Laila Arain & Stephanie Thompson | How'd You Do It & Why Should I Care?

Laila Arain: 0:00

Hi, everyone. Welcome to the next episode of the Bay Street capital holdings podcast titled, Bay Street Capital Holdings podcast titled How'd You Do It & Why Should I Care? This series aims to highlight women doing amazing work in various industries. So today, we are so lucky to be joined by Stephanie Thompson Simmons, who is a Strategy and Operations Program Manager at ServiceNow. Hi, Stephanie, lovely to have you on the show.

Stephanie Thompson: 0:20

Hi, nice, happy Well, thanks for having me.

Laila Arain: 0:23

So I guess we can start off with a quick introduction about who you are, and perhaps in answer to the question of the show, which is, how'd you do it? And why should I care?

Stephanie Thompson: 0:31

So my name is definitely Thompson Simons. As we mentioned, I am a strategy Operations Program Manager with ServiceNow only been there for about seven months prior to ServiceNow, I was a manager with Lake consulting, have been doing that for the past seven years, leading implementations of cloud applications, SaaS applications, doing organizational and change management, just a little bit of everything for the federal government practice, based out of the Washington DC area, I think, why you should care. And you know, how do you do and why should you care? I feel like I am one of the unicorns of the tech industry, because I actually went to school for information systems and have done tech, straight out of college and kind of went through the ranks. So I started out as a systems engineer, and then, you know, I, that was more like a tier three development level of the help desk where I was, and I started to be a part of project teams, and then vetting which enhancements they should have. And that made me ask questions like, Well, why are we building stuff that is broken? You know, like, why they're having these issues? Why are we even revisiting it now. And that made me go get my master's degree in project management. And I switched to the functional side, became a business analyst did that then, which is some people kind of call product managers now. And then naturally, became a project manager with a smaller company, and then became senior project manager, program manager. And I said, Well, Am I really that, let me go back to a big company. And that's where I got in digitally. And that lasted seven years, you know, and but as a black woman, and tech, I have experienced so many adversities as well as wins, because my I believe my resume and my expertise is very quality and unique, it has a lot of heavy hitters on it. But still, it's always a struggle, even once you get into those organizations that you realize how hard it is to climb. So I'm proud of my success. And you know, I wear my wounds proudly. And I like to make sure that I'm opening up the same opportunities for everybody else, especially women and women of color.

Laila Arain: 3:03

That's really awesome that you're sort of a pioneer for women in tech. And I really like that. And so my follow up to that is sort of what inspired you to join the tech industry. Because, as you know, there aren't that many women in STEM. And it must have been hard not seeing somebody who looked like you up in that field.

Stephanie Thompson: 3:19

And that's exactly why I did it, right. Being in those rooms, knowing what it felt like to be the only woman then when I started to become a leader, knowing what it's like to still be the only woman now I'm a black woman that I was younger than some of the people. So you know, I just really had to navigate a lot of different industries, different teams, different cultures. So when I became a manager, and I was able to lead people, I knew that I had to use my voice, like I knew that I have an opportunity now to help build a culture of culture for them to help cultivate new experiences, or good experience for that experience for them, and also provide resources and help, you know, as I can see fit, as well as coaching and mentoring, you know, because I didn't really get that. I had to just, you know, kind of figure it out on my own. But I would love to be, you know, somebody that people can look up to to say, Oh, wow, she's in this organization. She's in this position. Let me you know, get whatever I can get from her. So I can, you know, learn smart, not hard.

Laila Arain: 4:27

And then that's pretty awesome. And yeah, once again, you're so you're like brave, and I really admire your courage for doing that. And what would you say were the best resources and they helped you along in your journey? You obviously mentioned that you went through the traditional tech route by studying at a university and then coming working your way up through the pipeline.

