CEO of Atmus, Steph Disher, maintains that her upbringing shapes her leadership style today. Having grown up as part of a large family in a hardworking farming community in New South Wales, Australia, Steph understands the value of being loyal, trustworthy and reliable.

Inspiring and supporting

As a self-confessed people person, Steph’s leadership purpose is to make a difference in the world by inspiring and supporting people to grow - and what better way to achieve this than to lead a global business and to build a strong team? Steph says, “I am energized by our people and what we all have the potential to do to grow our business.”

Work-life integration

Steph, her husband, three children, and her dog, Skipper, relocated from Australia to Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. at the height of the pandemic in August 2020 as she took her role leading the Atmus Filtration Technologies business. Spending quality time with her family is important to Steph. Steph believes it's important to allow space for both work and personal life so that you can feel fulfilled in both aspects. Steph has stopped talking about work-life balance and thinks of it more as work-life integration, integrating her commitments to stakeholders as a CEO with her commitments as a wife and mother. Steph and her family love travel, skiing, and attending live music concerts. 

Shaping our culture

Establishing a strong purpose, values and strategy for the business was a top priority for Steph. After getting to know the people, customers, key processes and already strong culture, Steph championed the development of redefined values and a shared purpose, where a strong, diverse and dynamic culture empowers employees to be innovative and forward-thinking. Inspired by the business’s response to the coronavirus pandemic with the production of enough filter media to supply 108 million masks for people around the world, Steph said, “I have been impressed by the innovation and drive of our team to pivot into mask media. What a tremendous example of innovating for our customers’ protection and success!”

A global outlook

Having lived in many places around the world, Steph is a leader with a truly global outlook. Yet, wherever she is, she always starts the day in the same way. She says, “I always start with coffee. Melbourne, Australia is still the best coffee in the world and I miss it a lot.”