Career Path of a Senior Project Manager at Delve, Inc.

My college experience started at the University of California, Santa Barbara. I initially majured in Classics but switched to Italian in my sophomore year.

I chose Italian because I enjoyed Latin language and history, but found Latin incredibly difficult. I thought Italian would offer similar historical and cultural aspects but in a language I could use more practically. Learning a language no one speaks is challenging.

In the Italian program, I found a small, close-knit cohort where I knew all the students and professors. Most of my classes had 15 to 30 students, which I really enjoyed, perhaps more than I realized I needed when I started college. I graduated with a major in Italian Cultural Studies and a minor in Art History.

I worked through college, taking on various campus jobs. My junior year, I started working in retail at an outdoor store in Santa Barbara. Through that, I became aware of a clothing company that had moved from Chicago to Santa Barbara. Their offices were near the store, and we carried their products, which I really liked.

It was an outdoor lifestyle apparel brand for men and women. I got to know some people who worked there and met the company president. I inquired about unpaid internships, internships, or entry-level positions, as I didn't want to work in retail forever. Retail schedules, holidays, and weekends off weren't ideal.

After a few months, the president informed me they were hiring for a customer service position in their wholesale division. He suggested I apply, and I got the job. I was a customer sales representative and account manager for all retail locations west of the Mississippi and in Canada.

This role gave me firsthand experience in a very small business; I was the 13th employee. Working at a company that designed and manufactured clothing at that size allowed me to understand how all parts of the business functioned. Sitting next to account managers, designers, marketing managers, and controllers, I learned how all these roles interacted.

Due to my work with clients in Canada, I had to learn logistics, including shipping to Canada, customs clearance, and working with freight forwarders for cross-border shipments. After a few months, I transitioned into sales and marketing, planning company events, sales meetings, and trade shows. This involved coordinating efforts, scheduling appointments, and booking freight companies for booth setup and delivery. I also managed samples coming from overseas to show clients and take pre-orders.

Eventually, I was asked to move departments and become the logistics and production manager. I handled forecasting for new goods, coordinating with factory partners on production calendars, quantities, and delivery timelines for both production and samples. I was there for several years, then took a year off to travel and farm in New Zealand as a volunteer.

Upon returning from New Zealand, I did some sales rep work for the same clothing company, traveling around California to show samples to retail partners and take pre-orders. While looking for another job, I moved to the Bay Area and started working for Timbuktu, a company that makes messenger bags and luggage based in San Francisco. I became their global product manager.

In that role, I handled line planning and collaborated with sales and marketing teams to understand customer needs. I then worked with the design team to meet those needs. This involved forecasting, market research on competitors, and sales analytics to assess past product performance and identify areas for expansion or discontinuation.

From there, I was headhunted and moved to another apparel company for a short period. I then decided to leave the Bay Area, traveled more, and returned to Santa Barbara. I started working for a biotechnology company as a project manager on their commercialization team.

My work involved partnering with agricultural fruit producers, growers, and packing houses. I collaborated with internal mechanical engineers to design and install fruit processing equipment at these partner sites. I worked globally, including in Spain, Chile, and throughout the US, commercializing products for avocados and Spanish citrus.

I left that job in March 2021 and have since been working as a project manager for a creative consultancy. We provide design, and design and engineering services for various companies, primarily in healthcare. Companies come to us with medical device designs and ask for help with user interface design, whether software or hardware. For example, they might have designed an insulin pump and need us to ensure it's user-friendly and comfortable. In my current role, I work with mechanical engineers, industrial designers, and strategists.