Stephanie Thompson: 4:44

I would say now, what has helped me the best resources that I've had, one has been networking, right. And consulting is a networking business. You will not be able to succeed work, get new programs, you know, projects and things like that opportunities without putting yourself out there. And I think that's really was one of the best opportunities for me was to know how to actually navigate my career through picking myself often. And I will say, the resources that I use where you know, the people that I admired, if I want, if I saw someone speak, I love the way their energy was, or, you know, I would reach out to them or I will find out how to reach out to them, you know, I would if I saw a new appear, or, you know, I was sending email, Hey, is anybody have a connection? Can you introduce me to this person, because I just went five or 10 minutes with them. So I could just, you know, be in, be in, I guess, their pipeline or in their graces to understand how they were able to be who they were. I also think, outside of traditional school, a lot of things like LinkedIn is has been very helpful. For me, over the pandemic clubhouse has been a huge navigation and networking tool for me. And that's actually pivoted, and allowed me to pivot and get more opportunities with other interviews of companies that I would have never dreamed of hearing from, as well as apps like blind and fishbowl, you know, those types of things where I can, you know, get the fish through what's real and what's fake, but it's actually helping you understand, oh, there's other people who are like me who are going through the same things, and let's talk, let's talk about it, you know, and to just get outside of that, you know, just your coworker talk, like, let's see what people in other companies are doing to help solve problems, or help him get acclimated into their culture.

Laila Arain: 6:42

That's pretty awesome. And it's great, you found, you know, these apps, you know, typically like clubhouse, which I didn't think could be used for business related activities, to really you've leveraged that to your own. And I really admire that. That's really awesome. And following on from that, you obviously said, Your network is one of the most important things to you, and in consulting, especially you, like emphasize that. But I'm curious, were there any lessons that you wish you would have known before joining your industry was there anything for the people you spoke to didn't tell you about the wish she would have never?

Stephanie Thompson: 7:12

Yeah, it would have, you know, speak, speak what you need, I think, prior to going to Deloitte, I just came in did my job, you know, I didn't advocate for myself, if I saw a role or position, I kind of just waited for somebody to tap me on the shoulder to say, hey, come do this. And I tell people all the time, if I could have started as an analyst out of college in consulting, I probably wouldn't be 100% further in my career, because by the time I got to consulting, I had at least been working for about 10 years. So while I came with a lot of experience and knowledge, I literally had to start all over. Again, it was like freshman year on campus, and having to figure out which auxiliary groups you're gonna get in it did I pick the right, major, you know, like, that's really what it felt like. And so and that's actually the example that one of my friends used to me and she said, You know, I'm in a sorority, so she used that as an example, she said, You have to work this place, like you want this avoid, notice that you're on campus. And that was one of the best, you know, pieces of advice for me, okay, I have to put myself out there, I'm going to put time on your calendar for coffee, if you cancel, I'm going to keep putting it off until you actually, you know, want to meet with me. And that I think that's just really the lesson that I learned is how to be resilient in that aspect. And, you know, knowing that people actually want to help you be successful. And they don't mind the time, if you come prepared, you know, what you need from them, or what type of opportunities you're looking for, and they provide them and you excel, and you show that, then the sky's the limit. I think that's really what I had to learn, understand that. If I keep quiet, I'm not going to get these opportunities, because yes, my work speaks for myself. But if nobody knows I want to do something else, then they're not going to offer it to me.

Laila Arain: 9:06

Yes. And that's a really important message to sort of speak out, and especially for those who are just starting out in their industries. I think that's great advice. Like, don't be afraid to speak out, even if you've even though you may be in turn or, you know, a junior level, you know, your opinion matters in the company. Yeah, that's pretty awesome. And as you mentioned, you learn a lot from your career. I'm just curious as to what was your biggest failure in your career and what did you learn from it?

