The diversity and sense of belonging have been phenomenal at CSC.
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What’s your official job title and how long have you been with CSC?
I’m a service team leader, and I’ve been with CSC for eight years. I’m on the Centralized Services Training Team for our Corporate and Legal Solutions business.
What are the responsibilities in your current job?
The Business License (BL) trainers report to me. My main duties include managing training requests and delegating different training items to my team. I’m part of interviews and strategic conversations when it comes to where BL is headed, and also where we’d like our training team to be. Right now, we’re focusing on continued education, automation, and using a lot of the tech available to us to help automate some of the manual features that we’ve been doing for so long.
What inspired you to get into tech?
It’s in my nature. I’ve always had an interest in tech and grew up around it. My dad is really into technology and got me interested at a young age. In my personal life, I’ve always been on the cutting edge of the newest, latest tech out there. But in my career, it was an organic transition into that. CSC is really good at cultivating people’s skills and having them apply them to what they do here. But honestly, I think it was just a matter of seeing a lot of underrepresentation of Black people in tech. I feel like I walk a thin line because I’m mixed race with a white mother and a Black father. I feel like I walk in both worlds a little bit. But tech has always been a passion of mine. And at CSC, I really felt like I could kind of do anything I wanted to and have the support of my leaders.
What has your career path looked like?
My first entry into the corporate America world was in banking. It was 2012, and there was some limited technology there. The bank I worked for was experimenting with their mobile app. I was really interested in mobile technology at that time. I started to dabble in coding and learning some Python.
I never wanted to be the person who, with time, technology passes them by, so I was always trying to stay up to date on the latest tech.
By having open and honest conversations with leadership about my personal interests, whether I was at the bank or CSC, I was lucky enough that my leaders would always listen and put me in positions where I could be around tech. It started with creating e-learning modules, and I had a knack for using software here called Articulate, where I would create immersive environments. There was some coding involved, more so design, but learning the software to help create a very engaging e-learning module. That’s what sparked me to fully drop my anchor in learning development, and training—I started developing e-learning courses and found I was really good at it. I had experience with software that was very similar. Having a personal interest in tech and then having the opportunity to flex those creative muscles here with e-learning modules, I think, really sent me down the learning and development path.
I had a good friend who was on the board at CSC. We met up one day, and I told him I felt stuck because there was limited room for growth at the bank. He told me to send him my resume and check out CSC. He set up an interview for me so I could get some practice. And that’s exactly what I did. I met with several people, and I really loved the culture. I loved the business and what I would be doing at the time, which was sales. From there, I got offered the job, and the rest is history.
I started with incorporate.com, the Small Business Unit, in sales. From there, I moved into servicing the clients I was previously selling to. I really enjoyed having the longer conversations and building more of a relationship with clients. It was more like an account manager role in service. That led to mentoring—I had a knack for dealing with escalated clients, having people sit with me, and really taking the time to show them the ropes. That’s where I found the most gratitude at CSC, watching people go from beginner to good to great. That kick-started everything about learning and development, different training models, adult learning, facilitation, and instructional design. It opened up all these doors, and then I moved into a trainer role, then senior trainer, and now team leader. I’ve been certified through the Association of Talent Development.
What has contributed to your success so far?
Being myself and speaking up is the biggest thing. And understanding how to connect with people who are at different levels of maturity. When I started in corporate America at 19, I used to think that the older you were, the more mature you were. I quickly learned that that was not the case at all.
With a leadership role as a trainer, you have some influence over others. That’s a dynamic you’re faced with when you’re younger than someone you’re training. You have to kind of distance yourself as a peer and establish some sort of respect and level of influence. And it can be tricky to navigate. Being myself and understanding how to connect with people has been the largest contributor to my success.
Have you had to overcome any obstacles in your career?
There have definitely been obstacles in my personal life and in my professional life. I’ve dealt with discrimination in the workplace. I’ve dealt with racism. Being mixed race puts me in a very peculiar spot because sometimes people of certain races don’t really know how to speak to you. They think they can say certain things that are quite offensive. I haven’t felt any of that at CSC. I definitely experience obstacles on a daily basis in my personal life. But the diversity and sense of belonging have been phenomenal at CSC.
Are you involved in any diversity programs at CSC?
I’m actually one of the leaders of the Black Employee Network (BEN). I’ve been involved with BEN for about a year now. I wanted to share my story with others who might look like me or who might have a similar upbringing as me, who talk like me. I wanted an opportunity to be that voice for others who have similar stories. Historically, there’s been an underrepresentation in the world of tech of people like me. Some places have historically moved slowly when it comes to recognizing other people like me.
What advice would you give to Black professionals who are interested in a tech career?
Being yourself and being comfortable in your own skin are the best ways to approach any situation, whether it’s tech, marketing, sales, or service. Speaking up in a professional way when you feel there are any injustices or discrimination. Don’t fade in and let things slide. You kind of have to have tough skin being Black in America, let alone in tech. Being yourself, being respectful, and speaking up would be the best advice I could give to anyone, but especially Black people in tech.
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CSC offers exciting, career-building opportunities that allow our people to drive their career in the direction of their choice. A multi-time Top Workplace, we're a business, legal, and financial services company that provides knowledge-based solutions to clients worldwide. We're also the trusted partner of choice for more than 90% of the Fortune 500®, more than 90% of the 100 Best Global Brands®, and more than 70% of the PEI 300.
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