Wanda Headley Shows What Strength Looks Like Now

The silver lining in any time of upheaval is always the people.

Markets may roil. Forecasts may fumble. Trade policy might rewrite what we thought we knew about global supply chains, pricing, and risk. And yet, in the middle of that storm, you find people like Wanda Headley: clear-eyed, consistent, courageous, and committed.

Later this month, Wanda — Supply Chain Planning & Fulfillment Manager at LP Hayward — will travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in a two-day leadership training program designed to empower women in manufacturing. There, she’ll be recognized at the Women MAKE Awards Gala on April 24 by the Manufacturing Institute as one of its 2025 honorees.

Wanda is not the sort of leader who chases a spotlight. She is a worker among workers whose power comes not from titles or stagecraft but from showing up, stepping up, and staying steady through four decades of change at LP.

A Career Measured in Resolve and Relationships

Wanda started at LP in December 1984 as an administrative assistant at what was then the company’s Northern Regional Office in Hayward, Wisconsin. She moved to the mill a year later and never looked back. She’s done nearly every job in the building: shipping clerk, shipping manager, finishing supervisor, mill planner. Today, she leads supply chain planning and fulfillment for the Hayward plant.

And with each new role, Wanda proved something quietly powerful: when someone works with courage, clarity, and competence, people notice. Opportunities open. Systems change.

I fought hard to get that first leadership role,” she says of being named shipping manager early in her career. “There were no women in leadership at the mill then. But I believed I could do the job. And I got it.”

Innovation Starts With People

Wanda played a central role in LP’s companywide adoption of SAP, becoming a super user and trainer for mill team members across North America. From day one, she treated the rollout not just as a software transition, but as a shared opportunity to learn, grow, and perform better together.

I saw it as a challenge and a chance to make a difference,” she says. “I was trained by the original consultants and got to help shape how we use SAP. Then I took that knowledge on the road, traveling to other LP mills to help others get started.”

She doesn’t need to brag about results. They speak for themselves. Wanda’s leadership helped drive visible improvements in production quality and efficiency—not just at Hayward, but at every LP facility she touched. Her work also smoothed the path for new product development initiatives, often piloted in Hayward before scaling across the company.

Mentorship Is a Form of Leadership

With retirement on the horizon—she steps down at the end of April—Wanda is focused on setting up the next generation for success. She’s training her successor, Molly Berger, a previous Women MAKE Award winner herself.

The door is wide open now for anyone who has enthusiasm and drive,” Wanda says. “I was lucky to find something I loved. If you find that passion, and you give it your best, you’ll go far. LP has been a place where that’s possible.”

She’s seen the change firsthand.

When I started, there were no women in management. Now, we’ve got women department heads here in Hayward and throughout the company. It’s encouraging, and it shows what’s possible.”

The Kind of Strength That Lasts

This is not a story about a grand exit or a sweeping legacy. Wanda Headley would never frame it that way. But ask around LP Hayward, and you’ll hear about her steady presence, problem-solving mindset, and how people feel when she believes in them.

At a moment when the homebuilding economy is in limbo — held hostage by unpredictable trade policy, volatile costs, and wavering consumer confidence — it’s easy to get lost in the noise.

But then you remember Wanda. And countless people like her. The ones who keep showing up. The ones who make the tools work, pass along the knowledge, and don’t ask for attention but get things done because they care about doing it right.

Wanda Headley’s 40-year run at LP reminds us that resilience isn’t a policy, a playbook, or a press release. It’s a person. It’s people. It’s a choice — to keep doing the work, even when it’s hard, even when no one is watching, even when the world feels uncertain.

We celebrate Wanda today not because she represents the past. We celebrate her because she shows us what the future needs to look like. One person at a time. One good decision after another. With integrity, humility, and heart.

Let’s hear it for the people who are still making that choice. Let’s hear it for Wanda.