How did you get into financial planning and investing?
Before COVID, I was a process and compliance intern at Hilton. When the travel industry took a massive hit at the beginning of the pandemic, I was furloughed and eventually laid off. I got busy and applied for many different positions; eventually I saw Telarray on the Fogelman Internship Network at the University of Memphis. I worked for a few months as an intern in the reporting department while finishing up my senior year as an undergraduate in accounting at UofM. After graduation in November 2020, I was hired as a Client Reporting Specialist. I am so thankful for all of the events during the pandemic that led me here to Telarray.
What is your greatest career success?
One of my proudest achievements is graduating from college at 21 years of age. My parents always pushed me to finish as many college-level classes as possible in high school, which meant I came to college with 27 hours already completed. Because of this, I was able to finish my undergraduate degree sooner than most.
What has been the most significant learning experience in your career?
Learning how to do all of the daily tasks for my role at Telarray entirely remotely was probably the most significant learning experience that I have had. When I worked from home during my last internship, I encountered many more communication challenges than I did at Telarray. Adjusting to working from home in the middle of a pandemic was huge for me, and then transitioning from a part-time internship to being a full-time employee was another big adjustment. Whenever I imagined my first full-time job, I never expected that I would have to learn everything in a totally digital format. Being such an active learner made this very challenging for me, but everyone at Telarray helped ensure that I was prepared and felt welcomed.
When people you have worked with talk about you, what do they say?
I hope they would say that I am a quick and eager learner. I am thankful to have coworkers that are more than willing to teach me anything and everything that I need to know.
