Interview #7 with Tanya Boyd

DID SOMEONE SAY CREATIVE PROJECTS?

Anytime I see someone with the title having the words “creative” or “project” in it, I am immediately drawn in. Maybe it’s because studying architecture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is primarily focused on creative, project-based learning.

But Tanya had the triple win with “creative,” “project,” and, most intriguingly, “storytelling.” Tanya is a creative Project Manager who communicates through the use of compelling storytelling. So here is Tanya’s story…

2005 HURRICANE KATRINA

In 2005 Tanya faced a major turning point in her life when Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast of the United States. The disaster hit her home state, Louisiana particularly hard. 

She felt compelled to dedicate her work towards patching the physical and emotional damage of her community. She was helping smaller rental property companies and families to rebuild their apartment complexes and get people back into homes and spending in the economy.

She went on to work with ICF, an international global consulting firm, where she focused quality assurance and leading teams. Through her early work experiences Tanya became particularly interested in project management. She also learned a lot about leadership seeing both good and bad examples of it in every workplace she went to.

Tanya realized that many individuals that she recognized as true leaders, often didn’t see themselves that way.

“It took someone else to tell her that she’s a leader.”

GAINING CREDIBILITY

Tanya eventually transitioned into project management (PM) as more of a full time role. In 2014 she was working with the State of Department of Revenue and later would move to working on implementing projects prioritized by Executive Management within multi-divisional state agencies. Just two years later she planned, coordinated and executed communications related to the Medicaid Systems Modernization Eligibility and Enrollment software implementation.

In order to build for herself even more credibility, Tanya took it upon herself to get relevant certifications within the industry such as Project Management Professional (PMP) and Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP). She knew that these certifications would only add onto her current set of skills and help her build credibility.

She also joined the local chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) where she met many like-minded aspiring and practicing project managers. She later joined a board position which not only exercised her communicative and leader-like abilities, but also was gratifying to her soul. As all unpaid work, she found that joining groups like this gave her so much value in the opportunity to give back, and learn from others. The chapter as a whole is dedicated to a continuation of learning, and networking among other project managers.

Joining communities like Tanya mentioned to me is an excellent strategy for getting your foot in the door at particular industries, for meeting mentors, and finding your tribe.

DISCOVERING JOY AND HERSELF

As a leader at PMI Tanya sought out self-development by learning from various thought leaders. She became invested in listening and learning from amazing speakers like Tony Robbins and Henry Cloud. Tanya was cultivating her sense of open communication and being comfortable with her own emotional intelligence.

Something that was always important to Tanya was small personal passions projects. A theme that I’ve heard from many! Tanya’s side projects would bring her so much joy and creativity that keeps her stimulated and full of life.

Tanya also learned a lot about herself during this time. She found that she greatly relied on repetition to learn new concepts and ideas. Having this new found sense of self-awareness strengthened her abilities as a project manager and as a person.

One piece of advice Tanya gave to me when I described to her my SUMMR 2020 project was about money.

“Attach a bit of money to your goals.”

In this way we are more disciplined and accountable for following through on our own goals that we set. She is wicked smart!

A HUGE LOSS

One aspect of Tanya’s life that she so vulnerably shared with me was the passing of her mom in 2015. She packed up years of belongings and moved across to Lafayette to be with her family. This period of uncertainty for Tanya taught her one important lesson: don’t panic. She left behind a place where she built her home, had friends, and a stable job to something completely new. She decided to embrace this period of uncertainty with enthusiasm and an open-heart. It actually re-energized her to get back in touch with some of her earlier passions including creating her own content and using methodical and disciplined strategies to find her next work opportunity. 

She emphasized the importance of starting early with savings because we can never anticipate when disaster strikes or we lose friends and family. Reflecting on the various times of uncertainty and struggle in her life, Tanya recalls Hurricane Katrina and how it relates to the uncertainties that we face today.

“A hurricane we can prepare for, but we never could've prepared for this (COVID-19).”

The pandemic was certainly a loss for everyone but Tanya so intelligently reminds us that it is also a time to ask ourselves: How can I be navigating my life differently?

BACK TO WORK

Tanya is now settling into her new job! Tanya and I discussed some of the outcomes of working with larger organizations like she currently is. You can learn from so many strong leaders from a bigger company. 

“Strong leaders have this ability to read the room.”

Project management is 90% communication and can be applied to so many different industries. That’s the great thing about it. I now know project managers in healthcare, within the gaming industry, construction and architecture, and much more.

Tanya embodies resilience, community building, and joy wherever she is. She has been an incredible professional to connect with and reminds me to keep up with personal projects (she does kickboxing!) and use humor to get through tough times. Something we can all certainly use right now.. (and all the time!)

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