Why did you decide to become a mentor?
From the very beginning of my career, I have sought to share my knowledge with others via blogs and course. Having struggled to find information online in the early years of my career, I feel that I have continue paying it forward. Unfortunately, writing does take a lot of time. Thankfully, hoping on a call through MentorCruise still allows my to give back. There are a ton of extremely talented people out there who just need someone to encourage them. The truth is, there is rarely anything magical the most successful people are doing to get where they have gotten. But if it wasn't luck on an exceptional talent that got them where they are they probably have a great system. I love sharing these simple secrets of success with my mentees. So signing up for MentorCruise was a natural choice. Our industry is constantly changing, we don't have to navigate it alone. As someone who both seeks mentorship and provides it, I've found the platform ideal for connecting with others. I've been able to find great mentors here while also helping others navigate complicated phases of their careers.
How did you get your career start?
I got my career start with an internship at Georgia-Pacific in Atlanta. The offers I had out of school were between a full-time position in a small town company or moving to "the big city of Atlanta" to do my best to get converted to a full-time employee. I took the GP opportunity in Atlanta and applied 110% of myself to that role. My ambition and drive impressed the team so much that I was converted to a full-time role only 3 months into the 6 month rotation. I have done the best I can to continuously apply all I have to my professional pursuits. The truth is I love learning and I love seeing how we can innovate to improve our futures through creative problem solving and a calculated risk taking. Georgia-Pacific was actually a great starting ground.
What do mentees usually come to you for?
Mentors usually come to me to learn about frontend development and data visualization. I am Senior Software Engineer today and I primarily work with React. I also get involved with our UI designs. Prior to this role I spent about a decade doing Data Visualization. I actually taught the Dashboard Design course in Udacity's Data Visualization Nanodegree program. If I were to call myself an expert in anything, it would be Data Visualization. So I am an amazing mentor for those working the frontend and tasked with creating visualizations.
What's been your favourite mentorship success story so far?
Ooo, I don't want to give any names. I'm really just in it with these mentees. I'm rooting for them. Call them out on any hint of BS before others do. I can save them a lot of time by providing perspective from the experiences I have had throughout out my career. I often have highly relevant resources to share with mentees going through technical interviews, designing dashboards, or just dealing with difficult situations with their bosses. The longer I work with the mentees, the more I personally get to know them and understand their strengths, which helps me guide them even better.
What are you getting out of being a mentor?
Being a mentor keeps me very grounded. I love being able to help those that are struggling in areas I was earlier in my journey. It isn't that the struggle is over, and I get to share that humility with my mentees, it's just that I have probably already been through the struggle they're experiencing right now. Those are the best matches for me. In a way I get a new friend and my mentees get a cheerleader in their corner 🥳