Tracie Edwards' Career Journey

Introduction

• Host: Laura
• Guest: Tracie Edwards, Senior Solutions Analyst from Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Topics: Tracie's career journey, accomplishments, and insights for business analysts.

Career Background

• Previous Role: Business Process Analyst at a trucking company.
• Education: Pursuing a Master’s Degree in Enterprise Architecture at Penn State (started in January 2017, took ~2.5 years).
• Career aspirations: Desired a long-term career with growth opportunities which her current role did not provide.

Joining Circle of Success

• Motivation: Interested in career coaching to discover and overcome barriers, gain clarity on career goals.
• Focus: More interested in business architecture and organizational strategy than technical roles.

Key Milestones in Career

• Graduation: A significant personal achievement, attended the ceremony in Pennsylvania.
• Recruitment: Was approached by other organizations, boosting confidence.
• Advocacy at Old Job: Discussed career advancement and sought advocacy from the VP of Technology at her company.
  • Resulted in recognition but mixed outcomes due to high employee turnover.

Pursuit of New Opportunities

• Company Recruitment: Initially unsuccessful in getting a new role but was called back with a new offer.
• Decision Making: Highlighted the importance of confidence and negotiating job terms.
  • Example: Declined an extensive interview process, but the company persisted and offered her the senior role.

New Role: Senior Solutions Analyst

• Location: Mostly based in Salt Lake with team members in San Francisco.
• Responsibilities: Working with Telephony Development Team, managing backlog, aligning team with business priorities, and driving value-driven work.
• Challenges: Adjusting to the new role and establishing expectations as a Senior BA.
  • Addressing gaps in understanding/expectations among team members.

Personal Growth and Reflections

• Confidence: Grew substantially through education, professional experiences, and assertive actions in her career.
• Circle of Success Learnings: Emphasis on helping others, managing time (Einstein Time), and leveraging community support for growth.
• Wins and Positive Attitude: Regularly recognizing and celebrating daily wins contributed to a positive mindset.

Insights on Success

• Actions Leading to Clarity: Taking steps/actions to find clarity and move forward even without having all answers.
• Current Definition of Success: Feeling validated by being in the right place, having an impact, and helping others.

Final Thoughts

• Continuous Growth: Importance of pushing forward, seeking constructive feedback, and acting.
• Impact: Emphasized making an impact on others through one's growth and actions.
• Parting Words: Find opportunities in unexpected ways and take action to achieve clarity and success.