Speaker: ShaRon Johnson Bynum, Program Manager-Lease Optimization, Verizon
ShaRon Johnson Bynum: Hi, my name is ShaRon Johnson Bynum I am the program manager for the lease optimization program at Verizon. And I'm located in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Tell us about your career journey.
ShaRon Johnson Bynum: I think my first job, I was a tutor uh when I was in elementary school, helping other students who were having trouble with their work. Um And my first paid job was a babysitter. Um I used to watch kids in the neighborhood. Um Wow, I've come a long way for sure. Um I went to school for a business degree and went to work for a major credit card organization. And while I was there, I decided to go back to school to get a master's degree. Um I took a couple of classes in quality management and decided to make that my focus. So I went back to work uh and started applying the stuff I was learning in school to the job. Um and got recognized because the team I was working with, started out performing all of the other teams in the country. So I was asked then to uh take a role to run a quality program across the organization. And from there, I moved to work for GE where I learned Six Sigma Lean six Sigma. I got my black belt and master black belt certification there. And then I moved on to work for first data corporation where I re certified as a master black belt with them. I came to Verizon uh shortly after that because they were launching a lean six Sigma program and wanted uh season professionals to be involved in the program. So I came to Verizon, I performed that role. And then I was asked to go into the business where I uh worked as a um internal consultant for the uh network business. And later I was asked to if I was interested in the role uh that I have today. So um the important thing is along the journey, I've kept educating myself, getting additional skills, making myself a valuable asset and learning as much as I could about the technology business, the wireless business as I could so that uh my career could progress.
What has been your favorite question to answer on CareerVillage, and what advice did you give?
ShaRon Johnson Bynum: My favorite question that I answered was related to someone that was interested in pursuing basketball internationally. And it was my favorite because I'm a basketball mom. I have a son that plays uh college basketball. My daughter played college basketball when she was in school and we're just a basketball family. So it was unique to see something in there that related to both my professional and personal life. Um What I suggested was that um it's important to do your research in every opportunity that you pursue. So you need to know the laws and the rules in the country. You need to know about the visas, you need to know about the, the requirements to be a student athlete in that country. Uh You need to know about expatriating and repatriating before you go and come back. Um And you need to be a skilled player because international basketball is as competitive as the NBA. So a lot of students here see that as an option after college uh or if they can't go to college to go play uh overseas. Um So I talked about the importance of getting involved in AAU basketball the importance of developing a skill set so that you make yourself the obvious choice when you're on the floor and not to underestimate the cost of living to where you're going because there will be expenses related to that and you can't um not be prepared for it.
