Alumni Feature: Shannon Resare
2011, M.A. Comparative Studies.
2006, B.A. Humanities, English Emphasis
Sr. Manager of Implementation at Lucid Software. I manage a team of implementation consultants who help onboard new customers to our software after the sale. My team manages several projects at a time for several different customers to help them have a successful implementation. My team configures the software, shares best practices with the customers, helps the customer navigate the change management experience, and is a technical expert for the customer. As the manager I train my team on how to do all of that, manage customer escalation conversations if the customer isn't happy, and work with a larger leadership team at Lucid to improve our own internal processes.
When I went back to BYU for my masters, my plan was to become a professor of Humanities/Comparative Studies. I LOVED the program, and I loved what I was studying. Everything was falling into place for a career in higher ed. About 1.5 years into my Masters program, I received a prompting from the Holy Ghost that said, "You'll be happier if you don't go on to get your PhD." I was devastated, because I really liked my plan. I graduated with my Masters and began teaching part time as an adjunct professor at BYU and UVU, which I did for a few years and loved it. However, it didn't pay well at all, and I was barely making ends meet at the time. I knew I needed to get a full-time job, but I had no idea what I wanted to do. So I decided to get a job while I "figured things out." I got a job as a trainer at a tech company in Lehi, where I trained customers on how to use the company's software. That was really when I got more into the tech industry. After working as a trainer for a few years, I found implementation consulting, and that's been my favorite job by far.
"Try as many experiences as you can throughout your program so you have better options than I did when I graduated"
My analysis and consulting capabilities are the biggest things I got from my degrees. I'm able to look at a problem from all sides and consider a variety of perspectives. Because I can do this so easily (it's second nature to me now), I'm able to consult with people I work with and provide recommendations and best practices for how they should proceed
I got into Comparative Studies, because I LOVED what I was doing in school. However, at the time the program didn't prepare me for a life outside of college. There isn't a job out there titled, "Humanities Expert," so I was quite directionless at the time. I think a lot of that has changed now, but my biggest advice to current students would be to get internships, try out different jobs, job shadow. Try as many experiences as you can throughout your program so you have better options than I did when I graduated. There are so many jobs out there that didn't exist 10-20 years ago, and there are so many different jobs you don't know about. Try a variety of things while you're still in your program.
I LOVE being a mom. I have 3 kiddos under the age of 9, and my amazing husband and I are also foster parents. We love kids, and we love helping them develop. I am a life coach for working moms. Being a working mom presents a lot of challenges, especially in an industry that is 70% male. I love coaching moms on being better moms and professionals. As a family we love hiking, cycling (indoor and outdoor), traveling, and dropping movie quotes in random conversations.