About me
As an online marketing analyst, I am responsible for continual improvement in website performance, with regard to both search engine marketing and the on-page user experience.
The majority of my background is technical. From middle school all the way through high school I was in a special program for particularly talented math/science/computer geeks. (See silly childhood photos.) After that, I picked up a degree in electrical engineering from Rice University. And the obvious next step was a Ph.D. at UC Berkeley.
After three years in Berkeley’s Ph.D. program, however, I decided I wanted more exposure to the business world. I joined an early-stage startup selling seminars and products on interpersonal communication. I managed workshops and teams of instructors across three continents and delivered record-setting sales figures. I thoroughly enjoyed those years and credit them for helping me to become far more comfortable in the social arena.
As it happened, just as I was beginning this transition, I also had the chance to be a cast member on Season 3 of the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek. It was a fun month and unique experience, though in the big picture I consider it a very small part of my life.
Later, I branched out on my own and began speaking professionally as well as running my own classes. From there, I entered the world of online marketing, diving into the world of search engine optimization and web analytics. Lying at the intersection of marketing and technology, web analytics is a perfect match for my interests. I’m currently working at Tableau Software and consider myself extremely fortunate to be making a living doing something I love.