First post, no pressure

They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. So here's hoping this blog post makes you want to stick around for more!

My Story

I don’t like to share personal information, but it’s important to share my backstory to give context on why this profession and blog mean so much to me. Here goes being vulnerable!

I grew up in a low-income family and moved around often. Family life was..interesting which made it hard to focus on school. I got my GED and took care of my elderly grandmother who had a progressive illness. I had no guidance on how to apply to college with no income. I didn’t know FAFSA was a thing and ended up signing up for a fake online university and taking out a loan I am still paying off (can this be forgiven please?). I was scared to leave my grandmother for extended periods due to her illness.

Eventually, I was able to figure out the process to apply for legit financial aid and a community college. My grandmother passed after my second semester and I became homeless. I had to drop out. Grieving and homeless, life was hard with no other family members.

Thankfully friends allowed me to sleep on their couch. I remember applying for a job at Staples in the Copy & Print department as a CS representative. I thought it was the coolest job for someone just starting. I wanted to be a graphic designer at the time and was excited I could print my design projects for free.

I remember going to Staples completely overdressed, I had a button-up shirt, suspenders (why?), dress pants, and dress shoes. The hiring manager was doing batch interviews and I stood in line with applicants wearing a simple red shirt. Oops, I overdressed. It was smart of them to wear a shirt that allowed the hiring manager to picture them working there. The other applicants looked at me like I was doing too much. I’ve always said I’d rather be over-prepared than underprepared, this suddenly applied to clothing too.

The interview went well and I waited a week, no call. I followed up and the hiring manager was busy. I waited a day and called back, spoke with the hiring manager, and checked on my application. He offered me the position for a little over $9 an hour with part-time hours. Just enough to cover bus fare and a couple of lunches during my breaks. I couldn’t rent a room, but I could say I had a job and was excited to gain experience. I continued to couch surf until I was commuting too far for my paycheck to cover. Couch surfing didn’t allow me to stay in one place which made it hard for someone with no car.

I settled down on a friend’s coach in Oakland for a bit and got my first administrative assistant job at a courier company for ~$11, big money! I was able to walk to work which saved money, but I started paying $400 a month for a spot on the couch which was almost always in use. I wasn’t making enough to get myself out of that situation and finding a roommate for that amount was not happening regardless of my searches.

I joined a temp agency and did random jobs like proctoring a college test (weird, I guess you don’t need experience), was a temp call center rep for Postmates when they first started, and packed orders for a company that sold computer parts. Still not enough money for a place, and the jobs were temporary which meant I was still lacking stability in every way possible.

I signed up for Job Corps and their Office Administration program. I lived on campus which allowed me to have free boarding. Job Corps is the nation's largest and most comprehensive residential education and job training program for at-risk youth. This included court-ordered youth. Because of this, a large amount of students had behavioral issues. I remember thinking if I could make it through Job Corps, I could make it through any toxic job. When you’re first starting, most jobs aren’t exactly “professional”. I’ll talk about that in another post.

I joined an optional program that visited our school called “Mission Techies” by MEDA (Mission Economic Development Group). This introduced me to the world of tech and I’ve never looked back.

I provided customer support for companies in the tech industry starting with Twitter which opened many doors for me. From there, I’ve continued to build my skills and experience with time. I was able to rent a room and finally, my first apartment! 🎉

I’ll share more about how I went from knowing nothing about business to working with C-suite executives, developing OKRs, and managing an international team of more than 100 agents.

What? I can’t succeed in tech with no degree, no coding experience, and starting out homeless? Like it’s hard?

Actually..yes it was.

More on my skill-building journey coming soon! It's been a wild ride, and I'm passionate about sharing what I've learned to help others in the support industry level up quickly 🚀