S03-E03 Tiffany changed careers to work in technology

Tiffany changed careers by enrolling in a community college technology program. Now Tiffany works at Nomadic, which specializes in digital marketing and software development. Tiffany highlights how “soft skills” are important in the technology industry and advises students to explore their career opportunities. Hear Tiffany’s story in this episode of Talking Technicians.

The Talking Technicians podcast is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program.

Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation.

Join the conversation. If you are a working technician or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org.

Links from the show:

The Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC): https://micronanoeducation.org/

A-B Tech: https://abtech.edu/

Nomatic: https://nomadicsoftware.com/

Episode Web Page: https://micronanoeducation.org/students-parents/talking-technicians-podcast/

Transcript

Peter Kazarinoff  0:02  
From MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, this is Talking Technicians. The podcast about technicians: who they are, what they do, and where they come from. I'm your host, Peter Kazarinoff. I teach technicians and engineers that Portland Community College. In each episode, you'll meet a working technician and hear their story. That means real interviews, with real technicians, about real jobs. At the end of each episode, you'll hear actions you can take if you want to be a technician too.

In this episode, you'll meet Tiffany. Tiffany is a Senior Project Manager at Nomadic Marketing, and Software in Asheville, North Carolina. Tiffany, welcome to Talking Technicians.

Tiffany  0:55  
Thanks, Peter. Glad to be here.

Peter Kazarinoff  0:58  
So Tiffany, how long have you been nomadic? And how long have you been to Nashville for?

Tiffany  1:04  
Yeah, I've been at nomadic for a shorter amount of time. And this is a new position for me this year. As far as Asheville. I've been here for over 10 years.

Peter Kazarinoff  1:14  
And what originally brought you to Asheville, and where were you before that.

Tiffany  1:18  
So Asheville was a part of a longer journey. Once upon a time I worked in a different fields and a different industry altogether. And so that's how I got to Asheville.

Peter Kazarinoff  1:30  
And tell me about where you work? What's your job title? And what do you do day to day, they're nomadic.

Tiffany  1:37  
So my job title is Senior Project Manager, day to day I am managing tasks and the projects that come in, we have a variety of clients that we work for, in helping them to scale their businesses to new heights. So with that I every day is just a lot of meetings and scheduling and just staying on top of the projects themselves to make sure that we are keeping optimal communication between us and the clients.

Peter Kazarinoff  2:08  
Do you feel like there's opportunity for professional growth at your company right now?

Tiffany  2:13  
Yeah, there sure is. With this position, I think something that you end up leaning in a lot with is soft skills. And with that, there's a lot of area for being able to apply communications and you know, building this rapport with the clients. So customer satisfaction and being able to help build out the services that we are offering them as well.

Peter Kazarinoff  2:43  
So you work in a tech field at nomadic. Why do you highlight soft skills? And what are some other words that we use to describe soft skills? Why are those important in your work?

Tiffany  2:54  
So with this, I believe the soft skills that I'm applying is basically client success. That is something that's so important that comes through communication, that there's other soft skills that are obviously involved in this profession, with this having to be diligent in managing time tasks, and the projects themselves. Making sure that you're on top of your organizational skills is really important. So something that comes to mind is time management. That is a huge, huge part of this position and making sure that showing up to meetings on time, making sure that the deadlines are being met. So that's those are definitely soft skills that are important in this field.

Peter Kazarinoff  3:46  
So you mentioned time management, but you also brought up organizational skills. Do you work on your own? Or do you work in a team and what kind of people are are working together no matter?

Tiffany  3:57  
Yeah, so we are definitely a team. This is a team effort. And it's part of where that communication comes in as well because you have to make sure that the team is working together holistically. So I am on the client facing side where I am working with that aspect of meeting with the client scheduling, but then the team we have our software team and we also have our marketing team. So they are all working behind the scenes to make sure that we are staying on top of those tasks, building out those projects and bringing it forward to success.

Peter Kazarinoff  4:39  
Do you remember Tiffany what it felt like your first day at work? What did it feel like the first day going into Nomadic?

Tiffany  4:46  
So my first day was a it was a park day. But I remember just coming in and the biggest thing in my position was getting to know our clients getting to know who they are identifying the areas that we are working for them, and making sure that I understand the platforms that we're offering them and the services and just understanding who they are. Because that's a huge part of the meetings that we hold and making sure that their projects are coming to completion and they're successful.

Peter Kazarinoff  5:26  
And what kind of tools do you use day to day at work?

