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7 Ways This Tech Leader Moved Up The Ranks (Without Giving Up Too Much)
This article is in partnership with Rocket Mortgage®.
When it comes to moving up the ladder in your career, a lot can be said about sacrifice. Add being a Black woman to the mix, and the work you put into achieving the career of your dreams becomes a journey. The end result is working twice as hard to harvest the seeds of success we do plant, if they are allowed to blossom at all.
Someone who can speak to that sentiment is Rocket Mortgage® Technology Team Leader Tamika Webb, whose work in the technology field has been a decade in the making. However, it's only in the last four years that she's been able to see the seeds that she has sown truly bloom.
"I hit so many ceilings to get to where I had to go," she says. "Then I was hired at Rocket Mortgage®, and every year I've been able to do something different."
With the help of the company, Webb has been shown that the sky is truly her only limit. Webb came to Rocket Mortgage® as a Technology Business Analyst, was quickly promoted to a Product Owner, and now holds the title of Engineering Team Leader through the company's Red Door Project, which enables team members to receive mentorship from senior leaders. Webb is working toward becoming a Director of Technology. "It's cliché but it's in the name… Rocket," she reflects. "We move quickly."
Webb shares the importance of maintaining a work-life balance, how she supports her team and the advice she has for aspiring tech leaders.
Look for a company that helps you grow.
"In my 4 years of working with Rocket Mortgage®, I've had the best opportunities to grow. I haven't been told no. Anything that I've thought I wanted to do and I've expressed to my leaders or shown interest in, I've been given the resources to do. They would say, 'Unleash your inner scientist.' That's one of the things that keeps me with the company – the sky's the limit. There are so many resources for us to grow professionally.
"Rocket Mortgage® recently started a program where they're paying for us to go back to school – 100% tuition reimbursement for certain programs. I have my bachelor's degree already and I have quite a bit of student loan debt from that, so to have the opportunity to work on my master's degree for free is amazing. I'm absolutely taking full advantage of that."
Be unapologetic about your boundaries.
"My schedule is pretty hectic because I support a big system that's used across the entire company and you have to keep your finger on the pulse of the business and what the system is doing to make sure we're always providing that value."
"I'm always pulled in a number of directions and there are days where I might work long hours, but I usually try to set boundaries from 9:00am to 5:00pm. Unless there's an emergency, I won't get on a call beyond those times. If someone tries to schedule a meeting at 4:30, I don't take that meeting. I found that when I didn't set those boundaries, I was exhausted. And leadership has been very receptive and encourages everybody to set our boundaries because burnout happens so easily, especially in my world."
"Work-life balance is something I'm really big about maintaining. If It's not an emergency, I am done working. I'm off and doing my mother thing. I have to flip that hat from Engineering Team Leader to now engineering leader of the household. Dinner has to be cooked, I have to sit and talk with my family."
Photo Credit: Rocket Mortgage®
Understand what motivates your team.
"When we were in the office, there were so many fun events that we would do. We had award ceremonies, a carnival, Nerf gun fights. It's very different now while I'm working from home. But as a leader, I try to make sure we have happy hours once a week. I'll tell the team that at 4:00pm, we're done. Let's turn on cameras, we'll play games, let's talk about whatever. It breaks up the monotony.
"I ask my team, 'How do you want to be rewarded?' and 'How do you want to be recognized?' When I was a team member at other companies, we would get rewarded with points, but that's not necessarily what made the most impact to me. So I decided that when I became a leader, I would ask my team members, 'What is it that you like?' Some of my team members like Amazon gift cards, somebody else likes beer. I also have a profile for each of them just to acknowledge their birthdays, their anniversaries, the kids' birthdays. That's the support from a personal perspective that I give them."
Remember: Growth is always a good thing.
"We enable team members to shadow other team members in different business areas and learn what they do. As a leader, I don't want to see my team members move to another team because they're a great asset and we're a family. However, I do want to see them move on because it's all about growth. I'm a big, big, big proponent of growth. If you're not growing then you're dying."
Know that success in tech is about tinkering.
