My Career Journey Continues

After 22 years today is officially my last day with T-Mobile even though I already started a new adventure. I reflect today on all the great memories, and most importantly, the great people I connected with.

I started as a part time Retail Sales Associate for a regional company called Aerial communication in Orlando Florida. At the time, I had no idea that this would be the company that I would grow my career with. A few months later Aerial became Voicestream, and not too long after that Voicestream became T-Mobile. That was the year I decided to take the plunge into leadership thanks to Michael Schwager seeing the abilities I had to be a leader. Someone I still call friend today. After 5 years in leading different stores I was promoted to District Manager in Orlando and graduated with my Masters in Psychology at the same time. I was at a crossroad but I chose to continue my career with T-Mobile because I loved leading, serving people, and watching them grow. It took me a while to get the hang of multi-unit, but when I figured out that it was all about having the right people, believing in those people, and providing the structure for them to grow, develop and shine we had some of the best results I had ever seen out of a District. Truthfully though, it's not the numbers that I remember the most but the people that I made an impact on and the ones that left an impact on me. Those relationships that I still interact with today.

In 2014 I was awarded PEAK by my Director, peers and my direct team. It was one of the greatest experiences in my career and the highlight of my time at T-Mobile. It was a humbling award to receive and helped put things into perspective for me. It reaffirmed to me that leading people was about serving them, listening to them, and trusting in them.

In 2016 I was given the opportunity to become a Market Director in the great state of Georgia thanks to leaders that believed in me, Wanny Manasse and Chris Green. I left a piece of my heart in Georgia and I was only there for a year, but man did I learn so much about the important things of leading! I'm grateful for that team and the things they taught me. Exactly a year later I had the opportunity to come back to Florida and apply the things I learned to one of the most incredible teams in the country, team West Florida. We developed a mission statement, behavioral pillars, and career development programs that shaped our culture and it was an amazing 3 years. We had so many accomplishments including passing Verizon for the #1 spot in market share as a team! People, people development, and rewarding success was still the real highlight of my time there and I'm grateful for those relationships.

In the peak of the pandemic I was impacted in August of 2020. It was heartbreaking, and probably the most difficult time of my life, but I knew it wasn't personal. 4 months later I got a phone call from a great friend and leader Rafael José Gomez Hernández with an opportunity to come back as a Senior Manger on the T-Mobile for business side. I loved my role covering the Southeast and this time I got to work with some amazing people on the T-Mobile and Sprint side of the business. Yes we were the #1 team in the company and our entire org made a huge impact on results, but the people development that happened along the way is the one thing I'll remember most. Unfortunately that adventure ended after my first year but it was great experience, and I'll always be grateful.

My journey with T-Mobile ends here and I choose to remember the positive experiences I had in my 22 year journey. I will genuinely miss the people the most but I know that God still has big plans for me and I'm willing to go wherever He takes me. If you read this I hope you got my message of putting people first. The message that 20 years from now no one will remember what your performance was in April of 2022, but what they will remember is what kind of leader and person you were. How you interacted with people, how you treated people, how you took care of people when times were tough. Ultimately leadership is about influence and influence happens through humility, providing clarity and having the courage to believe in your people's abilities. Never forget where you came from and think of yourself less, and more about others. Thank you T-Mobile for what you provided for my family and I. I will always be grateful for the opportunity.