Tiffany  5:30  
So lots of organizational tools for that. In specific, we work in a program called slack for communications, but I'm on email. And we have calendars and just a lot of management software's that are keeping the projects on track and making sure that that communication is flowing.

Peter Kazarinoff  5:57  
So Tiffany, we've talked a little bit about the tools and the kind of skills you need in your work. Let's move maybe into a little bit about compensation. Does your employer give you benefits? Things like health care, dental, those sorts of things?

Tiffany  6:13  
Yeah, we do have some we have a 401 K. And we do have something that I didn't even know until I got this position, but we have unlimited PTO. But that also speaks I think a lot to the company and the structure and the team and being able to trust and rely on everybody. Everybody is managing their time, their workload and showing up. So that's that's a big reason why I think that they are able to offer that.

Peter Kazarinoff  6:46  
You mentioned PTO. For those who don't know, what does PTO stand for? And why do you think it's important for workers like you and your colleagues?

Tiffany  6:54  
That's Paid Time Off. That's, that's really important for overall team health, and making sure that there's that work life balance, making sure that everybody is getting the the time and the break they need in between to prevent burnout.

Peter Kazarinoff  7:11  
And you've been working in the industry for a little bit, do you have an idea of what's kind of the ballpark salary for entry level people in your work area?

Tiffany  7:20  
Yeah. So I think that that is really dependent on your trajectory, your field that you're merging into location is another big factor in that, I would say, for this position, somebody because expect anywhere introductory from 50 to 75,000 a year. But with that being said, I think that like I said, there's all those other factors that play into that, and what expectations would be from that.

Peter Kazarinoff  7:50  
So Tiffany, we've talked about your current role, maybe let's change gears and talk about how you got to where you are now, you mentioned that you had a work change before, what was your work experience before your current role? And then maybe we'll move into education experience.

Tiffany  8:07  
Sure, yeah. So with that, I used to once upon a time I worked in a completely different field, I was an owner and operator of a construction business. And with that, I did come to a point in life where I decided it was time for a career change. So at that point, I was looking at what I would like to do, and what I wanted to go back to school for. And I originally went into it with the idea that I was going to study psychology because that's something that's always been passionate mine, and learning and understanding human beings. And it ties a lot into some of those soft skills that we already referenced. And so I had signed up to go back to school, went back as a single mother. But right before school was about to begin, I had some conversations, in all honesty with my parents, and they were really encouraging me to pursue technology and how this is such an emerging field. And, you know, with some of the other abilities I have, I also do art and and how I'd be able to apply it there. And I decided to go in to my local community college and speak with an advisor. And I think that was one of the best things that I did because the gentleman that I ended up speaking to really sat down and took the time to explain to me what programs they offered that would fit into what I was looking for. And with that I ended up changing my major that I was going to go after and I went for a degree in Multimedia technology.

Peter Kazarinoff  9:56  
What part of your degree in Multimedia technology do you use Now in your work, how did that help prepare you for your current position?

Tiffany  10:04  
Well, the in that degree that I pursued through actually through ad tech, it was so broad, and we learned so many areas. So I started off, actually, with website development more and leaning towards that thinking that was what I was going to pursue, I got an internship with local government website, to be able to work as a WordPress specialist for them. And that was the trajectory I thought I was on as I was in school, some of those other skills that I had really emerged. So in graphic design and digital design. And so I ended up pursuing a career outside of school, doing graphic design and marketing. And so that's I ended up kind of going through all the multimedia platforms to get to where I am today. But the way they all tie in for me now is a Senior Project Manager is that I understand all those roles. And so as the team is working in all these areas, I already understand what they are doing. It gives me that ability to communicate with the client as well, about the product, like the production that we're working on and what we're doing for them and also talk about that strategy behind it. So I'm able to take all those skill sets in the path that I've been on and apply it holistically together.

Peter Kazarinoff  11:44  
Tiffany, what was the hardest part about school? Because you transition from doing something in construction to doing something and technology? What did you feel like was the most difficult part of that for ya?