Stephanie Thompson: 9:32

I would say my biggest failure would be and like I said before settling, you know, I think initially, when I started out at Deloitte, I didn't take the Go get them approach. Initially, I sat back, I waited for someone to tell me what they wanted me to do. You know, I didn't necessarily hit the ground running. And I think with that, you know, it also I wasn't doing the networking piece well. And one of the biggest things that I got is, you know, I had a manager, at one point, basically, you know, blame me for all the things that were failing. And I couldn't defend myself, because I didn't know what nobody else knew me, and nobody else knew what I was doing. So that's why I was an easy blame an easy target, because I hadn't done what I was supposed to do, to share the type of work that I was doing for the organization to reach out to, you know, the partners or the senior managers above me, and just, you know, get to know them, and things like that. So nobody else knew my work ethic. And that was like, the first time in my whole career that I ever received, like, what they call like a performance plan. And, you know, I thought my role was over. But then I had to come back and look at it like, Well, this was your fault, you trusted this one person, and you thought this one person had your best interest. And, you know, they did. And that's what I always share with everybody, it's okay, if you are right out of college, and you have a manager, but if they have a manager, get to know them, like people in the organization with that they lead one of those people who are on the ground, and, and they want to know what people are doing. They want people's opinions. And that's like, the biggest thing that I've learned, like, you know, I can, like you said, like, I even said, before you have a voice, not necessarily, I'm not gonna go go and complain. But I want to talk to you about your goals and your aspirations, I'm going to share with you my expertise, and what I've done previously, you know, because without that, you will have no idea. It was funny, because I had a client once. You know, she, I guess she thought that I don't know what she thought my ability was. And she couldn't come to a meeting one day, and I had to leave the meeting. And she joined late. And she said, Oh, my gosh, you're really good at leading meetings, I should have done this more often. I looked at her like, you know, it was it was a, you know, she'd never allowed me to do that. That was also a, I never put myself in a situation to show her that I really could be doing this by myself. But I was allowing her to do it. Like that's what she wanted to do. So why speak up and say, hey, I can take this off your plate. But you know, always offer? Because even if somebody says no, or they say, you know, not right now, when time gets rough and tough, they're going to come back to you

Laila Arain: 12:26

know, for sure. And that's really great advice. You know, if they say no, now, it doesn't mean that in the future, they might not or think they'd come back. So it's always important to really value your work relationships. So

Stephanie Thompson: 12:35

I would say, I agree. Yeah.

Laila Arain: 12:38

And you've been dropping sort of gems of advice throughout this whole call. But I'm curious as to what would be one piece of advice, you would get somebody who was wanting to pursue a career similar to yours.

Stephanie Thompson: 12:48

I would say figure out now what it is that you want to do. I think what consulting told me was like, the world is my oyster, you know, like I could I could switch from Tech, I could have went to advisory I could have, you know, if I wanted to go to cyber, I could have went to human capital, if I want to do more like the change management stuff, but I didn't have to either, I could sit in the tech space, and I can find what I wanted. That gives me a little bit of everything. And I think you know, knowing what you want, and is really the best part. And what we would call it typically is your brand. It's what do I want somebody to call Stephanie for? Are they calling Stephanie like and at one point, I felt like my brand was difficult clients. And I said, I don't want people calling me just deal with difficult clients, I need to figure out how to pivot. And that's always that check is what are people calling me for, you know, and even asking around? What do you think that I'm known for? What do you think that I'm good at? And understanding what lane you're in? I think a lot of us fail. We feel like a failure, because we're not going on the path that people also perceive us as you know, like you can be a great singer, but somebody can say but you're not good enough for mainstream like you're good enough for this type of it but you have to receive that and figure out okay, what is it that I need to do to improve and that's when when you're networking and you're talking to people helped me navigate to get where I want to be versus just taking whatever it is, you know, like you want to be what is it that Jack is a jack of all trades and master of none? Like that's that's that's really not what you want to do it and professional because you want people to come to you for something specific and not necessarily for for everything because then that's when you get burnt out and that's when you're tired. And if it's something that you don't want to do you feel scared to say I don't want to do this because somebody that you respect ask you so I always say you know make sure that you check with yourself what do you want to do? Speak that when you're you're networking you're saying and don't and you have sometimes you have to stop and don't take that just because somebody is offering you know saying no, this is really isn't what I'm interested in. I will if you have this offer to reach out to me,

Laila Arain: 15:01

no, definitely, that's a really useful piece of advice. Because I feel like for a lot of people who are just starting out in their career, they want to take on as much as possible, you know, they really want to impress managers and whatnot. But at the end of the day, you've also got to be passionate about what you're doing as well.

