Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Walker.
Hi Emily, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I guess Ill start with where everything fell apart. In 2013, My husband, myself and our daughter left Orlando. Orlando being our home with family, friends and community for an opportunity that he had in Atlanta. We had 6 months of savings as a cushion for emergencies and also because we would be on one income until I found a job. Well, once we got there, his job fell through. We worked hard to both find jobs, and when things got really bad he even tried to go back in to the Army. When that also did not work, we realized we were now facing homelessness and had to make a decision to be proactive. So, we sold everything we could and came back to Orlando living on my grandmother’s two bedroom apartment living room floor, while she was battling pancreatic cancer and could pass at any moment.
We both seemingly got any job very quickly, despite him having a master’s degree and myself still in the process of finishing my first master’s at the time, he worked at forever 21 doing stock work and i was working at Beall’s outlet as a retail associate. On our days off or the rest of the day as they were part-time jobs we continued to look for full-time work and I continued working on my masters. I’d go to Starbucks to grab the sources and research i needed to use WiFi and write my paper, and then before midnight, drive to a McDonald’s parking lot to grasp some WiFi in their parking lot to upload and submit.
My husband got a job for an HR Software company full-time and I started working in child welfare licensing foster homes. We were able to move out and get our own place with air mattresses on the floor, given back a couch I had given a friend and had a tv, and that was about it. Than my grandma passed the day after Christmas that year. My aunt was only working part-time and caring for her, so now she had no place to live, and came to live with us in our living room for 8 months until she got another job and could provide for herself on her own.
During this time, my husband became a part of a. group called New Leaders Council where he met Sarah Elbadri and her now husband Orrett Davis. Orrett was the lead of the Orlando Tech Association and encouraged my husband to come out to some of the meetups and to learn about career opportunities in Technology. From then on, he became obsessed with coding, which lead to him getting a better a job. I was also being engulfed in tech, but I didn’t know where I fit in. I knew i quickly grasped a variety of concepts but I didnt enjoy coding. So, I began on a career transformation of my own, into digital marketing.
Being able to combine my social sciences undergrad degree with an understanding of people and people groups, this was my path moving forward. I’m a glutton for punishment so I went back for a second master’s at Full Sail University, this time in digital marketing. During this time I was working for a non-profit organization, where you have to wear many hats. My position required regular speaking at workplaces to ask for donations, events management, and assisting the marketing manager as another set of eyes for design, copy writing, social media marketing and ads through Google and Facebook. I loved every bit of my job, but all good things come to an end, and in true non-profit fashion, i was laid off due to lack of funding.
I then worked for a local insurance company as essentially their entire marketing department. “If you know, you know” laughs in many experiences of most new marketers working for a small-medium size business. I redesigned their website, identified holes in their marketing to sales process to assist in streamlining processes, came up with creative video concepts, graphic design, cleaned up their email marketing lists, and more.
After graduating from Full Sail, I realized that I wanted to go down the path of analytics. So, I began working for a credit union focusing on their analytics, tying customer psychographics and data to products and identifying areas of opportunity, strategy for marketing, and ultimately assisted them with repositioning in the market with significant growth for an institution that is not public, and had several areas that needed unique solutions to accomplish this.
With every rise, there is a fall.
I recognized my ceiling was hit and the people who supported me were leaving, so it was time for me to also leave. I took my time and interviewed with numerous companies seeking my unique skill set. I felt i’d made it, working for a SaaS tech company that supports restaurants. I’m a huge foodie, and yelp elite, so I just knew that this was the right fit. I was hired making double my salary and all though i was working harder than ever I was happy initially until I found out who my boss really was. Anytime i’d ask for resources i was denied. I was a one woman show with no support from him, while he micromanaged me, never confirmed I was moving in the right direction, and scoffed at everything I presented. This was a brand new position, and brand new department. There needed to be processes created and a direction, from the director…
He would not make decisions, or direct, so I sourced information and support from other directors. Unfortunately, this ended in my resigning as he ultimately reported me to HR and put me on a performance plan. Knowing he planned on letting me go as he threatened me daily, there was no other option.
