Tag: #becurious

Career, Employment, Life Choices, Moving Forward

It’s About Progress Not Perfection

It’s not about being perfect; it’s about making progress. Every day, we are presented with opportunities to move forward and improve our lives. Sometimes, we take those opportunities and sometimes we don’t. But as long as we keep moving forward, even if it’s just a little bit each day, we are making progress.

As we evolve we hopefully become more self aware. We know what we want, and possibly more importantly we know want we don’t want for ourselves. We can still make “bad” decisions, but I have to believe that each decision one makes is based on a belief system or defense mechanism we each have built for ourselves. A belief platform that tells us over and over again of “how it’s supposed to be”. But is it right? Is there a ”right” way? Only one, or just the one you’ve come to believe in?

Take the holidays. Chanukah, the Festival of Lights. When you were a child it was one thing, as an adult is it another ? Does it mean as much? How have your beliefs changed in what it was or is? Have they changed? The same can be asked about Christmas as well. Goto church, pray, get gifts, gather and eat with family.

How do you deal with the holidays, family, family “friends”, new “friends”? Are you excited, stressed out, evasive, apathetic?

If you’re going to be uncomfortable being with family, you have permission to not go (or host).

In tech, we build software applications and systems, test them, then give them to others to test and “break”. We WANT them to find flaws so they can be fixed before a bigger problem is found. It’s an iterative process. Yes, sometimes frustrating, but usually satisfying especially if it’s an easy fix. No one expects it to be perfect.

Now imagine crafting your life that way. There is no right, there is no wrong, there just is. The good, the bad, the frustration, the elation all will pass, nothing is permanent. A moment from now you won’t be exactly the same person you were a moment ago, so quite possibly the NOW person doesn’t want or need what the person they were a moment ago needed.

My whole life changed again during COVID. One day I was living alone in a condo in northern NJ working 2 jobs commuting to NYC 6 days a week, and on March 9th, 2020 I shut down my section of MLB Advanced Media, a brand new multi-million dollar office, and have barely traveled to NYC again, even for fun. If you told me that – on that day at that moment, it didn’t seem like that something so extreme would even be possible. But it was.

The next day the entire team pivoted to be home based, and we got to work, and we made it work. In no small part of that equation we’re my bosses, who were and are stellar in every sense of the word. Was it seamless and perfect? Not even close. The whole team was clamoring for more work hours, but we all made due with what was given. It worked somehow.

In my off hours, which were now many, I began long walks outside, worked out more, went to the grocery store as little as possible, but when I did I wore my mask, came home took off my shoes at the door, washed the food, all the clothes I was wearing, and took a full shower. It was exhausting, but I didn’t get COVID.

I helped neighbors, and met with friends outside 6 feet apart, took care of my pets, and just kept moving forward. Was it perfect? Again, not by a long shot. I applied to any job I thought I could do remotely for months, I was about to lose my condo when I sold it and moved in with my boyfriend. I then also started a fully remote mainstream job for the first time in years. I was a fish out of water, but I learned about the people, the culture, the job, the technology, and the competition. It was all new like I was a beginner again, because in a certain way, I was. Tech in broadcasting was rapidly changing, evolve or die, I choose to live, and so I did.

Is it perfect now? Nope. It’s progress not perfection. I’m in a New home, with a great guy, great friends and family, a great job, still working out everyday. It got better and still gets better everyday. It’s been a long road but setting expectations and accepting where you’re at in that exact moment leads to a certain peace in life that perfection can’t deliver.

#keepmovingforward

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Career, Charity and Giving, Employment, Giving Back, Life Choices, Mentoring, Moving Forward, Technology

The Broadcast Engineer Unicorn

#Offering Help: #Mentoring, #Writing, & #Engineering Services

I’ve been fortunate throughout my 33 year career to have found many mentors. I now happily find myself still working, but also mentoring the next generations of broadcast employees. Not only to have had such a diverse career So Far – it’s certainly far from over, but a female engineer in the world of broadcasting I have been termed a Unicorn. Who me? Yup!

Indeed, for many many years I have found myself to be the only female in the room. The only adult in the room, but that’s another story. I’d be promoted into a full room of men and me. If there was another women, she was an assistant or secretary, so I’d do my best to be inclusive and share insight. Paying back the kindness that was so graciously bestowed upon me along the way.

Although, I have to say, I was underestimated along the way as well. I didn’t spout or boast my knowledge, pat myself on the back for a job well done, I just kept my mouth shut and did my job, and did everything I could think of to “move the needle forward” for women in broadcasting.

Unfortunately, back then the loudest person in the room was thought to be “right” or the most knowledgeable, I certainly wasn’t loud, so I took the brunt of a lot of wrongs. Should I have spoken up? Looking back, absolutely yes, I just didn’t have those tools in my toolkit – YET.

