‘Trying to encourage … a team of professionals who had been doing this job much longer than me to do things differently was challenging.’
What do you do?
I’m responsible for non-traditional systems implementations for television and digital media production at ESPN. I’m also a liaison between the engineering and the production software engineering teams, encouraging collaboration on initiatives requiring new systems and custom software. Day to day, I manage projects, work with my team to develop new concepts for video production systems, and implement those ideas.
Please describe your career path.
Prior to my senior year at MIT, I was working at a family business in Connecticut. A friend of the family was talking about having trouble finding an engineering intern for his group at ESPN. I said I was looking for a summer internship and he hired me! I didn’t know what to expect as I couldn’t imagine what an engineer might do at ESPN, but I was excited to find out. That summer I worked with many teams planning the new production facility at the time, the Digital Center (DC). After I graduated, I was hired full time into the same group. I wrote software and supported systems in the DC. When our group was realigned with engineering, I started working on higher profile projects. I led our first digital archive implementation, which was a huge change to ESPN’s archive workflow. I was also on the team that redesigned master control rooms for our international networks. I left engineering to work on the innovation team building proof of concept media systems for a few years. I then moved to my current role on a development team where I can work on cutting edge technology but also see the idea realized in the production environment. In this role, I’ve implemented the next generation digital archive and am working on developing the new internal media infrastructure for Digital Center 2.
What’s been your biggest challenge professionally?
Being taken seriously. When I started working, I thought I knew everything. I had no preconceived ideas about how systems should work and I was anxious to derive the right solutions. What I discovered was that not everyone is so motivated to change how they do things. Trying to encourage and convince a team of professionals who had been doing this job much longer than me to do things differently was challenging. Over time and after many incremental changes I felt that my opinions mattered and that people trusted me to contribute smart solutions.
Where do you want to be in 10 years?
I’d like to be in a role that continues to challenge me to think creatively and problem solve. That’s what gets me excited about going to work each day.
What is the best advice you received?
Don’t sweat reversible decisions. As an engineer, I am very analytical and used to agonize over making important decisions. I wanted every possible detail to make a choice. When I discussed this with my manager, something clicked. I learned to be decisive and trust myself.
How are you involved in your community?
My involvement started when I was asked to speak to female students at a local school about being an engineer. I’ve continued to try to encourage young women to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. This past year, I became a FIRST mentor working with the Berlin team.