This sent me into a spiral of depression, but ultimately what saved me was our non-profit organization, Black Orlando Tech.
Black Orlando Tech began in 2016 originally when my husband (Joshua Walker), and the rest of the founders (alot moved away, but Mike Felix is still around and works as advisory for us) started identifying the gap of black and brown people in these spaces, and created the non-profit organization.
In the beginning I helped with moving chairs, and over the years it turned into my creating graphics, marketing, website updates, and board meetings for strategy. For the past two years i’ve had the official title of events and community manager, and have sought to continue to diversify our programming and build community with the goal of closing the economic wealth gap through careers in technology. I say Black Orlando Tech saved me because I was able to focus on just building and giving back to the community. When you put your effort towards a passion and love of others instead of on what you feel as a failure, is what will bring you back to life, and that’s exactly what it did for me.
As of the beginning of this year, I began speaking and teaching on personal branding as the mastermind behind my husband’s brands “jwtechdev” and “ventifriedchicken”, i’ve also helped many others strategize what they want out of their careers, future goals, and where to start. My five pillars of personal branding talk has been transformative for those who implement it. I’ve seen people who attend grow in what feels to be over night, and they were self-proclaimed introverts who are now sharing their story on YouTube, teaching a workshop at BOT in September and their first talk will be in Paris!
Additionally, these talks have brought me opportunities to share my knowledge with the young adults of the Youth Action Society of the Homeless Service Network as well as becoming a official vendor with Valencia College for their Youth Build program.
With these opportunities, I officially became an entreprenuer to build my own path. My companies name is Caffeinated Intel, where we have “Freshly Brewed Solutions!” Identified based on the individual or companies needs. Caffeinated Intel provides services that include: Strategy, Marketing, Intelligence, Personal Branding and Training Facilitation. Caffeinated Intel is unique as we focus on the strategy and planning areas to help you or your company stick out among the rest in this dynamic environment, where everyone is trying to get your attention.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
What sets me apart from others is my love and connection of people. Although DEI is being attacked right now, I am extremely proud of the program that I co-created with my friend and colleague Tabitha Thomas for the credit union I worked for previously. Our program focused on taking topics that systemically oppressed a people group being Black, Latino, LGBTQ+, and more and highlighting it as an area that was not regularly discussed such as redlining, the education to prison pipeline, and the stonewall riots and having real discussions. We invited both fellow employees to share their experiences and community organizations to share this information to help educate and properly communicate the impacts of those things today. We would have up to as much as a 67% voluntary attendance rate. Our committee grew in there leadership presence and were each promoted in their respective departments. The program was so successful that at an employee day of 230+ employees, where Tabitha and myself were recognized with an award, we received a standing ovation. This speaks volumes to be recognized by your peers in this way for the positive impacts our open, safe and welcoming space created.
For my business and what I hope you gain from the above story is that I have an uncanny ability to connect with people. Strategy for your personal brand, marketing or business will help you reach the right people when I combine qualitative and quantitative data together for your success.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I don’t believe in luck.
I see that I have made choices that may have led to risky situations even with the best efforts of having 6 months of savings to still become homeless. I have been a victim of recessions, or choosing a job where we had personality issues and conflicts, but I do not see those things as a bad luck.
Equally, I see my current opportunities to present workshops and building my company based on my experience as a reflection of the many people that I have helped and connect in the past coming back around to me. I have worked really hard to build a community, build relationships and a good reputation as a person who keeps their word.
There is a time and place for everything, and every experience both good and bad has led to where I am today.
Pricing:
- Inquire as varies by service and size of project
Contact Info:
- Website: https://caffeinatedintel.com/
- Instagram: emselitepalate
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyanalyzes/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=1bwNhEaobbrXXlzFLfu5Xg
Image Credits
First professional image: Janet Randolph @fotojanet Others were taken by my husband or friends.
