Kayanna Ray

I attribute my success to definitely my parents. They've always believed in me and invested in my future. They always told me, you know, you could do anything you put your mind to, keep your head up, never give up. Having that support system, having great friends who believe in and support me and really advocate for me in every room, that really has made all the difference. Because, you know, in life, you get ups and downs, especially as a woman in the corporate world. You'll face friction, you'll face glass ceilings. But I never stopped moving, and I always say, you know, like in Meet the Robinsons - keep moving forward. That is definitely my mantra. No matter what, you keep moving forward, you don't stop for anything, because you'll have hiccups, but if you keep moving, something great will happen for you. I always say, like, God has a plan for you.

The best career advice I ever received was, as a woman, don't shrink yourself, keep yourself visible. I think that meant a lot to me because it came from a former mentor who was saying, you know, she's like, I love how positive you are, how upbeat you are, but when you speak about something, it sounds like a question. She said, be firm in what you're saying, because you don't want anyone to ever question your intelligence or use that as a weakness against you. I think that really helped my confidence in just speaking in meetings, always making sure I get credit for the work I do, shaking the right hands, going out to network, not just doing my job, but also making sure people see me doing the work, they know the work I'm doing, so I could build my personal and professional brand.

Your network is your net worth. Don't wait too long to network. Never think that no matter what position you're in, you have nothing to offer. No matter what you're doing, people want to know what you're doing, they want to learn about you, they want to meet you. Show up, don't feel insecure. Walk into every room knowing that, being confident, and that you have value, and even if you're not where you want to be, you know that you're capable of reaching that height. Keep shaking hands, keep showing up, just keep going because you never know what could happen for you. Build your LinkedIn, build your personal brand.

The biggest challenges are with the implementation of AI. A lot of it is being pushed by the top, like leaders at the top, but AI is still very new and it has a lot of hallucinations. So navigating that along with the knowledge of the work, because you need to know your job to really use AI effectively, because it's only as good as the person prompting it. One of the great things about it is just how new things are always happening, implementation. There are so many ways to get visibility, get new work, you know, grow in your projects. Something new is always happening that you can tackle on, so I think it's easier to really build yourself as a problem solver or as a great program manager. You get to wear so many different hats, you can work on data projects, there's more flexibility and opportunities for growth in the tech industry.

Definitely being positive and giving people a reason to smile. I think that makes all the difference, because people, especially as a program manager for a global company, people come with a lot of stress, or sometimes they can be really worried about things, and just listening to their problems, being empathetic, a true leader, that helps bridge so many gaps. I've been able to form partnerships that people on sometimes my team haven't been able to do, just because I know what people are saying when they don't want to say it, like with how they're really feeling. Also, I believe in God, I'm a big Christian, so just having my faith, I feel like people forget to see that warmness when they talk to me, and just that light, and it really moves everyone. They'll be like, you're great with people, why don't you do this, you're great with people, you come to this meeting. Just being friendly - sometimes you don't always see it in the corporate world, and just shaking the hand, saying hey how you doing, it just really makes the energy of the office more bright, vibrant, and it just makes people smile, laugh, and that's all that I always want people to do when they see me, always have a reason to smile.