Nancy Maya has an impressive résumé. Since starting down the
creative path as a music major transitioning into advertising in college, she
has held roles in experience design on the client and agency side, and is now
loving her current position as a Senior User Experience Designer for
SapientNitro. An outspoken advocate for inclusion in our industry, Nancy puts
her money where her mouth is by staying involved in diversity organizations
like ADCOLOR and 3 Percent. She has never been scared to
speak her mind or ask for what she wants and she hopes to inspire
others—particularly those who aren’t always given a voice—to do the same. If
she sounds like a major overachiever it’s because she is. Did I mention she’s
only 24? Nancy gets real about some of the persistent problems in the digital
sphere and provides a fresh take on how to fix them and reach a broader
audience.
What made you want to
get into this industry?
I wanted to do something creative with my career. In college,
music was my passion, but I realized a career in music could be
limiting. Someone in the advertising program reached out to me by chance
because I had taken a communications class as a general requirement. I realized
that having a career in this field could be not only creatively satisfying but also
something that would be sustainable. The program talked a lot about the
potential to impact change in society through advertising which made the work
feel very meaningful to me.
I ended up taking on internships and a variety of freelance
work during college and in my last internship the company happened to have a
junior UX job that fit the skills I had built throughout those years. It’s
honestly been these specific moments of meeting the right people in the right
places that have helped me, plus my willingness to take risks.
What made you choose
SapientNitro?
I came in because I loved the people I had met right at the
start. Now being here, the more people I meet, the more I love working here.
Everyone is very open-minded and friendly. I also love that we have things
going on like the Women’s Leadership Network, something I’d never heard of in
the jobs I had in the past. It’s nice to see that there are specific groups that
are helping to broaden the perspective here rather than just focused on selling
business.
What challenges have
you faced as a woman in your field?
My first UX job, before SapientNitro was definitely a boy’s
club—only a few women here and there. We would be in a meeting sitting around
discussing creative. One of my women coworkers would say something and it
wouldn’t get heard, but then a guy says the same thing and it’s lauded as this
great concept. This may seem like a small instance but when it happens more
than once it becomes a pattern that can completely change the dynamic of the
workplace.
Another example was my boss at the time would call me a rock
star every day and constantly lift me up. Yet when it came down to negotiations
and asking for a promotion, it became, “You’re doing so well for yourself.
You don’t need these things.” I feel like if I had been a man saying the
same thing it would have happened for me or maybe I wouldn’t have been
dismissed so easily. And in fact that actually happened. One of my male peers
did speak up and get the promotion.
I have found solace in talking to other women. Hopefully
we’ll generate a conversation so that people understand this is a problem and
it’s not something to brush off. It’s subtle, but even the subtleties make it
hard to work in a collaborative environment.
What can we as an
industry do to encourage girls and women to get involved in digital?
There is so much going on right now in terms of changing the
perception of women in tech. I want to show that there is more to tech than
coding. Understanding code is a great advantage, but you can also be a UX
designer and be great at understanding people or a project manager and have
great listening and organizational skills. I think showing there are women out
there doing these things is key. There are women leaders doing these jobs and
playing at the same level as men on the same platform, who are able to have a family
and do all the things they want to do in life.
How does your
identity as a Hispanic woman shape your view of our industry?
I’ve been going back to Colombia since I was born. When you
go to a country that doesn’t have as much as we do here in the U.S., it gives
you perspective and shapes the way you view people and the way you sympathize
and empathize. It’s these little things that come from having a different
background or heritage that can spark new ideas or create new discussions.
I think we need to understand why there are less Hispanics
in this industry. There are so many levels to what being Hispanic means, and
that’s where it gets hard to identify what the problem is and why they don’t
see the opportunity to delve into this world. I’ve asked a few of my best
friends and their mindset is that technology is very expensive and simply
getting access to internet was a big deal when they were growing up. So the
idea of putting in so much money upfront to be a part of a field that they are
not sure of is too big of a risk. I think identifying that the perception of
tech is a problem is the first step.
Who is responsible
for fostering a diverse workplace?
We are all responsible. It starts with awareness—most people
are at least aware of it, now let’s do something about it. It’s all about not
only putting out great work but also being able to reach back and mentor others
in the community. We need to target the right people. For example, at 3 Percent
we’re mostly women talking to women, but the people who we need to be impacting
are not in the room. Let’s take the next step and find solutions to the
problems we have in our everyday.
What advice do you
have for people starting their careers?
Be your best advocate. Speak up and put yourself out there.
The worst that can happen is someone tells you no. When they do tell you no,
just keep going at it because someone is going to tell you yes, and then once
you get that yes, it’s going to open so many doors. It just takes one yes to
change your life.
By Grace
Friedman, Recruitment Marketing