College Experiences That Helped a Chief Product Officer at Stanza Systems Succeed
Stacie's undergraduate experience at Berkeley instilled valuable skills crucial to their career success as Chief Product Officer, including navigating complex systems ("understand the systems that I'm in") and developing resilience ("you're gonna be okay"). This involved learning to utilize available resources and overcoming challenges, a process that taught invaluable problem-solving skills applicable far beyond academia.
Resilience, Problem-solving, Systems thinking, Resourcefulness, Communication
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Stacie Frederick
Chief Product Officer
Stanza Systems
UC Berkeley
USC, MS Computer Science
Computer Science
Technology
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans
Video Highlights
1. Navigating complex systems: Stacie highlights the importance of understanding and navigating complex systems, a skill she developed during her time at Berkeley. This is directly transferable to the professional world and crucial for success in a fast-paced and ever-evolving industry.
2. Building resilience: Stacie emphasizes the significance of resilience, gained through overcoming challenges during undergrad. This ability to persevere through difficulties is invaluable in any career path.
3. Proactive problem-solving: Stacie's experience involved actively seeking help from TAs and peers, demonstrating proactive problem-solving. This emphasizes the importance of seeking support and resources to effectively overcome obstacles, a key skill for career success
Transcript
What did you do in undergrad to set you up for success in your career?
What did I do in undergrad? I think "survive" is probably my best answer.
Undergrad really taught me how to understand the systems I was in. Being at Berkeley, in such a large college with many people, forced me to figure out how to navigate it all. I learned to identify rules and how to work within them to achieve my goals.
This skill has applied not only to my work but to everything else. It’s about analyzing situations: What is the situation I'm in? What do I need to understand or do? Should I follow certain rules, or not? And how do I ask questions to make progress?
Facing this early on as a young person in undergrad was really helpful. It also taught me a lot about resilience. It showed me that I could figure things out and be okay. It helped me realize that I wasn't alone in facing challenges; others were dealing with similar problems.
So, I learned not to be afraid to ask for help. These were some of the biggest takeaways from my undergrad experience. This included talking to TAs, using available resources, and finding other students to talk to about what I was going through.
Coming out of high school, I hadn't had to do much of this. I think many students who are very good academically don't struggle as much. Undergrad helped me by providing that struggle and showing me I could get through it. It was a way of telling myself, "You're going to be okay."