Please give a brief background on yourself and your career.
I have been at Google since graduating from Wellesley almost 8 years ago (class of ’07). For a majority of the time, I worked in various operations roles within Google’s online advertising departments. I started as an entry-level customer service representative, got promoted to a technical account manager within a few months, and eventually built and led a global team at that reviewed third-party ad technologies that our advertising customers want to use on our platforms. This certification program ensures that these technologies respect user privacy, adhere to Google’s advertising policies, and technically function within our systems. After leading the team for almost 6 years, I decided to expand my domain knowledge outside of online advertising. I am now a program manager on the product management team. I specifically work in a department called Google for Maps for Work, which provides enterprise solutions for businesses, governments, and other entities that utilize Google Maps technology and data.
As a passion project, I am in the process of launching a start-up with fellow Wellesley classmate, Kristiana Teige Witherill (also ’07). Our company, called Salud Cocktails & Co., will be delivering cocktail ingredients within the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as selling some of the ingredients for mail order to the rest of the U.S.
How has your career changed since you originally envisioned it at Wellesley? What other careers did you consider as a student?
I came into Wellesley thinking that I had a definite plan of graduating with an Economics and Math double major and that I would end up in investment banking or consulting. I changed my major probably at least 3-4 times while I was out Wellesley. I ended up majoring in Spanish and Media Arts & Sciences, the latter which only became an official major during my Sophomore year at Wellesley. I wish I had discovered this major sooner and had taken more classes in this department. Interestingly, Google was the first company to offer me a job, and I decided to take it since I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life at the time. I ended up stumbling into Tech, and loving the culture and challenges of a fast-paced and ever-changing environment. My Media Arts & Science background has definitely helped me in my roles at Google from a technical knowledge and creative-thinking perspective.
How has Wellesley contributed to your career?
Wellesley encouraged me to be proactive and confident. This is not confidence in a way where I think I know everything. I don’t. However, I am confident that I will do my best to learn quickly and effectively. Wellesley teaches its students to want to learn, and that’s what will best arm you when pursuing pretty much any role or industry. Also, when it comes to learning, it’s not just about domain knowledge. It’s important to learn how to interactive with other people, how to support your teammates (who will end up supporting you), and how to admit when you’re wrong but grow from it.
What is a typical work day or work week like for you?
I don’t think I have a typical work week. The lack of predictability can be stressful, but I love being kept on my toes. If I have to generalize though, it’s filled with 4-6 hours of meetings a day and lots of task management trackers. However, the topics of conversation change all of the time. I work on feature and product launches, which requires working with engineering, sales, operations, technical support, marketing, public relations, legal and so on. With each launch, there are always new problems to solve or knowledge to learn.
What piece of advice would you offer students looking to get into your area of interest and expertise?
There is a pipeline issue in which women generally are not as encouraged to enter into Computer Science (though Wellesley obviously encourages women to break boundaries in all fields). Based on personal observation, I believe that an unfortunate stereotype that software engineers are dorky guys with no social skills. I would be a liar if I said this doesn’t exist, but there are many engineers with a wide range of interests and, yes, social skills. I work with a particularly vibrant young female engineer who surfs at beaches around the world. If you are particularly interested in software engineering, which is quite a lucrative career, I’d encourage you to take some courses or join groups such as Women Who Code to see if this is something that appeals to you. However, if coding doesn’t seem attractive to you, Tech includes a huge array of non-engineering roles as well. I would try to find internships or people in Tech to discuss their roles and lifestyles to see if this peaks your interest.
What do you wish you had known as a student?
I wish I had a better understanding of the day-to-day functions of various jobs in different industries. It would have helped me better decide what field of work I would like to get into. I happened to stumble into an industry that I enjoy fortunately, but I have many other friends or colleagues who had to take a longer route to find the role that they like.
If you could come back and take one class at Wellesley what would it be?
The Chemistry of Drugs course. I heard it was fun, and the knowledge would have been useful for the cocktail start-up!