Meet Our Pride: Carla Rogers
Name: Carla Rogers
Position and Practice: Senior Project Manager – Commerce Realized
Location: Remote in Seattle, WA
LYONSCG Tenure: 10 months
Q: First off, tell me about yourself
A: I’m a self-professed eCommerce nerd with over 25 years of project and program management experience. The first half of my career, I worked in the advertising agency space before the digital revolution changed our world forever and I moved to the commerce side of the equation.
Q: What is a typical day like for you?
A: First of all, let’s do away with the notion that there is a “typical day” in this role and in this industry. Here’s a snapshot, though, into one of my recent work days. From the top:
Client Scrum 1 -> Client Scrum 2 -> Client sync meeting -> Risk meeting for various accounts -> Review designs for a new site -> Troubleshoot a production issue -> Prioritize tickets with client-side project managers -> Play resource “musical chairs” to staff a new rush project -> Update reporting -> Re-allocate resources from one project to another to cover gaps -> Get a new developer access to our host of tools and repositories -> Talk to Client 2 about a hotfix that they need tomorrow -> Re-plan Client 2’s sprints due to this hotfix -> Review and answer the 20-40 emails that landed in my inbox in the last 2 hours -> Team check-in call -> call Tony (my manager) to vent and discuss a few things -> Negotiate with a manager and beg them to let a developer work late because there’s a big issue in staging after a recent build -> Review and update tickets for both Client 1 and 2 -> Talk to our Business Analyst to make sure we’re ready for a sprint planning meeting tomorrow -> Eat a late lunch
You get the idea.
Q: What has been your favorite project? Why did you enjoy it?
A: My favorite project was re-platforming 8 site templates to Adobe Experience Manager for T-Mobile. I was the program manager on this effort and had the ability to oversee everything from process change to design to testing and launch on this extra-large, impactful initiative where business users would be empowered to make site changes directly rather than having to get in line for developers to do the work. It was a revolutionary change for the way T-Mobile did business. Lots of blood, sweat, and tears but the outcome was worth it!
Q: How did you first get involved in project management and driving these complex projects to completion?
A: I started as a ‘Traffic Manager’ back in the early 90s. Some flavor of project management has been a part of my job (and life!) for over 25 years – it’s in my blood now. I went to school for Advertising and Communications and had a knack for details and that’s how it all started – it was my entre into the crazy world of marketing which eventually became digital marketing and communication and then ecommerce.
Q: Quickly, what are the top 3 skills most important to your job?
A: Expertise. Communication. Flexibility.
Soft skills must come standard for this role – everything else is teachable. This includes relationship building, effective communication, inspiring others, listening, message delivery and diplomacy. Figuring out how people tick is the most important part of being an effective leader and manager. Everyone is different and motivated by their own set of quirks, traits, strengths, weaknesses, etc. My job is to learn about those things, keep them front and center, and work with them to make sure each person on the team is fulfilled and producing at their highest level.
Q: Is that the most fulfilling part of your role? What makes it all worthwhile?
A: In a sense, yes, it is. In my role, I am the master facilitator for everything from project work to career pathing. I’ve always loved the aspect of ‘making things happen’ – being the person who can figure out how to make progress toward an end-goal regardless of the obstacles. Being this go-to person gives me a lot of satisfaction, and there’s nothing better than swooping in and fixing something that is broken or starting to show cracks.
Q: What is your favorite LYONSCG memory?
A: It would have to be a tie between watching Mike King karaoke his favorite Beyonce song, and enjoying Nichole Pierron dancing as if on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ during that same entertaining karaoke event at Lucky Strike in Chicago during our annual company meeting.
