S03 E9: Erica Baird, Executive Director of Global Sales and Service, Cummins
Meet Erica Baird
Erica Baird’s path into global industrial leadership is anything but typical. She grew up biracial in a city of 100,000 where there were only five kids like her. Her mother had been disowned for having her. Her father was Muhammad Ali’s bodyguard. She became an engineer because her mom — who had multiple master’s degrees but couldn’t pursue the dream — never got to. And from there, she climbed through Caterpillar and Cummins as the first Black woman in nearly every role she took, all while raising three biological kids, four bonus kids, and fostering 14 more.
Today, she leads global sales and service at Cummins and chairs the construction sector board for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.
In this episode, we cover:
How a sponsor’s “if you keep delivering, I’ll keep sponsoring” shaped her leadership philosophy
How a role meant to slow her down became her career breakout
The directness double standard — and the conversation that flipped it
Why structure connects fostering and corporate leadership
AI, skilled trades, and building the industrial talent pipeline of tomorrow
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