In our next feature for the Women in Procurement campaign…
The Unexpected Procurement Pioneer: Melissa Waters' Journey
In the corporate world, career trajectories rarely follow a straight line. For Melissa Waters, procurement leader and operational strategist, an unexpected layoff became the catalyst for a decade-long journey of professional transformation.
When One Door Closes
"What started me on this journey with procurement was actually getting unexpectedly laid off from another role," Waters recalls. The abrupt career interruption could have been devastating, but her professional network quickly connected her with an opportunity at a regional waste management company.
What awaited her wasn't a sophisticated corporate procurement department but rather a scrappy team of four handling both procurement and fleet management. "I say 'procurement department' very loosely," she laughs. "It was very minimal in terms of procurement. We had some national accounts that we managed, but that role gave me a lot of foundational pieces."
Building from the Ground Up
This modest beginning provided Waters with something invaluable: comprehensive exposure to multiple facets of the business. Managing AP card programs, fuel cards, capital requests, and working directly with executives gave her insights that specialists in larger organizations might never experience.
"It gave me a much broader scope," Waters explains. "I think it built those foundational pieces to where now I can relate to all levels of the business. If I came into a company that was bigger, that already had established category managers and robust spend reporting, it would have been a different story."
Over the next decade, Waters helped transform that four-person team into a sophisticated procurement operation with 22 professionals as the company expanded across North America. This scaling experience provided her with a unique perspective on building systems that grow with an organization.
The Women Who Shaped Her Approach
When asked about her influences, Waters immediately identifies two women who fundamentally shaped her professional philosophy.
First, the iconic Betty White—"a passionate, dedicated little spitball of fire," as Waters affectionately describes her. "She took no nonsense from anybody. She came up in very difficult times, seeing everything from the Great Depression to multiple world wars to women finally getting the right to have a credit card or buy a house."
What Waters admires most is how White "continued to push change" with "grace and humor," refusing to accept limitations imposed by others.
The second influential figure was Waters' first female leader in procurement—a Canadian executive who managed their relationship primarily through virtual interactions. "Which speaks even more volumes to just how influential she was," Waters notes.
This mentor created what Waters describes as "psychological safe space" where she "valued me as an individual before the work." The result? Waters worked harder than ever, motivated not by fear but by genuine respect. "I never wanted her to be disappointed," she explains.
The Leadership Philosophy That Emerged
Through these experiences, Waters developed a nuanced understanding of effective leadership. She learned that technical expertise matters, but creating psychological safety and valuing people as individuals first creates stronger teams and better results.
Her career path demonstrates how unplanned detours and seemingly modest beginnings can develop into significant professional advantages. By experiencing procurement from the ground up in a growing organization, Waters gained versatility and perspective that specialists from more structured environments might lack.
Today, as she looks back on her journey from a team of four to leading sophisticated procurement operations, Waters embodies a leadership approach that combines technical excellence with human connection—proving that sometimes the most unexpected career paths lead to the most meaningful destinations.