Stephanie Thompson: 15:14

And yeah, but that's how you gain your passion, too. Bye, bye, you know, going to seek what it is. And that's what I said, I wish I could have been an analyst at Deloitte or at a consulting firm, because there is no expectation yet. Come in, learn whatever you can learn, like I said, it's just like that first day campus, you can change your major, you can figure that you can figure that part out, but me coming in more and as a leader, and then being a leader, I have to be known for something, it is too late for me to try to figure that out. And if I'm making a pivot, it has to be very strategic. And I have to be able to explain why this is my strategic move for people to back me on it.

Laila Arain: 15:55

Definitely. And then finally, to conclude about your career, what would you say is one common myth about your industry that you would like to debunk and why and why

Stephanie Thompson: 16:05

I would say one, that there that there is a need for you to have to have a technology background to work in Tech Tech. One of my previous managers that I've had, he was used to be a cop. One of the last people that I brought on my team before I left consulting, she was in pharmacy school and didn't like it, then went and learned some coding and got some certifications. And you know, so it's, it's like, you have to figure out what your story is, and understand what your story is, and then be able to sell that, like how I got the job of ServiceNow is I was implementing ServiceNow and the consulting space. Even when I left, they're like, you're on the partner track, why are you leaving, and I said, Well, I'm gonna go work for one of our large partners, I need to build, if I'm building a brand, or I'm building a business, if I ever want to come back, I now have internal experience, I have connections inside of this company that we are using. So I can come back with with more knowledge from an internal perspective, versus just being that external affiliate with the company, and I can come in and I can lead, I can lead a part of that pipeline, or lead that business. And, you know, nobody could say anything about that. It wasn't, oh, I want more money. Or, you know, it wasn't that it was I saw a path I saw, this is what I need to do to help understand what it is to be the vendor, and not, you know, the partner implementing and that's, that's really that was the decision that I had to make? And that's where I am. And that's, you know, that's how I got here.

Laila Arain: 17:49

No, that's really awesome. And I'm sure you're already busy at the moment, but what have you read or listened to recently, this really inspired you?

Stephanie Thompson: 17:57

Wow, so I have done a lot of, I haven't been able to like read. But I've, I've signed up for like every type of conference, you know, that I can possible. So a lot of it has been mostly like mini sessions on just being successful at work. The last conference that I went to was actually last week, it was sponsored by power at fly, it was their pride and work conference. And one of the sessions that I listened to this young lady was talking about her app that she built, and I don't want to mess it up hold on one second, it was called Black remote she, and it was just about she built a application that was a safe space for for women to you know, know what companies accept them and make them feel comfortable, as well as people who might identify as LGBTQ plus, who you know, want to know what companies are remote opportunities and things like that to help them feel safe. Because even when we were home at the pandemic, we think they were in our space, but there were some people who their home wasn't a safe space for them to work. And so I thought that was really powerful as that Do you know how you took a spin on that, too, for a for a niche market to help build a safe space for people that are looking for work where being at home might not be feasible for you?

Laila Arain: 19:30

Wow, what an interesting idea. And that's pretty awesome that you had the opportunity to sort of hear her speak as well by her app. So I'm also curious, you mentioned the power of your network slightly earlier, and you know, the amazing links and connections that you've made on LinkedIn, but I'm wondering who are three people in your life who have been the most influential to you?