Finally one day, I started a new job in the control room. I had not only one woman boss, I had two! I felt lucky. I was in certain respects, in other respects – uh, not so much.

I won’t distinguish which was which, but one superior was never satisfied. If I took care of every single aspect of my job, went beyond what was expected, took initiative to do more, it still wasn’t enough. More was thrown at me (sometimes literally) and I would scramble to “figure it out”. I could ask the other superior clarifying questions, but mostly I was on my own, they were both busy, and that’s why I was there right? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Finally about 3 months in, the superior who was never satisfied went on a 2 week vacation. I was elated, and for good reason. The other “boss”, would check in with me, and on my 2nd day with just her in-charge, she physically came into the control room. I showed her all I did, what I was watching for, what I still needed to finish, and of course asked if I could help her with anything. A simple “Nope, I’ll be in my office, if you need anything, call. You’re smart, I trust you, and I know you won’t wait until you get into trouble to call me”. Then she left. Wow! What a feeling of empowerment.

To this day I do not know that that boss knows what she gave me. Autonomy for one thing, but also confidence. She gave me an example of how I wanted to be when I was in a position like that, respectful, inclusive, giving, everything I needed summed up in a short sentence. Not only did I learn what I wanted to be like, I learned something even more important, what I didn’t want to be like. I didn’t want to create/rule by fear every time I walked into a room, I didn’t want to make anyone feel less than, no matter who they were, I didn’t want to make anyone feel like they were only as good as their last mistake. And so, I’ve taken that goal and hopefully not only successfully achieved it, but surpassed it.

I knew what I wanted, so then I sought out through positive leaders/achievers in and outside of the company. Learned from their vast historical knowledge and applied it to new ways of developing standards. All the men and women of my past have made me who I am today.

Have I made mistakes? Absolutely. Really big ones? That’s an even bigger Absolutely. Have I learned and grown from them? Absolutely. Do I regret some? Absolutely. I don’t regret learning from my mistakes, I regret how I handled my failures sometimes. We all fail sometimes, or a lot of the time, but it’s how we get back up, how we recover that matters. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.

I cannot change the past though, I can only move forward with integrity and perseverance in the future. I can pass on my knowledge to usher in the new generations. And, I do.

In 2019 I took a seasonal broadcast streaming engineer position at MLB Advanced Media. I was fortunate to work with a newly assembled group of engineers. All men and me (a Re-occurring theme throughout my career). Not only was I the only woman, I was also the oldest person in the room by far. The youngest wasn’t even born when I graduated college, he wasn’t even of drinking age yet. But he was/is brilliant. The takeaway is to remain open, accepting, giving, and teachable. And, check your ego at the door.

It was a new system that we all rolled out in only 3 months, so we All were learning something literally brand new together. It was extraordinary. I had as much to learn, and unlearn as they did, but we did it all together. To this day it was hands down one of the best teams I was ever a part of. We all worked together in this small closet of a room, and we successfully streamed out 32 minor league team’s games for the season, ending in an all time high of adding in some major league games too. We all helped each other through processes and SOPs, it was amazing.

The season ended, some found other full time jobs, the rest of us stayed on part-time to work on Major League ballpark infrastructure upgrades in the off-season. Another great experience. But we did it together. I’ve gone back as a part-time employee season after season with great anticipation and openness to learning all the new tech forward innovation each year. I am truly grateful to have found MLB, and many others along my Broadcasting journey. I was asked once, “What will you do when or if they hire another girl/ woman for this office?”, my response was simple, “I’d throw a parade first, then make sure you all treated her with the same respect you’ve shown me (which was a lot, and it never waivered), or you’ll have to answer to me!” That was said with a somewhat joking lilt, but it was true then, and true now. That was verbatim comment recollection. Very smart, accomplished women were hired, and the respect was given, I was proud of this group of fine men and now women.

It’s not over yet – not by a long shot!

If you’d like to chat please feel free to contact me. I can learn just as much from you as you can hopefully from me.

Career, Charity and Giving, Employment, Giving Back, Golf, Life Choices, Mentoring, Moving Forward, Technology

The Green Room in the Cloud

Beginning a new position at a new company, working with a new team is exciting, maybe a little scary, but full of potential. Broadcast production is changing at a breakneck pace with cloud streaming, SMPTE2110, bandwidth constraints, NDI, RTMP, RTSP, SRT, HLS streams, SFPs, CDNs, and a mountain of other technology devices, and Software as a Service (SaaS) growing exponentially everyday.

Doing more with less has always been the trend. Now that is the rule rather than the exception. Not only do we need to do more with less, we need to automate systems, and have automated notification systems to let us know what may be going wrong.

