It’s common for graduation speakers to quote the Dr. Seuss book “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

Warren County High School graduate Patti Dodd Wallace never realized the book would apply so much to her life.

Wallace is on her way to the island of Singapore after being promoted to human resource director for Kimberly-Clark Corporation’s Asian-Pacific Operations.

Singapore is roughly 9,800 miles from Warren County, or about an 18-hour flight. 

“While I have traveled to Asia many times, I am not 100 percent sure what it will be like to live in Singapore,” said Wallace, the daughter of McMinnville residents Tommy and Pinkey Dodd. “Thankfully, everyone there speaks English and it seems to be a friendly and safe city/ country. My husband, Mitch, and I will be relocating with our two children, Jack, 11, and Summer, 9. The kids are excited to experience a new country.”

Kimberly-Clark is a giant when it comes to its consumer products such as Kleenex, Huggies, Depend, Cottonelle, and Kotex. These global brands are sold in 175 countries and reach 25 percent of the world’s population, the company says.

Kimberly-Clark generates $18.5 billion in annual revenue.

Wallace is a member of the WCHS class of 1993. She’s worked with Kimberly-Clark the majority of her professional career, about 18 years.

Wallace worked previously in the United Kingdom for two years in 2004-05. During those years she made a true transition from IT to human resources. She says she really learned the ropes in HR while working near Knoxville at Loudon Paper Mill.

A career highlight was during her time at Halyard Health, a Kimberly-Clark spinoff. She led the company through an acquisition of a small digestive health medical device company. 

Though physically small, Singapore is an economic powerhouse, a technology hub, and one of Southeast Asia’s most modern cities. Public transportation is excellent and Singapore is graced with an abundance of parks, nature reserves, and tropical greenery.

Singapore is also a multicultural city. Close to one-quarter of its population are expatriates or foreign workers from all over the world.

“My past successes, including the opportunity to move/ work in Singapore, is all about God, and very little about me,” said Wallace. “I’ve been blessed my whole life to work for a great company which presents opportunities to those, like me, who love to learn and who are very open to opportunities. Yes, I am very much looking forward to my job in Asia over the next couple of years. However, I know He has more in store for me and my family besides working, going to school and traveling. I look forward to His plans for me over there even more.”

Wallace says her new job will be filled with challenges and admits she will have much to learn.

“The business is very different and the challenges they face are very different than what we experience here in the U.S,” said Wallace. “Our business knows our growth will come mainly from China and Brazil over the next few years, so I expect to be in China with that team quite a bit. My major challenge will be to learn the business quickly so I can support them strategically as they drive major growth and change over the next one to three years.”

Among changes she sees as a human resources manager, Wallace says technology and robots will continue to alter the workforce, including artificial intelligence.