"You need to always have a drive or a passion for tinkering, for problem-solving, for troubleshooting, for creating things. You need to always stay up on the latest technology. If you're a gamer, try creating a game. It's that mindset of always trying to pull some stuff apart, see how it works."
"We have an ISM [or a core belief] that says, 'We'll figure it out,' which is one of my favorite ISMs. You have to be ready to move. You can't just say, 'Oh, I don't know this' and then do nothing about it. You have to go talk to somebody, you might have to Google some things, you just have to be willing to learn. You have to be a sponge in essence."
Be the one brave enough to ask the “dumb” question.
"There are meetings I sit in and they're talking circles around me but I know some basic, intuitive questions and I'll say, 'Hey, let's level-set. I am not an engineer, I am not a coder, so can we break this down so I can understand it?' You need to have a thirst to learn whatever is in front of you so you can be a part of any conversation."
Know that the tech world needs women like you.
"Being a woman in technology can be intimidating because there are fewer of us. I would say to any woman considering joining the field, 'come play'. Don't be scared, don't be fearful, don't worry about the typical stereotypes when you think about technology. The girls are there. We're here, we are. And there's more and more of us being recruited every day. Just come, just apply."
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Featured image by Rocket Mortgage®
This article is sponsored by Hulu.
UnPrisonedhas returned for its highly anticipated second season, delving deeper into the complex dynamics of the Alexander family.
The series premiere comes a year after its debut season garnered rave reviews from fans and critics and earned record-breaking ratings for Hulu's Onyx Collective brand. UnPrisoned's success can be attributed to its raw, relatable themes and comedic appeal.
Inspired by creator Tracy McMillan's life, the show follows Paige (Kerry Washington), a therapist and single mother whose life takes an unexpected turn when her father, Edwin (Delroy Lindo) --who was released from prison-- moves in with her and her teenage son, Finn (Faly Rakotohavana).
Throughout UnPrisoned's first season, viewers witnessed how Edwin's incarceration deeply affected Paige's life and relationships. In the series, Paige unpacks her trauma through interactions with her inner child and her online followers. Meanwhile, Edwin is overcoming specific struggles with his own past that led to his life of crime, including a dysfunctional upbringing and his mother's arrest. As the Alexanders attempt to reconcile, new challenges arise.
This new season promises to further explore their unconventional family dynamic. Here are several compelling reasons why season two of UnPrisoned should be on everyone's watchlist.
The Alexander Family Life Is Still In Shambles
UnPrisoned's second season resumes where the series left off, with Paige grappling with the fallout from her troubled therapy practice and Edwin navigating life independently after moving out. Meanwhile, Finn faces his own challenges. The teenager is battling anxiety and seeking information about his father—a topic Paige avoids discussing.
The Alexander Family Are Attending Therapy To Resolve Their Underlying Issues
Amid the chaos in their lives, the Alexander family decides to mend their bond by confronting their past traumas. They seek professional help and attend therapy sessions with a “family radical healing coach,” played by John Stamos, a new cast member. This collective effort aims to unravel the complexities of their shared history and strengthen their relationships.
The process of unraveling each character's internal conflicts and their potential impact on future relationships may clash with Paige's textbook therapy approach. While Paige is used to being in the therapist's seat in both career and family, this forces her into the unfamiliar role of a patient during therapy sessions. This shift would compel her to look in the mirror and try a radically different approach.
The Alexander Family Learned A Big Lesson During A Therapy Session
In therapy, the Alexanders are tasked with addressing their individual traumas to salvage their remaining relationships. One of the family therapist’s eccentric suggestions was an exercise involving a family wrestling match. During this session, Paige faces tough questions about her refusal to share information about Finn's father.
While it's unclear whether this scene is reality or fantasy, the image of the family duking it out in the ring certainly makes for hilarious yet compelling television.
Paige Tries Dating Again Following Failed Relationships
Amid her life's chaos, Paige decides to step back into the dating field. However, her many attempts have left her with mixed results. The dating apps have turned out to be a fail, and an outing with her ex Mal (Marque Richardson), who is also her father's parole officer, doesn’t go quite as expected after he brings an unexpected guest – his new girlfriend.
The situation takes an awkward turn when Mal's new partner learns why the former couple split, partly due to Paige's self-sabotage.