This does not absolve us from manually checking -in, usually remotely though. Bots are now not a luxury, they are a necessity, but they still do not override the humans who run them. Remember, you come first, people come first. We need to take the sailing saying “one hand for yourself, one hand for the boat (to hold on). This is the epitome of taking care of yourself and whatever your “boat” is, and being safe.

You can’t give away what you don’t have. If you’re not ok, you cannot help or be of service to someone else. Remember self care? Give yourself a minute or five for meditation, a walk, a phone break to connect to another human (especially if you’re working completely remotely).

Speaking to that end, make sure you stay connected with your boss, and work team. If YOU are the sole team member, reach out to others outside of your group to interact with them, take a class, join a business volunteer group – stay connected, and communicate. Communication is key.

Luckily in production, even technical fully remote production, I HAVE to communicate with colleagues daily. It is very satisfying to me when I’m solving problems – fixing issues is how I work. Find out what excites you, and go after it. It may not happen overnight, but it is possible. The journey is not always easy. That maybe just for me though. I do feel that if I’ve worked for something and the “result” isn’t what I wanted, maybe I wasn’t specific enough as to what my intention was. So, I drill down to more details of what I want (which is always to be challenged to fix something).

This applies not only to work. I love fixing things in the house. Whether it’s spackling and painting a hole or spot on wall, changing out the broken igniter on the heater, reinstalling the screen on the front door, or cutting the hedges in the yard. This is also the basis on how I approach sports.

Take golf for instance. Recently a good friend bought a brand new set of highly technically advanced Callaway clubs. Now, there are many choices out there, and her “old set” of Callaway Rogues are in perfect condition. I’m a newer golfer, but have found a great love for the game and its process (even on a bad day), but I bought the “old” set of Rogues for a deal. I took my golf lesson with them, and then played a round with them the next day. Today I’ll goto the driving range, chip out of sand bunker, and putting green to continue my process.

“New” used Callaway clubs, my old bag, but it all works

The point is, we never know when or where an opportunity will pop up. I in turn gave away my old set to someone just starting out like I had last year. Yes, I bought the set, but watching someone have a true love and interest in growing themselves made me want to pay it forward and give to them in turn. I do a lot of volunteering as well, there are many ways to give back. Your time and attention to someone in need is invaluable!

Pay it forward in all aspects of your life, whether in-business, health, friendship, volunteering, being a good neighbor. We are here for more than ourselves. It’s a great-big world out there, be apart of it, you’ll be better all around for it. I call that being IN the green room.

My new job is completely remote, it’s a great team, and we learn everyday. We “live” our work-lives virtually in the cloud, but we are together in the production “green room”.

Employment, Life Choices, Mentoring, Moving Forward

You got the job offer, now what? 9 Questions to ask BEFORE you accept an offer.

You finely honed your resume and cover-letters to the jobs you really wanted. You made it through the recruiter interview (whether in-house or independent). You also met with your potential new colleagues, the boss, and the boss’s boss. Whew!

After all that, they made you an offer of employment. Now what? You might just think to jump right in, do the onboarding paperwork, and you’ll find out everything you need to know later, right? Not so fast, you can’t make an informed decision without asking the proper questions of the recruiter or HR manager.

1) Health plan: Is there a waiting period before it is available to me? Are there different plan levels? What is the employee contribution (full contribution or a percentage of the plan premium or a set amount)? I assume any employee contribution would be on a pre tax basis.

2) Dental & Vision: Same questions. Is there a waiting period? Are there different levels? What is the employee contribution? Full contribution or a percentage of the plan?

3)  Is Pet Insurance offered? If so, at what cost?

4) I understand it’s a 40 hr work week. Is there overtime? How is overtime paid ? After 8 or 10 hours, is that straight time, time and a half, or double time after a certain amount of hours have been reached? Also, how long is the contract for (if going through an outside hiring agency)? 12 months to convert contract – or extend. Will this position convert?

5) Is there a retirement plan? A 401K ? If so, is there a company match up to a certain percent? What is the waiting period to join the plan ? What is the vesting schedule for any company contribution if any?

6) How many vacation days are offered per year? How many sick & personal days are allotted? What holidays are offered?

7) Working on holidays (which I personally love working). How is that compensated (i.e. Payback day(s), regular pay, 1.5 pay, 2x pay, or something else)?

8) Personal growth: Is there reimbursement for courses for skills to enhance training for the growing skillset?

9) Commuting, tolls, parking reimbursement to defray the cost. Is there a commuter plan (if you’re not working remotely)? Is there Transit checks, or Wageworks? If there is a plan, how much is that every month? Do you offer a pre-tax transit plan if the employee has a contribution they must make?

We all have to think beyond the initial offer to really see what the full compensation would be. It varies wildly from company to company. So, do Post offer research questions, before you sign anything. It is merely outlining everything for you so you can make an informed decision.

Good Luck!