at work,” she said. “That unexpected internship was the experience that ultimately set me on the career path I’m on today.”

The experience changed her plans. She added Management and Leadership as a second undergraduate major and kept pursuing opportunities in human resources.

After graduating, she joined the Textron Leadership Development Program. Her first rotation took her to Bell in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where she supported talent management, employee resource groups and employee engagement initiatives. For her second rotation, she returned to Wichita as an HR business partner supporting bargaining-unit employees at Textron Aviation.

It was during the program that Kayleen began to picture a long-term future with Textron.

“While I had been connected to Textron Aviation for most of my life through my mom, it was when I joined the Textron Leadership Development Program that I truly began to envision a long-term career here,” she said.

COMING FULL CIRCLE AT BUILDING W7

When Kayleen learned she’d be working in the same building as her mom, she couldn’t help but laugh.

The building she’d visited as a little girl was now her workplace. Lunches with her mom became more frequent. Whenever Kayleen walked past her mom’s work area, longtime colleagues would stop her to chat, sharing memories of watching her grow up. They told her how proud her mom was and how much Kayleen had grown over the years.

CARRYING THE LEGACY FORWARD

In August 2026, Kayleen completed the Leadership Development Program and returned to Bell as an Employee Relations Specialist, supporting government audits, HR compliance initiatives and employee relations matters. She is also finishing her Master’s in Human Resource Management this fall.

Her career has taken her across businesses, cities and roles she never expected to explore when she applied for that first marketing internship at 16.

“To me, my hope in my career is the impact I have on another person’s employee experience,” she said. “If I can make a positive difference for an employee, even in a small way, that makes the work worthwhile to me.”

She is building a career of her own while carrying forward a family connection to Textron that began more than two decades ago.

“Watching her dedication and perseverance taught me the value of hard work and opened doors that ultimately led me to opportunities she never had access to herself,” Kayleen said.

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