Like many of the Flight Crew Cheerleaders, I manage a full-time career along with fulfilling my dream of being an NFL Cheerleader. For the last 7 years, I have worked in the corporate IT world as a Cisco Account Manager. My job includes collaborating with Chief Information Officers of organizations and helping them understand the business benefits of Cisco Technology Solutions. I love technology and how the network continues to change our lives every day so being able to help companies, from banks to stadiums to hospitals, truly transform their organizations with technology is exciting.
If you think about how you connect with people today; whether it be via email on your PC or talking on the phone or with video on your mobile device or via Instant Messaging on your iPad; Cisco technologies touch every piece of that picture and I get to talk about this with clients every day.
Whenever I meet with a client and they find out I am also a Jets Flight Crew Cheerleader, they often ask, "Esther, how on earth do you balance both worlds?" My first reaction is usually "With very little sleep, green coffee, and my right hand (also known as my Outlook Calendar)." But in all honesty, balancing such demanding careers in both technology and dance takes preparation, personal balance, and sometimes sacrifice. A typical day for me might be:
6 am — Wake up, Walk my Dog, and Prepare for the Day
8 am — Commit Meeting with my Team
10:30 am — A Customer Data Center Walkthrough
12 Noon — A Customer Lunch
3 pm — A Technical Deep Dive Presentation with my Engineers and my Client
4:30 pm — Conference Call
6:15 pm — Arrive for NY Jets Flight Crew Rehearsal
10:30 pm — Get Home to Prepare for Meetings the Following Day
Things can get very busy balancing both careers. However, my mother always told me "a job isn't really work if you are having fun." I truly get the best of both worlds — from presenting in front of technology executives to dancing in front of 80,000 Jets fans. For me, the key to keeping things balanced and having fun at the same time is having an optimistic view to my "everyday" and preparing for the "best."
—Esther
