Women’s Studies at UF
My Women’s Studies degree remains one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!
I joined the Women’s Studies MA program in Fall 2011 after teaching in a rural classroom for 2 years following undergrad. My thesis examined the literature about feminist ethics of care and questioned if/how they are practiced by nonprofits serving at-risk youth. Professor Trysh Travis was my advisor, taught me how to write like a grownup, and remains a good friend.
After graduation, I moved to DC to start my “real” career. I will not lie: the first couple years were doozies. The first job I got was in sales for an experiential learning nonprofit; it was awful. I thought I hated sales, but turns out what I didn’t like was the program itself. I quit after a year and got a random communications job via a temp agency so I could pay rent
It was obvious I was not going to find the “perfect job” for my Women’s Studies interest anytime soon, so I found a well-known DC girls’ empowerment nonprofit (Girls Inc.) that could not afford me and offered to work for free for them as much as I could. They were beyond grateful, and that opportunity changed everything for me. About a month into volunteering, they asked me to run a pilot project for them; this got the attention of the communications firm sponsoring the project. I flexed my networking muscles hard, and eventually the director of the firm emailed me about a tech startup where he was on the board. That is how I ended up on the founding team of a venture capital-backed tech startup (the last place on earth I imagined myself!).
I stayed there for 7 years learning what it means to build a tech company and scale it from the ground up; I learned how to sell technology to people who dislike most technology, but desperately need it. That sales experience got me another (better) sales job eventually, and that job got me where I am now: Sales Director at Clean Catalog, a higher education software company bringing in over $2M annually, with a fantastic culture and work-life balance.
My best advice is:
1. Befriend and keep in touch with professors, classmates, and coworkers. Turn network contacts into substantive relationships. Opportunities come faster through personal networks than any others.
2. Be loud and proud about your Women’s Studies degree. It’s real evidence you “walk the walk” when it comes to the monumental issues and injustices facing our world. People recognize and respect that, especially as the workplace becomes more diverse than ever before.
3. You don’t need an MBA or any other degree to get started on a great career in the private sector! Seek opportunity wherever you can and be willing to jump in and learn.