Women. Rock. Enough said? Hardly.. Let's start with Thank you!

(NOTE: I know the women in my life would have completed this on the official day, as I started it on International Women's Day..Interestingly enough writing this w pauses has taken me on a journey and reflection the last 2 weeks. Women deserve more than one day of recognition anyway :-) )

After a quick surprise breakfast with my youngest little man (6) this morning, seeing the International Womens Day tweets, comments, events and other highlights sent me daydreaming about how blessed I have been on the personal side with the greatest Mom, sisters, partner in crime and children. So suffice it to say that my life would be pretty bland and unenjoyable without them in my life. From a Mother who so unselfishly sacrificed many years to raise us, sisters that each had their impact on me -with one still living close and being a constant rock, and a partner in raising a crazy family of 8 kids with her own life story that takes GRIT and perseverance to not just give up.

Then I thought about the professional side and the impact many great women have had on me - make no mistake, I would not have taken the path into IT and had the career I have had today without a push, shove and mentoring from early on from Patricia Sirowich (mentioned previously in two other posts from May 2015 - Great Managers, and Where it all started.)

So I figured, what better way to think deeply and honor this day++ than to say thank you to several of those women I have had the privilege of working with in the past, learn from and just have the experience! (guaranteed to miss a bunch but thank you!)

Before IT

Before I officially entered IT (c1990), I was working first in the Union at Bayer Pharmaceutical, and then into Drug Compounding. Tina Keating and Lynn Boland were two of my managers in the Union and were there with full support - helping me learn my new gig, the people, the process and what pharmaceutical processing/packaging was all about. Interestingly enough, when I thought about switching from the Union to going after a compounding job - many were telling me nobody switches from the Union to Non-Exempt.. These two were strong women that said go for it.. TK and Lynn - you are stars in my world and I think fondly of those experiences and also appreciate how you fully supported me going to night-school and would make accommodations for this 19-20 year old kid who was trying to find his way.

When I switched over to the new gig - another great woman - Tracy Olah Caruso would be a sanity check for me. Let's just say there was a ton to learn on how not to be a manager/leader from the group I went into and Tracy helped me keep my sanity through it all. Not sure how she survived besides just pure GRIT. When an opportunity came up in IT - the Exempt/Salary side of the house there were plenty telling me I would never do it. Not Tracy... Thank you for all your support those years - there were moments I wanted to just walk out the door, you truly helped keep my sanity.

IT.. The beginning

Patricia Sirowich - aka Pat Sirowich. There since my age of 14-15, if you read the past post you will see she is the one who set me on the IT path, and in doing so gave me the opportunity to make the switch at Bayer into IT some 6-7 years later by convincing me to start my own company Computer Concepts (albeit with all of 3-4 small customers, her business being one) instead of buying a motorcycle at the time. I have said it before, I don't know where my path would have taken me without her guidance and mentorship. She was a top producer at Express Scripts for years, then started her own Pharmacy Benefit Management business which her son and her turned into something even bigger! Also where my strong sister Chantal works at!

IT at Bayer

Chris Wickham, Chris Webber, Lisa Fox, Fran, Joann Oleynick, Lisa Dechello, Cindi Biondi, .. the list goes on and on. Had the fortune of working with tons of great people at Bayer Pharmaceuticals when I moved into IT as well, with many having a great impact on me, my thinking and skills.

Chris Wickham was my mentor. She had plenty of responsibilities at the time being the main AIX guru, managing tons of VMS systems, owning TSM backup for the Enterprise as well as plenty other hats she wore. Chris was awesome - no BS, guiding to the newbie who had never been in IT, never touched or even knew what a VMS system was or what real Systems Administration was about. I owe a great debt to her for being kind and extending her wisdom to me and bailing me out on many occasions on a thursday night change window. Thank you Chris - you really helped set the foundation to my learning and path.

Chris Webber (Lewis) -She was a lynchpin for IT on the pharma research side. and one of the systems I took over MIWV07 (?) was a VAX6000 series I believe attached to a large CYGNET Jukebox that held 12" platters. This system was a bear.. IT held tons of research archive data from studies, FDA submission etc. Chris was a great teacher, not only on the IT side, but also educating me about what they did on the research side. She would always take time to help me learn something new, and was one of my favorite people to do work for - on top of it she was always thankful. Thank you Chris!

Lisa Fox, Fran (who I recently bumped into in the last month at a local restaurant and recognized her after 17-18 years!), Lisa D, Joann, Cindi and the rest.. thank you for all your guidance and support and experiences working with all of you and many more!

