Women mentors fuel Rachel Phillips’ career growth

Rachel Phillips is the deputy product lead for Foreign Military Sales – Army Case Execution System (FMS-ACES) at PEO EIS — a role she assumed in January 2023. Before joining FMS-ACES, which is part of the Defense Integrated Business Systems portfolio, Phillips was the operations lead for the Army Vantage program and Army Data Platform for over two years. Prior to that, she was a contractor supporting AESIP Hub, serving in many different roles since December 2005. She recently answered some questions about her life and career.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. I played softball (shortstop) and basketball player (point guard) for my middle school and high school teams. I also ran cross country. I graduated from Auburn University (War Eagle!!!) in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. I was offered an internship as an analyst at the Department of Labor. Three months into my internship, I was offered a permanent position, and I have been in the D.C. area ever since.

What made you decide to become an Army civilian?

By chance, I joined the Army contracting world in December 2005, working for the Product Lifecycle Management Plus (PLM+) program — now known as AESIP Hub.

I supported PLM+/AESIP Hub and Army Data and Analytics Platforms (ARDAP) through seven assumptions of charter. I worked my way up as an entry-level consultant until I found my happy place as a project manager supporting SAP Material Master implementations for AESIP Hub. Eventually, I realized I wanted to be on the other side and support the Army as a civilian, so I could bring my experience from industry and marry it with the foundational skills and knowledge I already had. In 2019, when Miranda Coleman took a chance on me to become her operations lead for Army Vantage, I was able to transition to federal government service.

What’s it like to work at a woman-led program office at PEO EIS?

Honestly, I was always afraid of working for women. I was worried about competition and the female rivalry you see in movies. I am grateful to not have had those experiences here. PEO EIS has brought nothing but an overwhelmingly positive environment where I have met so many diverse women who have each taught me something to keep in my little toolbox. I’ve have been lucky enough to have been surrounded by a workforce and supervisors — men and women included — who want to see me succeed.

Tell us about some of your interests and activities outside of the office.

My primary job is being a mom to my amazing two children. They keep me busy with everything from choir, cross country, golf, soccer, mixed martial arts and playdates. I have two dogs, Luna (Golden Retriever, age 12) and Bella (special needs English Bulldog, age 3) and a new rescue cat, Ringo (age 4). I love to cook for family and friends. I also love going hiking with my family on the weekends and exploring new trails around the National Capital Region. My parents have a couple hundred-acre farm, where we love visiting, going hunting and relaxing from technology.

Who are some women in leadership you admire and why?

I really admire so many women we have within our PEO EIS family, to include military, civilian and contractors. I can’t include all of them, but here are the ones who motivated me and inspired me more than they know:

Nancy Richardson is someone I deeply admire. Working with her when she became the product lead for AESIP Hub was such a breath of fresh air. How she walked through challenges and issues with such grace was inspiring. Working with Nancy made me look at the drive I bring to my work and how I could turn it into quiet, poise and confidence. She is a calming presence, and I could only hope to have her methodical and seemingly effortless approach to my day-to-day work.

Miranda Coleman. She is a fireball! She brought me into the civilian world and never doubted me for a second. She didn’t know me except through my interview and my reputation from AESIP Hub, but that was enough for her to allow me to build an operations team for Army Vantage. The way she attacked briefings and always went above and beyond for Army Vantage was amazing. She knew her Army acquisitions, and she could and would go head-to-head with anyone. She is just amazing and always gives 1000%.

Lt. Col. LJ Freeland, I could work with LJ every day until I retire. Working with her isn’t just fun — but rewarding. There isn’t anything she asks of you that she isn’t willing to do herself. She cares about her people, and I am grateful to have had the brief opportunity to work with her. LJ showed trust in me and allowed me to continue to do my job and provide her with recommendations as she worked to integrate AESIP Hub and Army Vantage into one Army Data Platform.

My current battle buddy, Kelly Rutherford, is a force to be reckoned with and is taking the FMS community by storm. I’ve never seen someone take a new start and bring it to where she has gotten it today in one year and two months. Being the first new start for the Software Acquisition Pathway and using an Agile approach, she took a pile of bricks and is building an amazing foundation for the FMS-ACES product office.

Jennifer Potts is one of the most caring leaders I have ever worked for. Her dedication to people is how I silently give back to her. We hear it all the time — take care of the people, and the mission will take care of itself. Jen cares for everyone she has ever worked with— military, civilian and contractors. During one-on-ones with her, she listened. Her genuine sense of care and well-being for her people wasn’t something she just talked about; you saw it in how she interacted with individuals in meetings and in person.

There are so many unique women within PEO EIS who offer a vast amount of knowledge and experiences. If we all took the time to listen to them, we could learn amazing things about them and ourselves.

What’s the best thing about working at PEO EIS?

It may sound cliché, but for me — everything. An Army acquisitions career is not easy, but when you look at what we do and how we help Soldiers and the Army around the world, it is rewarding. If you’ve ever had a Soldier send you an email from across the globe to tell you how a process or a report has helped their job, that makes it worth it. If you’ve ever challenged your functional community to reassess their business rules, and they express appreciation, that’s good stuff. 

PEO EIS has built a workforce that brings innovation via Agile, deploying modern capabilities to Soldiers and civilians at the speed of relevance! You can’t beat being part of that!