Stephanie Thompson: 19:48

Three people. Wow. Okay. Most Influential I would say I can kind of give them as a double, but my parents said My dad also was in the tech space. So between him and my mom, outside of me during this natural tech, path and college, every school that I went to, had a technology focused. So from elementary school, there was a technology component, I was working on Mac at Mac computers in first grade. Yeah, even to my high school, the program that I was in, was a science and technology program. And it was built similar to college where you pick the track, like it could be, it was like the AP classes and stuff like that. But you could do coding, chemistry, biology, you know, but still at the college level engineering, but I appreciated that, because they always kept me, you know, in what was in the now you know, and it wasn't very hard for me to figure out where I wanted to go. Professionally, I did want to do psychology for a little bit. But psychology and tech didn't go together, they might now right. But at the time, I didn't know how to marry the to me. Outside of that, I would say, influential. Wow, this is difficult. Because there's so many people, I will say one of one of my, my friends, her name is photoshot, a butler. And we have actually known each other since college, we were in a sorority together, we're in the same sorority, and she actually worked at Deloitte with me, and she just was very instrumental and helping me find my voice, you know, like, throw things in my lap. You know, give me opportunities, introduce me to new people. And you know, and also she was like that check, you know, like that, that person that checked me, like, Hey, you're dragging a little bit, or I think you should do this, even to the point where, you know, at the end of the year, we have to write up our statements of what we did for us to get promoted and stuff, and I will send her my stuff. And she's like, you're way more awesome than that. And sometimes she would rewrite it, you know, like, but that's, that's the type of thing that you need, like a try people to help and force, you know that because I noticed, you know, we won't talk ourselves up, we were trying to be modest, we don't want to seem like we're coming overconfident, over zealous of what we've done. But you know, you need people like that. And I think the last person that I would definitely say is my wife. She is my true champion. And, you know, it just partner in life, to actually is super excited that I'm no longer in consulting, because she feels like, I'm a human now. But even still, you know, before that, it was, you know, always always support if I had to do networking events, or you know, things like that in the evening. And just, you know, whatever it is that I want to aspire to do from switching industries, just you know, she's always there and supports whatever my decisions are. And just, you know, if I have an interview or something, she's sending me attacks, like you got it, you know, that type of thing. And just, it's just always really good to know that you have a partner and somebody that's, that's rooting for you, and just really wants you to be able to do whatever it is you want to do. And even I came to her recently and said, well, some of these positions are in other states. And she was like, well, when are we moving? You know, so, like, it's really good to know that you have somebody that doesn't want you to dim your light, and it's just ready to ride along with you no matter what.

Laila Arain: 23:40

That's so lovely. And then finally, to round off our conversation, what is one piece of advice that you wish you gave yourself at any point in your life?

Stephanie Thompson: 23:48

I would say, you know, it's okay to take a break. I think it's probably what it is i i have two master's degrees, a whole lot of certifications. You know, and always try to strive to be I guess, the leader or the forefront and just you know, giving my all and a lot of times my body tells me to stop. And so, you know, it's, it's okay to take a break, you know, it's okay to say no, I don't have the bandwidth. It's okay to say no, if it's something that you've been doing 500 times and you just don't have the energy for it right now. I mean, it's okay to say to say no, thank you, it's okay to take a break. It's okay to take that PTO. And don't take your computer with you. You know, like, go home, turn it off, turn the phone off. You know, I think that's really the key thing that I have learned especially you know, now being at home is you had to balance it out before when you walk through the door. You can say okay, I'm done. But when you're at home, it's like okay, I got one more thing. You know to do but it's like no, take a break, go work out go, you know you have an hour or two hours before your next meeting, go get on a bike or something like that, you know, just just take a break and keep yourself sane and healthy because that's really what it's gonna get us all through. Any of this is doing that and respecting your space in your piece.

Laila Arain: 25:20

Definitely. And what a lovely note to finish on. So thank you so much, Stephanie, for taking the time to speak with me today. It was absolutely lovely to have this conversation with you.

Stephanie Thompson: 25:28

Thank you so much Laila. I appreciate it.

Laila Arain: 25:31

All right then. Thank you. Bye bye.

Stephanie Thompson: 25:33

Bye.