The last 17 Years - EMC

First lets start by saying a ton has changed about EMC - now Dell EMC - in the last 17 years, but it is an energized and aggressive culture in a good way. When I first started there in May 2000 the idea of diversity was slim (at least in the field where Sales/Tech Consulting was done). By 2005 this was starting to change.. and throughout the years it has grown into a fully diverse environment benefitting from different ways of thinking and approaching things. This is includes programs and recruiting efforts that have made it the place it is today.

I have met some of the strongest women in my career at EMC - whether internally or at customers. We all have seen and read about the imbalances of how strong women get perceived and get a bad wrap for doing the same things that men would do - total BS. That said, every one of these women have a strength and confidence that surely can intimidate and challenge any man. Not to mention their intelligence - both at a book and street (field sales/IT) level. There is a sincerity about helping customers and caring about the people as well.

No doubt I may miss some, and sorry for that, but know you all have made an impact. Michelle Vaccaro has been in several roles from a Business Operations perspective and one of the most helpful people I have encountered. Through all the years and different roles she has always been there. Even when her responsibilities didn't directly overlap with my areas, she always stepped up to help and guide. So many on her team have been there as well whether still at EMC or having moved on to new paths.

Gretchen Godin always has stepped up since she joined EMC, helpful and willing to do whatever it took to figure something out. I think she was my Pivot Table mentor..She had the fortune of working with all different personalities and kept her smile going even in the toughest of it. She has since taken a role outside EMC and I wish her all the best and hope I would have the fortune to cross paths again in the future!

Melissa MacDonald (Sadler) - I first had the privilege to meet Missy when I came back to EMC in 2005 and was doing training for Inside Sales around the NAS product I was selling. She was just awesome. Not only was she always open to new ideas, she helped me integrate with the team there and come back to evangelize with the team around the portfolio across the next couple years. I had the fortune of getting to support her when we brought her into our District Sales Team and I was SE Manager. Aggressive, filled with integrity and always wanting to build great relationships with her customers that she maintained beyond that role. She moved on to bigger accounts, different geography with such great success and I continued to have the ability to have my teams support her. Nothing at work would make you smile more than seeing Melissa! She recently decided to pause and take on the most challenging and rewarding role she could - Full Time Mother to beautiful kids. Thank you Missy for all the great experience and everything I was able to learn from you!

Whitney Oliver - Whitney entered into EMC in the GSAP or associate program after coming over from a reseller. She never stopped learning. She picked up technology quickly and had a rapport with everyone she met. Being a young female in a older Male dominated environment - including customers - can have its challenges around establishing credibility and not being dismissed. Whitney was a true force to me reckoned with - true passion for whatever she was doing and a desire to keep progressing, learning and what was next. She moved on to other roles within EMC, then externally and recently shifted gears and started her own business in the Boston area. check it out - the first Farm to Blender juice and smoothie bar - Zen Den!

Susie Destasio - Just a great person! what more can I say. Susie has held several roles inside EMC and always brings a smile (and possibly baked goods) to her meetings - both of which are her trademark and light up the room. She is truely focused on her customers and cares about their success. Susie moved from Inside Sales to Enterprise and Large Enterprise and now is in the Boston Area covering one of the largest National Accounts in Alliances. No doubt Susie will continue to excel and set the bar for execution.

Gwen Hahn - Gwen is a rock. Having been in the industry across several big name IT vendors, she has established some of the longest and greatest AUTHENTIC relationships I have ever seen. She navigates the line of being counselor one day, to bulldog the next. The value chain she creates is always A++. In the toughest of times peoples true colors come out, and she like several others I have mentioned, are top of list of who I want in the trenches with me!

A special thank you to Carol Jacobs who in my most recent role was always there to help in so many ways!!

Heather Arrigan, Caitlin Kilcoyne, Leah Ziamandanis, Cathy Peoples, Beth Guthrie, Patsy Roberts, Melissa Crichton, Laura Campbell, Katherine Avery, Mary Elizabeth Bagley.. so many others. It is actually overwhelming that I could keep going on and have great things to say about what I learned, or saw in each of these great people - STRONG WOMEN- I have had the fortune of meeting and working with, and I haven't even mentioned the customers yet!

The hardest part is knowing that I will miss mentioning many.. and so I say from my heart and head, a true thank you for all the experiences, guidance, help and mentoring to all the great women in my professional career - past, present and in the future! May all your wisdom you have parted on me, allow me to do justice in raising my own with that same strength!

Sincerely, humbly and w gratitude - jim