Yes, I ended that sentence with a preposition. Oh well, it’s my blog and I can do what I want to. (See what I did there?) 🙂

When I first meet people that I’ve only previously interacted with on social media, many don’t know what I actually do for a living. I try to keep my professional and personal life separate, but they do intertwine sometimes.

I’m the director of information technology for a local advertising and tech firm. We produce some of the greatest marketing, commercials, sites, apps, and more that I’ve ever seen. I’m quite proud to be associated with such a stellar company. I also have a great team that I work with, both in my specific department, and other teams throughout the agency.

I haven’t always wanted to be a techie. When I was very young, I wanted to be an entomologist. After that sort of passed, I wanted to be a psychologist and that was my major when I started college. Soon after though I switched to computer information systems. Once I completed my degree, I moved into a system administrator position at my then current job. Following that, I moved to Birmingham and worked at a software company doing support for their main program while learning more code. I then moved to Virginia to work for the Executive Office of the President for a while as a software trainer in the Office of Management & Budget. I left there and was then hired as a support specialist at a non-profit in Virginia and worked my way up to the IT manager position when the current manager moved to Colorado. When I decided I wanted to come back to Alabama, I was fortunate to find this amazing opportunity and have been here the last four years.

I’ve learned so much over the years of moving up the proverbial ladder. I’ve learned more about hardware in my current job than I did in 4 years of college. I’ve also learned to give thanks for the opportunities I have been given and the chances people have taken on me. One thing I try to pride myself on is working hard and finding good, talented people. Those two things are essential to any management position. I learned from some of the best mentors and bosses one could ask for and tried to use those skills in hiring the best of the best, which I have successfully done a few times now in my last few positions.

Remember, as you grow your skill set and people give you opportunities you may not have otherwise gotten, pay it forward and help others grow and give them opportunities. I forget that sometimes and I’m glad I have people around to remind me. I’m a leader, but I’m not always a good leader. I am working on that – I want to always be a good leader if possible.