As an engagement lead at Terazo, Tara Hayes’ day-to-day job activities include working with clients on the delivery of their software implementations and serving as a liaison between clients and Terazo’s engineering teams.

Tara’s career began in advertising technology. Starting as a salesperson, she quickly realized the field was not for her. As the companies that she worked for went through several mergers and acquisitions, she planned to move out of sales and into an operations-type implementation role. Shortly after she moved from New York to Richmond, she found an opportunity that interested her at Terazo and became involved in software engineering and technology in an engagement leadership role.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#603d96″ class=”” size=””]“…Things are always gonna change. You can’t be afraid to ask questions and be vulnerable because in those moments when you are being vulnerable and you’re asking all of those questions, those are your biggest opportunities to learn.”[/perfectpullquote]

Her choice to move from sales was not meant to burn bridges but to learn and build relationships with salespeople who would eventually help her connect with the roles she knew she wanted. She considered herself fortunate to make active choices about her career decisions instead of treating a job as the means to collect a paycheck. Tara also believes that working in technology is an amazing thing; she is always changing as the technologies do, collaborating, and working with different people. As an extrovert, she finds this exciting.

Tara is extremely pleased with her role and feels challenged at Terazo, something she credits to the company’s unique culture and the experience it provides.

“You hop on a Zoom call, and you’re meeting someone or having an in-depth conversation with someone for the first time,” she said. “It’s just a really amazing group of people. I think that’s a testament to our leadership and our HR and recruiting folks, really bringing quality individuals that share our vision and really can fit and mesh with our culture. And I also think that folks should know that Terazo, while we have managers and HR to voice concerns, I just think it’s really awesome that, you know, you could be an associate or a mid-level, not even a people manager, and you can go to your [manager] or even higher up the food chain and express your ideas and your vision, and maybe some of your pain points that you’re experiencing, and I do feel like our voices are heard. And I think that’s a really great thing here at Terazo.”

She shares this rosy view of her actual work at Terazo as well. “I feel accomplished because we have myself and a group of engineers here at Terazo; we work [for]… a strategic client that … makes money and keeps the lights on every day. So, I think that’s a sense of accomplishment. …Most recently here at Terazo, [after] our reorg, [I’m] really seeing a focus on delivery and career pathing for … engagement leads…”

Outside of work, Tara enjoys spending time with her family and pursuing one of her favorite hobbies: trying new restaurants as a “secret foodie.”

As far as advice she would offer to those interested in pursuing her field, she says, “They should always remember that things are always gonna change. You can’t be afraid to ask questions and be vulnerable because in those moments when you are being vulnerable and you’re asking all of those questions, those are your biggest opportunities to learn.”