Mentor Testimonial: A.H. - AWS

Tia at NextGen Collar has been my mentor since May 2020. I had just recently moved into a new business segment that I was not familiar with and onto a new team that had its challenges. I also was experiencing a bit of “imposter syndrome” since there were very few leaders in my segment who looked like me. My manager at the time introduced me to Tia, and I really began to see what opportunities were out there for me. Tia was the only person in a senior leadership position in my business segment who looked like me, and she was the epitome of what I saw in an effective, caring, and strong leader.

Over the last two years, Tia has been a guide in helping me understand what it meant to be a good leader. She has helped develop me both personally and professionally, and I have developed in more ways that I would have thought had been possible under her mentorship. She has also always offered her unbiased opinion to me when it came to any advice I seek from her. From everything to how to collaborate with my team, to dealing with customers, career opportunities, and more, she has always been there to talk through each situation with me and provide her opinion on how to best get to my career and personal goals. Under her mentorship, it really helped to show me what my career trajectory could truly look like, and that it would be possible to move up the corporate ladder as long as I have the right attributes to do so. I cannot recommend a better mentor, especially for any BIPOC looking to get their footing and find their place in the technology industry. Tia has years of experience and knowledge to draw from, and I cannot explain how much she has helped me in my career journey these last two years. Anyone who works with her has so much to gain and learn from her, and I am lucky to call her my mentor.