You can find details about my professional and educational background in my resume. If that feels too dry to you, keep reading :).
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University | Bachelor of BA in International Management (2010 – 2014)
I arrived at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) in April, 2020, after quitting 1.5 year of enrollment at Foreign Trade University in Vietnam. I knew I’d be older than my peers, but I also knew that I wanted to go to Japan. And I made the right decision. APU had everything I wanted: a bilingual academic system (English & Japanese), a diverse culture with students from all over the world, and lots of extra-curriculum activities. At APU, I built my Japanese language skills, learned about the lifestyle and business culture of different countries, developed interests in business and management, and made friends with people through student clubs and volunteers activities.
Konica Minolta | Business Data Analyst (2014 – 2017)
After graduating from APU, I joined Konica Minolta, Inc. (KMI, コニカミノルタ) – a Japanese multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Tokyo. It has offices in 49 countries worldwide, and I was first responsible for managing the sales subsidiaries in Europe. At KMI, I have learned so much about how to work as a professional: keeping deadlines, reporting-communicating-consulting, wearing multiple hats, thinking from different perspectives, and how to be a mentor for a new grad.
3.5 years at KMI, I also experienced working with Excel spreadsheets and other analytical tools. That’s when I fell in love with data-driven decision making. I love to analyze data, identify trends or insights, and presenting results from the analytics to improve business performance or strategies.
University of San Francisco | MBA in Business Analytics & Customer Success (2017 – 2019)
To challenge myself and expand my career in business, I decided to apply for an MBA in America. I had never been to the US before, but I believed nothing could beat my eagerness to learn and my ability to adapt to new environments. USF offered me with a small-class, flexible MBA program in which I explored my next career paths in advanced analytics, customer success, or marketing. I had the chance to work on a lot of coursework and projects that I’m still proud of. At USF, I brushed up my data analytics skills, became familiar with American working culture, and developed my interests in customer success and marketing at Tech/SaaS companies.
Digital Garage | Growth Marketing Analyst (2018 – 2019)
Digital Garage is a Japanese-based technology company. They established a co-working/event space/innovation center on Market st, San Francisco, called DG717, where I joined as a growth marketing analyst. At DG717, I helped an all-women Marketing team to develop marketing campaigns, launch and operate events, analyze data and conduct marketing performance analytics of all assets and channels.
Working at DG717 was fascinating to me, because I was able to meet with a lot of startups companies, and learn more about technologies such as Blockchain, VR/AR, Security, AI… My enthusiasm with high-tech products just became stronger and stronger.
Vantiq | Product Marketing Manager (2019 – 2021)
Vantiq is a Platform-as-a-Service company, headquartered in San Francisco Bay Area. Vantiq provides a low-code development environment for enterprises to build real-time applications. After graduating from USF, I first joined Vantiq’s partner enablement team to design and build a partner enablement portal. Later, I expanded my responsibilities to marketing analytics and product marketing sides, while managing the day-to-day operations of the portal.
At Vantiq, I truly experienced what it’s like to work at a high-tech startup, in a small team. My tasks weren’t limited by my title. I analyzed data, built buyer/user personas, worked with cross-functional teams to create sales & marketing resources, led product release campaigns, implemented marketing automation programs, designed and executed lead-gen and lead nurturing programs, and more. I also enjoyed supervising and supporting marketing activities for Vantiq Japan and used my Japanese language skills.
Data Science For All | Data Science Fellow (2021-2022)
I knew I wanted a new challenge. I wanted to do more with data! I understand the limitation of analytical tools such as Excel Spreadsheet when it comes to working with large datasets. I decided to explore Data Science. I started to message people on LinkedIn about becoming a data scientist. One of them told me about the DS4A fellowship. I applied and was accepted! Free training? I’m gonna take it!
Data Science for All (DS4A)/ Empowerment is a virtual data training and jobs program, made available for free to qualifying students and professionals from underrepresented communities.
I worked with 3 other team members to learn about (head-scratching) math concepts, machine learning and statistical modeling. It was challenging to learn advanced math/statistics at the age of 30s (haha!), but we did it!
What’s next?
I’m looking to write the next story in my career. Would you like to be a part of it?