Celebrating International Women’s Day with Amy & Chyna

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we are excited to highlight the incredibly diverse and talented women across Trax. Throughout the month of March, we will be sharing peer-to-peer interviews with women in various roles and life stages to discuss their careers, how they manage their wellbeing, and where they look for inspiration.

Introduction

Chyna: Hi, I’m Chyna Scott, I’ve been with Trax for 2 years, I’m an HR Administrator/Office Manager based in the Atlanta office. In my free time I’m a reader and also a writer – I am a published author. I have a 14-year-old son who is going on 40, he’s an old soul. I love him to death. He keeps me updated with time.

Amy: My name is Amy Meunier and I’ve been at Trax for a year and a half. I’ve been a Project Manager for the Americas division. I love the flexibility and variety this job gives me. I’m always working on something different. I have eight ongoing projects and every morning when I wake up, I don’t know what to expect. I love it. I have two boys, nine and eleven years old. I live up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. My husband and I live on 40 acres of land in a cabin with a pond and animals, so working from home in the COVID time has been wonderful. What I love about this job is that I can take it with me, it doesn’t matter where I am, and this has been beneficial for my life.

What brought you to Trax? Has your role changed since joining the team? How so?

Chyna: I would say it was God. I was having a hard time finding a job when I ran into my former manager coming out of Walmart. We used to work in corporate America 10-12 years ago and she asked me if I was working and I when I replied “no” she said she was looking for an assistant. I was originally going to be an HR assistant, but at the time of my interview they mentioned they needed an office manager too. It all worked out.

Amy: What brought me to Trax was actually a trusted friend. We used to work at Nielsen together and when he started to talk about Trax I just had a gut-feeling. I’m someone who believes everything happens for a reason and felt this was a great opportunity and it turns out it was. I wouldn’t say my role has changed, but my confidence in the role has changed. As I’m growing, I’m able to make decisions I didn’t make before and it’s so empowering. I’m more comfortable in the role every day.

Chyna: I agree, I love all the different projects. Like you said, we wake up in the morning, we don’t know what to expect. You know, I was just supposed to be an assistant and then we realized “Oh, we could use her for this, we could use her for that” and I ended up having several major roles which I love! I run the Atlanta office, I coordinate all kinds of meetings, I recruit – I love it all! And I’m like “Keep them coming!”

What does it mean to be a woman and mother working at Trax?

Chyna: I feel equal. In most companies, it feels like it’s a “man’s world” and I don’t feel that here. I feel valued as anyone else. As far as being a mom at Trax, you know, my team loves my son. They’ll hang out with him and show him all the cool projects they’re working on, so it’s been a great experience. My son loves Trax too. When we get our swag I never get to keep mine, he takes everything.

Amy: I feel the same. I try not to compare myself to others. I try to grow from within, but in general I feel like if I wanted to talk to my manager about an open position, he wouldn’t look at me like “You’re a woman, you’re no fit for that.” I feel everyone is treated equally as long as you work hard and do your best. As for being a mom, I think if you’re working from home, you have to set boundaries, be flexible and make this job work for you. I could sit in the computer from 7 AM to 8 PM, but there are times during the day when you have to take care of something, and I wouldn’t feel bad about it, because I would then come home and return to work. You have to create that flexibility and make it work for yourself.

Chyna: I totally agree, I love the flexibility. As a mom, sometimes I have to step away and help my son and I don’t feel guilty about it, because I know I can go right back on and finish whatever I was working on. It’s part of the culture, as long as you get it done, they’re not going to be all over you, and I think it’s awesome! I can be a mommy and still do work.

Who inspires you and where do you look for inspiration?

Amy: I can’t say that there is a woman figure or someone that I 100% look for inspiration. My inspiration comes from the people who push me to be better. I have a very good manager right now at Trax and he is not afraid to tell me what he thinks my weaknesses are and  we’re in alignment. It inspires me to be better because he knows I have it in me. People who truly believes that good can come out of anything inspire me. I find great inspiration in the mistakes that I made. When I make a mistake, I really try to learn from that and try to do better the next time. For me it’s things within my life and people I have worked with.

Chyna: If I had to name a person it would be Oprah Winfrey. I love her and the walk she’s had in her life, her journey. She’s been an inspiration especially with my writing: when I need inspiration, I always pull something from her. And my son also inspires me just like strong women. Every time I see a girl achieve something it pushes me to work harder. It’s also inspiring to be in a company where women are treated equally: not looked down on or talked down to, they give us the heavy roles as well. I’m inspired by people, I love them. I love meeting new people and solving their problems.

What are you most proud of in your career history?

Chyna: I have one from Trax. In December 2019, I got a message from David Gottlieb. So you know it was serious. And he said, “I heard how amazing you have been with the events, can you help me plan our sales kickoff 2020?” Now you know the sales kickoff is huge, it’s the biggest event in the company. I knew I had to have everything in tip-top shape. I was able to get everything in order and everyone was pleased with how I organized the entire event was. I appreciate David trusting me to do the company’s biggest event of the year and I knocked it out of the park.

Amy: I was part of the RISE program this year. It was a great program to be part of and it gave us the visibility to the leadership team here at Trax. We were grouped with seven or eight others within around the globe and had to work on a project together. I was the Project Manager and as a result I was able to share it with everyone on a global townhall. And I would say it was my proudest moment. And as I think of my career in general, it’s not one specific event, but how far I’ve come, how much I’ve learned, how many mistakes I’ve made and grown from. It really is just all the lessons I’ve learned and the ability to take all the failures and turn them into more positive things. I’m proud to look back and say I’ve learned from those mistakes.