We recently had a chance to sit down with our very own Learning Specialist to talk about her life inside and outside aytm. In this wide-ranging conversation, we touch on everything from her passion for making learning accessible to her time as a Magician's Assistant—as well as why she's so dang proud of aytm's Lighthouse Academy. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!
Can you tell us a little bit about what you do here at aytm?
I’d love to and thank you so much for asking… I’m one of our Learning Specialists here at aytm, but I actually started my journey with the company in a client support role! Answering live chats, emails, and phone calls everyday from our users with questions was an incredible crash course in all things aytm and I am so grateful for the experience! It also set me up for success in my current role as a Learning Specialist, where I’m often the first face a newly hired aytmer will meet on their orientation day!
I work with all of our onboarding employees to get them comfortable and confident with their platform knowledge and company background before they jump into their role specific training. I also have the privilege of working with our educational partners and their Market Research students to facilitate hands-on research experience through our platform before they graduate!
How did you decide to get into your field?
Market Research as a discipline sort of found me, but I’ve been cultivating a love for education and learning my entire life! What I didn’t really expect was to discover that being a learner and being a teacher require wildly different skill sets, and I am lucky enough to have a pretty good handle on both! I knew I wanted to work with students, but I was struggling to find a job where I felt I could really utilize both the intellectual and outgoing parts of my personality. I started my tenure with aytm with that goal in mind, so when an opportunity opened up on the edu side of our Learning team, it was a no-brainer for me!
What’s something you’re passionate about?
Sorry to give you a pageant answer, but I am actually very passionate about learning, and specifically about making learning accessible to everyone! With our modern technology and communication abilities, we should be sharing as much knowledge with one another as we can! I’m so proud of the growing library of courses in our Lighthouse Academy (INCLUDING our certifications!) which are free to take! In my role working with our edu partners, we see the challenges students face in preparing themselves for graduation and entering the job market when they are consistently met with financial and institutional hurdles. Working for a company that not only believes in the importance of education, but also actively supports that belief with time and energy has been incredibly satisfying!
What’s a fun fact about you that might surprise people?
I love the unconventional which has led me to have a pretty interesting employment history as far as odd jobs go... I worked as a Magician’s Assistant for a few years in my hometown of Panama City Beach, FL. Then, in college, I worked in the gift shop of the Orlando Museum of Art and also as a clerk in Spongebob Storepants at the Universal Orlando Resort. Which, hilariously, is where I met the brilliant and beloved Morgan McKinley and how I eventually found my way to aytm!!
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How do you balance your career and personal life at aytm?
I’m lucky to work on a team that often uses the motto "there’s no such thing as a Learning Emergency" which is mostly true, and really helps keep everything in perspective! It also allows us to embrace the flexibility that working remotely with aytm provides to tailor our schedules to our level of productivity, rather than working the other way around where you are completely tapped out but still clocked in.
The big one for me (and I will argue) is that because so much of a job’s atmosphere and culture is shaped by the people around you, getting to know them as humans instead of just coworkers is literally a valuable use of your time! We have a monthly book club run through one of our Slack channels and that meeting has connected me with so many people I don’t work with regularly, and it has made me that much more invested in my work and the work of the people that I am supporting.
How has aytm helped you in your career development?
I feel like I’ve learned a million new things since starting my journey with aytm, so that’s a hard one to narrow down! I’ve worked with some really aspirational leaders here, and I’ve tried to absorb as much as I can about the way that they balance long term goals with day to day functions, track and utilize analytics, and problem solve with empathy and patience. I could go on and on really!
With the Learning team, I’ve been able to experience building an eLearning platform from the ground up, which I think has been the most profound career development I’ve had here! Being able to contribute to the launch and growth of our Lighthouse Academy is absolutely one of the things I am most proud of!
Which aytm Core Value is your favorite and why?
Empathy is critical for me, but I think the Core Value that has consistently impressed me the most at aytm is our Abundance Mindset. Coming directly from the competitive atmosphere of academia, it is so refreshing to begin each day with the perspective that there is more than enough to go around and that sharing your talents and resources with those around you is not only mutually beneficially but also vital to a healthy, happy organization!
What advice would you give someone just starting out at aytm?
This is sort of a funny question because as apart of the official aytm Welcome Wagon (*ahem* onboarding team...) I have the opportunity to give out lots of solicited and unsolicited advice to folks as they start out their journey with us! But, I think my best bit of newcomer wisdom happens to be one of our Core Values, which is to let your curiosity guide you! Our platform and the people behind it are incredible and varied and while we have an incredible set of onboarding courses we know that learning a platform from the ground up can be really overwhelming and strenuous! So, I always recommend following those threads that spark your interest and make you want to know more, even if that takes you off the beaten path so to speak.
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