Employee Profile: Victoriah


When Diane Copek, founder of Aldez, began in automotive manufacturing in the early 1980s, there were very few women in management positions. Today, Aldez boasts several women in management positions, a fact that makes Diane proud.

Today, you’ll meet Victoriah, a group leader at the plant in Princeton, Indiana and hear more about her experience working at Aldez.

Victoriah was born into a military family.  Her father was in the Marine Corps for 27 years, meaning that she moved around a lot.  She began her early career in the hospitality industry, first as a server and eventually moved into management in the restaurant industry.

A year and a half ago, Victoriah moved to Indiana and realized that her new location meant that she might have to rethink her career, as there were few local restaurants nearby.  During online job searching, she came across an ad for Aldez and thought it would be interesting to look into.

She knew immediately, once she engaged with the Aldez team, that this was a company worth looking onto. “The human resources team was so responsive and on top of their stuff that I was impressed right away.  And the more people I got to know during the interview process, the more exited I got,” shares Victoriah. “I was nervous because I didn’t have prior experience in automotive, but the HR team made sure that they got to know everything about me – everything from my hobbies to my philosophies around managing people – that could translate to a career. I knew going in that automotive is a male-dominated industry, but that didn’t stop me because I am a driven person and I like to prove I can do it.”

Victoriah started at Aldez last year and was set up for success by the HR team. “I started in the warehouse for training, so I could get my forklift and tugger certification right way,” Victoriah explains. Her early days at Aldez were met with lots of friendly faces. Right away she was made to feel welcome by other employees as well as the management team. “Our General Manager and even our Vice President approached me to say hello and asked about my life and family,” Victoriah recalls.  “I really hadn’t experienced such a genuine interest in my life before in my career.” 

Over time, Victoriah grew from her individual contributor role into a team lead role until, recently, she put in for a promotion for an open group leader position. She was thankful for the genuine support shown by the team when she got the promotion.

Victoriah credits her experience in restaurant management and her schooling in nursing and psychology as a contributor to her management style. “When others tell me that they witness the team members building each other up, I’m convinced what I’m doing is positively affecting others,” she shares.  “I’m a people person and I think building people up is the best thing you can do to help employee morale and keep them happy and motivated.”  

Her approach to management is right in line with Aldez values and, thus, Victoriah has found that she gets a ton of support from people who work around her. The great Aldez culture is part of the reason she wants to get the word out about the company. “I want people to know that growth opportunity is available at Aldez for all,” Victoriah shares. “My devotion to this company, wanting to help it grow, it’s all because I love this company and seeing it grow the way it has – I want to be a part of that!’

Victoriah is proud that the founder and CEO of Aldez is a woman. “I think it’s amazing that our CEO is a woman. She’s driven and devoted and I look forward to getting the chance to meet her.”