Continental Who's Who

Thursday, Mar 28th

Last updateMon, 30 Nov 2020 9pm

Amy Stoodt

Amy Stoodt is recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Pinnacle Lifetime Member in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of Oil and Gas through her career in the industry and her consulting.

 Stoodt did not start out her career path with the intention of joining the oil and gas industry — but rather, a teacher or a coach, as she was inspired by the leaders and educators who surrounded her in high school.

A sports injury in 1990 changed her career path — but Stoodt took her experience and interest in the computer science field and made it into her passion. She took her first job in the oil and gas industry in the control room at Marathon Pipeline following her graduation from Defiance College. While working at Marathon, she completed her Master of Business Administration degree at Tiffin University.

“The control room was recruiting candidates with technical degrees,” Stoodt said. “Marathon is a good company and was a great place to utilize my education and learn about the industry. I fell in love with oil and gas there.”

Stoodt learned a great deal from her experiences at Marathon — and was able to broaden her depth of knowledge through positions in operations and maintenance, business development, project and construction management and auditing, as well as managing the development of a new production field.

“In the industry, there are a lot of front-line field technicians,” Stoodt explained. “They operate and maintain the assets. They were so willing to share their knowledge and were so proud of what they did. I was able to leverage what they taught me and add value, and I learned a lot from how they approached their careers.”

As she moved through the professional ranks of the oil and gas field, Stoodt faced a number of challenges that came as a result of working as a woman in a typically male-dominated field.

“It is a challenge to be a woman in management, in a technical area in this industry,” she said. “There are many times when I’m the only woman in a room full of men.

But I’ve been proud to do what I’ve done, especially as a professional woman. I’ve truly had a passion for the industry, and I have a background that’s very unique. “

Stoodt left the control room, able to succeed in many different roles with Marathon. She took opportunities to further broaden her knowledge, skills and experience with Willbros Engineering, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, Williams Midstream and LOOP, LLC before starting her own consulting company, Lean-To Consulting, LLC.

“There are a number of people who don’t understand the industry — or understand what a consultant in this industry does,” Stoodt said. The team at Lean-To Consulting offers over 125 years of combined field experience in the oil and gas industry. Additionally, they are able to serve engineering clients, general energy clients, information technology clients, non-profits and nearly any company wishing to seek process improvement and become more operationally excellent.

“My team includes an expert in management consulting and facilitation, an operations SME, a civil engineer, an excellent technical writer, a construction manager, a project manager who comes with a heavy focus on construction, a project controls expert with heavy experience in estimating and construction, and a Safety SME and training SME,” Stoodt said.

Each of the staff members of Lean-To Consulting were specifically selected to complement Stoodt’s abilities and allow the firm to offer several different industry services. The company educates the public about a variety of subjects, including the safety concerns related to drilling for oil, pipelines and their functionality as well as their safety, fossil fuels and benefits other than gasoline that come from oil.

“The pipeline infrastructure in the United States is aging and in many cases undersized,” Stoodt said. “In order to transport the domestic crude being produced to the refining centers, new assets are required. The U.S. demand for petroleum products continues to grow, and many plants have been expanded in recent years to try to keep pace with this growth. Growing populations and growing needs will drive the requirement for additional plant and refining capacity.”

Stoodt, as well as her consulting firm, specialize in project management and operational excellence within the oil and gas field. She is highly passionate about teaching others Operational Excellence as well as the principals of Lean Six Sigma. “Operational Excellence and Six Sigma help an organization as well as operational leadership to build a culture where it’s all about problem solving and teamwork, so you’re doing things in the most efficient and effective way,” Stoodt explained. “With lean processes people aren’t getting stuck in silos, and you’re using tools to teach and cultivate operational excellence.”

As it applies to her field, Stoodt worked with teaching and utilizing operational excellence in previous roles. “The goal is for everyone in the company to look at how things can be done better and more efficiently. That is the foundation of transforming a company into being more ‘lean,’ or ‘operationally excellent,’” she said. “We know companies can make a profit when crude oil is $100 a barrel — but can they when it’s $55 or less?”

Within her capacity of the Principle of her company, Stoodt has written and implemented multitudes of operational excellence and process improvements strategies. She has developed tools and templates for project execution plans, stakeholder analysis, communication plans and managing scope change.

Stoodt’s project management philosophy indicates that project management is ultimately responsible for a company’s and an individual project’s successes and failures. “When a project manager ‘takes a project from cradle to grave,’ it means that the project manager is assigned the scope of work when the idea is nothing but a concept and moves it from ‘idea’ to ‘how do you get it done and then getting it done?’” she said. “The project manager is the ‘leader,’ the glue to push all of the ‘doers’ and decision makers forward.”

To further her professional development, Stoodt has been a member of several relevant professional organizations, including API for Pipeline Operators, the American Society for Testing and Materials, and the National Association of Professional Women. 

When not working, Stoodt enjoys photography — particularly nature related landscapes. She takes hikes to areas where she can capture nature’s best moments. Most recently she took a 12 day trip to western New York taking in nearly 100 water falls.

In looking to the future, Stoodt hopes to match her skills with companies where all involved can make a difference. “It will mean whatever it means — big projects, nonprofits, growing or not growing — it’s about opportunity more than financial gain or how big the company is,” she said. “The goal is to find the right opportunities. I’m kind of a workaholic, but that’s not the kind of legacy I want to leave. I want to affect the world in a positive way — whether that’s through my professional life, or the young people I try to mentor, or my personal life and volunteer hours.”

For more information, please visit: www.lean-toconsultingllc.com.

Contact Amy Stoodt directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 281-507-4046.