Anna Roberts
Director
WorkingExamples.org
Milestones
My road in life has taken me all over.
Grew up in Montana, was pretty directionless and wild when I was young.
Found a boss who believed in me and pushed me into marketing (hated it at first).
Went to college part-time while working full-time (for 10 years!).
Became the Marketing Manager at an architecture firm.
Got laid off - felt really lost, became a marketing consultant.
Graduated from undergrad with a degree in marketing (14 years after high school graduation).
Went to grad school for management hoping to change management in creative industries.
Finished grad school, then scored the dream job I never knew I was dreaming of.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Bachelor
Portland State University
Portland State University
Career
Director
I manage an online community for people who are innovating in education.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Design
Education
Problem Solving
Day to Day
I do A LOT of things in a given day... I manage the design and development (aka programming) of our website, I help my team run the community and plan outreach events, I'm responsible for budgets and getting additional funding, building the vision of what we're doing and making sure we're bringing it to life. I go to and speak at conferences. And email, I answer a lot of emails.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for high school students
Be curious and be resilient. Curiosity: your interests will change, especially if you expose yourself to a lot of things. My career has gone in many different and interesting directions because I kept asking questions (of myself and others) and trying to find more information. Resilience: When something doesn't work out, give yourself time to mourn it, then pick yourself up, wipe your knees off and try something else. There are many opportunities out there, but you have to keep finding them.
Recommended Education
My career is not related to what I studied. I'd recommend this path instead:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Society in General:
"I had ideas that weren't the norm in my jobs that people would tell me I couldn't do. Instead, I realized that I should surround myself w / people who would encourage me to experiment."
Challenges I Overcame
Financial
Learning Issues
Drugs / Addiction
