Hey LinkedIn, I'm Back!

Hello again friends!

Wow, it has been over four years since I've made a post to my feed! There's been a lot that has happened since I earned my bachelor's degree in the Spring of 2020. Back then I was a recent graduate who was forced to move back to my parents' place due to the pandemic and had a whole 3 months to burn before starting my career at Microsoft. Now I am over 4 years into my Microsoft career and blossoming as a Market Research Manager primarily focused on the perceptions and use of generative AI! Here are three major life events that have happened in between!

I Graduated from the ACE Program at Microsoft!

As you may have known, I was part of a rotational program in the marketing organization that allowed me to work in two different roles for one year each when I began my journey at Microsoft. The purpose of this program is to allow early-in-career marketing professionals to experience different roles and functions of marketing at Microsoft so that they can carve out a path that best fits their skillsets. Along with this, you end up building a tremendous network and bond with about 30 other people who are in your same cohort.

My first year I was a Product Marketing Manager within the M365 Product Marketing Team where I helped lead the launch of Office LTSC 2021. I learned a lot in this role, working with engineers, communications, sales, business planners, etc. But there was a group I worked with in particular that piqued my interest: Market Research. I was fascinated with the way they worked, ensuring that the customer voice was brought to the table and centered in every step of the process with product. It was a place I wanted to be for my second-year rotation, and I was fortunate to join an incredible and innovative Social Intelligence Practice within the Research + Insights organization.

During that rotational year I had the opportunity to conduct research on a wide range of topics from analyzing the launch of Halo Infinite to understanding customer sentiment & reactions to Microsoft Build and so much in between. After the end of my rotational year, I knew that Market Research, and specifically the Social Intelligence Practice, was the place I wanted to be. Thankfully, the team took a bet on me and welcomed me with open arms to join the team full time and I've been there since!

I Bought a Condo!

Now THIS was a journey! As I mentioned before, I moved back to my parents' place in March 2020 because of the pandemic and I actually stayed there until November 2022. It was an interesting time to say the least. On one hand, I had planned to rent an apartment with a few buddies in Seattle after graduating and experience living in city, so I was a bit bummed that didn't turn out. But on the other hand, I was happy to spend more time with my family and enjoy home cooked meals a little longer than I expected. A fun aside, I had been fearful of dogs most of my life, so naturally my sisters got a dog while I was in college. Being back home for an extended period meant Riley and I had to learn how to coexist… and we did! Now I might even explore getting a dog myself in the future!

But with all that being said, the reason why I was able to afford to buy instead of rent when I moved out was because my parents were kind enough to let me stay at their home without paying. This is something I am tremendously grateful for as they encouraged me to stay and save so that I can set myself up well for the future. The actual search was a grind, I started touring homes, townhouses, and condos in April 2021 but struggled to find something that worked for me here in Washington. So, I began looking at places in Arizona where I had a few friends already established there. Things started lining up: there were a couple properties that I was targeting, I loved the idea of constant sunshine, and a change in scenery was definitely welcomed.

So, what happened? I ended up getting a place in Kirkland, WA which is NOT Arizona. And it's a funny story on how that came to be…

I Met My Better Half

May 17th, 2022. Somehow, I scored a date with the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen. How we met will be a tale for another day but just know I absolutely lucked out. Our first date left me speechless… quite literally. I think I might have said about 13 words because I was so nervous and in awe that a person of her status would even give me the time of day. Well, it turned out I used those 13 words wisely and it led to another date, to another date, to another date, to a date where I finally mustered up the courage to ask her to be my girlfriend and she said yes!

That right there is the biggest reason I pivoted back to looking at places in Washington, because boy I was not about to mess this up in any way! From there we went on adventure after adventure, growing with each other which led to me getting on one knee on March 10th this year and asking Khalyn King if she would make me the luckiest man on earth to which she said yes again!! Since then, we've been enjoying our engagement and planning our wedding for Summer 2025! I could go on and on with more details but if I really got into it, I'd be in the position to publish a short novel, so I'll leave it at that for now.

So that's been the big things in a nutshell since the last time I posted on here! I am planning on being on LinkedIn a lot more actively going into the new year. So much so that I am going to be launching a weekly article that I publish on Fridays sharing my general thoughts on the week! It will mostly be work/industry related, but I will also sprinkle a little bit of my personality and things that interest me in the mix. Tomorrow I'll publish my first article on here recapping my experience last week in Houston at AFROTECH , so be on the lookout for it! Looking forward to building connections and sharing some knowledge!?