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Discussion on: Hey, let's share our career begin stories.

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Desi

Tech background: built my first website in grade 4 on Geocities (hayyyy!) and spent the next ~six years or so playing around on Geocities and Angelfire. I fell away from computers and tech in high school, spending more time focused on band and theater. Eventually went to college for Music Industry Management while working retail jobs (which I won't really outline here, but the tl;dr is ten years of retail.)

  • First job post-graduation: Ticket & Marketing Manager at a small music-based non-profit. Tech parts of my job involved using and troubleshooting a troublesome ticket system and managing the website.
  • Second job: Ticket & Content Coordinator at a D1 basketball arena. Tech parts of my job included Ticketmaster, creating graphic design, and managing the website.
  • Third job: Jack of all trades at a music venue. Ticketing, ushering, guest services, etc., and when the graphic designer walked out one day, I hopped in. Tech responsibilities were managing the website, handling the email newsletter, and graphic design.

Around this time I noticed a lot of bands I liked using the same web host, so I started keeping my eye on them. Eventually, a Customer Support job opened. I applied and somehow my email caught their eye in a sea of hundreds. I spent four years in CS, and last year moved over into QA!