Renee DeMay

How I’d Explain My Job to a Kindergartener

Think of our company like your classroom: Each day I try to point out the good things to make our class and students better and identify scary things so we can avoid them.

What I Actually Do

As the chief of staff, I serve as a senior adviser and business partner to our CEO Ajei Gopal and the other executives. I partner with the senior leaders to solve critical business issues, which enables us to work most effectively with stakeholders inside and outside of Ansys. I’m also passionate about our customers’ success, so I work closely with our SVP of Sales, Marketing and Customer Excellence Rick Mahoney and his team where I can utilize my previous experience and my current role to help meet their needs. For example, I serve as an executive sponsor for our enterprise customer Pratt & Whitney and for select Elite Channel Partners.

My Career Journey

I have been at Ansys for over 7 years. I have a degree in business logistics from Penn State University, so my background is really about getting the right product to the right place at the right time. I started my career in supply chain optimization, where I was involved in deploying enterprise resource planning systems. This experience led me to changing career paths and moving to consulting. Prior to joining Ansys, I spent 14 years in senior management roles across different geographies and industries within consulting, training, and professional services operations at PTC and IBM. 

Why I Choose Ansys

When I first heard about the opportunity at Ansys, I was excited to learn that it was a new role where I could have impact within a market-leading company. Our growth in the time I’ve been here has kept my job challenging and interesting. It is never dull. I’m excited to see what the future holds for Ansys, and I’m grateful to be a part of our journey. 

My Best Advice

Throughout my career, instead of asking myself “why,” I challenge myself to ask, “why not?” You don’t always know the good things that can come out of an opportunity. So, make the most out of every opportunity, build as many relationships as you can, and get involved. We have fantastic team members all over the world that have so much knowledge and can bring you such different, rich experiences both personally and professionally.

Getting Involved

As a company, I think we benefit from the diversity of voices. If we truly want to live out our values, we need to be inclusive, challenge ourselves to understand different perspectives, and respect what each other brings to the table. 

For this reason, I enjoy participating in the employee resource groups (ERGs) we have here at Ansys. I am the executive sponsor of our Ansys Pride Alliance ERG, and I have furthered my support by joining the board of Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM), which is a non-profit organization that supports LGBTQ+ people in the STEM community. 

What You Might Not Know

I am a huge National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) wrestling fan. My alma mater has a great team, and I’ve spent many weekends watching my nephews wrestle. We have season tickets at Penn State, and I’ve been to the national tournament several times. I believe it’s an amazing individual and team sport that takes incredible dedication and sacrifice to win for yourself and meet the needed contribution to the overall team.