The journey
It's early in 2024 and new adventures are ahead.
If you are new to The Data Daily, here’s a bit about my journey.
2011 - Finished college (Religion/Theology Degree)
2013 - Began career in business operations and logistics at a small travel company (<100 employees).
2014 - Finished Master's degree (Religion/Theology Degree)
2015 - Was hard coding values in the Excel files for a project for my boss. He sent it back and said “learn how to use Excel formulas. This is awful”. Tried to learn Excel formulas for the first time.
2016 - Realized how much I loved business, strategy, innovation, and leadership. But didn’t think I had the skills or capabilities to have a career in this world. I thought the only path was more schooling (MBA).
2017 - Found a job as a software support analyst. Learned Select * From for the first time. My boss/mentor kindly forced me into more technical work each month.
2018 - First Data focused role, building reports and sales analytics for a media company. Began data consulting on the side (Google Data Studio FTW)
2019 - Began full-time data consulting with a Microsoft Partner firm. Wrote a lot of bad code. Had great architects who showed me a better way.
2021 - Accepted a Data Engineering role at Microsoft. After 6 months shifted to a Sr. Consultant role working with Microsoft customers, designing and building data platforms.
2023 - Feb 1st purchased TheDataShop.co. On Feb 14th, submitted the paperwork to incorporate The Data Shop LLC in Michigan.
2023 - May 1st began writing The Data Daily. This is the 180th Edition.
2024 - Focused on helping nonprofit data teams using Microsoft and Azure increase the value delivered to their communities.
Why am I telling you this?
I feel insecure about so many parts of my journey.
I don’t have enough experience. I’m not capable enough.
My career path doesn’t make any practical sense. I switched directions a lot.
I wasted years not knowing what I wanted to do.
I’ll never be as knowledgeable as people with a computer science background.
My company is so new, no one will want to hire me.
I’m also telling you this because:
There are parts of my journey that didn’t go as planned. But I like the direction I’m headed.
I’m don’t know everything, but I’m learning as much as a I can everyday.
My journey was wide ranging, but that diversity of education and experience make me the data professional I’m today.
The years spent studying religion/theology and years working in travel operations make me a more integrated data consultant.
Changing my mind at times has been the most honest act I’ve done.
The Data Shop is a baby company, but that’s the only place I could start. And it’s the best place to start.
Thanks for being here.
Sawyer
from The Data Shop
