Career Rocket Episode #4: Geoff Lewis
To live more abundantly
“Ride your bike to work” - Geoff Lewis
Analytics leader and hipster
The goal for my Career Rocket series is to make an impact on people’s careers by sharing wisdom from successful folks with high integrity. You can also listen to the podcast of this post hosted in collaboration between DURMC and Empathetic Machines which dives deeper into the topics covered here.
Target audience for this episode: aspiring professionals in the digital analytics discipline
Today’s guest: my friend Geoff Lewis who is ridiculously smart, humble, funny, a total hipster, and rides his bike to work.
Professional background and highlights
Graduated with an undergraduate degree in Statistics. Every time I mention this, it never fails that someone responds that they had to take one stats course to graduate and hated it.
Spent 8+ years working for small consulting firms whose solution relied heavily on data / quantitative techniques. During these years I learned a ton about data maintenance and exploration, a little bit of coding, and the importance of presenting findings.
Left Chicago to attend NC State’s Institute for Advanced Analytics program. I came to NC with a laptop and an air mattress thinking I would be back in Chicago in 10 months. 11 years later I’m still here.
After grad school I went to work for ShareFile. At the time the company was ~25 employees and I was the only analyst. When I left 7 years later, the company was ~900 employees and we had a team of analysts
I’ve been at Pendo for the last 3 years. Still doing some hands on analysis, but more of my time is spent managing, operations, and strategy these days.
Personal background and highlights
I’ve been married for 10 years. My wife is an incredible human being.
We have 3 kids. They keep us very entertained.
My hobbies tend to have eras. I’ll only do one thing for a few years and then switch to something else that I’ll only do. Right now I’m in a running era.
How many people have you managed over your career? 15
For each career stage, please share the most important characteristics to have in the field of digital analytics.
I have only managed analysts, so all of the following characteristics are geared towards those types of roles
Entry level: 1-3 years
Curiosity. Cultivate a natural desire to understand and solve problems rather than waiting around for someone to point you in the direction.
Desire to contribute and be a part of a team. Learn how the business or team operates and figure out a way to be helpful.
Pay attention to detail. Know the data and details cold.
Mid career: 3-5 years
Presentation. Presenting anything, especially technical findings can get very boring quickly for the audience. Telling a compelling story, reinforcing why people should care, creating a presentation that is visually pleasing...I think this is a great, differentiating skill. Tip: practice, practice, practice and always ask for feedback
Understand the balance or trade-off of details vs. high-level. On one end, try to discern if you are headed down a rabbit hole and getting overwhelmed by minutia. On the other, avoid a shallow treatment that does not address alternative scenarios or details. Tip: Step away when getting too into the weeds
Mgr/Directors:
Authenticity. Be natural and transparent. Make sure that you are genuine and you are naturally who you are. Do not be someone you are not.
Looking back, please share what you feel have been your biggest drivers to a successful career?
Having managers that understand the value of my work
Timing & good luck. I just happened to be working in a field that blew up. Tip: get comfortable with ambiguity
If there was one thing you would like to tell someone earlier on in their career that you wish someone had told you, what would it be?
Focus on solutions not problems. I wish someone told me this earlier on in my career. There will always be problems and do not spend your time wallowing in them.
Looking ahead, where do you think are the upcoming hot spots in careers around your discipline?
Despite the growth in analytics, I think we are still scratching the surface even in innovative industries. I think there will be opportunities to apply analytical techniques to slower adopting industries for years to come
What are the interesting challenges you anticipate will be coming up in your discipline in the coming years?
Automation will certainly present a challenge. Of the three main skills: Data, Analysis, Interpretation. I think automation will impact analysis the most. But I think humans will add value to Data and Interpretation for a long time.
Not only do you have a successful professional career, you seem to be genuinely grounded and happy. What does living abundantly mean to you and how have you carried it out?
Having many interests and living them out. I have never considered that career ultimately defines my success. Tip: walk or bike to work if you can because it helps with the transition from work to home to clear the mind.
If you want to get deeper insights of this post, check out the full conversation on the podcast episode!
If you liked Geoff’s interview, check out Reid’s as well. He also has a similar background and graduated from the same master’s program at NCSU.