Laura Foti is currently a Business Technology Analyst at Deloitte and she helps the company solve problems using technology. However, this was never her plan; she wanted to be a journalist. Many unexpected twists and turns lead her to where she is today.
Laura’s father was born with a disability and has been and will be handicapped for his entire life. This was hard for Laura growing up because she has a very active lifestyle. She loves running and playing basketball and all types of sports, but her father could never teach her to play, or play with her because of his disability. So, to communicate and bond they began a tradition of story telling. Her father would draw her a picture and they would dream up a wonderful background story about the drawing. This is what inspired Laura to dream of being a journalist. However, when it was time for college her father told her she could do anything except journalism. He had been a journalist and he knew it was a dying art and an unstable job. So, after a year off in Argentina, she went to Newhouse for a major in Public Relations.
She got involved with every club and internship she could find, and found how storytelling relates to more than just media. So after some hesitation in her senior year, she accepted her current job at Deloitte. She told us how important it is to know how to both be a leader and be the lowest person on the payroll. She told us how her experience in storytelling makes her the best at her job. Laura is often asked to take a series of slides from a meeting and make them into an understandable presentation for their client. Her education and abilities in storytelling allow her to communicate that information better than someone who didn’t have the same.
Laura has really inspired me to start reaching out and getting more involved early on. All of her opportunities she has made herself and I need to start making some for myself. Making connections is equally important too because you never know where a job opportunity may come from. I’m not very good at meeting new people or talking to those I don’t know. From Laura’s advice I know that I need to start doing so. She gave us so many great little nuggets of advice relating to so many different areas. I’m glad she told us that we shouldn’t necessarily be the person who always stays late to work. She said she doesn’t think that is the way to get noticed and move up. Instead do great work in the time that you are suppose to be working and leave time for yourself. I wouldn’t be the one who stays late every night anyway and now I won’t feel like I would be doing myself a disservice.
I’m glad we got the chance to hear her speak. If you do go through and read all these blogs, thank you, Laura, for sharing your experiences with us.