“Raise your hand, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable.” That’s Maureen Knott ’84’s advice to new students at Farmingdale State College (FSC) or recent graduates. After all, that’s how she got to where she is today. Now a Vice President of the Omnichannel Customer Marketing Team at Henry Schein Inc., a worldwide distributor of dental and medical supplies and equipment, Knott is passionate about mentoring young professionals and giving back to the Long Island community. And she credits nearly everything she’s done in her career to the foundation she built at FSC.
"It’s nearly unheard of for someone to work at the same company for 35 years, but, well, here I am," said Knott, who earned an associate degree in Secretarial Sciences and is now among the senior leaders in the firm. "I have Farmingdale to thank. What I learned there – organization, diligent note taking, following up – seem like skills most people in business should have, but I know they don’t. My work ethic and my willingness to try new things are also a connecting theme in my story."
When Knott started at Henry Schein, it was a privately-held company with fewer than 200 employees. Now it is a public company with more than 19,000 workers. "They saw something in me I couldn’t yet recognize in myself. I’ve taken chances."
Chances are necessary because failure is essential to learning, Knott added. Henry Schein has donated more than $2 million to cancer organizations over the last two decades through a program Knott started. "But the first year, it was a miserable flop. I took on something new and it bombed. I went back and asked my colleagues, customers, and salespeople what I got wrong, and they told me. I took that all in, made changes, and involved others. That’s when it became successful. So be very open minded and make connections."
Even though she was limited to attending colleges on Long Island, FSC was never a compromise, Knott continued. "My parents were blue collar people, and I was the first in my family to go to college. We didn’t have the resources for me to go away to school. I remember visiting campus and thinking 'I could really see myself here.' I had that feeling in my stomach, the one you get when you just know. I just loved the vibe. It was the perfect fit for me."
Besides the career preparation, what Knott values most from her FSC experience are the friendships she developed. "My fellow students (in the Secretarial Sciences program)– almost all women – and I shared a central thread in that we were all from Long Island. When I stepped on campus, I didn’t know anyone. No one from my high school went to Farmingdale. But to this day, I have friends that I talk to regularly whom I met on campus. They’ve been with me through everything."
And Knott has never forgotten the value of raising your hand. "Don’t be afraid of taking that first step," she counseled. "Be a sponge. Find mentors. I know I have been fortunate in my career, but I’ve also worked very hard. So put in the time. Don’t expect it to be easy. But know it will be worth it. "