UnPrisoned Is A Perfect Balance Of Comedy And Drama
As a dramedy, UnPrisoned takes a comedic approach to its heavy subjects. The show takes us on a ride with Paige's dating misadventures and navigating a friendship with her ex.
Other lighthearted moments include Edwin's attempts at CPR based on online videos and, of course, the antics of the Alexander family's unconventional new healing coach.
The second season of UnPrisoned is now available on Hulu.
UnPrisoned | Season 2 Trailer | Hulu
Feature image courtesy
Mariee Revere On Her History-Making Million-Dollar Sales And The Future Of MoonXCosmetics
If the name Mariee Revere sounds familiar, it's probably because you heard of her beauty and skincare brand, MoonXCosmetics, or you may have heard about her history-making achievement of making $1.8 million in less than eight minutes. But before starting her million-dollar brand, Mariee was just a teenager trying to cure her acne.
While she grew up in the skincare capital of the world, South Korea, Mariee didn't really experience breakouts until her senior year of high school. Like many people who get their first breakout, she didn't know what to do, and there weren't many products out there at that time. So she decided to experiment. What she didn't know was that what she came up with would ultimately be her ticket to success.
"When I graduated high school, I moved back to America, Georgia, and I ended up making, like, the oil, the Rose Galore oil, which is like the staple product of my brand. I don't know what made me make it, but I did, and it literally cleared my face up," she tells xoNecole in an exclusive interview.
"I end up selling it as a body oil first because, obviously, I'm 17, [and] don't have any background as an esthetician or anything like that. I just made a product that worked for me, but people bought it and was using it, and I reformulated it, and then it just stuck like with me."
While MoonXCosmetics is known for its facial products, it wants to expand to body care and home. It just released its new product, Moon-Gel body wash, and it's only up from there. As Mariee continues to grow the brand, it's more than likely that she will see more history-making moments. And so far she has.
Photo courtesy
When asked if she feels pressure to obtain more of those milestones, she says yes and no. "I did $1.8 [million] again, and then I did $2 million but I feel like now, currently, I don't look at that as one of my goals anymore because [of] the headache and just everything that came with it, but I was thankful and blessed to have that milestone, but now I'm looking for more," she says.
"I want to say more reach than more like fast-paced sales. I do want that. Obviously, every girl wants that, but I do want to have a better overall reach for my brand because I did take two years off so I was able to learn, [and] study a lot of different things. See how things have changed from 2020 to now."
"I did $1.8 [million] again, and then I did $2 million but I feel like now, currently, I don't look at that as one of my goals anymore because [of] the headache and just everything that came with it, but I was thankful and blessed to have that milestone, but now I'm looking for more."
Another part of expanding for any company is hiring people. Finding the right person to help you can be a hassle, especially for business owners who are used to doing all the work themselves. Mariee can relate to this, and she touched on this topic in her documentaryThe Million Dollar Story. She recommends having someone be your "right-hand man" who you trust to handle the ins and outs of the company.
"I could say, definitely get, like a right-hand man to help you within the process because that really was what helped me. I never had a job. I literally was 18 now, being like, you know, the boss of over 30+ employees at one point in time, and I didn't know anything. I didn't know anything about no W-2s, no taxes, no clock in, clock out because all I [have] ever known was my brand," she explains.
"So I definitely partner with people who are very skewed and versed in those areas, and they helped me get through it. Even to this day, I still have my same person helping me with hiring, firing, [and] doing everything that I can right now because I'm still learning. But obviously people get jobs young, so they have way more experience than me, but still learning."
And though she is still learning, one thing she makes sure to stay on top of is being consistent. Consistency is what trips many people up when it comes to achieving goals, but Mariee says it's all about scheduling. Whether it's when to post on social media or email marketing, scheduling it out can make a world of difference. That same practice also works when planning out her future goals for the company.
"Right now, future goals would be to drop at least five more products before the end of the year. We always do outreach, where we do drives and all that, but definitely do way more this year, she says. "Then really dive into body [care], and then hopefully open up MoonXBody underneath MoonXCosmetics to let that branch out and be open and definitely get back consistent."
For more information, visit moonxco.com.
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