‘I Love My Job’: Endless Opportunities at a ‘Company That Allows You to Grow in Breadth and Depth'
Welcome to I Love My Job, hosted by Fairygodboss President and Co-founder Romy Newman. In this edition, we sat down with Raquenel Garcia (Rocki for short), the Senior Director of Data Insights within the Product and Technology organization at Spectrum, one of the nation’s leading broadband connectivity companies.
To truly be happy in your career, it’s helpful to find your passion. And, for Raquenel during the almost ten years she’s spent in the telecommunications industry, she has discovered that her passion is video.
This passion drove her to Spectrum, and she joined the company in 2016 as a Network Operations video engineer responsible for ad-insertion systems with IP products. And this was only the beginning of her journey. “My favorite thing about Spectrum is the endless opportunities available,” she said. “Given the various products that Spectrum provides to our customers, we, as employees, can pivot our careers as we see fit.”
Raquenel notes that she is a testament to how Spectrum encourages employees to drive their own careers. During her time at the company, she’s moved from being a technical individual contributor to a leader in a different group, all while staying connected to the video side of the business. Currently, Raquenel leads the Digital Platforms Video and Cross Platform Insights team, which provides metrics and insights over the company’s video products.
“Spectrum is a company that allows you to grow in breadth and depth” she said.
What do you find most exciting about your work at Spectrum?
The most exciting part of my responsibilities is leading a team that impacts other organizations by providing data insights to drive business decisions. In addition, seeing the outcomes of those business decisions come to fruition and result in an overall better customer experience is very rewarding.
As Spectrum continues evolving its systems, processes and products, our team focuses on creating next-generation metrics that measure the customer experience. Since 2018, we’ve created a video “mean opinion score” to have a better representation of the streaming quality of experience. This metric has been used to identify opportunities to improve the client and backend services and the delivery network. This metric is now being used across various Spectrum organizations.
How would you describe the culture at Spectrum?
The Spectrum culture is very driven, challenging and innovative. Our employees are focused on delivering the best quality of work for our customers. We are a group of intelligent and talented individuals who always take pride in our work and our deliverables.
How does Spectrum support you in regards to career advancement?
One Spectrum benefit that I’ve been taking advantage of is tuition reimbursement, [which is now $10,000 per year]. Late last year, I decided to return to school to pursue my master’s degree in Business Administration.
Also, my leadership and organization have been very supportive of my passion to give back to my community and be part of nonprofit organizations. I currently serve as a board member for the WICT Rocky Mountain chapter and was named 2021 WICT Volunteer of the Year, as well as the 2021 Leader to Watch. With this support, I’ve been able to expand my network and reach.
What advice do you have for women looking for jobs at Spectrum?
There are so many career paths to explore at Spectrum, and in all of these paths you’ll find women working at all levels, from executive leadership to working in the field. You’re not boxed into one career path or one job here. Spectrum invests in its employees, giving you the ability to truly grow and evolve your career. You can do anything you put your mind to as long as you’re authentic and consistent.
