Her Story
About Toni
My career journey began seven years ago when a friend who had worked with a company referred me to a job opportunity. She told me it would be a great opportunity and encouraged me to apply, and it actually worked out for me in the field of government. I started as an administrative assistant, and from there I transitioned into being an analyst for the team. Later, I made another move to a different contracting company where I became a senior acquisition specialist. In that role, I was able to provide and guide help to the team because they didn't have any knowledge about the program. Even though I work with different federal agencies, my work really centers around IT support and customer service. Customer service is my main focal point, and I've been fortunate to fall into the lap of other opportunities and learn different things within the customer service world, which is just so big with so many different aspects. A typical day involves a lot of emailing, but mainly I help federal contract specialists with a system they use to build contracts. If they're getting an error message or have billing-related issues, since these contracts go to different vendors and businesses and everything has to be aligned, they reach out to our team and we do our best to solve it. Some days can be busy, some days not so busy - it just depends on the work of the government employees. One of my most notable achievements was when my contract ended last August due to lack of funding and my whole team was going to be out of a job. The company taking over our work reached out to me unexpectedly and asked me to join their team. I was surprised because I thought they would only take a couple people, and there were others on my team with more experience and longevity. But they told me my work just spoke for me, and my personality spoke for me, and that's why they wanted me. I was just doing my job and didn't realize people were really paying attention to me in that way, but that really opened my eyes and meant something to me.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Toni
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say take more chances and take more risks. Looking back at myself and where I am now, I wish I hadn't waited so late to really grab ahold of my life - I feel like I would have more accomplished now. I was scared to go out of state for college because I didn't want to leave my friends or my parents, and I feel like if I would've took that risk, because I could always come back home, I think I would just be in a different part of my life and would have more or maybe be more. But everything happens for a reason, so I also say not to just be too hard on yourself either. Even though I'm still confused on what I want to do completely with my life, it's okay. Age is only a number, and some people didn't make it to this age, so it's fine. Just take it easy and be comfortable with yourself.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The challenges right now are probably the fact that there are a lot of changes within the government right now, and it's challenging to kind of take on those changes quickly. You just kind of have to remap everything, but you also have to be able to deliver how you were delivering before these changes. That could be a challenge because you work with different clients and federal employees, and not all of them require or need the same type of help. Things get thrown at you this way and that way, and you just gotta be able to maneuver.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I'm really big on equality. In work, I want everybody to be able to just get a project done, but be able to rely on one another if someone needs help or someone is out of the office or something like that. Just to be able to work together as equal parts and treat each other with respect. Outside of work, in my personal life, I really hate double standards. I don't like how men get a pass to do certain things that if a woman did, it would be looked down upon. I don't like that at all because women are stronger than men in other ways, and I'm not just trying to stomp on men, but we can do anything that they can do. That's the equality part on the personal level. So yeah, that's one of my biggest values.
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