Ep 81: Patricia Howard: Putting the Pieces Together, Into Something Beautiful

Diva Tech Talk Podcast

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Patricia Howard, veteran instructional designer/developer, whose employers and clients have included General Motors Corporation, AAA Life Insurance, the Auto Club Group and MSX International. Patty came to the technology field by happenstance. “When I was a little girl, technology did not exist as it does, today,” she said. “I didn’t touch a computer until my senior year of college!” She pursued a fine arts bachelor degree with a minor in business at The University of Southern Colorado, “..and had to write a paper for a finance class,” Patty said. “The system was DOS!”

After college, she moved to Michigan, and her first roles were at a national historic landmark and nonprofit, Pewabic Pottery, as a tile presser, potter, mold-maker and technical design reviewer, checking and validating specifications. Her intellectual appetite led her to explore technology and a friend “gifted” his 486 computer to her. Exploring her options, Patty left Pewabic and took short-term administrative assignments as she explored various industries. After this investigatory period, she exclaimed “I feel like I got the ‘Willy Wonka Golden Ticket’ because I landed a job as an entry-level Web Designer, with no experience” at MSX International, where she worked on websites for internal customers. “They were looking for someone with an artistic eye.“ Patty is forever grateful for her MSX tenure of 6 years, where she learned HTML, Illustrator, Wireworks, ImageReady, Flash, and Photoshop as well as “soft skills” including conflict resolution training. Patty was blessed with an excellent manager who told her to “design it the way you think it should be, and I’ll make it work!” Then “the economy unfortunately contracted.” Patty was among the last of her team to be let go, in the depths of the recession/depression, as the company dramatically downsized.

Her MSX experience awakened Patty’s realization of her affinity for organizational development. She worked at The Creative Group, a division of Robert Half International, as a temporary contract employee, deploying Web development skills. Eventually she landed at Gradepoint working closely with instructional designers. Then she entered Wayne State University, for a masters’ degree in instructional design with a focus on interactive technology, and human performance improvement. Post-recession, “when I emerged with my degree, the economy was on the upswing.” Patty took an internship at Auto Club Group, and then a full-time position at AA Insurance, where she spent 5 years as a courseware designer. “I did more courseware development and was also the LMS (learning management system) administrator.” Leaving there, she began working as a contractor, through TTI Global, at General Motors. The November, 2018, announcements of GM consolidations and plant closures resulted in contractors ending projects. Now she is actively seeking her next challenge.

Patty’s advice for creating an interesting career included: “Find out what you don’t know. Ask more questions.” She noted that, when younger, she didn’t explore all her options as thoroughly as she would recommend others do. She characterized her own skill-sets as having a propensity for gleaning information and making logical sense of it; a passion for making data useful; and a thirst to build something comprehensive from scratch. Patty loves to “put all the pieces together into this beautiful, inherent piece of training that is going to make someone’s life easier!” Her three greatest strengths include organizational ability, creativity, and a high degree of empathy. “Trying to see what the learner is going through to understand what they need” is key in doing instructional design. “I feel like I have great skills to make a difference, now.”

With all the changes through which she transitioned, Patty said “I don’t have any ‘pit of the stomach’ fears, any longer.” One of her lessons for other girls and women is “fear can be a motivator or a show-stopper. New technologies can be intimidating. Don’t let that stop you. Let that motivate you!” Patty has learned much from her volunteer work, since it gives a person the chance to “do something they would like to do,” increasing knowledge. Some of the organizations she mentioned are the Association for Talent Development, the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Inforum Detroit . In all her volunteer work Patty said “I try and give without resenting it” to avoid crossing the line into imbalance. To sum up Patty’s humorous viewpoint: “The glass isn’t half empty; it isn’t half full. It is twice as large as it needs to be, because no one did a proper needs analysis!”

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