Her Story
About Stephanie
I started my career path initially as an education major because I've always had a love of teaching and enjoy mentoring and coaching, which is still a big part of my skill set today. I ended up graduating with a bachelor's in mathematics because I really enjoy math and numbers and wanted to see where that would take me, whether that was actuary or risk analysis. That pursuit led me to insurance through a lot of actuaries, and eventually I landed in analytics as a place to use my love of numbers and formulas. I've been in analytics since 2017, nearly a decade now. My role prior to joining Wipfli Advisory was running the business intelligence department at a small healthcare recruitment company, where I started as a manager and was promoted to director. I built their infrastructure and grew their team to help with all of their data management and reporting needs. One of my most notable achievements was at Paychex in my early years of analytics, where through detailed and diligent efforts in understanding the data, I discovered a $3 million leak that had been going on for years and building exponentially over time. I brought that to leadership's attention in 2019. I was able to get my master's degree in operations management while working at Paychex, which gave me a nice balance of the technical numbers side with the business footing. I also got a certification in project management, which really led me to my current role at Wipfli Advisory, where I have this dual hat as a project manager and business analyst. I've been with Wipfli for a little over a year and a half since June 2023, working as a Senior Consultant in Modernization and Analytics. I eventually want to continue my growth and obtain a PhD once family life personally lets me do that.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Stephanie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would attribute my success to the way I was raised. I was raised to always work to be the best that I can at everything, and always be achieving. I can't just ever settle having achieved what I set and be done. It has to be another goal that I'm working towards or I feel stagnant. I also would attribute my success to a supportive family and spouse. My husband and kids always support if I need to work long hours. I remember working with my master's degree while I had a baby at the time, almost 2, and taking classes while I had a baby nearby. It was very tough, but a supportive spouse made sure that I was achieving what I wanted. He always knew what I wanted and he would do what it would take so that I could do those things in life and pursue what I wanted to achieve. So, between how I was raised and my personality and the personal support I have at home, I've attributed to this success, for sure.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My career advice would be that you don't necessarily need degrees anymore for this line of work. You can get boot camps, on-the-job type trainings, certifications to do so. Certainly not the college itself, you don't need to chase the name of the college any longer to advance your career. As a female, what I've learned is that working in the world of IT as a woman, you learn to have to navigate it and be more articulate, more professional than sometimes your male counterparts have to be. You have to prove yourself more so. You'll get used to it and learn to take those kinds of things on the chin and find more success by just being better than those people that you might come across that doubt you for nothing more than being a woman in IT.
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