Tiffany  11:57  
To be perfectly honest, because I did work in construction. I mean, I worked in a warehouse, and we didn't even have half the time, Wi Fi working. So there was basic things that I found very intimidating. I didn't know how to zip a file when I went back to school. And so I remember my first day in class, and I was so intimidated, because I looked around and everybody was just typing away on their computers and doing things and I was like, I am so lost, I don't know if I'm going to make it. But I had an instructor and she ended up becoming my advisor. And she was fantastic. Because that was a constant temporary, so I'll give a shout out there. But she spoke with me and explained to me that, you know, nobody knows everything that they're doing, like, and that this is all learnable stuff like and just to keep showing up and learning it and try. And that helped me so much having that backing, and having that understanding and that advice. And it gave me the courage to just keep showing up and keep trying and keep doing it. And now you know, those things that intimidated me I'm proficient at doing now, you know, so it's never too late to basically go and relearn these skills and, and these abilities. And

Peter Kazarinoff  13:25  
Tiffany, was it difficult to go to a community college program, while you were a parent? Was it difficult to juggle those two roles at the same time?

Tiffany  13:35  
It definitely was, it is one of the most challenging things I think I've ever done. I actually was just talking about that with my son the other day. And it's just really about where we are today. And some of the sacrifices that we had to make along that way, you know, you you miss out on some of the time that you get to spend homework and having to really focus on it, you know, going back to school as a as a an adult with children and, you know, bills to pay is it off? It's just it's it's wonderful, but it's also so challenging and that you have to have such a drive you know, I went into it with there is no fail here. There's only there's only the end goal. So we did we made some sacrifices to get here and some time was spent and dedicated towards that. But we're able to see the benefits now of that and and have more of that free time and more of that opportunity to be able to enjoy life together. So.

Peter Kazarinoff  14:42  
That's inspiring Tiffany. So how did your life change after you graduated from community college? What's different now compared to when you were a student?

Tiffany  14:53  
So I think some of the things that are different obviously it You know, the the income aspect is is very different from, from those challenges that we had and the sacrifices while being in school. But just in general, I think knowing that I was able to enter a field that I honestly never really envisioned myself fully being confident in. And it was, that's really rewarding. And it's, it's such a great place to be where I feel like now I can encourage other women, that they can pursue these careers and into this, that it doesn't just have to be what you fall into, or what you see around you as examples, but that you can actually go and pursue something that's out of the box, and that still will somehow fit into all the things that you are successful at already. So that's been a very rewarding place to to get to.

Peter Kazarinoff  15:58  
Definitely, what advice would you give to current students or people who want to transition careers and work in technology like you do?

Tiffany  16:06  
I think that advice that I would give is that you, you really can set your own trajectory, and that it's worth it to go and investigate. And find out what options are there for you, I am still so thankful that that day that I decided to go into an advisors office at AB Tech and sit down and say, this is what I'd like to do, like helped me figure out how to get there. And if I hadn't done that, it would have set me on a whole different path. And in a lot of ways, I think a harder path. So I think just taking that time to realize that, that there's other options out there. And that even if it's something that you didn't always necessarily envision for yourself, to be open to exploring what that look like.

Peter Kazarinoff  17:00  
Definitely do you have a final call to action for students or people who want to transition their careers and work in technology?

Tiffany  17:09  
Technology is a really broad field. And there are so many opportunities in it. For an example, I would say, when I went back to school, I met a friend who was also in a similar situation, she's also a single mother. And we were both in the same program. And today, we're both working in similar fields, but very different job roles, and doing very different things. And so even though we have the same degree, the same, the same background, it, it lends to so many paths that you can take. So just being open to that. And in understanding that even where you start and thinking you're gonna end up just being open to keep and building those skills, taking the opportunities that are given to you. That's one of the most valuable things I think I took away from, from all this is realizing that as opportunities come the people around you that are supporting you and encouraging you, your instructors even. And they suggest that you take these opportunities to do it, because those are the things that you can build upon. to circle back, I think, to talking about those soft skills, something that my instructors always encouraged us was to make sure you're getting out there, you're networking, you're communicating, you're doing all those things. And that's something that you know, as going back to school, I already understood, but I do see that as being something that maybe for somebody that might be younger, that they might struggle with, and to just take those opportunities. If you are not great in crowds, go to every networking event that you can, if you if you struggle with just going up and introducing yourself to people set yourself a goal to just go meet like 10 new people a week. I mean, if these are the things that are going to set you up for success.

Peter Kazarinoff  19:13  
Well Tiffany, thank you so much for sharing your story and your journey with me on Talking Technicians.

Tiffany  19:18  
Thank you, I appreciate it.

Peter Kazarinoff  19:20  
Please keep in touch.

Tiffany  19:21  
All right. Thank you.

Peter Kazarinoff  19:28  
Talking Technicians is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program. Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation. Join the conversation. If you are a working technician, or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org. We're always looking out for great guests to share more stories with you.