Analytics leader and data engineer
I created the daisy graphic from one of my photos.
My path into analytics leadership was not linear.
In college, I majored in Biology with an emphasis on botany and environmental science. A minor in art led me to digital content creation and teaching Adobe courses at the local community college. Recognition of my skills at the college caused local businesses to contact me for branding help. I started a web development company to serve them.
Over ten years running the company, I served more than 100 clients. They ranged from local businesses to six mid-to-large enterprises and one Fortune 500 company. While building digital experiences for clients, I grew fascinated by user behavior and data management, and took advanced coursework in applied math and statistics.
I shifted toward large consulting contracts, including leading user analytics for the U.S. Census Bureau and building statistical models for the National Flood Insurance Program.
When studying applied statistics at the Colorado School of Mines, I met the AMD team at a career fair. I interviewed for an analyst role, but during our conversation, I walked my now-boss through the data architecture the engineering team would require. AMD offered me a data engineering role instead. I had never held that title, but I had been building databases and pipelines for years.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions.”